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How to start high intensity training the Mike Mentzer way
Posted by: Paul
Q: I'm a 40-plus person and want to start Heavy Duty training. I have a couple of questions: First, am I too old to train in that fashion? Most of the people pictured in magazines are younger than I am. I train five days a week with a personal trainer at the gym-aerobic sessions and lifting light weights. Second, if I'm not too old, how do I start?
A: To begin with, you're never too old for proper resistance training. The benefits for people of all ages are almost too numerous to list-from enhanced functional ability to reversing the aging process. Just because you're older than many of the athletes and models pictured in magazines doesn't mean that you're too old to get stronger. The only difference between you and someone younger who doesn't train is that you've had a longer period in which to decondition. The muscle is still there on your body, albeit momentarily dormant, but ready and able to be reactivated.
Light-weight, low-energy workouts will do little or nothing to build muscle or stimulate the production of the numerous health benefits I alluded to. For information on how to start Heavy Duty training, it would be best to hear directly from the man who created it, Mike Mentzer:
"If you've been training recently without any layoff prior to the time you intend to start Heavy Duty training, take a break entirely for two to three weeks. Having been overtrained, you made deep-too deep-inroads into your recovery ability. It's important to overcome the inroads before you start with a properly conducted high-intensity program so that your body has all the biochemical resources necessary for optimal growth."
"When I suggest that to my phone-consultation clients, many balk and say, 'But, Mike, I'm addicted to exercise. I don't know if I'm able to stay away from the gym that long.' I respond rather firmly, 'You have to make a decision. It's either/or. Either you remain mindlessly addicted to exercise and the gym, or you become consciously, intelligently committed to achieving optimal progress, which requires the application of the appropriate knowledge.'"
"On a lighter note, I conclude by saying, 'If you are addicted to exercise, then exercise your free will, exercise your power of choice, exercise your knowledge, exercise restraint, but don't exercise your muscles for at least two weeks."
After your layoff Mike recommended that you start on the Ideal Routine, which can be found in his final book, High-Intensity Training The Mike Mentzer Way (McGraw-Hill), training once every four days. If you start with day 1 on Monday, for instance, the day 2 workout wouldn't be performed until Friday, day 3 the next Tuesday, day 4 on Saturday, and so forth.
For a complete presentation of Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty training system watch the Mike Mentzer Training Video.
If you have any other questions about Mike Mentzer or High Intensity Training email me and I'll get back to you with an answer as quick as I can.
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