It is no secret that Mike Mentzer was a big-time innovator in the field of bodybuilding. The icon’s logic and reasoning gave rise to an entirely new form of workout called the heavy-duty training plan. The routine was so effective that modern-day bodybuilders still refer to it to incorporate the plan into their schedule.
In a resurfaced video, the veteran answered some frequently asked questions about his training techniques, particularly about how he perceived muscle gains and recovery. Mentzer went into some details about how he came about observing this over a few weeks.
The question inquired if the veteran grouped certain body parts during training since his plans always involved working out every other day or five days a week. To this, Mentzer explained how he segregated different parts of the body according to the days of the week:
- Monday: Chest and Back
- Thursday: Shoulders and Arms
- Sunday: Legs
This plan gave legs an edge over the others in terms of recovery, since the chest, back, arms, and shoulder workouts would intersect in some way or another. However, the legs remained in recovery for over 216 hours, as per Mentzer.
“With that particular protocol, after 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks, an ever-increasing number were calling to report, “Hey Mike! The legs are still doing great but the upper body has either slowed down or come to a complete halt.” Now wouldn’t that…strike you as interesting…”
It seemed interesting to the veteran how all of his clients called to inform him about the same phenomenon. All of them followed the same routine and, while having individual capabilities, they reported similar results. The only common factor between all the occurrences was how the legs received more time to recover.
This phenomenon gave rise to Mentzer’s theory that growth was directly affected by the recovery of muscles. While active training helped in stimulating an environment for growth to occur, a rest period was necessary to kick things into action.
Mike Mentzer once compared growth and recovery to dug-up roads
The simplest analogy that Mentzer once used to explain gains through recovery was to imagine muscles as roads. Intense training acted as digging up these roads. Individuals exert full force and push to their maximum.
However, recovery ensured that these dug-up holes were filled. That’s why it was important to have ample time to rest, so the ‘holes’ are properly filled in, i.e., the muscles are completely recovered. This technique not only ensures complete healing but also makes the muscles stronger by reinforcement.
