“He Was Training So Little”: Bodybuilding Legend Who Once Accused Arnold Schwarzenegger of Being Favored, Inspired the Likes of 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, and Victor Martinez

Bodybuilding icon Victor Martinez competed with mass monsters like Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler and others. Despite the level of competition, Martinez rose through the ranks and gave then-Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler a run for his money. While the Arnold Classic winner retired from competitive bodybuilding a long time ago, Martinez still maintains a jacked physique. The Dominican Dominator has been following the late Mike Mentzer’s approach.

While Mentzer was among the favorites to win the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s shock victory drove him away from competing. Mentzer accused the judges of favoring Schwarzenegger. However, that wasn’t the only point of conflict between Mentzer and Schwarzenegger. Mentzer’s training style which Martinez follows, was also the opposite of the seven-time Mr. Olympia’s. Earlier, during the latest episode of the Generation Iron Podcast, Martinez got the opportunity to speak about Heavy Duty.

How Dorian Yates proved the bodybuilding legend’s method had merit

Before closing out the podcast, one of the hosts said he would like Martinez to talk about Mike Mentzer. Matinez said the late bodybuilder won the ’79 Mr. Olympia in the heavyweight category. While he didn’t beat Frank Zane in the overall category, in 1980, Mentzer was primed to win the contest. While things played out differently, Martinez said Mentzer’s bodybuilding philosophy inspired many.

After he stopped competing, the bodybuilding legend taught the next generation. “I was influenced by him in the beginning,” said the Arnold Classic champ. Mentzer’s training philosophy fascinated Martinez. “He was training so little… yet you know, he got big,” added the 50-year-old. However, among Heavy Duty’s best pupils was Dorian Yates.

Mentzer taught Yates the High Intensity Training (HIT) philosophy. Instead of working out five or six times a day for nearly five hours like champions like Arnold, HIT taught the opposite. HIT involves short but incredibly intense workouts with the maximum weight a bodybuilder can lift. According to Mentzer, while the technique involved high fatigue, it also gave superior results.

Read More | Bodybuilding Behemoth, Who Found His Fitness Calling In Prison, Opens Up on His “Mind-Muscle Connection” That Won Him 6 Mr. Olympia Titles

Dorian Yates proved that Mentzer’s method worked. The English champion won the Mr. Olympia title six times consecutively, only one short of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s record. While Mike Mentzer propagated HIT, he wasn’t the one who invented it.

The inventor who pioneered exercise machines and HIT

Arthur Jones was the man who invented High-Intensity training. After getting into bodybuilding in the 40s, the inventor became frustrated with the lack of science-based training. So Jones began experimenting on his own. In the 70s, Arthur Jones pooled his knowledge to make the Nautilus line of exercise machines. These would later evolve into the modern exercise machine we see today.

Jones’s research into exercise science also led him to invent HIT. Jones observed that simply increasing volume after a point became redundant. Hence, he took the opposite approach. While Jones laid the groundwork for HIT, Mike Mentzer and later Dorian Yates evolved the philosophy.

Watch this story | Bodybuilding World Compares Mass Monster Dorian Yates’ Streamlined Version With the God of Aesthetics

Did you know that Mike Mentzer inspired Victor Martinez? What’s your opinion on HIT? Tell us in the comments.