Deadlift Safety
Many of my telephone consultations indicate that the amount of weight used in the
deadlift exercise becomes so extreme at times that they are beginning to notice excess low
back strain. They don't want to give up the exercise because of the great value they have
received but, concurrently, must increase the weight in order to overload the muscles.
There is a way around this dilemma. First, note that the deadlift is primarily an upper
back exercise, although it affects many muscle groups. In fact, the trapezius will be one
of the first muscle groups to fatigue which is why it becomes increasingly more difficult
to completely straighten up on the last repetitions. Consequently, in order to maintain
the intensity and effect, yet use lighter weight, perform a shrug at the top of each
repetition. This will fatigue the trapezius muscles even more quickly, with a lighter
weight than usual, yet you will still receive great results.
Brian D. Johnston
Impact Forces and Training Technique
When lowering a resistance, do so slowly and deliberately in order to gently bring the
weight to the bottom position. This is necessary since a falling weight's kinetic energy
proportionately increases with its speed -- faster speeds equal higher forces, which can
mean a potentially harmful impact at the completion of an eccentric repetition. Once at
the bottom position, pause momentarily (i.e., 1/2-1 second). If you attempt to bounce the
weight, or perform a quick "turnaround" another harmful impact force may
transpire (due to the effect of gravity, a massive body wishes to continue in a downward
motion, and toward the Earth's center; however, attempting an upward force concurrently
with a weight's downward force results in a collision between the soft tissues and the
weight). Begin each repetition slowly, and never accelerate to an "explosive"
speed as this, too, increases the force to a more dangerous level. In sum, the keys to
safe training are: 1) always move slowly and deliberately; and 2) pause briefly at the
bottom position.
Brian D. Johnston
Martians
If you had just arrived from the planet Mars onto the earth and decided you wanted to
build your muscles, and I told you that all that is required is one workout lasting 15
minutes or so every four to seven days, such wouldn't strike you as too much or too
little. As a fresh arrival from Mars, your thinking would be unhampered by all of the
false generalizations, unwarranted assumptions and undefined contradictions about weight
training that floating like so much cognitive detritus, polluting the intellectual
atmosphere of the earth's bodybuilding subculture.
[My advice to volume bodybuilders is that you discard everything you thought you knew
about training, as you didn't really "know" anything; and take a fresh, new,
unobstructed look at the subject of productive bodybuilding exercise.]
Mike Mentzer, Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body
Genetics and Response to Exercise
While potential can only be assessed accurately in retrospect, there are certain
indices (genetically mediated, physical traits) that provide a solid suggestion. These
include bone size, muscle belly length, innate recovery ability and muscle fiber density.
Also important, but less amenable to visual scrutiny, is the individual's array of
genetic/physiologic traits that regulate the rate and degree of response to exercise. I am
referring to those traits whose specific task is to shut off the process of muscle growth
that occurs in response to singular bouts of intense exercise and, then, permanently once
individual potential has been fully actualized. These regulatory traits, like most genetic
traits, are expressed across a broad continuum; which helps to explain why there exists
such a wide range of variation regarding individual response to exercise.
Mike Mentzer
Time Under Load (TUL): Improved Form and Precise
Measurement
Many people assume that the goal of performing an exercise is to simply make the weight
go up and down. They get into a machine or pick up a barbell and do what they believe
they're supposed to do - lift and lower the weight as many times as they can. Then, when
they begin to approach muscular failure, they attempt to move faster, and lose their form
for the sake of achieving what they believe to be the goal of the exercise: to keep the
weight moving up and down.
People who view exercise this way often perform it as if they're trying to "beat
the machine" or "beat the barbell". However, simply making the weight go up
and down is not the goal of performing an exercise. Each repetition is simply a means to
accomplishing the real end: inroading the target muscles' strength levels to stimulate a
growth mechanism. In other words, the real objective is not to "beat the
machine" or "beat the barbell", the real objective is use the barbell or
machine to "beat the muscles".
Using the repetition count as a means of measuring progress can encourage such poor
form in some people, since in a way it implies that the goal of an exercise is to simply
perform as many repetitions as possible. Such people assume that the more repetitions they
perform, no matter how they perform them, the better they have done. Exercising under this
erroneous assumption typically leads one to sacrifice proper form towards the end of an
exercise for the sake of a few extra fast, sloppy, relatively unproductive reps. This
wastes valuable recovery energy and increases one's risk of injury.
After reading his article on the subject and discussing it with him, I believe Doug
McGuff, MD has found the solution to the above problem: using time under load (TUL) as a
standard of measurement, rather than the repetition count. Not only does TUL provide a far
more precise standard of measurement than the repetition count; it also encourages better
form during exercise, since it places the emphasis where it should be, on quality muscular
loading. Using TUL as a measure of progress encourages one to take their time and make
each repetition as intense as they can, getting as much muscular stimulation as possible
out of every second of the exercise, rather than simply trying to complete each rep for
the sake of completing it.
