Joe Weider rehired Mike in the fall of that year, but after six months, Mentzer left to assume the editorship of Workout, a newly launched magazine. Four years passed . Theres probably a few more, but I cant recall them right now. He was frequently up for a hard workout. Jones trained Casey 41 times, which was equal to approximately 4 months at the rate of 2.5 workouts a week. Has a great fear of ocean swimming because he doesn't "want to become filet mignon for some shark!". Mike and Ray Mentzer Dead Monday morning, June 11, 2001, an e-mail was sent to us saying that Mike Mentzer has passed away June 9th. And it can still be accomplished without drugs today. Viator lived nearby so Lerille invited him over to talk with Jones and go though a workout. Casey Viators training history at Nautilus provides an interesting example. Since they were a few of the forerunners of High Intensity Training, one question I get about them is: How intense was their training? Net Worth, Partner, Biography, The Untold Story of Ice-Ts 44-Year-Old Daughter Letesha Marrow. At the planned 10-minute mark, I walked over. !,especially now that hes dead and kept on raving about Casey Viator. Legs. i. Super Set of {Leg Extensions and Leg Presses} {1 Super Set} x 6-8 Reps. ii. Delts, Biceps & Triceps. - 8 day rest - Day 3. Anyway, review chapter 16 to find out all the how-tos. Mentzer is a man of enormous natural talentpotential no less notable than other bodybuilders who know little of high intensity. Many years ago, the entire bodybuilding world watched Mike Mentzer grow very large. I took accurate measurements of Hudlow before and after, as well as photos of him from the front and back, which you can examine in the HIT book on page 202, so Ive tried to present the results in as factual a way as possible. Nice interview Drew. Ray frequently rested completely for 34 days after his rigorous training sessions. In the summer of 1979, if you had viewed an upstart, 27-year-old philosopher and former pre-med student with the alliterative name Mike Mentzer as he prepared to make his Olympia debut by trading sets with his youngest brother Ray (who won that year's Mr. America), it would've looked like some sort of madness. He would exert himself to the point of muscle failure because of this. As we discussed the topic further, I glanced across the lobby, which was in the center of four departure-arrival gates. That fourth repetition will be a bear, but you should be able to finish it which will build your confidence for your next workout. He seldom even trained again. Wrist Curl, Day Two I guarantee . Naturally, isolation is an important component for stimulating muscle growth, and exercises that work large muscle areas don't have to be compound movements. The last of the three exercises: extremely slow leg presses, 4 repetitions in 120 seconds, will rock your world but good. Calf Raise1 1/4 reps Ellington Darden: Joness specialty was intensity. He ate a well-balanced diet that included foods from many dietary groups, such as grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, and healthy fat sources, as opposed to focusing solely on proteins. Staying off stages for most of the rest of the decade, Viator worked for Jones at Nautilus until 1978. Evidently, her interest in seeing the video studios had vanished. Created by, Ray Mentzer Diet Plan, Workout Routine, Exercise, Body Measurements, - Rate us if you are a Food Lover (Sugarzam.com). If isometrics are doing something to foster the creation of cross-bridges, I wonder if theres a performance-price to be paid elsewhere? Ellington Darden: The right training partner or supervisor can make a noticeable difference in overall results. I was impressed. Whats up with the whole black or white thing? Everyone involved agreed that this was a doable arrangement. We can thank Arthur Jones for that. Sup with that? But once you increase your daily calories to the 3,000-plus range, then the number of exercises should double. Breakdowns - This practice involves stripping off about 10% of the resistance you're using and grinding out a few more reps. You can opt to drop the poundage once or twice a week, depending on how much intensity you're ready for. He consumed high-quality dairy, chicken, and beef as sources of protein. Ellington Darden: I have a couple of projects in the formative stages. Mike Mentzer (1951-2001) was a brilliant professional American bodybuilder, businessman and fitness writer. Get ready for an incredible pump. But when someone or something emerged, Mike would jump overboard or make himself invisible. In 1978, at Sean Harringtons Nautilus club in Los Angeles, I witnessed Mike go through a true HIT workout. He quickly competed in and won the Junior Mr. America and IFBB Mr. America competitions. That being the case, then I must go with chapter 16: shocking your hips and thighs. Likewise, some of us even recall the few pictures published of a 19-year-old Mentzer in York the year Casey Viator won the AAU Mr. America. Advertised in Muscle & Fitness and Ironman magazines (November and December 2004 issues). But perhaps more importantly, research shows that with that sliding 8 percent, if there was a unified HIT push, it could rather quickly increase back 16 percent, or 3,200,000 trainees. 