Today we are taking an in-depth look at Mike Mentzer's approach to High Intensity Training and the results that you can achieve with it.

You might be surprised to learn that the term 'High Intensity Training' or HIT, has been around way before it became a current trend. The concept was truly solidified by none other than bodybuilding legend himself, Mike Mentzer. Not one to follow the crowd, Mentzer developed his unique Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty workout routine - a high intensity exercise program that went against the grain of conventional bodybuilding wisdom.

Unraveling HIT and Mike Mentzer’s Connection

In contrast to the regularly cycled high-volume workout split that most gym enthusiasts followed, Mentzer's regime advocated for a HIT approach. This entailed performing a single set of each exercise to failure or near failure, thereby maximizing muscle stimulation. His approach was a tightly packed 1 set per workout routine, honed for efficiency and effectiveness.

You might be wondering, though, why should you care about Mentzer’s unconventional training? Well, Mentzer wasn't just any run-of-the-mill gym rat. He was the first person to get a perfect score of 300 at the prestigious Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition. Not only that, his methods, encapsulated in many books and training materials, have piloted countless bodybuilders to achieve their fitness dreams.

Fundamentals of High Intensity Training

In order to be effective, High Intensity Training workouts must have 3 fundamental qualities: 

• They must be Intense

• They must be Brief

• They must be Infrequent

By intensity, Mentzer did not merely allude to being energetic or vigorous during workouts. His philosophy indicates a scientific approach, one where intensity refers to the percentage of the maximum force that a muscle or group of muscles can exert. This goes beyond mere perspiration or lengthy hours at the gym - it implies pushing oneself to their extreme limit. For Mentzer, the greater the intensity, the more effective the muscle stimulation, thereby making the workout significantly more efficient and results-oriented.

Mentzer also emphasized the philosophy that workouts must be "brief" in the sense that they should be extremely focused and intense rather than prolonged and drawn out. The concept of a training session being "brief" in Mentzer's terms is to prevent the overtaxing of the body's recovery abilities, thereby steering clear of overtraining. Thus, workouts, albeit short, need to be carried out with maximum effort and minimum rest, in order to stimulate the body to grow and adapt. These workouts should push an individual to their limits in a compact period, ultimately achieving more in less time.

When Mike Mentzer spoke of infrequency, he referred to the idea that the body needs sufficient time to fully recover and grow after each high-intensity workout. Breakdown and rebuilding is a fundamental aspect of muscle growth, but it only begins once the workout has ended. Therefore, by overtraining or not allowing the body ample time to repair and grow stronger, the benefits of exercise are essentially negated. Mentzer emphasized that to maximize gains from high intensity workouts, one must allow the body to rest and recover fully, which often necessitates long rest periods between each training session, hence the infrequency of workouts. This unique approach to training alters conventional wisdom, thus challenging one to reevaluate their workout regimen for improved efficiency and effectiveness.

Diving Deeper into Mike Mentzer’s Routine

Building upon an evidence-based approach, Mentzer's methods go against the traditional norms of prolonged weightlifting sessions. His philosophy rests on the premise that the human body responds best to high levels of workout intensity, rather than workout duration. The intensity refers to the level of muscular effort and exertion that pushes one's body to operate at its maximum capacity. By reaching this "momentary muscular failure", the optimum conditions for muscle hypertrophy, or growth, are met. These intense bouts of exercise are followed by periods of complete rest to allow the body ample time to recover and grow. Thus, his approach is marked by systematic, low-frequency, high-intensity workouts, underpinned by scientific principles of body biology and physics.

To maximize the results of a High Intensity Training workout, he emphasized the following qualities in a training session:

• Performing all exercises in a reasonably strict form

• 6-10 rep range

• 1 working set to failure per exercise

• 4-2-4 rep cadence

• Warm up just enough to prepare for safe movement execution

• Growth stimulation over lifted weight

• Achieving failure in all 3 phases of an exercise

Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Strict Form

You may have heard that a strict exercise form is better than cheating, however there are specific reasons for this. The goal of an exercise is to maximize the time under tension. When you introduce another force in the form of momentum you relieve the load off the target muscle. This will decrease the crucial time under tension. Also, performing an exercise in a strict form will decrease the chance of an injury. Most injuries occur when you jerk the weight, and it takes only one wrong movement to cause a serious injury.

