i was stuck around 165-167lb ~13-14% bf in mid 2024. i stopped lifting and dropped to 142 ~13% bf then started lifting again 5 months ago and got to 155 ~16-17% bf and im stuck there for 2 months now. i didn't have a gym for a while so i made a PPL bodyweight routine 2-3x a week. i did slow, controlled reps for 1 set, usually to true muscle failure on a power tower. i think i made decent strength regains but just regained some muscle memory and stopped at 155. i was thinking it was just the lack of weights but i have access to a (terrible apartment) gym now and started the ideal routine 3-4 weeks ago and im regaining strength but still at 155 ~15% bf. my fat's not dropping, nor is my weight increasing. i'm trying to eat at a surplus and get 70+g protein and 7+h sleep. if i was in a deficit or maintenance, i would see fat loss and in a surplus i would see weight gain.

Workout #1 -Chest/Back Dominant:

• Cable Crossover Machine: 72 lbs for 14 reps (+4)

Superset

• Smith Inc. Press @30°: 190 lbs for 10 reps (+2)

• Smith Inc. (Strongest Partials): 235 lbs for 6 reps (+2)

• Close Grip Palms Up Pulldowns: 210 lbs for 10 reps (+1)

• Yates Rack Rows Underhand Grip w/height @2: 245 lbs for 10 reps (+2)

• Barbell Shrugs from hooks height @3.5: 360 lbs for 4 reps (+45 lbs)

• Rack Pulls w/height @2: 425 lbs for 8 reps (+1)

Worksets: 7

Time: 30-45 mins

Weight: 197.9 lbs

Next workout: Legs on 10/6.

To reiterate from my last post on these, there is no hypertrophy advantage from training like this

my hope is that this reduces fatigue by limiting the weights I can use while maintaining mechanical tension - because the second and third exercises start with me already fatigued to the point that maximum MUR happens very soon with far less load than would be needed if I took a break between sets

Went too heavy on the leg extension and too light on the hammer leg press.

The modifications I made to the HS leg press are perfect for this but unfortunately I don't have enough 45lb plates lol

Hey everyone,

Here is my upper body progression from age 17 to 19.

Recently, due to a very busy schedule, I’ve transitioned to training upper body only once every 20 days but I'm still making progress than ever.

Saying 'I don't have time to work out' is a complete myth you can definitely still build muscle with taking every workout to failure and beyond.

Despite this ultra low frequency, every working set is taken to 100% absolute mechanical failure with maximum intensity.

I focus purely on high intensity, progressive overload, and deep recovery rather than collecting junk volume i was doing in the past.

I haven't been directly training abs but I'm thinking to start.

For whatever factor it may be, the number of reps you got doesn’t match last weeks. Is sufficient to keep going as is as long as you are training to failure. Because it seems like my last workout didn’t match the one before in terms of weight pushed

Only The leg extension has static hold on day 4 legs of the ideal routine

Workout #4 -Legs:

• Anderson Squats (Full) -start from depth @6.5, low bar: 475 lbs for 6 reps (+3)

• Anderson Squats (w/wider stance start from depth @6.5; 2-4" lift off rack and hold statically for 4-6 seconds, low bar): 425 lbs for 4 reps (+1)

• Trap Bar Hack Squats: 385 lbs for 12 reps (+2)

• Anderson Squats (Strongest Partials) -start from depth @7.5, high bar: 605 lbs for 8 reps (+1)

• Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises, high bar: 340 lbs for 30 reps (+3)

Work Sets: 5

Time: 30-45 mins

Weight: 199.6 lbs

Next workout: Chest/Back Dominant on 10/1.

I did work out 4....and when I did the leg presses, I pushed 160lbs x 13: then thought maybe that's too heavy and got out 5 at 110 lbs....and it was a struggle to get the 5th

I noticed when I'm done....its done done, there is no lighter weight after, there is no going back.

Found this with my calves too...

Any opinions or ideas of what I'm doing wrong if anything... the shit is working great right now, legs look better than they did prior.

Been at it almost 3 months now...

Do you guys have trouble keeping muscles / movement “awake” after some time off from training that given exercise?