1-2 Sets of 6-8 Reps. Close Grip or Neutral Grip Pulldown. Since they involve no movement and have no potential for negative work, which hypothetically would produce little microtrauma, what do you think of their value for stimulating muscular size increases relative to full-range exercise? Published in the October 1971 Ironman, Viator's routine hit the bodybuilding world like a tsunami: three whole-body workouts per week, 20 all-out reps per set, sometimes only one set of an exercise and always very few working sets per bodypart. I recommend his books and training principles, but I do not advocate is maintance routine. She was intending to do a series of instructional videotapes and wanted to check out the studios in Lake Helen. Pullover Pulldown Behind Neck Id respond to them. Kens parents would not permit him to play football. Mikes significant cardiac problems were discovered during a checkup, ruling out the possibility of a kidney transplant. Drew Baye: In part IV of your book, you devote a chapter to each of eight different specialized routines. Mentzer's heavy-duty training system. And his size increase is all the more impressive for having been accomplished while getting leaner. And strength training was a lot safer than the most popular aerobic activities, such as jogging and aerobic dancing, which were the latest crazes. Is the science of microtrauma and its alleged role in hypertrophy well understood? Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 June 10, 2001), Ray Mentzer (August 2, 1953 June 12, 2001). It works. After a while, Ken asked me what I thought about his new section, which he called Exercise Versus Recreation.. Spillane was younger, 21, lighter, 132 pounds, and had less genetic potential than did Hudlow. As much as any of those Mr. America winners, I appreciate and admire Wilbur Miller. After Ray retired from completion he continued to workout with his high intensity training approach he called "Intensity For Immensity" and reached a peak body weight of 270 pounds in fairly lean condition. Ray and his teammates would move incredibly heavy objects while taking a lot of pauses. The amazing thing about Miller was that he never worked out in a commercial gym and never had a training partner. Arthur almost killed me, Viator remembered. After some small talk, he was going to ask him bluntly to define exercise. Bill Pearl was a major influence on Rays bodybuilding. Interestingly, I replicated the 14-day experiment with another Gainesville Health & Fitness subject, Michael Spillane. Bent Over rows The materials are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. Ellington Darden: Now were talking about a probable world record for muscular growth, but as I point out in chapter 3 of my book, Viator had been in a disabling accident and his muscles had atrophied. I also read that much of his depression was related to Arnold Schwarzenegger defeating him in the 1980 Mr. Olympia, a contest Mike thought he should have won. Bergers Disease had been contracted by him. After multiple visits, Hutchins was hired in 1977 by our sports-medicine orthopedist to be his assistant. All of these champions were drug-free and I must emphasize that there were some very well built men in the 40s and 50s. I dont believe Casey ever got his muscular, competitive body weight above 220. I think the major limiting factor to true isometrics is the lack of negative work which appears to be the most important part of the exercise for stimulating strength and size gains, and the lack of full-range strength improvement. Much of the credit goes to its nature as a big, three-joint exercise (hips, knees and ankles are all involved). Remember to use strict form when doing all of your exercises. Wood supervised Viator for six weeks and reported back to Jones that he had trouble getting Viator to give him his best effort. I followed Mentzer's prescribed routine in his Heavy Duty 2 Mind and Body book. Furthermore, the chart and routines extend for longer than a year. His Heavy Duty formed the cornerstone of six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates' regimen, and it continues to influence bodybuilders today. I think that a little articulateness goes a long way here; the standard is way above that of the average muscle-mag and the result is a more penetrating Q&A that the reader can draw useful conclusions from Darden expresses himself well. Sure, if you can afford the luxury of having a knowledgeable personal trainer, or can team up with a great workout partner, take advantage of the opportunity. Andy McCutcheon and High Intensity Training. Drew Baye: Whats your opinion of Hutchinss SuperSlow? I disagree with Darden that theres a strike against isometrics vs negatives here. Maintaining a healthy weight as a bodybuilder becomes increasingly essential, especially after age 40. He was observed performing a two-rep 900-pound squat during one of his evening workouts. Ive experimented with all styles of leg presses and this one is the hardest of all. This can be carried to a logical extreme. When an intermediate or advanced bodybuilder finds himself on a plateau, he is wise to consider cutting back on workout volume, while reasserting his commitment to a high intensity of effort. Mike was 11 years old, while Ray was 9 years old. But in my experience, sooner or later, youre going to have to train alone and youre going