Dr. McGuff also made the following important point regarding accurate measurement of
progress. The repetition count is nothing more than a representation of a particular TUL.
By prescribing a particular repetition range for an exercise and setting an upper guide
number by which to determine when to increase the resistance, we are attempting to
consistently achieve momentary muscular failure within that particular TUL. However,
repetition count is a relatively inaccurate means of measuring this. As Terry Carter, an
instructor at Ultimate Exercise, Dr. McGuff's training facility in Seneca, SC, says,
"counting reps for record-keeping purposes is like using miles to measure the length
of your house".
Even if one attempts to use a relatively constant repetition speed from workout to
workout, which is necessary for a repetition count or measurement of TUL to provide a
meaningful comparison of performance, it is impossible to perform every repetition of an
exercise with the exact same speed every time one trains. Since an increase in TUL of
several seconds represents a significant increase in strength when one is moving in a
slow, controlled manner and contracting as intensely as possible, and a decrease in TUL of
only a few seconds, even though the rep count may be the same, may be an indication of
regression and the need for more recovery time between workouts or a reduction in training
volume, every second of an exercise counts. And, what if during one workout you perform 5
and 1/2 repetitions on a particular exercise, and the next time you perform 5 and 3/4?
During the final repetition of a set to failure you will probably be just barely moving,
in which case 1/4 of a repetition would represent several seconds of muscular loading.
These seconds would be missed entirely if one simply used the repetition count as a
measure of the set. TUL provides a much more precise measure of performance and progress
from workout to workout.
Andrew M. Baye
Starve the Adiposity, Feed the Lean Mass
Reducing body fat can be done safely (without losing muscle), simply, methodically and
in a predictable fashion so that the individual achieves his goal on a predetermined date.
The process begins by establishing one's present maintenance level of calories. This can
be accomplished by keeping a five-day food diary wherein you record everything you eat,
including the quantity, for that period. At the end of each day, sit down with a good
calorie-counting book and tally the total calories for that day. On the fifth day, take
the five daily totals, add them up for a grand total, divide by five, and you'll have your
daily average calorie intake. If you didn't gain or lose weight over that five day period,
your daily average calorie intake will also represent your daily maintenance level of
calories.
Once you've established your daily maintenance level of calories, reduce your food
intake so that you are 500 calories below maintenance. Since there are 3500 calories in a
pound of fat, a 500 calorie daily deficit will lead invariably to a loss of one pound of
fat a week. Over a period of time, as you continue to lose weight, your maintenance level
of calories will go down, and weight loss will slow down or come to a halt. When this
happens, reduce your calories another 500 or so and the weight-fat loss will proceed.
I had one of my phone consultation clients do this recently, and he lost exactly 12
pounds in 12 weeks. Did he lose any muscle? Considering that his strength sky-rocketed
during this period, not to mention that he gained one-half inch on his arms, it's safe to
conclude that he didn't lose any muscle. Monitoring strength levels during periods of
weight loss is almost a sure-fire method for determining whether or not one is losing
muscle. One cannot lose muscle if he is growing stronger during a weight loss program. I
emphasize this because I have clients call me to complain that they are losing muscle
while following the training and nutritional program (involving a calorie-deficit diet) I
put them on. And in every case, when I ask if they're still gaining in strength, they
respond in the affirmative; whereupon I explain that one cannot be losing the contractile
protein element in the muscle if gaining strength while losing weight. What they perceive
as muscle loss is actually water loss. You see, after several days of calorie-deficit
dieting, the muscles lose all or some of their stored glycogen. It just so happens that
glycogen chemically bonds with and "holds" water in the muscle, with three grams
of water bonded to each gram of glycogen. Since the glycogen is not fully restored during
periods of heavy training and calorie-deficit dieting, the water is not replaced, and the
muscle dehydrates somewhat, causing it to lose fluid pressure and to feel flaccid, i.e.,
softer and smaller. And remember: muscle is not mostly protein but water, 72 percent, in
fact. So, although muscle is mostly water, it can lose a lot of its stored water and,
thus, appear smaller. The important thing, of course, is that you don't lose the
contractile protein element of the muscle, as the muscle can be readily rehydrated by
increasing one's calories - primarily from carbohydrates - above maintenance level.
The first symptom indicating protein loss is a significant reduction in strength, or
functional capacity. A slight reduction in functional capacity, such as being able to
perform one or two less reps, in a given workout may not be cause for concern as it could
be from greater glycogen depletion that day. A significant reduction in functional
capacity over a period of time, however, and you almost certainly are losing protein from
the muscle. When this happens there will also be a dramatic increase in the rate of weight
loss for, again, where a pound of fat contains 3500 calories, a pound of muscle only
contains about 600 calories. The point here is that one must burn, or use, approximately
six times as much muscle to obtain the same energy yield he would get from burning one
pound of fat. People who overtrain and overdiet - and thus lose muscle - often report as
much as six to 10 pounds of weight lost a week!