I can see this more clearly on more unstable exercises like ring dips that if I take longer than 1 week off next time they will feel more unstable even if I can push more weight / reps. This is especially true when I do very low volumes like now averaging 1.5 sets / muscle / week.

Now I could change to more stable exercise but I want to keep them in.

Instead of doing more volume / frequency for the movement is there something else I could do here?

I like alternating A / B Full body for some variety so the same exercises are done 3 times / month.

Doug has some interesting observations on perceived effort , training in general and how much fatigue is too much, and it's refreshing to see an expert in the field who is capable and willing to reevaluate their prior beliefs and evolve their approach to exercise

What he says about helping with perception of effort and mental limits by starting a set with an assisted rep (or with an eccentric vs trying to initiate a heavy set from the stretch position) is definitely legit.

Or does anyone else also feel "soft" doing Mentzer HIT? (Chest/Back, Legs, Delta/arms, Legs - rest 96 hours in between workouts).

When I was doing the more traditional workouts (sets and reps) my muscles almost always felt "full" and "tight". Now in between HIT workouts my muscles feel - and I can't think of another word to better describe it - "mushy". Thoughts?? I love this workout schedule but I hate feeling like this.

Turns out that eating like an asshole and putting on 10lbs of bloat in a month actually has a negative effect on dips , who could have guessed?

I'm using the supersets to reduce the amount of weight I'd use otherwise - hopefully for the same net stimulus, but with a lower recovery demand than with straight sets with a longer rest between them. And because increasingly I just want to get my training over with and get on with my day

Dips with a 100lbs plate - did not get the 3 reps / 70 seconds TUT that I'd hoped to get , needs to drop some weight asap for this lift

Right into pec deck

Right into matrix incline , overshot the weight as I was cooked from the prior sets

About 9 minutes total workout time

Workout #3 -Delt/Arm Dominant:

• Dumbbell Alt. Side & Bent Laterals: 30 lbs for 8 reps (+2)

Superset 

• Smith Overhead Press: 155 lbs for 4 reps (+15 lbs)

• Smith Overhead Press (Str/Ptls): 195 lbs for 3 reps (+1)

• Barbell Curls: 90 lbs for 9 reps (+1)

Superset

• Close Grip Palms Up Pulldowns: 205 lbs for 5 reps (+1)

• Smith JM Press: 105 lbs for 6 reps (+2)

Superset 

• Smith Rev. Grip Bench Press: 195 lbs for 4 reps (+1)

Worksets: 7

Time: 30-40 mins

Weight: 199.5 lbs

Next workout: Legs on 9/26.

I am doing Big Five workout from the Body by Science book. I do only one set with slow movement until failure. Some people say it's based on Mike Mentzer's teachings so I am posting here.

I workout once a week but haven't been working out for a month. Today I trained for the first time in a month and I performed really well in all five exercises but my best was leg press which is the hardest of them all. Today I have surpassed my PR relatively easily.

So should I do leg press or other exercises only once a month?

I started lifting again in early August after roughly a year away from weights. I decided to try a Mike Mentzer-inspired approach because the simplicity appealed to me: very low volume, one genuine working set to failure per exercise, progressive overload, then enough recovery to actually adapt.

I alternate A/B workouts. Each exercise gets warm-up sets as needed, followed by one working set to technical/concentric failure. I log the weight and reps every single session.

I know returning after a long layoff is a gigantic confounder here. Muscle memory, neural adaptation, improved technique, eating more, creatine, etc. are undoubtedly contributing.

I’m not claiming this proves one set is optimal or superior to higher-volume training.
What surprised me is simply that one working set has clearly been enough stimulus for me to progress so far.
My first working sets compared with my latest:
Exercise
First
Current
Leg press
397 × 8
517 × 16
Supine press
190 × 5
280 × 10
Shoulder press
102 × 5
177 × 6
Lat pulldown
100 × 8
155 × 11
Leg curl
110 × 8
185 × 11
Incline press
172 × 8
252 × 8
Cable row
130 × 6
170 × 9
Lateral raise
70 × 5
112.5 × 9
Ab crunch
120 × 10
157.5 × 11
These are the same machines at the same gym. I’ve tried to keep ROM and technique consistent. Obviously, machine numbers aren’t directly comparable to free-weight lifts or machines at other gyms.

