Q: You recommend around 3 sets per muscle at each workout. Some even say that 1 set is enough. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around such a small number. I can’t see Arnold or Jay Cutler getting to Mr. Olympia status with that low volume.
[Read more…]Mike Mentzer a Bodybuilding Fraud?
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 271: Mike Mentzer’s Mass in the Mountains
An oil-slathered Mike Mentzer grabs attention—and questions from police—as he hikes near a Santa Monica Mountains campsite…
[Read more…]Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 263: Mike and Ray Mentzer Action Figures
No, Mike and Ray Mentzer were not taxidermied and shellacked—these are figurines someone created of the high-intensity duo. Amazing work… [Read more…]
More Sets for Mass?
Q: I’ve been training for about 10 years, so I consider myself advanced. Don’t I need more volume (sets) to continue growing?
A: At first glance, that seems logical. But there a few things that make the opposite true, according to hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley…
- A more developed nervous system means you can recruit more motor units and therefore activate and damage more fast-twitch fibers
- The inflammatory response to a workout increases with training status—more secondary muscle damage occurs due to calcium-ion-related fatigue
So basically, being advance means you’re taxing the muscles and nervous system more, creating more fatigue and damage at every workout…
Adding sets piles onto that damage—and could be the very reason so many bodybuilders plateau and can’t grow. Most add sets as they progress…
Kudos to Mike Mentzer, who was saying this back in the ’80s. He went from using more volume early in his career down to three or four sets per muscle in his bodybuilding prime.
And he got bigger, denser, and more defined…
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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 260: Mike Mentzer’s Mass On the Beach
More Muscle With X-Reps and Limited Sets, Part 1
In the last newsletter, you saw that extending sets with forced and negative reps, a la Mike Mentzer, crushes the nervous system and can derail muscle gains—if you’re not on drugs, that is… [Read more…]
Grow Muscle Faster With Extended Sets?
Q: You’ve said forced and negatives reps at the end of a set can kill muscle growth. But didn’t that work for [Mike] Mentzer to make his short workouts better, and isn’t your [end-of-set] X-Reps similar? [Read more…]
Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 250: Mike Mentzer’s Arm Mass
A secret to Mike Mentzer’s arm size was his invention of the dumbbell telephone: He would make only three calls, end each with intense screaming, then make no calls for an entire week to recover. [Read more…]
Mass Mantra #47
Here’s high-intensity advocate and pro bodybuilder Mike Mentzer’s answer to those who asked how he accounted for the success of all of the top bodybuilders who used high-volume workouts (John Balik photo)… [Read more…]
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