The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend

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INTRODUCTION

Mike Mentzer-his name has become synonymous with perfection in the art, science, and philosophy of bodybuilding. (Photo by John Balik, courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

The name Mike Mentzer is synonymous with perfection in the art, science, and philosophy of bodybuilding. Mike was the first bodybuilder to ever garner a perfect score in the Mr. Universe competition and more important, he was one of the few innovators and pioneers in the interrelated fields of bodybuilding training and nutrition. Mike’s training ideas (culled from intense personal research with thousands of bodybuilders from around the world as well as from his own vast in-the-gym experience), in addition to his highly motivational philosophical writings, have been embraced by tens of thousands of bodybuilders the world over, along with athletes, businessmen (and businesswomen), medical practitioners, fitness enthusiasts, and those who simply enjoy reading the words of an immanently rational man on the subject of bodybuilding exercise.

Despite his passing in June 2001, Mike’s popularity has continued to grow. When he first arrived on the bodybuilding scene in the mid-1970s, he was received as a breath of fresh air by a public that had grown tired of hype and had become hungry for substance. Most certainly he attracted attention; possessed of that rare combination of chiseled good looks, Grecian statuesque muscle, and a professorial mind, Mike was something of an anomaly in bodybuilding. He was a man who was just as comfortable discussing the psychoepistemology of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, the Will to Power of Friedrich Nietzsche, or the novels of Henry Miller as he was discussing the sets and reps of the pumping-iron fraternity. In addition, and unlike many of his contemporaries in the iron game, Mike was always approachable. He genuinely enjoyed speaking to inquiring bodybuilders about a better way of training and later, of a better way of thinking about training.

He was born into a modest middle-class family in Germantown, Pennsylvania. In his youth, he cultivated exceptional athletic skills, and yet it would prove to be the solitude of the gym, rather than the glory of the gridiron, that he preferred. He was a voracious reader of broad erudition, and even at a young age he was something of a seeker after truth. He learned all he could about strength training from the American weightlifting legends who filled the landscape of the York Barbell Club in York, Pennsylvania, rubbing shoulders with such luminaries as Bob Hoffman (the onetime coach of the U.S. Olympic weight-lifting team); Mr. Universe and Olympic athlete John Grimek; champion weight lifters such as Bill March, Tony Garcy, and Bob Bednarski; as well as the first official champions in organized powerlifting, Terry Todd and Ernie Puckett. In time, Mike spent considerable time studying medicine and psychology, and he met and trained under the watchful eye of Nautilus exercise-equipment impresario Arthur Jones, a man from whom he learned the fundamental principles of high-intensity training that forever altered the course of his life.

While Mike went on to develop one of the greatest physiques in the history of bodybuilding, it was his mind that ultimately proved to be the vehicle responsible for lifting him into the world of superstardom, causing him to revolutionize the way bodybuilders think and train.

Mike’s star might have reached its zenith in 1983, when he achieved an almost godlike status within the sport and even attracted the attention of a large segment of the general public, appearing on such popular international television programs as The Merv Griffin Show, and competing and commentating on other internationally televised events such as ABC’s Wide World of Sports and CBS television’s Superstars competition. His photos adorned bestselling posters and magazine covers, and his handsome face was seen splashed across the pages of GQ magazine. Over time, his followers grew to number in the tens of thousands. Yet throughout his lifetime, few people ever got to know the real Mike Mentzer—the man behind the legend—and fewer still in number were the people he considered his friends.

Mike Mentzer, being interviewed by CBS television just after his Mr. Universe win in Acapulco, Mexico, wherein he received the first-ever perfect score in bodybuilding competition. (Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

During an interview conducted early in his bodybuilding career, Mike made the comment, I don’t care to have many friends and acquaintances, but the few good friends I possess are very close to me. He would hold to this credo for the remainder of his life. He didn’t have many friends, but those he did honor with the gift of his friendship were like family to him. I consider myself very fortunate to have been one of Mike’s friends, and many were the times that Mike and I would get together to talk about life, art, philosophy, and the science of bodybuilding. Indeed, this book is a direct result of these discussions between two friends over a period of two decades and of the lessons learned by its author from the wisdom of its subject.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to record for the benefit of future generations certain very important contributions made by my late friend that have never been explored in depth before. Certain points included in this book were shared directly with me in private settings (either at Mike’s apartment in Los Angeles or Marina del Rey, or at my home), while others were garnered from his voluminous writings and from select audio recordings not commonly known to those outside his inner circle.

