Mike Mentzer

mike mentzer

Mike Mentzer, distinguished by the versatility of his talent, has numerous achievements in sports, business, and literature. Additionally, he mastered the training process, puzzling many well-known athletes.

Anthropometric Data

mike mentzer anthropometric data

  • Height: 173 cm
  • Weight: 102 kg

Biography of Mike Mentzer

mike mentzer biography

This unique individual was born in Pennsylvania on November 15, 1951. His youth was associated with the small town of Ephrata. Mike became interested in bodybuilding at the age of 11 while browsing a bodybuilding magazine. At that moment, he saw the world in a new light and began to seriously focus on developing his physique. This was relatively early compared to the age at which many renowned athletes started reaching their peaks. He never hid the fact that he took steroids and other supplements for high results. He consciously began using various substances, which later affected his health, although Mike himself did not share this opinion, as he had a philosophical approach to life.

He first started participating in various tournaments at the age of 20. His ambitions were quite high as he set the goal of becoming the best bodybuilder in the world. A year later, he competed in the “Mr. America” contest and placed only 10th, which is not a modest result for such a young age. However, Mike was not satisfied with his results, realizing that he needed to change his entire training process. After participating in “Mr. America,” Mike met the famous trainer Arthur Jones, which completely changed his approach to the training system, as he had previously trained using well-known and simple schemes. Writer Ayn Rand also seriously influenced the athlete’s psychological state. After reading her trilogy “Atlas Shrugged,” he began to evaluate the events around him differently. He became more confident and assertive, which allowed him to climb another step psychologically. He adopted the motto “The Connection of Mind and Reality.”

Mike was not religious and considered himself an atheist, holding his own opinion on the matter: the existence of God raises many questions since no place of His residence has yet been found. This is approximately how Mike Mentzer expressed himself about the existence of God.

Achievements

mike mentzer achievements

Mike first participated in the “Mr. Olympia” competition in 1979, competing in the heavyweight category. Here, he confidently secured a victory but finished second in the overall category, behind Frank Zane. The following year, he decided to compete in this prestigious tournament again, but he only managed to place 5th. The winner that year was the well-known Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had decided to return to bodybuilding. Rumors circulated that Arnold hadn’t shown anything unique at the competition, yet somehow he placed first. There were also rumors that the results had been bought in advance. In reality, there was a visible contrast between Arnold in 1975 and Arnold in 1980, a fact even Mike Mentzer acknowledged.

Beginning of Coaching Career

mike mentzer coaching career

After his 1980 setback, Mike no longer participated in tournaments and transitioned to coaching. His subsequent success was tied to his development of a completely new training system, which led to new approaches in bodybuilding training. His theory was validated by Dorian Yates, who won the prestigious “Mr. Olympia” tournament six times, despite starting training with Mike at the age of 20. By athletic standards, this is quite late, though not as early as Mike’s own start.

When his coaching career began, Mike used a different training scheme for his pupil Jones, but it didn’t yield the desired results. Mike then decided to create his own methodology. Analyzing the entire process, he concluded that the problem was muscle overload, so he worked on more energetic exercises that took less time. The fact is, muscles grow during rest, and they need full recovery. After several years of hard work, it turned out that his students achieved optimal results when the number of sets was reduced. He reduced the number to 2-4 sets over 4-7 days. This theory was heavily criticized, but Mentzer did not back down and insisted on his approach. After some time, he managed to prove his point. Mike himself considered himself a workaholic, ready to work 12 hours a day to derive great satisfaction from his efforts.

Illness and Death of Mike Mentzer

mike mentzer illness and death

Mike often experienced issues with circulation, spine, and lungs. Despite these problems, he continued to work intensely, ignoring his health issues. During his illness, Arnold Schwarzenegger called Mike, ready to help him at any moment. Although Mike was initially distrustful of “The Terminator,” his opinion of Arnold changed after this call.

In 2001, Mike Mentzer died from heart failure. A few days later, his older brother Ray also passed away. The autopsy revealed a high dose of morphine in their systems, which the brothers had been using to manage their pain.

Mike Mentzer’s Supertraining

mike mentzer supertraining

If the training regimen is properly structured, an athlete can enhance their potential with each session. Even inexperienced athletes were able to increase the strength of their quadriceps from 80 kg for 7 reps to 113 kg for 10 reps within just a few months. As seen, the progress is significant. David Paul, one of Mentzer’s students, performed 33 repetitions with a mass of 113 kg. Initially, he could only do 15 leg extension reps with 113 kg, but after a superset, he managed 15 reps with 240 kg. A week later, he was able to do 27 leg extensions and 38 leg presses with the same weight. By the end of the second week, the athlete was ready to do 33 extensions and 70 leg presses.

It only took Paul a few sessions to increase his leg muscle strength by 388%. Moreover, within a month, he gained 3 kg of muscle mass. The duration of each session was only 15 minutes. Compared to Mike’s previous regimen of 2-hour sessions, 6 days a week for 5 years with minimal results, his new method clearly had a significant advantage. It’s worth noting that with supertraining, even less gifted athletes can achieve impressive results.

Before starting Mike Mentzer’s supertraining, it’s recommended to take a two-week break from workouts to fully restore all the biochemical processes in the athlete’s body. It’s important to know that high loads negatively affect health, so supertraining should be performed when one is well-rested and healthy. Without this, achieving high results is not feasible.

Mike Mentzer’s Training Program

mike mentzer training program

Once all conditions are met, you can start the workout regimen. Training sessions should be done every fourth day, which is 96 hours after the previous session. All workouts using Mike Mentzer’s method are conducted with high-intensity training to muscle failure. The routine consists of 1-2 exercises per muscle group, performed individually or as supersets. The main principle of the method is to achieve complete muscle failure within 1 or 2 sets, but it is necessary to perform 1-2 warm-up sets as well. This results in each muscle group being trained once every two weeks, allowing for full recovery and significant muscle growth.

Monday

Chest

  • Pec Deck Flyes or Dumbbell Flyes on a Flat Bench, superset with…
  • Incline Bench Press (preferably in the Smith machine).

Back

  • Nautilus Pullovers or Dumbbell Pullovers, superset with…
  • Narrow-Grip Lat Pulldowns.
  • Conventional Deadlifts (not stiff-legged).

Friday

Legs

  • Leg Extensions, superset with…
  • Leg Press.
  • Standing Calf Raises.

Tuesday

Shoulders (Deltoids)

  • Dumbbell Side Laterals (preferably in a machine).
  • Bent-Over Dumbbell Laterals (preferably in a machine designed for this exercise).

Arms

  • Barbell Curls.
  • Triceps Pushdowns, superset with…
  • Dips.

Saturday

Legs

  • Leg Extensions, superset with…
  • Squats (preferably in the Smith machine).
  • Calf Raises.

Wednesday

  • Start of a new cycle.