Q: You mention Mr. Heavy Duty Mike Mentzer a lot. I know he recommended slow negatives on every rep—like three to four seconds to lower the weight. Wasn’t he doing too much damage, and do you have any idea if he ever used Speed Sets?
A: While Mentzer always told trainees to lower the weight slowly, talking with people who trained with him and seeing footage of his actual workouts tells a different story (spectacular photo above is by John Balik, mid-1970s)…
Most of his sets had reps lasting 1.5 seconds—Speed Sets; however…
Mentzer often added slow forced and negative reps that extended his sets…
So at positive failure, a partner would give him just enough assistance to slowly raise the weight. Then he would lower slowly through the negative on his own. He did a couple of those forced reps…
After that, his partner would raise the weight for him, and he would slowly lower for a few pure negatives.
So he usually did eight faster reps, two to three slow forced reps and two to three slower pure negatives. And yes, those extended sets absolutely created a boat-load of damage…
Keep in mind that he was only doing three to four sets per muscle. Also consider that he was on drugs, which significantly accelerates recovery and growth…
Before his death, he had some eye-opening observations on training for mass, volume, muscle damage, and recovery. He also made some radical changes to his training philosophy.
I’ll have that tomorrow.
Note: For more on Speed Sets and a Mike Mentzer-inspired stretch-emphasized Positions-of-Flexion workout, see Old Man, Young Muscle.
Sculpt your perfect physique: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best stretch and contracted add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
Mass 101: Learn From the Legend!
For old-school training techniques that were WAY ahead of their time, grab a copy of Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth. It’s a big 330-page anthology of all of his training methods (that have been proven to work for decades), unique exercises, carb cycling, and other diet principles. There are also a few freebie e-books. Check it out HERE.