HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

Hi for all!!
I am new here.
I am curious about HD and want to experiment it,but have some doubths.
My current routine is :(training monday and friday)

Monday:
Squats
MP
Rows
Dips

Friday:
Squats
Chins
Bench press

I do 2 work sets,whit 2 min rest betwen sets,for 8 to 10 reps.
I increase the weigth when I do 2 sets for 10 reps whit the same weigth.
I am 5′10′′ 145 lbs 6% body fat.
I have hear that HD is the best way to gain mass and reach your potential,but at the same time the best way to gain strength and no mass.
I am confused.
Also,just 1 set per movement is not enougth for muscular endurance and condition.
Just 1 work set make you tired all the week.
I want to see someone convence me the contrary.

Thank you very much!!

hey giovanni, I will try to get the ball started for you. I am a beginner as well, so most of the people from this site recommended a consolidation routine to me. The advise you may hear is to buy the book and videos from this site, as well as paying close attention to these posts as well. You should be able to learn alot. Mike Mentzer basically states that one set to failure is all you need to do and any more is a wasted effort. But hopefully the guys on this site will explain better along with the books and video. P.S., there is also some articles that should help you with some of these questions to the left of the homepage. Hope that helps you a little. Good luck!

jim

The one set idea is one of the hardest ones for beginners to grasp. I′ll try to explain why one set will provide optimal stimulation for growth, and why doing more sets will actually hinder your progress.

I am assuming that you understand the concept of intensity. It is vitally important that you take each set to ABSOLUTE 100% BALLS TO THE WALL FAILURE. I don′t mean stop when you feel the burn or it starts to hurt, I mean keep going until you absolutely cant move the muscle being trained, until you are gasping for air, until your eyes are about to pop out of your head, until you see stars, until you are about to puke, etc… you get the idea. Now lets assume for example you do a set of flat barbell bench press with 200 pounds for 10 reps and that 10th rep is ABSOLUTE failure as discussed above. Now lets say you rest a few minutes and attempt a second set with the same weight. Will you be able to get 10 reps. If you went to ABSOLUTE failure on the first set then there is no way that you possibly could. In fact you′d be luck to get 4 or 5. The reason: your body′s energy reserves were severely taxed. The majority of the energy stored in your muscle as well as your system as a whole was used up. Even if you rested an hour, two hours, or even a day/days you still would not be able to perform a set of 200 pound flat bench for 10 reps because your energy reserves had not been totally recharged not to mention the damage you have just done to your muscles not being healed.

So what exactly did that second set do? Well since you didn′t do nearly the same amount of reps with the same weight did you provide any greater growth stimulus? The answer is no. Since the second set, and any successive sets after that, had very little energy to draw from (remember you used up the majority of your muscles energy reserves on the first set IF it was truly FULL intensity) it cant possibly provide any additional growth stimulus because it will not reach the same intensity level as the first one did (10 reps as compared to 4 or 5 reps). Remember it is intensity that is the stimulus not volume. If volume stimulated muscle growth then these Kenyan marathon runners would have quads the size of telephone poles because they run for hours and work their legs with more total volume than any weightlifter.

What then is the result of the additional set? Well since you didn′t provide any added stimulus all you did was to further dip into your body′s recovery reserves thus MAKING YOUR RECOVERY TIME THAT MUCH LONGER! Think of it as if you were digging a hole. At the first scoop with your shovel you dig a hole 1 foot deep. Now you go to scoop again but this time you only reach down 6 inches. Did the hole get any deeper? No, so what was the only result? You are just that much more tired from lifting the shovel. You can keep scooping the shovel 6 inches over and over again all day and you will eventually become very exhausted without ever making the hole any deeper!

But that′s madness you say, no one would be stupid enough to do that. THUS THE IRONY OF THE VOLUME APPROACH!!!!

As for your routine remember LESS is MORE. On the first day you are doing dips and military press whcih exercise many of the exact same muscles (so in effect you are doing multiple sets, which as the above example shows, has no positive effect only negative effects). As far as your frequency goes that would be way too often for me. I need about 7 rest days between workouts. However, much of your recovery time needs are determined by genetics. The ONLY way to judge if you need more rest is whether or not you are making STRENGTH GAINS. If you are not making strength gains EVERY workout on EVERY exercise then you need to reevaluate your routine and eliminate exercises that are redundant (i.e. train the same muscles like dips and MP) and/or add more rest days.

I strongly suggest to get Mikes books: Heavy Duty 2 and Hight Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way.

thank you madman for helping explain some of the theories, giovanni, I think one main attribute one should believe in is that stronger muscles are bigger muscles. If you believe in that basic theory then the principles behind all of this HIT, HD should be sensible. I know in most cases I have witnessed of truly large men it was usually the case. Now of course there are exceptions to that rule, some men do have much better genetics than others and some guys (cheat if you will) with certain products that I wouldn′t recommend. " to each their own" . If you watch powerlifters or strongmen on espn you will see some huge guys, now understand they usually aren′t training for size, so to speak, that would be a byproduct of the weights they use. Usually powerlifters or strongmen are trying to lift these impossible weights in the most easy way possible to get them up. They are not necessarily trying to develop their muscles like bodybuilders, but their size is quite impressive. That might not be the best example but it is one thought that comes to mind to me when trying to say strength equals size…..good luck

jim

Good explaination Madman.

Here′s my simple way of saying 1 set is all that is required…

Think back BEFORE you EVER worked out (age of 15, 17, whatever)…

You got as BIG as you were (took 15, 17 years off inbetween workouts, because there hadn′t been a workout!) from what???

ONE sperm from your dad and ONE egg from your mom…

I don′t think I need to say anymore.

Darrell