With a modest calorie-deficit diet of 500-750 calories, you will sufficiently starve
the adiposity and lose fat on a continual basis, yet obtain sufficient nutrients to feed
the lean mass so that you grow stronger and larger. And it doesn't matter, in one sense,
whether you reduce carbs or fats, so long as you reduce calories to below maintenance
level. While all weight loss diets are calorie-deficit diets, the best are those which
reduce total calories while roughly conforming to a ratio of 60:25:15 of carbohydrates to
protein to fats, as all of the world's top, reputable nutritional scientists agree.
Mike Mentzer
Repetitions vs. Inroads
I just completed a workout that included a single set of leg presses to momentary
muscular failure. A set to failure is just that - a set where you can no longer perform
the positive portion of a rep in GOOD FORM. Once you get to this point, however, you don't
stop; you try with all the muscular effort you can muster to continue to move the
resistance for a few seconds. The goal is to create as deep an inroad into your current
functional ability as possible.
It is often possible to go to positive failure but still perform a couple of more
repetitions by letting your exercise technique breakdown and "cheating" the
resistance through the sticking point. For example, in the leg press you can lift your
back off the pad and get the weight through the sticking point. I believe this is a grave
mistake. First, you greatly increase the chances of injury. Indeed, the vast majority of
injuries associated with weight training are caused by poor exercise form and not by the
resistance per se. Second, if you count the cheated repetitions in your training diary,
you are not providing an accurate record of your performance. The next time you perform
that exercise again, you won't remember that in your last workout the final couple of
repetitions were cheated and therefore you'll be unable to adequately assess whether the
current workout represents progression or not. Given these considerations, I find it very
helpful prior to performing a given exercise to think to myself, "I will inroad the
target muscles as thoroughly as is possible" rather than "I need to get 10
repetitions no matter what." Obviously the performance of repetitions is the means by
which we inroad our muscles, but do not confuse "getting the reps" with creating
sufficient inroad to turn on the growth switch.
Kevin Fontaine
Calf Training Secrets
Many authorities advocate that placing the pressure on the big toes develops the calves
in a certain way, whereas, pointing the feet either out or in develops them in another
way. This is analagous to saying wide grip bench presses develop the outer pecs, and
preacher curls develop the lower biceps. Hogwash! The function of the calves is plantar
flexion, period! Regardless of your foot positioning, your calves can only develop in
accordance to their genetic potential.
The key to optimizing calf development is not to raise up on your toes, as is typically
performed in gyms. Begin the movement by slowly descending to the bottom position, to the
point where you feel a moderate, but not painful, stretch. Pause momentarily to avoid
stored energy torque (stretch/rebound) of the soft tissues from commencing the work. Begin
the movement isometrically (flex your calves), then slowly move up. Now, here's the most
important part -- focus on your HEELS lifting up toward your calves in a semi-circle or
arc. Doing so makes the movement much more concentrated and difficult. Hold the
contraction for about 5 seconds before slowly lowering to the bottom position. In all,
each repetition should take approximately 15 seconds -- 5 seconds up, 5 seconds to hold,
and 5 seconds down. Work in the range of 6-8 repetitions (90-120 second load time). If
results are not forthcoming within 4-6 workouts, and you are not overtraining, alter the
repetition range (increase or decrease), then analyze the results.
Intensity and Overtraining
The cardinal fundamental of bodybuilding science is the principle of intensity, i.e.,
only by training to a point of momentary muscular failure, where 100 percent intensity of
effort is required to complete the last rep, can one be assured that growth is stimulated.
And because the magnitude of the demand made by such training on the body�s limited
reserve of biochemical resources, or recovery ability, is literally enormous, that
training must be cautiously regulated in terms of both volume and frequency - lest it
result in overtraining.
Overtraining, dear reader, is not something merely "kinda" or
"sorta" negative - it is much worse than that. Overtraining is the worst
training mistake a bodybuilder can make; it is precisely that which militates against the
desired result. Overtraining, by definition, means performing any more exercise than is
minimally required to trigger the growth mechanism into motion. Most bodybuilders today
still operate on the notion that their purpose is to discover how many sets they can do,
how much they can take or how long they can endure. And such is erroneous because
bodybuilding is not aerobic. A bodybuilding workout is not an endurance contest! The
actual, literal purpose of a bodybuilder is not to discover how many sets he can endure,
but to intelligently do what nature requires merely to trigger the growth mechanism into
motion, then get the hell out of the gym, go home, rest and GROW!
