Despite Admiring Mike Mentzer’s Training, Exercise Scientist Recommends Another Method for Optimal Gains

Dr. Mike Israetel, who holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology, is constantly at the latest breakthroughs in training science. However, despite multiple modern breakthroughs in exercise science, High-Intensity Training (HIT), invented by Arthur Jones and popularized by Mike Mentzer, has stood the test of time. So, even the exercise scientist admitted to its effectiveness during his conversation with Chris Williamson.

Israetel discussed the training method in a clip from Williamson’s podcast. “Mike Mentor and those folks were fans of going to failure and beyond, with drops out some crazy s**t. They got really good results, but they don’t do very many sets. A few sets per muscle, per workout is all they do because they realize we can’t recover from this,” said the bodybuilding coach.

High-intensity training was all about spending less time in the gym and exhausting yourself within a few sets. Bodybuilding legends like Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates aimed to completely exhaust the muscle in just one set. The long recovery time also kept them away from the gym a lot more than those who followed high-volume training. However, the exercise scientist didn’t recommend you follow Mike Mentzer’s style.

Keeping “somewhere between three and one rep and reserve on average,” would provide just as good, if not better results, said Israetel. This would lead to faster recovery, and you would be able to do more sets. While HIT may have served for decades, Israetel said that modern research has proven even training sessions with over 50 sets have provided superior hypertrophy.

Yet despite telling people not to regularly train to absolute failure, Israetel told them to push themselves once in a while. The exercise scientist said that as you get stronger, your threshold to absolute failure increases. Keeping too many reps in reserve won’t give you results. However, Mike Israetel doesn’t always admire Mentzer’s advice on training.

The exercise scientist once recommended the opposite of Mike Mentzer’s advice

Earlier this year, Dr. Mike Israetel reviewed a resurfaced clip of Mike Mentzer discussing warm-ups. While warming up before exercise is critical for avoiding injuries, the exercise scientist took issue with when and how Mike Mentzer advised you to warm up. The uncrowned Mr. Olympia explained that you should stretch before a training session.

However, modern research has proven that static stretching before working out reduces performance. It also increases your chances of getting injured. The exercise scientists said no scientific literature on stretching and its co-relation with weight training existed in the 70s, so Mentzer wasn’t aware. Yet, he used it as an example that people should re-evaluate older approaches like HIT.

Although HIT is an effective training method, Mike Israetel argued that some aspects of the approach are outdated. Instead of going to failure during every workout, he recommends adding some volume to the mix.