to have to push yourself. It was during this time that he developed his largest physique. Egad! If you can accomplish 4 repetitions with this weight in 120 seconds, youll be ready to add the two pre-exhaustion exercises before you do the leg press. Jones had an interest in producing how-to videos on many aspects of sports medicine. Ellington Darden: I like SuperSlow. The lobby was even more crowded, so I had to kneel on the floor beside Hutchins. Today, that percentage of involvement has shrunk by half, which leaves approximately 8 percent. Drew Baye: When Nautilus hired you, did Ken visit you in Florida? As you age, your body undergoes changes With Valentines Day just around the corner, everyone is looking for gift ideas and ways to spend time with their special Jonathan Majors is a fitness and actor model featured in Fitness Magazines and Workout DVDs and has even been on the Have you ever wondered how to get bigger arms and why it is essential to have them? That would amount to 160,000 copies sold of The New High-Intensity Training in 12 months. Then, there was the tour through the barn. # posted by Paul @ 10:00 AM. You must be logged in to post a comment Hi Drew, I was just reading that interview, Ive bought his book,hoping there would be something new, but have found that he was just vomiting what arthur jones did and said. Who is he? All rights reserved. Ellington Darden: When I joined Arthur Jones and Nautilus in 1973, it wasnt long before Hutchins drove to Florida to see for himself what was happening. Isometric training can be very effective when done correctly, however it appears strength improvements may be limited to the position or range of motion trained, so it may not be ideal when performed exclusively. I do think, however, that the creatine monohydrate formula was responsible for from 25 to 30 percent of the results. Mike Mentzer. Dip As bodybuilders most of us want to feel as though we're "sculpting our bodies" not allowing nature (read: rest) to do most of the job for us. Seriously, I know that most people will have great difficulty even locating a knowledgeable trainer, much less ever getting a personal training session from Arthur Jones. And Mike made at least one appearance at the old Lancaster Health Spa. To be specific: Hit: 100kg- 140kg squat 4 reps - long time Starting strength: 100kg - 170kg squat 5 reps - 4 months. Ellington Darden: A NTF session is where on each exercise, you stop the set two repetitions short of an all-out effort. A diversified man with broad interests, Mentzer has earned the reputation of "the thinking man's . I had a tremendous pump throughout my upper body. Then his brother died two DAYS later at age 47. The plain truth is that hundreds of thousands of men throughout the middle of the last century strengthened and built their bodies without drugs. What muscular biceps and full triceps he possessed. First off, if I may say, what an exceptional interview, Drew: you clearly went out of your way to make the most of the opportunity. Copyright © 2001-2020 BodybuildingFanatic.com. I would love for it to be wrong, but hey, it might be right. "For a while Mike and I strayed from our high intensity, heavy poundage workouts into a program using lighter weights and higher reps. One drawback is, the ROM gets awkward beyond 90 degrees in the latter exercise. When a trainee thought he was finished, Jones could always get at least two more reps from that individual. Ray Mentzer Bodybuilder Part of the reason for his success was he prescribed to his brother's concept of heavy duty training which involved very high intensity 45 minute workout sessions. Studies since then have confirmed much of what Jones believed concerning negative work. Mike's younger brother Ray Mentzer (Mr. America 1979) discovered Mike's dead body. If Mike would have won the Olympia, the world of professional bodybuilding might now be significantly different. Ellington Darden: Lou Schuler, who was recently appointed editor of Rodales newest magazine called, Mens Health MUSCLE, asked me the same question a while back. As a general rule I dont recommend stopping an exercise short of momentary muscular failure and instead recommend allowing extra days for recovery or doing a workout just focused on smaller muscle groups which wont affect recovery as much. Thank goodness, Hutchins and I were not seated near Cooper, as our heads and necks needed rest. Question: Given your disdain for slow rep training, why did you not ask Dr. Darden specific questions as to why he felt slow training was so beneficial (which he does). nurse at Ephrata Community Hospital years ago. None of the suggestions (including exercise, diet, products or services) mentioned should be performed or otherwise used without clearance from your physician or health care provider. A high-protein diet was once widely regarded by bodybuilders to be the secret to gaining muscle mass. Ray had become a full-time competitor by the age of 23. Arthur Jones had some of that ability, too. Ill report on the discovery this fall, so I encourage interested readers to give me a holler at www.DrDarden.com. 1-2 Sets for as Long as Possible. Wed effectively double team Cooper and help him understand exercise, generally and specifically, and then share with him the advantages of strength training on Nautilus equipment. Ray