I knew mike..he worked at the spartan gym in marlow hgts md when i joined in 74.. he had gotten out of the airforce and was resuming training for mr america.. he got me started and actually trained me on his new system.. at that time he was only doing 2 to 3 sets to failure, total body 3xtimes a week.. he grew so fast he had stretch marks on his forarms.. he was a beast..

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

Great comment. Remember anything else from that time?

@mikelevenson7271

Ай бұрын

@@Joint-FriendlyFitness I have alot of good stories. As I gradually got to know him he discussed with me many times his workout theories and philosophies about life.. I saw him at a restaurant one day and he invited me over to his table.. I got what I would call a college level seminar on genetics, steriods and it's use in bodybuilding..He was highly intelligent and only about 22 at the time.. his theories were revolutionary and many of the guys at the gym thought he was half crazy.. I thought he was a genius

@ronaldmccutcheon1329

19 күн бұрын

​@mikelevenson7271 Thank you, Mike! Big Mentzer fan since '81. There isn't a lot of information about Mike's early years. Please share more.

@mikelevenson7271

19 күн бұрын

@@ronaldmccutcheon1329 His routine at the time was a full-body each set till failure and beyond 3x timed a week.. of course i tried the same and it became apparent there was no way I could sustain it.. I would actually collapse when I got home, I actually became sick.. It was too much, being natty and not genetically gifted.. therefore I adjusted back to split routines and fared much better.. he also encouraged me not to take steriods as he only took them because he felt his genetic potential was such that he could compete at the top level..he was a really decent guy, no pretense. And of course as a kid I idolized him..

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

18 күн бұрын

That's an interesting observation. I'm planning pieces on his training articles 1977-1978, some of which branded "Fail-Safe," which preceded Heavy Duty.

Thanks for Mike part of video. I enjoy it.

Joe took credit for everything. I am surprised the interviewer did not ask him: "Mike, have you ever utilized the Weider Alternate Hand Jerking Off Principle?" 🙄

This is awesome. Thank you. Sadly we were all held back and duped by muscle magazine’s bollocks.Thank God for the web.

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

Keep watching. With 50 years hindsight the inconsistencies become obvious.

@ronaldmccutcheon1329

19 күн бұрын

And yet, the average gym goers' physique was vastly superior in the 70s and 80s compared to today. Cell phones, junk food, and gimmicks rule gyms today.

Joe never missed an opportunity to self promote

That was a great answer by Mike in regards ti biceps development. " I responded to 25 sets, and 5 sets, so why do more?" I myself only responded to high volume training, but your joints will pay the tab for it in your forties.

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

21 күн бұрын

if anyone was actually doing 25 sets, of which I'm becoming less and less convinced. That is=what Weider was publishing from the 60s on, but the magazines from the 50s had much more moderate routines.

@ianwilson4841

20 күн бұрын

I saw Steve Michalik do his ' 70 set' superset routine. Half way through it looked like an aerobics class with dumbbells. All that was missing wS the leotards

@ronaldmccutcheon1329

19 күн бұрын

Amen! from a 60 year old with terrible joints and 4 muscle tears.

Ah yes, I remember these Wacky Weider Muscle Builder magazine articles. And of course I use the BLAH, BLAH Weider principle for my massive Arms. And I use the BLAH, BLAH Weider principle for my amazing Leg development. And so on, he even shoe horned the B.S. Weider Principles into the Mentzer training methods. The best Weider Principle of all was MUSCLE CONFUSION!!!!

@ronaldmccutcheon1329

19 күн бұрын

Weider even took credit for Pre Exhaust Training, which was invented by Robert Kennedy. I had the pleasure of speaking with the late Mr. Kennedy in 1990 and again in 1993.

Yet on another brilliant video

Is it true that Mike Mentzer followed the Weider Chew & Swallow Principle while dieting for contests?

@shawnm4189

Ай бұрын

Well played! 😂

A 535 lb/242 kg squat for a triple is impressive. I really enjoyed this my friend, keep it up!

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

Plan to. BTW yes it's impressive, but keep in mind, there are some shall we say credibility issues with this kind of magazine.

When i forst started training in my teens (late 80s/early 90s), I kept burning out from using too much volume. Then I came across a HIT program in one of the magazines, think it was Flex. Heres what it was from memory: Full body workout, 3 days p/w, mon, wed, fri. Form: 4 second negative, 1 second pause, 2 second positive to failure. 2 min rest between sets. EDIT: 2 min rest between sets but move immediately to the 1st set of the next body part after completing the 2nd / final set. With the exception of Squats where 2 min rest. Workout: BB Squats - 2x 20 reps Widegrip Chinups - 2x 6-12 reps Flat bench - 2x 6-12 Military BB Press - 2x 6-12 reps BB Curls - 2x 6-12 reps Dips - 2x 6-12 reps (weighted if necessary) Standing calf raises - 2x 15-20 reps Ab work: crunches or leg raises Soon as i switched to this program i got super sore and my progress exploded. But i kept being tempted to do more and if i increased to 3x sets i would soon hit the wall again. But i will say my imtensity was extremely high, i would go to legitimate failure. Workout took about 40 minutes. To this day i think its the best workout for nattys. Wish i could find the article. I must have read it a thousand times.

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

That's exactly the kind of memory I appreciate.

@stevenspilly

Ай бұрын

@@Joint-FriendlyFitness would you have any idea on how I could find the article in question? Are there digital archives of muscle & fitness and flex magazines? The irony is I don't think I'd be fit enough to even do this routine these days but I'd love to work up to it, be a nice challenge. But really I'd just love to find the article for nostalgic reasons!

@ronaldmccutcheon1329

19 күн бұрын

​@@stevenspilly I have 600-700 mags, but they only go back to 1979.

@stevenspilly

19 күн бұрын

@ronaldmccutcheon1329 wow! I read the article in question in 1991 if my memory serves me correctly. But I live in Australia, and we were often behind by the time the mags arrived, so could have been published in 1989-1990.

Apparently high volume works. Steve Michalik did up to 100 sets per body part two or three days a week. He was big. Granted he was taking copious amounts of steroids. Even Surge Nubret did more than twice the amount of volume that Arnold Schwarzenegger did in his advanced training routine. I think for a young natural athlete the volume should be about 1/3 of Arnold Schwarzenegger's *basic training* routine.

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment. What in this video prompted it? On steroids anything works. I seriously question any conclusions we came up with from the magazines, including the number of sets these guys allegedly did.

@hogansheroes2793

Ай бұрын

@@Joint-FriendlyFitness Just the typical Joe Weider bull crap.

@Joint-FriendlyFitness

Ай бұрын

Oh I agree with that

Arnold won and Mentzer bit the dust.

@Lonewolf__666

22 күн бұрын

Arnold cheated and the Best walked away.

@Lonewolf__666

15 күн бұрын

@Mantastic-ho3vm Your right, and your Fantastic, Mantastic.