HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

Chewy, you explained that you have tried MM′s guidelines, and you ended up in a shape that would′ve been laughed off the bodybuilding stage. You also stated that you were able to go to 250 lB!!! lean!!!! OLYMPIA STATUS!!! I′d love to know what you did or what your advice to me would be on diet. I′m currently at 165 lb 14% bf, and 20 years old and would love to be able to reach 175 by the end of this year, ripped. Of course I′d love to go beyond that but I′m taking smalls steps. Man, I hope Chewy sees my post or at least somebody can relay it to him.

Just curious where you read about someone being 250 lbs lean on this forum. Do you have a link to his post?

/Forums/ViewTopic.asp?topic_id=651&start;=16. It was the topic,"low carb for cutting," right beneath my topic. Try to search it for next time before asking before the link. I wouldn′t say anything if it was a different subject but right underneath a topic you just posted to? Come on now…

Please, Chewy, I beg for your advice.

Hi jesseh, sorry it took so long to respond.

Was I a lean 250lbs? No, actually 260lbs. Yes I was lean, somewhat vascular and could see my abs but I was far from ripped or Olympia caliber. At my height (I’m 5’-11”) I’d have to compete at 260lbs at minimum, but actually much more. But that would take some drug use which I’m not interested in. The biggest I’ve been in competition shape was 217lbs but at that point my highest offseason weight was 235. That was about 5 years ago and I don’t have any interest in competing again.

When I withdrew from the contest because of being in bad shape it had nothing to do with my training but my diet. I tried to get in shape by using Mentzer’s ideas of high carb and just cutting calories. Sure didn’t work for me. What works best for me is a timed carb diet. You can look that up to find more info but basically I only eat protein, fats, salads and vegetables except for pre and post workout meals with carbs. It’s usually just a drink with waxy maize for carbs and whey protein. I also “cheat” one day a week, usually on Saturday. Burgers, pizza, beer. But I try to not overdo it.

As far as training goes I really like Mentzer’s ideal routine, right out of HD2 and High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer. I use the three way split and rest 2-3 days between workouts. I do use the pre-exhaust sometimes but I really like rest/pause in DC style. I’ve seen the consolidation routine work well for hardgainers but when they got the best results they were training with 3-5 days of rest and not 7-10 or more.

A lot of it comes down to genetics. Every man in my family is big, my brother is the same height as me and he built himself up to 280lbs. If I never trained I would still be over 200lbs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t put on a lot of muscle, you never know until you try. You didn’t say how tall you are but I have two examples of skinny friends who gained a lot of weight. One is 6’ and he started at 160lbs. and he got up to 215. Another is 5’-11” and started at 175lbs. He got up to 225lbs.

Hopefully this helps and if you have any questions just ask.

Chewy