Mentzer who was the brother of Mike Mentzer was born in Pennsylvania on August 2, 1953. After another 30 minutes had passed, all the seats in the lobby were overflowing with people, and we had little to do but keep kneeling and nodding. Part of the benefit of negative training is the greater load that can be managed during this phase of movement, but static contraction can also accomplish this. Today, I live approximately 25 miles from Ken. I told Ken that compartmentalizing exercise and recreation was on-target and I thought his new concept was going to help our cause. After graduating from high school, he worked in United States Air Force and started working out 3 hours a day and 6 days a week. Ray was concerned about this since he didnt want his brother to put too much stress on his body given that he knew he had cardiac issues. Rest 2 to 3 minutes According to Ray, he got more attention at the airport than Martina did, the dirty car turned her off, and the ride back to Lake Helen was hot, both in temperature and in conversation. He died in 2001 from heart complications. By Steve Wedan (visit his website at www.SteveWedanArt.com). Answer: To paraphrase Arthur Jones, Rather than the best, Ill tell you the one that I like the least, which will be the routine that I need the most.. Does McCutcheon actually train on Bowflex? Mentzer won the heavyweight class for Mr. Olympia in 1979 with a perfect score of 300. But his well-documented progress is nonetheless directly attributable to his well-organized increase in intensity and the attendant diminishing of exercise volume. To this day, Im a firm believer in strength training the neck, for both athletes and nonathletes. Without getting into the finer points of the SuperSlow philosophy, I want to say simply: Ken Hutchins carefully studied repetition form, which was and is a subset of HIT, and turned it into a full-fledged business. Drew Baye: Im surprised you failed to place Schwarzeneggers arms in the top category as Viators, Olivas, and Coes. Mike could still look after his younger sibling, though. No problem, he simply dropped down on one knee in front of Cooper and continued. by Greg Merritt. The strange thing was that the entire 6 months Mike was at the Nautilus headquarters, I never saw him take an intense workout. There were Clancy Ross (45) and George Eiferman (48), with their massive chests, as well as John Farbotnik (50). Mentzer died on June 10, 2001 in Rolling Hills, California. There is a lot of research on microtrauma and hypertrophy. Ellington Darden: Over the last 25 years, I worked with a lot of major publishing houses, such as Little Brown, Simon & Schuster, Contemporary Books, and Putnam. Harder, briefer exercise helped create larger, stronger muscles. Over the last 30 years, Ive been around Arnold four or five times. The sad story does not end here. The downward spiral began at this point. My reasoning is that a younger body can handle cheating much better than an older body, so as you get older, youd be wise to focus more on form than intensity. Pay particular attention to the bottom turnaround. Surely, with the correct instruction and motivation, we can turn a reasonable percentage of them into HIT believers. Drugs, hormone injections, implants, and who knows what else, have destroyed professional bodybuilding today. All rights Reserved. He took the Nautilus training principles and helped explain them in a way that people could easily understand and apply, and without insulting people in the process like Arthur did. Viators arms reminded me of Popeye, because his hanging forearms appeared disproportionately large and impressive. And although their lights have faded, Ray and Mike Mentzer built some of the biggest muscles the world has ever seen using these methods. Body Building Links. By Paul Becker. Ray had no choice but to have a replacement kidney due to the severity of the illness. Heavy Duty: Mike Mentzer's Most Productive Routine, by John Little. His left arm was 19 inches. In the past, with my bodybuilding books from other publishers, I had always worked with a man on the design and layout. On June 10, 2001, Ray discovered that his brother would never get out of bed. Mentzer joined the US Air Force after graduating from High School. All it takes to get bigger and stronger, Miller says with his friendly demeanor, is an understanding of weight-training basics and hard work.. Is there anything Im missing here? Created by Mike Mentzer (1951 - 2001)as much philosopher as he was bodybuilderthe Heavy Duty method is one that incorporates high-intensity training along with lower rep ranges and heavier weights. This would not be a problem with quasi-isometric protocols like Static Holds and Max Contraction which follow isometric failure with a full or partial negative. You can make it work for you. At the age of 18 he started competing in physique competitions, and two years later in . Mike and Ray are the only two brothers in history to both win the Mr. America contest. . I have repeatedly come across trainers asserting that static contraction is a good second-best for those with limited mobility or other disabilities; I have not seen the research to prove that it should be regarded as second-best at all, nor have I seen anyone cite such research it seems to be just a belief thats out there.