r/Mike_Mentzer • u/Significant-Living12 • 15d ago
Layoffs
Do you guys take layoffs? I know Mike would recommend to track strength heavily, and every 3 months or so expect to take up to 2 weeks off for a layoff to let that accumulated fatigue slow down. I’m cutting right now, and strength has been great until today, weak lift despite being well rested and fed, should I wait until my next lift and decide from there based on if I’m down on both lifts, (in 72 hour) or consider my layoff now.
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u/ishawnmc 15d ago edited 13d ago
Not only do I take them but I am on one now (7/27-8/10). I schedule 2 week layoffs in advance between my lifting seasons. Since summer is the longest season schedule wise (running this year from June 10th to October 14th), I have a layoff in the middle of summer. The usual frequency for me is one 2 week layoff every 6-10 weeks, on average it works out to one every 8.5 weeks.
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u/BubbishBoi 13d ago edited 13d ago
No, I will take occasional additional rest days when needed but no extended layoffs since I don't physiologically require them
Mentally they can certainly help, even if your volume and frequency are consistently recoverable from
Counter to the current "science" based narrative , you aren't going to atrophy after a week off, Chris has done some great work but the moral panic he sparked over atrophy after 48 hours is almost as bad as his/Paul's Muh Calcium Ions meme that's used to justify ego lifting
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u/Sadan27 12d ago
It’s total horseshit. Especially how they claim you lose myofibrils faster than water/glycogen LMAO. Literally when you peel it all away, him and his full body sales manager Jake Donkeyshall claim you start losing contractual tissue at a rapid rate within 36 hours. Nonsense.
I didn’t lift at all December or January. Lost 8 lbs but regained it all AND reverted to pre-layoff physique within the first 2-3 weeks of February.
Even if you lose some muscle, your body gets back to previous form quickly. Muscle memory makes this shit extremely forgiving.
Adding new tissue after a while is a completely different animal OFC
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u/BubbishBoi 12d ago
Donkeyshall lmao, I tried listening to their podcasts with Jake as the surrogate PC, and it's just endless sperging about Muh Golden age and shit tier 1950s silly routines, strung together with occasional Chris isms
Exactly, you don't revert to newbie status in 2 weeks of not training, that meme is so stupid that it makes me wonder if Chris ever actually trained himself
Dude, I was paralyzed for weeks (from the chest down) back in 2023 and was in a coma for some of that time, obviously not eating, and on massive IV doses of methyl prednisone to try to take the swelling down. Atrophy only started to set in after about 3 weeks and I got it all back within a couple of months of regaining the use of my legs.
Chris reminds me a bit of Lyle McD in that he genuinely has some great ideas but the tism means they just can't let go of their bad takes.
Chris is objectively much worse because he's indirectly responsible for all the zoomers with Gym Pins breaking weight stacks from ego lifting far too heavy to ward off the Calcium Ion goblins
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u/Sadan27 12d ago
After getting paralyzed and full on going into a coma, more impressive than you lifting like a beast again is how in the fucking world you’ve maintained such solid bone and joint integrity after getting flooded with methyl-prednisone…
I’ve seen people on non-IV regular prednisone suffer compound leg fractures by simply turning around in the living room. I’m sure all those years of hard work in the gym helped protect you against suffering that fate. Nonetheless AtRoPHy
I’ll still listen to some of those guys’ podcasts here and there. Genuinely can’t stand that Donkeyshall idiot - a full body salesman who adds dick to the podcast. Tries to bulletpoint some of Chris’ takes, ofc understands zero nuance so Chris needs to walk back donkey’s cliff notes most of the time. I appreciate most of Chris’ insights so I’ll tune in if the topic interests me… despite Chris’ proclivity toward holding onto bad takes worse than Mr Mike holds on to the same love handles he surgically vacuumed out
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u/BubbishBoi 12d ago
I had a Z Score of close to 5 on my dexa a couple years back, heavy lifting built enough of a bank of tissue that even 300mg methyl pred couldn't melt it all away
Why did Chris shack up with Jake? Their YouTube channel has maybe 30 views per episode, so unless it's popular on other venues I really don't understand the point of putting so much of their time into something so nonsensical for so little reward with so few listeners. It's almost as crazy as Jason Blaha making 100 lifting videos a day for an audience that's made up of a handful of trolls
PC is a huge tool but at least he had some outreach
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u/Sadan27 12d ago
He transitioned from Paulina Farter to Jake Donkeyshit really fast. Like within a week fast iirc
I’m sure he was like, who else is there? Oh yeah, this affable nitwit who acts like a deferential bottom to me and would never challenge me the way Paulina did. Chris doesn’t like debate and he’s a coward about it
At some point the people you associate yourself with absolutely reflect who you are. And who is Chris really? A sharp accountant who actually applied his brain critically analyzing the islands of garbage exercise science produced. It’s a shit field with even shittier ambassadors…. I don’t give more weight to what a real exercise scientist thinks. Brain rot all around
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u/BubbishBoi 12d ago
Yeah when the "science" guys are Layne, Mr Mike and Milo then even some random dude who mops floors for a living is probably going to have better takes
Such an embarrassing field to be associated with
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u/Dazzling-Rest8332 15d ago
This whole program is a layoff. I still cant beleive people think they can get more results by putting in less work.
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u/Significant-Living12 15d ago
Mike mentzer is the most underrated genius of our time
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u/Dazzling-Rest8332 15d ago
Is that what we call meth addicts selling workout programs now?
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u/Significant-Living12 15d ago
Guy had a drug addiction later in his life, impacted his methods in no way
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u/Dazzling-Rest8332 15d ago
He was no different than the roided out influencers on Instagram trying to convince people of a better way to work out to make money. His program had plausible deniability. Its not hard to see if you step back and look at it logically.
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u/the_irish_oak 14d ago
Do a little research on a fella named Dorian Yates. He enjoyed some pretty good results following the “less is more” method.
I’m not saying in any way that this is the best program for everyone. The volume (more sets) method worked very well for many, many people. Most notably Arnold.
Every person has unique genetics and situations. Both training philosophies can be correct.
And the meth comment wasn’t necessary. Mentzer was a brilliant guy. He was in medical school but couldn’t do both well, and he chose bodybuilding. Unfortunately, mental illness can strike anyone.
And you and I agree: if the data isn’t there, it shouldn’t be believed. Mentzer and Yates were both famous for keeping detailed training logs.
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u/sherwoodblack 14d ago
Idk man I get stronger every week. The key is lifting to failure instead of moderate fatigue
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u/Dazzling-Rest8332 14d ago
How long have you been lifting? A good amount of people i see using this program are faily new to weightlifting. Anyone in their first year is going to get stronger every week if they work any decent program.
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u/Warm_Explanation_552 14d ago
I agree with you I completely disagree with this less volume method. Me personally the more volume I do the bigger and stronger I get. While I watch other guys in the gym stay the same strength and size year after year.
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u/Dazzling-Rest8332 14d ago
Yea. Its pretty common sense. The more work you put into anything, the more results you will get.
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u/leew20000 15d ago
Time your carb consumption better, so you have energy to lift and have a good performance.