Only 13 years old at the time, Mentzer went so far as to set out a future schedule for his bodybuilding career. It read:

Wow, not only an outstanding set of guiding principles, to realise a champion physic, derived from a life of rigorous pushing of one’s self, but an outstanding ideology to realise a champion mindset, derived from a life of rigorous learning of one’s self. I came into this book looking for a comprehensive way to train. Until recently I didn't have a foundation to lose the weight and keep it off after a few knee injuries saw my weight balloon. This book changed the way I train substantially, but not only that, also my philosophy towards it, everything makes so much sense and follows logic, I don't overtrain anymore, 2 days a week is all I need, no stress about having to go 4 times a week, just true hard work and plenty of rest to let the muscles repair and grow. To go beyond failure, do pre-exhaust supersets. For example, do a set of dips immediately after triceps extensions. In his last interview before his death, Mentzer said he was delighted to get so many phone clients and close personal bodybuilding friends, such as Markus Reinhardt, who had been influenced by him to become Objectivists. He described Objectivism as the best philosophy ever devised. He also criticized the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which he described as an "evil philosophy," because according to him Kant set out to destroy man's mind by undercutting his confidence in reason. He also criticized the teaching of Kantianism in schools and universities and said it's very difficult for an Objectivist philosopher with a PhD to get a job in any of the universities. [13] Final years and death [ edit ]

Oversimplification aside, the passages in Mentzer’s works were emblematic of his drive to verify everything for himself. This also affected his training style — he initially trained like everyone else before discovering that a high-intensity approach yielded better results.

What isn’t communicated in the workout above is the intensity Mentzer brought to his training. Typically he did only one or two sets per exercise. Using pre-fatigue and forced reps, Mentzer’s philosophy was simple — obliterate the muscles and then move on. His workouts were often 45 minutes in duration. Push sets past failure with forced reps and negatives. Train with a partner, so he or she can assist you.Mike Mentzer menade på att det fanns tre olika typer av styrka: den positiva kontraktionen, statisk styrka och negativa repetitioner. Om man faktiskt ärligt tränar till failure innebär det oftast enbart att den första och svagaste styrkenivån – positiva kontraktionen – inte klarar mer påfrestning. Om du klarar 70kg i benspark, klarar du antagligen att hålla 100kg i toppositionen ett tag, och du klarar antagligen att med någorlunda kontroll den excentriska delen av rörelsen. Dessa siffror är påhittade men summan av kardemumman är att för att uppnå äkta muskulär failure måste även den excentriska styrkan vara slutkörd. I started receiving Zen instruction around the time I started weight-lifting. It was so strange because in Zen you are encouraged to focus on action and the body whereas Mike Mentzer in this book about weight-lifting is telling you to focus on your mind. It’s a great combination.

Now for those who doubted Mentzer’s seriousness in making these claims, he reminded them of his 1979 Olympia diet: First, he neutered the Junior Mr. America and earned first place at 190 pounds. Then, he took third at the 1975 Mr. America, stepping on stage cut at 195. He placed behind Roger Callard and Robby Robinson.

Mike Mentzer, Heavy Duty (originally published 1993). Available from Mike Mentzer.com. http://www.mikementzer.com/hdchap1.html Rest-pause is another method of transcending failure. Mike Mentzer had a unique method of doing rest-pause. He advised doing a set of four to six maximum reps with rests of 10-15 seconds between reps (and a 20% weight reduction near the end), so, in essence, the set would be a series of all-out singles.

After years of essentially starting and stopping again and being bored with weight training reading this book reignited that love I had for weight training and the allure of bodybuilding. The book at first is what you expect from a weight training guide. For the most part its a book about lifting advice and principals. But unexpectedly the book then morphs into an almost philosophical insight into the mind of a bodybuilder.The result? Even though he placed second, Mentzer was generally considered to be the most defined competitor in the contest.( 15) One of the great lessons of this books is the importance of process and valuing small victories. We are trying not to be perfect but to constantly work at perfecting our process. We aren’t competing with anybody in the gym, we are competing with history and that narrative of our ego that makes us doubt ourselves.