When speaking about bodybuilding and intense training, the first name that arguably comes to mind is Mike Mentzer. There was nothing the late bodybuilder could not do during his time. Fitness enthusiasts still adhere to his advice from decades ago regarding muscle growth and intense training.
With the rapid development of society and the economy, people’s living standards are improving daily. More and more people are paying attention to their physical health, setting off a fitness upsurge. In a recent video resurfacing over the internet, Mentzer speaks about how “science plays a role in physical change” in the body. He, therefore, makes a comparison with science and bodybuilding.
In addition, various exercise methods for fitness are combined with different forms of exercise according to the principles of human life science. Mr. Heavy Duty, in the video, mentions that exercise science should be viewed as flowing from medical science. In both medical and exercise science cases, we’re looking at a positive physical change in our body.
In medicine, the first thing researchers do is identify the chemical compound. This particular compound would serve as medicine to generate a positive physical change. The next logical and inevitable step is to discover how much of the medication there has to be in terms of volume. How many pills a day and frequency, and how often?
Furthermore, Menzter states that it is the same thing followed in exercise. Just as in medical science, exercise induces or creates a positive physical change. However, Mentzer believed that for physical change to occur in exercise, it was necessary to understand the nature of the stress the body would need to grow.
“The first thing I had to do was understand the nature of the training stress that would induce the positive physical change, and it just so happens to be a high-intensity stress.”
Mike Mentzer shares the harsh truths about HIT training
Mike Mentzer’s heavy-duty training has had a lasting impact on bodybuilding. The sport has evolved over the years, but his techniques still stand the test of time. Mentzer has previously shared the demanding nature of this training method due to the immense strength it requires. Mentzer experimented with both forced and negative repetitions to see results but couldn’t yield one that met his expectations. This is when he started with high-intensity training.
“I came to understand much more clearly just how demanding high-intensity training really is, that the body has a strictly limited recovery ability or adaptive capacity.”
He has also added about how much a HIT workout could stress the body. He always stood by his ideal of sticking with one-set-to-failure over adding multiple sets, stating that bodybuilding didn’t need to test someone’s endurance.