Mike Mentzer
Off the Charts
Most people's average daily efforts are minimal in intensity, until they reach that
point in the day when doing a set of heavy Barbell Squats to failure. Then. . . .!
Heavy Duty, high-intensity training is very demanding; more demanding, in fact, than
most realize, until they try it. Such training certainly isn't easier than volume
training, as some have wrongly asserted. It is much more demanding than volume training;
which is why it is more productive; and why some are reluctant to engage in it. However,
training to failure need not be feared, it is not an apocalyptic experience. Most, like
myself, find training to failure to be an exhilarating experience; and once having done it
find it impossible to go back to the blind, non-theoretical, volume approach. Such
training isn't so very demanding, however, that it should scare away anyone, perhaps
except the timorous, namby-pamby types; those quivering, quaking neurotics who never
developed enough life-assertive self-respect to ever engage in any heavy physical exertion
their whole lives.
The following may help you better understand just how demanding Heavy Duty is, and why
only one set need be performed. "Imagine a straight horizontal line, drawn across a
piece of paper from left to right, representing zero effort. If you were to graph your
daily efforts -- getting out of bed, driving to work, walking up stairs, doing aerobics --
off of that flat line, again going from left to right, it would be a sinusoidal wave of
minimal, fluctuating amplitude. Then you come to that juncture in the day where you
perform ONE set of heavy Barbell Squats to failure--and the low amplitude sine wave takes
a sudden, dramatic departure straight up, off the paper and across the street!"
"The distance from the flat line to the apex of the spike represents not only how
much more severe, or intense, the effort involved in the set of Squats is but, also, the
much greater degree to which the body's limited reserve of resources are used up, as a
result of brief, high-intensity exercise." (Chapter Three of my book, Heavy Duty I)
The crucial importance of strictly limiting the volume of high-intensity muscular
effort might be made even more clear when looked at in terms of the body's capacity for
coping with stress. (Bodybuilding science, remember, is the science of high-intensity,
anaerobic exercise, stress physiology.) While we are exposed to multitudinous forms of
stress every day, three more readily recognizable ones are: high-intensity sunlight on the
skin, friction on the palms of the hands and that of high-intensity exercise on the
muscles.
Up to a very definite point, exposure to intense ultra-violet sunlight will lead to the
formation of a tan. One minute more exposure than that required by nature to stimulate
suntan development, however, results in a burn. Carried to radical extremes, overexposure
to the sun's rays will cause stroke, poisoning and death.
The formation of a tan is the result of a compensatory build-up of the body designed to
allow us to cope more successfully with the same stress in the future; which, is to say,
with less disturbance of the body's limited reserve of resources. The burn is an example
of a reverse process, one of depletion; instead of building up a protective barrier (tan),
the body decompensated and lost tissue (burned).
The buildup of a callous on the palm of the hand is the result of a similar process.
The skin of the palms is generally thicker than the skin on other parts of the body to
protect the palms from regular contact with abrasive objects. But the repeated handling of
extremely rough objects, like the knurled grip of a barbell, may be too abrasive for even
the palms to endure without breaking down.
If friction is abrasive enough, the formation of a callous will be stimulated. And if
the amount of friction is not excessive so as to wear away the callous as it is forming, a
callous will, indeed, be produced. While the friction has to be abrasive enough to
stimulate callous formation, too much would cause the skin to wear away completely and
become lacerated.
Exercise, too, is a form of stress. Intense exercise can result in the compensatory
buildup of muscle tissue, which enables the body to cope with the same stress in the near
future, with less disturbance of the body's limited reserve of resources. When carried on
beyond the least amount required to stimulate the adaptive response, the excess drains the
reserve of resources needed for recovery and, thus, prevents the buildup of added muscle
tissue.
The amount of stress that the body can successfully cope with is directly related to
the intensity of the stress. While the stress must be intense enough to stimulate an
adaptive response - (with no amount of stress below the required level will producing the
desired effect)--only a very small amount of high-intensity stress is required to
stimulate the buildup of new tissue. And the greater the intensity, the less the body will
tolerate before overuse atrophy sets in.
Mike Mentzer
Triceps Pushdown
Begin the movement by placing your ribcage up and out. This position places the
shoulders down and back, making the exercise more strict. The upper arms must be held
tight to the sides and motionless throughout the entire movement -- there is no benefit in
moving the upper arms/elbows up and down, except to cheat the movement, thereby reducing
tension and exercise effectiveness.
Grasp a straight bar about shoulder width, or slightly narrower with the thumbs either
wrapped around, or over top the bar -- whichever is most comfortable. Extend the forearms
focusing on the insertion point of the triceps--just below the elbow joint--moving in a
small arc toward an imaginary, vertical line dissecting the upper arm (see diagram).