In preparing this book, I have been invaluably aided by the support, research, and insight of Mike’s closest friend (his successor and legal heir to his intellectual property) Joanne Sharkey. She made available to me never-before-released written, audio, and video materials, including Mike’s research into a revolutionary workout that consists of only two sets (one set of two exercises) and is performed just once every seven days or longer (and that resulted in one client actually doubling his bodyweight in two years)! Such rare and invaluable material from the Mentzer archives, when combined with my own personal history with Mike, has led to my much broader and deeper understanding of his revolutionary Heavy Duty training method, and it is hoped that the distillation of these materials and firsthand experiences into the pages of this book will do likewise for the reader. The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer contains several distinct yet interrelated sections that reveal Mike’s belief and indeed his passion for the integration of mind and body.

In Part I, the reader will find two chapters that detail the art of bodybuilding and the philosophy of character that can be, but sadly often is not, developed through bodybuilding. Chapter 1 presents Mike’s conception of art, heavily influenced by the aesthetic aspect of Objectivist philosophy. Mike held that the art of posing or displaying one’s physique afforded one the opportunity to present an image of man the hero. The factors that make this a possibility include the concepts of height, uplift, nobility, grandeur, exaltation, and reverence, which Mike referred to acronystically as HUNGER. Each concept is fully explored in Chapter 1, featuring Mike’s own words in explaining their significance.

With regard to the question of character, many in bodybuilding have adopted the attitude of winning at all costs—including sabotaging the competition. Indeed, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the legendary bodybuilding icon and present-day governor of California, has gone on record as openly embracing this attitude as part of the arsenal he employed to achieve the highest level of professional bodybuilding competition. In Chapter 2, Schwarzenegger’s Machiavellian approach is contrasted with Mike’s Objectivist approach of rational or enlightened self-interest and is found very wanting indeed. This chapter includes personal information on how Mike viewed the process of character development and why he felt it to be among the most important issues of human existence.

In Part II, the focus shifts to bodybuilding training and the scientific principles that Mike perfected and refined in the creation of his Heavy Duty training system. Chapter 3 presents the fundamental principles of Mike’s bodybuilding system. The following chapter, I believe, may well be the most important chapter in this book, as it explores Mike’s furthest application of the Heavy Duty training system: Consolidation Training. Chapter 4 presents this revolutionary workout of extraordinary brevity: two sets (total) performed just once a week. The conventional minds in bodybuilding would be furious, but then Mike never held much respect for conventional minds. The reason behind the success of this radically new approach has to do with the fact that certain individuals (either near the top of their genetic potential or those with below-average recovery ability) cannot stand any more exercise than this. Also, just as there are those who can tolerate only small amounts of ultraviolet sunlight stress before getting a sunburn, there are likewise those who can tolerate only small amounts of exercise stress before becoming overtrained. A very provocative concept, indeed!

From there, the more advanced bodybuilding trainee is invited to take another step up the ladder of intensity as I present Mike’s never-before-published training methods for advanced Heavy Duty workouts. I have Joanne Sharkey to thank for making available an audiotape containing Mike’s ruminations on this vitally important subject. It is, for example, well-known within bodybuilding that Mike advised all trainees to take each and every set of repetitions to a point of positive failure, which is the point in a set where another full-range repetition is impossible. For beginners, intermediates, and even advanced trainees, this protocol works exceedingly well. However, as a bodybuilder’s body adapts to that level of training intensity, it becomes increasingly more difficult to stimulate additional muscle growth. The solution, as Mike points out, is to expose your body to not more exercise, but rather harder exercise. Unique and powerful new protocols exclusive to Mike Mentzer and Heavy Duty are called for at this point, and they are revealed in Chapter 5 for the first time—techniques such as Omni-Contraction and Infitonic training.

Part III details certain historical events from Mike’s personal history that had direct bearing on either the development of his physique or the further development of his Heavy Duty training approach. Chapter 6 presents what Mike once shared with me as being his most productive bodybuilding routine—the one that he held put the most muscle on his physique when he was preparing for competition. Chapter 7 reveals Mike’s tips and secrets to building bigger, more muscular arms. Of all his bodyparts, Mike’s arms were absolutely phenomenal to witness in the flesh (and there was a lot of flesh to witness!). As most aspiring bodybuilders are struggling to break the barrier of the 14½-inch arm, the information in this chapter will be of enormous help and perhaps just what they need to break through their plateau to greater arm mass. Chapter 8 reveals how in the early 1990s, Mike trained future multi-Mr. Olympia winner Dorian Yates in workouts that are now legendary within the bodybuilding community. I was present for two of these sessions and spoke to Mike about these revolutionary workout sessions. This chapter describes in detail the training workout Mike put Dorian through that changed the landscape of bodybuilding: only one set of several exercises that, once word got out, started a revolution in how hard-core bodybuilders trained.

Finally, no matter how clearly Mike wrote about the requirements of productive bodybuilding exercise, bodybuilders continue to have questions about the finer points of his Heavy Duty training system. For this reason, Chapter 9 is devoted to answering the most prevalent of these questions.