Optimal Rep Range

Exercising within different rep ranges will produce different training outcomes. Working within a 1-5 rep range per set will yield more strength increase, while doing 15+ reps will produce better stamina improvement. However, if our goal here is to maximize muscle growth, you want to stay within 6-10 reps. Mike said that if you can do 6 reps, then next workout you will do 7, 8 or more. If you go over 10 reps, don't stop there, do as many as you can and then increase the weight next workout by 5-10%

1 Set to Failure

This is the most controversial topic of Mike's HIT workout routine. Many people perceive it as a 1-and-done set per muscle group. In reality, it's not true at all. What Mike Mentzer intended was the notion that you don't need to do more than 1 all-out working set to failure per exercise. He proposed that 1 set to failure will be sufficient enough to stimulate muscle growth, and adding even one more set will be not only less productive but more detrimental to muscle growth.

Slow Rep Cadence

As already mentioned previously, introducing momentum to your lifts will reduce time under tension. To ensure the absence of momentum further,  Mike Mentzer has come up with ideal rep cadence of 4-2-4. That is 4 seconds going up (concentric phase), holding the weight for 2 seconds in fully contracted position (static phase) and 4 seconds going down (eccentric phase). This timing is slow enough to have full control of the motion, therefore there is no need to go slower. 

Sufficient Warmup

This concept ties in to the myth of only doing 1 set per exercise. Mike always advocated that you need to warm up sufficiently to perform your working weight set safely and effectively. This would usually translate to doing the a light set with 50% of your working weight, then another one with 75% and finally doing the 1 set to failure with 100% of working weight. As you can see this actually translates to at least 3 total sets for the body part plus other exercises he would perform for the same body part to accent different muscles. 

Muscle Growth Over Ego

Mike Mentzer stressed that bodybuilders are not weightlifters. Heavy weights are a mere tool to achieve muscle growth rather than the goal itself. It doesn't matter how much you can lift as long as you will stress your muscles enough to trigger adaptation. What that means is that its better to work with lower weights but in stricter, more controlled fashion. This way you can increase time under tension and decrease the risk of injury.

3 Points of Failure

The center of Mike's workout approach was achieving muscular failure in all 3 phases of a lift movement. For example when you are doing a lat pulldown, you will continue doing it until you can no longer pull the bar all the way by yourself. Then you can get your gym buddy to help you lower the bar into fully contracted position, and hold it there for a few seconds. After a few reps you will not be able to hold it in place by yourself, this means you've achieved static failure. Finally, after a few more reps, you can no longer release the bar in a controlled fashion at all. Congratulations, you've achieved 3 points of failure.  

Final Result

But what about the results? Well, let's just say that Mike Mentzer's training program wasn't just all talk. High Intensity Training workouts, performed along the lines of the HIT Mike Mentzer style, have been praised for facilitating increased muscle gain. Famously, Dorian Yates, a 6-time Mr. Olympia winner followed his own program based on HIT principles. After Mike Mentzer had mentored Dorian in preparation for the contest, Dorian showed a completely new type of muscular and shredded physique. 

If there's a question that haunts every gym-goer, it's this; 'How do I gain muscle?'. With Mentzer's principles, not only do you learn how to get bigger arms, but also how to build muscle mass in general.

If you're still skeptical about the whole 'one-set' thing, consider this – the last couple reps when you're pushing to your limit? That's where the real growth happens. So, if you're asking 'How do you build muscle mass?', here's a quick hint: It's not always about the amount, but about the intensity. Finally, remember that gaining muscle takes time, effort, and above all, consistency. Make use of Mentzer’s wisdom, and believe in the power of high intensity to transform your physique. After all, it's not just about 'working out', it's about working smarter. Get ready to reequip yourself with this revitalized perspective on High Intensity Training!