This technique will help to isolate the exercise for a better feel, and greater
concentraion. Avoid completely locking out the elbow joint to avoid impact trauma, and to
maintain tension on the working muscles. Pause momentarily, then slowly return the bar to
the top position. Avoid the last inch at the top range of the movement in order to
maintain tension on the triceps, and to reduce stored energy (stretch/rebound of the
triceps tissue). Doing so helps to reduce cheating tendencies at the beginning of the
positive phase of each rep. Pause momentarily to further eliminate cheating, then repeat
for another repetition.
Brian D. Johnston
Proper Pressing
When performing a pressing movement for the deltoids or pectorals, avoid thinking of
moving the weight from Point A to Point B. Pressing the weight straight up over-emphasizes
the triceps' role, being elbow joint extension. Conversely, the function of the deltoids
is to abduct the arms (moves them away from the torso, i.e., side laterals), while the
pectorals flexes, adducts, and rotates the arms medially (moves the arms toward the center
of the body, i.e., pec deck flyes). As a result, focus on the insertion points of the
deltoids and pectorals, respectively, moving in an arc toward an imaginary median plane,
disecting the head and torso. This technique helps to mentally reinforce rotational
movement, and not straight line movement.
Brian D. Johnston
Stimulus Freaks
You must understand that the workout does not actually produce muscular growth. The
workout is merely a trigger that sets the body's growth mechanism into motion. It is the
body itself, of course, that produces growth; but it does so only during a sufficient rest
period.
Let's look at it in a slightly different way. Perhaps you have heard of the concept
"S-R," or stimulus-response. It is used in a variety of contexts, and has
application in bodybuilding. The workout is literally merely a stimulus that causes a
response in the body. The response process consists of two aspects--recovery and growth
production. Of crucial importance here is that the recovery response itself may take up to
several days or longer to be completed. And it is only once the recovery process has been
completed that the growth production process will begin. If the individual stimulates the
body again with another workout before it has a chance to respond with recovery and
growth, he short-circuits the response process before it is completed, compromising
results short of 100 possible units.
And this is what the vast majority of bodybuilders do continuously: they are
hyper-obsessive with chronically over stimulating the body, never allowing the body the
opportunity during a sufficient rest period to fully respond to the stimulus. In short,
they are "stimulus freaks" moved by some warm, fuzzy notion, in effect,
"Hey, the more often I'm in the gym working out the more I must be doing something
for myself." What they don't understand is that they should only be in the gym long
enough and often enough to merely trigger a recovery-growth response, not to satisfy some
obsessive (i.e., mindless) need or, addiction, to train or to be in the gym. To be a
successful bodybuilder, one must tone his awareness that the rest period between workouts
is just as important as the workout, for this is when the most important thing of all has
a chance to happen; namely, the completion of that which prompted him to workout in the
first place, GROWTH.
If you recognize the truth of the premise that the rest period between workouts is just
as important as the workout itself, do you see where it follows logically that there has
to be a perfect or, optimum, number of days of rest? I have discovered through vast
experience as a personal trainer that one workout every four to seven days is miraculous
compared to any other protocol. Four to seven days--and longer in some cases--is how long
it takes the body to fully complete the recovery-growth process.
As the Body Changes, Training Requirements Change:
Sticking Points are NOT Inevitable!
Very often an individual's progress ceases entirely because he failed to account for a
very important consideration: that during periods of physical-muscular progress the body
is not static, it is in a process of change; and that as the body changes training
requirements change. (This was only touched upon briefly in Heavy Duty I; but
elaborated thoroughly in Heavy Duty II.) In fact, this is the most important issue
in bodybuilding science once the fundamentals of intensity, volume and frequency are
grasped.
A properly conducted bodybuilding program is essentially a strength training program.
Or, in other words, if one wants to grow larger he must grow stronger. When someone starts
to argue with me on this point, I say, "What is one supposed to do to grow larger,
get weaker? As one grows stronger, i.e., as the weights grow progressively greater, the
stresses on the body become progressively greater; and must be compensated for. (This is
the conceptual link that high-intensity theorists have been missing; and which explains
their inability to answer the question of sticking points.)
Perhaps the easiest way to understand this phenomenon is to observe the stresses on
your body when performing a warm-up set of Squats compared to those experienced during the
actual workout set to failure. On the heavier workout set, you immediately recognize the
much greater stress on the bones compared to that with the warm-up set; then the much
greater demands on the cardio-respiratory system, and so forth. (Not available to
conscious awareness are the physiologic-metabolic stresses.) Now simply extrapolate that
into the situation over time, as you lift progressively greater weights workout to
workout.
