Mike Mentzer prioritized gaining strength through intensive techniques, mostly because of his love and preference for the heavy-duty training plan. He believed that high intensity was the only way to gain muscles and grow stronger since it had scientific backing to each nuance.
While there are many approaches to training on a high-intensity scale, one of the integral exercises that often finds itself in these routines is the deadlift. Despite being a popular form of workout, deadlifts often catch a bad reputation when one fails to perfect the technique.
Here’s where Mentzer came to the rescue by talking about the do’s and don’ts of deadlifts at the gym. Amongst many other rules to be followed during exercising, performing deadlifts carries a series of dangers and benefits, depending on how well people do it.
If done correctly, deadlifts offer a sufficient dose of stimulus such that it triggers growth along the entire backside of the body. The key to a successful deadlift was to assume the correct position before lift-off.
“Always start with the bar rolled back flush against your shins, grasp the bar with a slightly wider than shoulder width grip and use an interlocking hand grip…”
Once the individual assumed the perfect start position, Mentzer advised to angle the hips lower than the shoulders. The idea seemed to be to create a hinge with the body to leverage the strength.
“Most important of all, keep your back perfectly flat and your head up!”
He stressed more on that since many injuries occurred due to poor posture and a weaker position of the back. Once all these points were successfully implemented, Mentzer recommended going as close to failure as possible.
Mike Mentzer was a fan of Brief yet Intense Workout sessions
In a resurfaced video posted by the YouTube channel ‘Heavy Duty College’, Mentzer talked about his preferred workout style that he believed provided the most optimum benefits of all. Intense exercises performed for brief periods were his key to gains.
Following the path of heavy-duty training, Mentzer knew that the approach would not only provide him with muscle mass but also make him stronger. He firmly stated that workouts can either go on for longer periods but carry less intensity or vice versa. And as a skeptic towards volume training, it’s no secret that he preferred the latter as his workout routine.
