HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

Hello all! I′m new to the forum, I′ve been reading around here the past few days. I′m a big admirer of Mike Mentzer, I′ve read both his HD books and HITTMMW plus watched his training DVD and the Underground Seminar. I′m pretty well versed in HD and think I understand it.

Anyway, I want to start working out, I did some mild weight training this past summer but I′m pretty out of shape. I′m about 5′9 and a half around 225 lbs and have close to 30% bf. My plan is to do Mike′s Ideal Routine on M/W/F and insert rest days whenever I start to plateau. I also plan on doing around 15mins of cardio after each weight training session.

I′d like any advice or critiques on my program. Does anyone with experience training like this believe it′ll help me lower my bf%?

Questions, Comments, and Advice are all welcome

Thanks

Now that I read through all of the posts in the General and Routine′s section, I′m reconsidering and thinking of doing the consolidated routine instead on M/W/F with the cardio.

When I was training during the summer I did a modified version of this routine once every seven days with just free weights. The main problem I had was not going heavy enough, it seemed like I would reach cardio failure before muscular but I did increase the weights each workout. I plan on using strictly machines mostly when I start up again for safety and psychological purposes (failure with free weight squats is nerve-wracking).

Maybe some of you can clear up my confusion?

Thanks again

Hi welcome to the forum,

My opinion, lose the fat first and then take a look at what the result is and where you want to improve. It sounds like you may have a lot of muscle mass as it is so you may just want to polish your physique rather than gain more mass.

So I would say eat well, drop your calories, insert a bit of cardio a few times a week and when your down to the point where your muscles are on show, assess what you want . If you want more mass focus on compounds only but if you feel you don′t want much more mass focus on a mix of compounds and isolation exercises. But personally I wouldn′t train till you lose the excess body fat.

But doesn′t weight training help you lose fat as well, especially something like HD? I plan on cutting my calories and controlling my eating habits but I won′t get fat from weight training? Correct me if I′m wrong. It just seems I can achieve my goals a little faster if I did both instead of just cardio, plus I′ll fill in a little more. I′m actually not very strong and fairly unatheletic.

I think the best body transformation routine is a whole body workout consisting of about 8 exercises done twice a week. You burn a decent amount of calories working out your whole body, build muscle, raise your metabolism, and lose fat at the same time. No cardio necessary, it′s built into the workout. Work your bigger muscle groups first. Focus on getting stronger each workout, and eat clean, maybe restricting calories a little. If strength progress stalls on most exercises, decrease frequency to every 5 days.