As the stresses grow progressively greater, they will eventually reach a critical point
such that they constitute overtraining. The first symptom will be a slow down in progress;
and if the individual continues with the same volume and frequency protocol, the stresses
will continue to increase until there is a complete cessation of progress, typically
referred to as a "sticking point." One need not ever experience a slow down in
progress, let alone a sticking point, if he bears in mind all the while that as the
weights grow progressively greater so do the stresses; and he must do certain specific
things to compensate for them.
Within two to three weeks upon embarking on a Heavy Duty, high-intensity training
program, a bodybuilder should begin inserting an extra rest day or even two at random
beyond the suggested every fourth day workout so that he's compensating for the increasing
stresses; and, then, with increasing regularity until he is training but once every five
days with an extra rest day or two added beyond that.
To quell any fear about the progressive reduction of training frequency, consider this.
An individual making progress training once every fourth day, i.e., whose body is
overcompensating--(i.e., growing stronger and larger)--cannot lose anything by taking a
further day or two of rest. If his body is overcompensating on day four, how is it that he
would decompensate on day five or six? So, while there is no risk of a negative, no threat
of a loss, by inserting an extra day or two of rest, there is the actuality of a positive;
which is - with the extra rest day(s) you have that much greater certainty that enough
time has elapsed between workouts to allow the body sufficient opportunity to complete
both the recovery and the growth processes. The implication here is that if the individual
trains again before the body's growth production process is completed, it will be
short-circuited; and less than 100 units of possible progress realized.
Once the individual is training once every seven days, I suggest a reduction in the
volume of training as outlined in my new book. Reduced volume will necessitate
switching from the Suggested Workout #1 to the Consolidation Program. With a consolidation
routine, there is a decided shift in emphasis to predominately compound exercises, i.e.,
ones that involve multiple muscle groups, such as Squats, Dips and Deadlifts, etc. A
workout program consisting of compound exercises still works all of the major muscle
groups, but with fewer total sets, making for a minimal inroad into recovery ability.
(Ideally, growth would be stimulated with zero sets; then none of the body's limited
recovery ability would be used for recovery, it would all be used for growth production;
and you'd grow so fast as to stagger the imagination. At this juncture, however, no one
knows how to stimulate growth with zero sets.)
Following the above advice, you'll never hit a sticking point; you will experience
unbreached progress with your training. As I have written before: if scientists can send a
man to the moon and bring him back safely each time, we should be able to succeed with
every one of our missions to the gym here on earth. Building bigger muscles should be a
cake walk compared to moon walk.
Hormonally Correct
It is most certainly true that high-intensity training places a considerable demand not
only on the adrenals, but all anatomic-physiologic subsystems; which is, in large part,
why such training is so very, very productive. In fact, all stressors - not merely intense
exercise - but heat, pain, sexual passion, emotional problems and physical labor, etc. -
stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) and other,
related substances.
The effects of stress are cumulative; therefore, one can't necessarily blame
overburdened adrenals on one type of stress, such as high-intensity exercise. If an
individual were experiencing a particularly stressful period in his life due, for
instance, to career pressures, loss of a loved one, or financial problems, then, yes, the
added stress of a very demanding training program - Heavy Duty or otherwise - could be the
straw that breaks the camel's back.
Any type of weight training program - be it Heavy Duty or the superannuated volume
approach - places considerable stress/demands on all of the body's physiologic processes,
not just that of the adrenal glands. However, Heavy Duty, high-intensity training is very
brief - (20 minutes or less a workout) - and infrequent - (conducted once every four to
seven days) - precisely to allow for sufficient recovery of the adrenals and all of the
recuperative subsystems of the body. High-intensity effort is the sole factor responsible
for inducing growth stimulation, and its brevity and infrequency are what allow for full
recovery and growth production.
Training two to four hours a day - the volume approach - prevents an individual from
training with the degree of intensity required to stimulate an optimal increase. As well,
because such training is carried on for such inordinate lengths of time and is repeated so
frequently, it never allows for the possibility of full recovery let alone growth
production unless the individual is taking enormous quantities of recovery enhancing
steroids, growth hormone and other dangerous drugs. Obviously this is the type of training
that inevitably results in overtraining and adrenal burnout, not brief and infrequent
high-intensity. This is simple common sense.
While brief and infrequent Heavy Duty, high-intensity training is the only type of
training that prevents overtraining, one can't predict the onset of extremely stressful
life situations. When life's stresses become too great, one would be prudent to not only
lower the intensity of his training, but to cease training entirely until life stabilizes.
During periods of stability and normal stress, it is not necessary to cycle your
training intensity. With a properly conducted Heavy Duty training program, progress is
continuous because the volume and frequency are regulated to allow for full recovery and
growth production. Why would any right-thinking individual want to cycle, periodize or
stop the desired result?