I had mentioned earlier that Mike’s legacy has continued to grow over the years—and for reasons perhaps more important than his bodybuilding laurels. A large number of fans are inspired by the manner in which he openly opposed the huge commercial interests that pull the strings behind the scenes in professional bodybuilding. Mike is remembered as a man who stood alone against the giants of this industry and suffered their blows, giving as good as he got. In an industry that preys largely on naïve young bodybuilders’ gullibility and operates from a follow-the-herd mentality, Mike Mentzer stands alone as a champion of truth and objective fact and, perhaps, as the lone voice of reason.

This reason above all others is why Mike’s memory deserves to be honored, and it is the motive behind the writing and publication of this book.

Mike Mentzer: Creator of the Heavy Duty approach to bodybuilding, philosopher, and master of the art of expressing the human body. (Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

Part I

ART AND PHILOSOPHY

(Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

Chapter 1

HUNGER: THE NOBLE ETHOS OF BODYBUILDING

Mike Mentzer always chose dramatic poses for his routines, resulting in his projecting a message to his audience about the significance of being alive and being human. (Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

There are two fundamental ways of viewing man: Man the exalted hero, who stands noble and tall, proud of his ability and willingness to be a creative, productive innovator, or there was man the evil villain, who relied on the use of physical force to get what he wants. Cindy and I had always been passionate hero-worshippers, so our goal was to find music and poses that would convey to the audience the emotional connotations related to height, uplift, nobility, grandeur, exaltation, and reverence. I would make the effort to use these abstractions that came from religion and pertained to the supernatural, and redirect their emotional counterparts to their proper place here on earth–to Man the Hero.

–Mike Mentzer, from his last writing and his only

work of fiction, The Integrated Man

(Revised Heavy Duty Journal,

Mentzer-Sharkey Enterprises, Inc. © 2005)

The lights in the Sydney Opera House had gone down, and those who had been in attendance during the morning’s prejudging were now at the edge of their chairs in anticipation of the next competitor, Mike Mentzer. It was the evening finals, and according to firsthand accounts by those who reported on this contest in later years, Mentzer was considered the one to watch—the one with the best physique on stage that day. The crowd, sensing something powerful was about to envelop them, waited in anxious silence.

Mike typically chose classical music to pose to, which made his posing routine that much more stirring and dramatic. (Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness.)

From out of the darkness, music was heard, a stirring and soulful string section: Siegfried’s Funeral March by the renowned and controversial classical composer Richard Wagner. A lone spotlight hit the center of the stage and into the ring of illumination appeared Mentzer. A collective gasp issued from those attending; he had not even hit his first pose and already the Mentzer physique was magnificent. The abs were deeply etched, as were the thighs; the pecs were squared and full; the biceps were deeply chiseled from the triceps; and the shoulders were so wide they almost defied optics. As he stood for a moment surveying the very souls of those who would sit in judgment of his physique that day, a smile played about his lips.

The music stirred again, and Mentzer’s arms moved upward. A pause. The music played a second refrain, and his arms moved higher. The audience was still seated in stunned appreciation when the music played again, and Mentzer raised his arms fully out to the side, flexing his biceps, triceps, and forearms and causing his phenomenal lats to flare out like a manta ray as they tapered into a wasplike waist. Mentzer then contracted his biceps, which now jutted up in bold relief as if suddenly chiseled in by the hand of an invisible sculptor. The crowd roared their approval as Mentzer slowly turned to reveal his back. In perfect syncopation, the music changed to Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, and Mentzer raised his arms again, this time allowing the audience to see his shoulder muscles snap to attention. What appeared to be small explosions of activity in the deltoid muscles gave way to wave upon wave of intricate muscular detail that coursed through the width and breadth of his back: traps, rhomboids, teres, and erectors—all undulating and rippling like waves across the surface of a pond. These were images that Mentzer could freeze at any time, posing several different muscle groups at once until his back looked like a bronze relief map. The crowd at this point could not believe that a human being could look so, well, godlike. It was as if they were witnessing a magnificent statue come to life before their eyes, only more inspirational. More inspirational because this wasn’t some artist’s painstaking endeavor with clay to present a vision of how a human being could look; this was how good a genuine human being does look. The individual they were now beholding was genuine—created by man and of man with flesh and blood as the raw materials.

What Mentzer revealed on the dais that day was something far more than simply a Mr. Olympia-caliber physique; it was a living, breathing symbol of man’s ability to achieve perfection of form through the application of his reasoning mind. His highly chiseled body was a personification of the triumph of the human will over the forces of nature and over months and years of pain, denial, and the supreme effort required to build a body that looked like living, moving art. This moment, this presentation, framed completely the potentially noble ethos of bodybuilding. It not only put on display what is possible for one man to achieve when he put his mind to it, but what is possible for any man (or woman) to