Mike Mentzer Workouts

by John Pike

The human body is tremendously resilient, and capable of extraordinary feats of endurance and strength - but most people are using endurance training methods in an attempt to create strength and mass!

I followed Mentzer and Arnold way back when: if Mentzer was right, then Arnold was surely the ultimate "Over Trainer", e.g., 20 sets of squats?!

I strongly believed that Arnold was being favored by Joe and Ben Weider, and that Arnold's medications were increased substantially. I also felt Mike was more of a natural looking bodybuilder, and that he did not like the drug stuff much. Eventually, Mike alienated himself from mainstream bodybuilding because he was very precocious and arrogant.

Mentzer versus Schwarzenegger

I believe that much of what Arnold was able to achieve in body mass was substantially based on his "Devil May Care" longing to be the best. As you will clearly see in his old movies, Pumping Iron etc., he dwarfs his competition, and many of these guys were once considered the ultimate.

Keeping in mind, that Arnold was the original experimenter of the "Stacking Method" - a very poor struggling Austrian boy who had a small waist, a great personality, and an insatiable appetite to "do what ever was necessary".

The Cuban `Myth` Sergio Oliva was by far the biggest kid on the block, but his English was as bad as his attitude, and the Weider brothers could not get him under control. Sergio would not make the best `Poster Boy`as he was a little less American (color-wise).

Parting of the Ways

It is also true, that large doses of anabolic steroids allow the user to train like a hurricane, including massive multiple sets and double split routines.

Herein lies the "parting of the ways" between the great Mike Mentzer and this new prodigy that took the bodybuilding world by storm - as one can clearly see, Mike's point regarding "Over Training".

I think Mike was hurt and unable to grasp that bodybuilding was about to change size, and shape, forever. But, as an Old School Believer in `Mass must Equal Symmetry', Mike was incredible; where by contrast, Arnold had to deliberately pose in a manner that hid his weaknesses.