Perhaps the best way to answer the allegation that high-intensity training results in
overburdened adrenals is to point to the success of the thousands of individual
bodybuilders the world over, including yours truly, Ray Mentzer, Casey Viator, Dorian
Yates, Aaron Baker, David Paul, David Dearth, Roland Kickinger and my hundreds of personal
training clients have had with it. How could individuals with burnt out adrenals have
succeeded with such training?
Don't Descend
The reason I never refer to descending sets is because, in reality, descending sets are
not a high-intensity training technique.
A descending set is one in which an arbitrary amount of weight is removed from the bar
or machine at the conclusion of a set carried to normal positive failure, whereupon the
individual continues to another point of positive failure. The rep that is performed
subsequent to removing the weight is not a maximum intensity rep, but usually low to
moderate; therefore it contributes nothing to growth stimulation; and even though the
individual may go to failure on the descending set it doesn't matter in terms of
stimulating growth. Optimum growth was already stimulated by going to failure initially;
no further growth stimulation is achieved by doing it again. What does happen, however, by
going to failure again is that you make a further, undesirable inroad into recovery
ability; and to that precise extent you compromise the body's growth production capacity.
To stimulate optimal size and strength increases, it's imperative that you regularly
attempt the momentarily impossible. For example, if you can curl 100 pounds for a maximum
of 10 reps, but never attempt the 11th, your body has no reason to enlarge upon its
existing capacity. It is only by regularly attempting to go beyond your existing capacity
that inroads are made into your body's reserves. Since these reserves are strictly
limited, the body is threatened when they are used, and compensates with increased
strength and size so that the same workload in the future won't use the same amount of
this precious, limited reserve.
On a random basis, performing a forced and/or negative rep immediately after reaching
positive failure will help some individuals maximize growth stimulation. But be careful!
Don't perform forced and/or negative reps with each set of every workout. They intensify
the effort to such an extent that, if not used judiciously, will prove too taxing and
result in overtraining. Like I said, include them on a random basis, then check your
progress next workout. If progress is enhanced, continue with them; if not, exclude them.
Descending sets, you see, extend your effort, thus serving more as an endurance
training technique. Combined with high-intensity training, descending sets are decidedly
counterproductive as, again, they make for unnecessary and undesirable inroads into
recovery ability, especially when the descent involves two, three or more arbitrary weight
unloadings after the initial set to normal, positive failure. Forced and negative reps
intensify the effort, and therefore serve properly as high-intensity techniques. The point
to keep in mind is just that: intensify your efforts, don't extend them, and the results
will be commensurate.
Ultimate Pulldowns
Not everyone has access to a pullover machine, especially home trainers. As a result,
the biceps brachii tend to receive a better workout than the lats. However, it is possible
to increase lat stimulation by emulating the mechanics of a pullover machine. This tip can
also, obviously, be transferred to chin-ups.
Begin by grasping the pulldown bar with a close, underhand grip. Sit on the seat with
your arms fully extended. Begin the movement with a downward lat shrug -- similar, but in
opposite directions to a trap shrug. This short shrugging movement allows the lats to
initiate the action, not the arms. Rather than simply pulling down with the arms, focus on
your elbows traveling in a semi-circular, down and back plane of motion. In other words,
imagine being in a pullover machine, having to push down and back with your elbows against
the pads of the machine's lever arm.
Begin the movement very slowly to avoid jerking with the arms, concentrating on the
lats moving throughout every inch of the ROM. Once you feel the majority of tension
shifting from the lats to the biceps (near the bottom position), cease movement to avoid
intense biceps work and premature arm fatigue, and hold the contraction for 1-3 seconds.
For the first few workouts, drop your weight by 30%, and take 10 seconds for both the
positive and negative phases until you learn the feel of this new technique. Gradually
move to your usual training tempo/cadence when you are comfortable that you can isolate
your lats effectvely.
Brian Johnston
A New Perspective on the Number One
Flex Wheeler trains at Gold's Gym in Venice, California, where I conduct my personal
training business. He trains quite often with a partner named Ricco McClinton. Flex and
Ricco have seen me train Dorian Yates in Gold's before, and have also apparently read some
of my material. Over the past year or so, Ricco has taken to teasing me, albeit in a
good-natured fashion. Periodically, whilst my training a client, Ricco would yell out,
"Mentzer, do you actually believe that crap - that only one set is all you
need?" Understanding that this individual honestly couldn't grasp that one set of an
exercise could possibly be enough because of a lack of sufficient thought on his part, I'd
use varying analogies to jog his thinking, to provide him with a different perspective on
the number one. For instance, "Ricco, it only takes one bullet to kill a person, so
why can't one set be enough to stimulate muscle growth beyond normal levels?" On
another occasion, I said, "It only takes one well-placed blow from a hammer to
stimulate the explosion of a stick of dynamite, with no amount of lesser blows achieving
the same."