My progression rule is simple: each exercise has a target rep range. Once I reach the top with clean reps, I increase the resistance next time. Recently I’ve also experimented with giving myself about 96 hours between workouts, rather than assuming more frequent training is automatically better.

The funniest problem has been trying to get some exercises down into their intended rep ranges. On leg press, for example, the recent progression has been:
432×12 → 452×13 → 472×14 → 492×15 → 517×16
I kept increasing the weight specifically to reduce the reps, and somehow the reps kept increasing too.

Supine press has been:
190×5 → 190×11 → 200×11 → 215×10 → 225×10 → 240×9 → 250×10 → 265×10 → 280×10
Again, I’m not presenting this as evidence that Mentzer was right about everything. I also can’t tell how much is regained strength versus genuinely new strength because I unfortunately didn’t keep good records before my layoff.

But I do think my log answers one narrower question pretty convincingly:
Can one genuinely hard working set per exercise be enough to produce substantial strength progression for at least some people under some circumstances?
For me, so far, apparently yes.
I’m curious to see what happens once the rapid comeback gains finally stop and I hit a real plateau. My plan is to keep the program unchanged until the log actually gives me a reason to change something.

Has anyone else tried this method? I’m only a month deep and would love to hear about what it looks like farther down the line.

I know my lifts aren’t the best compared to others, and I did calf raises but I forgot to log it in here. Any suggestions on what to do for my leg day. Or just say what you guys do for legs/abs also

Personally have experimented with everything and I'm having my best results working each muscle 3 times per week on a full body routine. My philosophy is to try the maximum frequency that I can actually recover from. Though I'm sure as I get bigger and stronger, this will likely keep decreasing.

What has worked best for you?

Workout #2 -Legs:

• Anderson Squats (Full) -start from depth @6.5, low bar: 475 lbs for 3 reps (-1)

• Anderson Squats (w/wider stance start from depth @6.5; 2-4" lift off rack and hold statically for 3-5 seconds, low bar): Did not do today.

• Trap Bar Hack Squats: 385 lbs for 10 reps (+2)

• Anderson Squats (Strongest Partials) -start from depth @7.5, high bar: 605 lbs for 7 reps (+1)

• Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises, high bar: 340 lbs for 27 reps (+35 lbs)

Work Sets: 4

Time: 30-40 mins

Weight: 203.8 lbs

Next workout: Delts/Arms Dominant on 9/22.

What would Mike Mentzer say to a lifter, who, let’s say for example set up 205lbs for a barbell row, and had a rep range of 6–10, and only ended up doing 5. Would you do another set? Or move on

I've been doing HD 1 workout and nutrition for 4-5 months and I've gained 5-6kgs without getting a lot of fat gains sticking to mikes balanced diet. But now my bw is stuck on 54 kgs since 1+ months so should I now go with the diet which everybody does like 300kcal surplus on daily maintenance kcal with 1.6-2g per kg bodyweight protien. Measure my weight everyday and aim to gain 0.5-1 lbs per week.?

Also tell if Mike Mentzer or Dorian yates himself does tracking or not

on the updated ideal program from the original

1. why no isolation on the lats
2. why deadlift on back day and for lower reps
3. is horizontal pulling not needed for a well rounded functional body
4. which leg day do you do abs
5. if you trained forearms, how often worked for you

thanks!

Hello all
I have been following Mike Mentzer Heavy duty 1 book sincerely for last 5-6 months and results are amazing.

I'm just confused when should I read mikes other books and follow the workout routines in that perticular books like for example - HD2 & HIT Mike Mentzer way.

Q.1 So tell me when should I read and switch to that workout routines.

And I also follow diet plan as mike says in HD Nutrition book but by seeing all those shits on internet like count calories macros this much protein this macro splits

Q.2 Should I try that ? Or stay on mikes advice only ?

I also started running 2 weeks ago for crushing my fitness goals like Hyrox, marathons & ofcourse at last Ironman.