HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

Hi all,

I′ve been looking through the old posts and couldn′t find much disscussion on consolidation routines.
I′ve been using HD for two months and have been on the ideal routine. The strenght gains have been slow and I think it′s because I′ve been working a couple of days a week as a labourer to pay for my music studies, which I feel has been afftecting my recovery ability. I think my genetics are ok as I managed to build a fair amount of muscle in my 1st years training and that was before I discovered HIT!
Because of the lack of progress in the last cycle I′ve decided to take a 2 week layoff and resume on the consolidated routine from HIT the MM way training every 7 days, I feel that this extra rest time and fewer sets will allow overcompensation to take place.
Another point is that I′ve just started to train my mother as she wants to get in shape for a holiday in a few months, I explained the principles of HD to her and she said she wanted to give it a go. She′s a very healthy 53 year old but has been a bit underweight for the last couple of years. I′ve got her doing 2 sets once per week as outlined in ′The Underground Seminar′.
She′s doing the following:

Workout One:
1 set Squats
1 set Pull-ups (she can only manage a few negative at the minute)

Workout Two:
1 set Deadlifts
1 set press-ups (i′ll get her doing dips as soon as she′s strong enough, again only able to do controlled negatives right now)

Her last workout was the start of the 2nd cycle and she was up 2 negatives on the pull-ups, from 3 to 5 and 4 reps on the squat.
The most startling thing is that after just 3 weeks of training she′s gained 6pounds of muscle! (2pounds per week at each weigh in) Not bad for a 53year old woman! I′ve got a bodyfat monitor and her bodyfat is the same do she′s definately gained muscle!

Really, I just wanted to raise the topic and start a discussion, what have other people found using a consolidation routine?
Is it better than the ideal routine?
I personally can′t wait to try and see what happens!

I′ll keep posting her progress and mine once I resume from my layoff.

David.

P.S. Sorry if this is treading over old ground for some of you but I′m quite new to HIT/HD and I′m an information sponge at the minute, trying to find out all I can!

David.

If her gains are this good, why would you want to change anything? I′m referring to the pull-ups and press-ups where you have her doing negatives.

Mentzer used to say the same thing and I could never figure out why!

If I was you I would do the same Workout as outlined in the UNDERGROUND SEMINAR, too.
This is the last consolidation routine with less overlapping than the one with 3 exercises.
HIT the MM WAY was published after Mikes death!

The routine you posted is actually what Mike called the "Athlete′s Routine", or the "Improved Consolidation Routine," meaning he took the Consolidation Routine and made it even more consolidated. In my opinion, this routine is superior to any other routine because it hits the entire body with only two movements each workout. This activates all muscle while causing the least inroad. Once you intermix all Heavy Duty/High Intensity Training principles, you get this routine. It is what Mike finally recommended as the ultimate routine and it is everything HD/HIT stands for.

In both Heavy Duty II (130) and High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way (159), the Consolidation Routine is:

Workout One:
Squats(alternated periodically with leg presses) 1 X 12-20 reps
Close-Gip, Palms-Up Pulldowns 1 X 6-10 reps
Dips 1 X 6-10 reps

Workout Two:
Deadlifts (alternated periodically with shrugs) 1 X 6-10 reps
Press Behind Neck 1 X 6-10 reps
Standing Calf Raises 1 X 12-20 reps

He would recommend this Consolidation routine to anyone who either wasn′t seeing satisfactory progress or who has seen their progress seize. He realized that people would see the most progress by using more weight, activating more muscles at once, and doing less work. Squats and Pulldowns together would hit the entire body and so would Deadlifts and Dips. For this, it has been said that the Improved Consolidation Routine was Mike′s final recommendation because it would yeild the most progress and it is guaranteed as long as the principles of Intensity, Volume, and Frequency are together applied correctly.