Such never impressed my heckler; he'd cavalierly dismiss my statements with comments
like, "Yea, yea. I heard Dorian say someting like that once at a seminar. Big
deal." More recently, Ricco started in on me again, although with a bit more
sincerity. He even used the proper terminology. "Mike, do you really believe that
only one set is all that is required to stimulate growth." This time I responded with
perhaps the best analogy possible to provide someone with a different perspective on the
isssue of number one. "Ricco," I enjoined, "it took only one sperm from
your Father to stimulate the growth of your Mother's egg into a fully fashioned baby,
namely you. Literally only one sperm was required to stimulate the growth of all your
skeletal muscles, and your skeleton, skin, guts, hair and teeth, etc."
"Mike," he shot back, "I never would have thought of that in a million
years. That was a good one. I'll never bother you on the subject again."
Yes it's true that analogies are rarely perfect; but that doesn't mean that they can't
contribute to a better understanding. My intention with the examples above was merely to
provide the reader with an alternate perspective on the issue of number.
Mike Mentzer
Systemic Vs. Localized Recovery
Many ask the question as to whether it's all right to train a given muscle more than
once a week if using a split routine, as that muscle is afforded rest on the days that
other muscles are being trained. And the answer is - NO! This is because exercise, in
addition to having a localized effect on the muscle being worked, also has a systemic
effect, i.e., it effects the overall, general, physical system, as well. In fact,
localized recovery may be completed fairly rapidly, while systemic recovery may take
several days or longer to be completed. ( Remember, too, that one must rest long enough
between workouts to allow not just for recovery, but the completion of the growth
production process, too. If one trains again before recovery and growth production are
completed, he will short-circuit growth shy of 100 possible units.)
Most have had the experience of a great leg workout, say on a Friday afternoon. You
used 20 pounds more on the Squat than ever before, and even did more reps than your
previous best. You left the gym feeling triumphant but, also, quite exhausted. Then you
intentionally rested all weekend, laying around watching ballgames on t.v. and rereading
my books and articles, thinking you'd wake up Monday fully recovered and ready to work out
again. To your surprize, however, you woke up on Monday still feeling generally fatigued.
Your legs felt recovered; but you felt systemically tired - proof that exercise has a
systemic effect along with a localized effect.
Mike Mentzer
Heavy Duty... High Intensity, Low Force Exercise
A Heavy Duty, high intensity training program is very, very safe. It is not like a
typical powerlifting program involving the use of very heavy weights that allow for only
one to three reps. That would be properly designated a high-intensity, high-force program.
The level of force imposed on the joints, connective tissue and muscles would be very
high; and if extreme caution was not exercised, and any bouncing, jerking or yanking
occured, the impact (G-force) could multiply several times that of the actual weight
itself and, of course, cause an injury.
A properly conducted Heavy Duty workout involves the utilization of weights that allow
for up to ten or more reps to failure. Such is properly referred to as a high-intensity,
low-force program, and is quite safe.
Some are reluctant to embark on a high-intensity program because they mistakenly
believe that the last rep of a set carried to a point of momentary muscular failure is
dangerous. On the contrary. The last rep of a set carried to failure should be the safest
because, by the last rep, the trainee is at his weakest, barely able to generate enough
force to complete the rep. It is the first few reps, when the trainee is freshest, and
able to exert more force than required to move the weight, that are the most dangerous.
If, for instance, you are doing a set of Barbell Curls with 100 pounds for ten reps to
failure, no rep requires that you exert much more than 100 pounds of force to complete it.
On the first few reps, when the individual is fresh, he usually completes them relatively
quickly, exerting well above 100 pounds of force. On the last rep, he is barely able to
move the weight at all, exerting just enough force to complete it - maybe 101.1 pounds.
Therefore, the last rep is the safest so long as proper technique is employed.
Mike Mentzer
Deadlifting Technique
I agree with Mike Mentzer, and many others, that the deadlift is the best exercise to
increase overall bodily mass and power. However, it is essential that one utilize correct
form throughout the entire movement. First of all, start with the bar rolled back, flush
against the shins. Grasp the bar with an interlocking hand grip, i.e., one hand overhand,
the other underhand. Squat down in such as fashion so that your hips are considerably
lower than your shoulders; and, most important, keep your back flat and your head up!
Allow me to reiterate the last point: keep your back flat - even concave - and your head
up, at all times.
Now, visualize your arms as chains with hooks, your hands, at the end. Deliberately and
evenly, lift the bar smoothly off the floor without any attempt to jerk or yank it with
your arms. Keep your arms perfectly straight. Stand up until you are in the perfectly
vertical, straight up and down position; there's no need to arch backwards at the top;
then replace the bar under control onto the floor, reset, and repeat.
In addition to the correct form, here are few points that I employ to further help my
deadlifitng:
