MIKE MENTZER: HEAVY DUTY ARM WORKOUT

To learn more about Mike Mentzer's life, legacy and teachings, please visit: www.hituni.com/about/mike-men...
I’ve received many requests for a video of the arm workout that Mike Mentzer put Markus Reinhardt through in 2001. In this video, Mike supervises Markus' 4-set arm workout, consisting of one set each of standing barbell curls, triceps press downs and seated dips. Each set is taken to positive failure.

[@money_boiz]

“Yes you are very coordinated I can see…GODDAMNIT HURRY UP!!!” 😂😂😂😂

[@BobFahrer-jb2kr]

I always love that last almost impossible rep. It requires so much focus and mental strength.

[@NAHvine]

Mike Mentzer is the philosopher and knowledge king of bodybuilding. I am reading Mike Mentzer's book High Intensity Training for the second time and I am grateful to Mike Mentzer. Anyone who does not know Mike Mentzer's philosophy does not understand bodybuilding. Greetings and Love from Baku, Azerbaijan.💪🏻🇦🇿❤️

[@marcinprzetocki1617]

I use Mike's method and I am very pleased, I see the results, I train only twice a week,

[@haider4me]

Same here

[@superevil51]

Great video Mr. John, love to see this videos of Mike

[@King.Mathias.Chosen1]

Taking notice 💯✌🏽

[@tatethompson3487]

Mike is so awesome ❤

[@nickknight8065]

I can never superset at my gym. Too many assholes sitting on the equipment looking at their cellphones.

[@Nilan831]

Marcus is a lucky man who trained with mike

[@andypicken7848]

John, your freind Mike must have been subconsiously banging his head off the wall when taking Marcus through the bicep curls. Having seemingly got to the point of momentary muscular failure with Mike having to provide assistance for the last rep and being told to put the bar down, Marcus states "One more" and bangs another rep out without going to MMF lol. It bring to mind the hazards of live broadcasts with animals, despite a good script anything can happen. All the best and thanks again for posting.

[@solidtank7957]

Yes I think Marcus was trying to act for the video and we end up with moments like you describe. Somewhere there is video of Marcus commenting on his memories of filming. Wish we had some more examples of Mike training people, but I am glad we have what we do.

[@D.HarmsYouTube]

That’s going to hurt on arm day! I’m giving those a go!!

[@arnavwadhwa22]

1 set for biceps 💀💀. Guess i gotta do what mike says

[@LS-fp4mp]

I thought that the biceps curl needed a warmup set. Guess it’s one all out set like calves.

[@hamzakhair8907]

When working out the biceps performing the curls with the straight bar, is it better to go up higher in rep with the highest rep possible to enable 6-8 to failure, or a lower weight to hit 8-10? I notice Marcus is hitting what looks to be only 30 pounds on the exercise as opposed to 100

[@imwalt3439]

I've never tried this, but since Mike has us doing dips after pushdown, wouldn't it also be productive to do pulldowns after curls? Do the multi-joint movement after the single? He said biceps are easily overtrained, so I'm guessing that is the explanation.

[@k9higgins]

Mike said to make sure your doing curls with a straight bar but when I do I always get pain in my forearms. Yes I feel it great in the biceps but the pain otherwise in my forearms makes this impossible for me

[@cerberus2373]

my right bicep has been giving me pain for months now (working them once a month). Think it is a form issue as there is plenty of time for recovery and have gotten stronger meaning muscle been built.

[@k9higgins]

@@cerberus2373 be careful you haven’t damaged any nerves in particular your radial and ulnar nerves. Muscle injuries often heal much faster than nerve damage and if your giving the bicep enough rest it should start to feel better. Nerve damage on the other hand can often take much longer to recover and needs specific exercise treatment

[@aliendroneservices6621]

That was one of myriad things Mike was wrong about. Drew Baye says to use whatever doesn't cause pain. Never exercise in pain (different from *_exertional discomfort,_* which is *_not_* something to be avoided)

[@BobFahrer-jb2kr]

Do you flex/bend your wrist? Do you try to supinate with your pinky and ring finger? If you do correct form, it shouldn' t cause pain

[@taxed825]

Same. Switched to cable curls. The bicep tension feels more uniform and constant too. Waiting for my forearm and elbow to heal before returning to barbell.

[@mrvj6509]

Only one workout for bicep ?

[@anekeykia]

Hey John, you always time these really well because next up is arms for me. One question I have is how does one address sticking points? I've been following the ideal program for around 4 months and all my lifts have improved significantly. (40-80lbs depending on isolated, or compound exercises, for reps). Objectively, I'm getting stronger. However, I recently performed a BodPod and found that my lean muscle mass only increased about half a pound since assessing 3 months ago. I was shocked as I thought I had been improving/recomposing as described in the books and lectures. That said, should I continue with the ideal program and reach the foretold sticking point, or should I immediately switch the the 4-excercise consolidated program and accept I'm a hard gainer?

[@solidtank7957]

How many rest days?

[@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE]

Given that you have only been using the program for four months, I wouldn’t worry too much. As Mike indicated, strength gains, precede size gains, and this is true to whatever extent your genetics permit your muscles to grow bigger. You indicate that you are up a half pound of muscle over the past three months, which is not bad. You are obviously heading in the right direction. Mike had said elsewhere that 5 pound gain in a year is actually quite good. And that 10 pounds would be beyond the reach of most people, particularly those who have been training for some time. However, if you’ve been training for several years, that is a good rate of gain. While everybody wants to gain faster, remember that genetics will determine your response. There are other factors that can help the rate of muscle growth or hinder it. For example, are you taking sufficient days off in between workouts? Are you eating extra calories to provide for additional muscle growth? Are you doing other activities that would compete for your recovery resources? Stress, poor or irregular sleep, insufficient nutrition , and additional activities all can delay the muscle growth process.

[@anekeykia]

@@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE Hey John, thank you for the response. I'll keep gaining strength with the ideal program. To be completely honest, I have been combining hypertrophy training with Taekwondo practice for the past month, but I'd still leave about 4 days between any workouts. I figured since I was still gaining strength at an accelerated rate, it must directly coincide with muscle growth. I can definitely improve on sleep and stress management as well. That said, I will lean in fully after academics and TKD suspend in May. Thank you again for the response and I'll keep you posted over the upcoming months.

[@lucastrat]

Your bicep looks like it's ready to explode hahahaha

[@Ocgt]

I’m curious to see what happened with this guy getting trained and if he stuck with Mike methods or not

[@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE]

He stuck with Mike’s methods and is a personal trainer in Las Vegas presently.

[@Allmfs_]

So don’t do static hold at the top while rep on biceps curl??

[@solidtank7957]

Yes that makes sense because the top is the easiest position, like Mike said, no resistance there. I do like to do occasional static holds while the elbow is at 90 degrees.

[@nickknight8065]

Try to squeeze or flex the biceps at the top.

[@hufrags]

Yes quite coordinated 😂

[@georiv2834]

I need to lose like 35 pounds with eating right and doing this workouts has anyone lost weight

[@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE]

You'll find some helpful information in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJnOaHuZeqhlgsksi=SRxOWP8O4IJr96fx

[@georiv2834]

@@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE thanks alot

[@HEAVYDUTYCOLLEGE]

@@georiv2834 You're welcome.

[@solidtank7957]

​@@georiv2834 Yes I have lost 140lbs in a year with no drugs, a simple ketogenic diet with a caloric deficit and high intensity training. Mike said all those years ago that muscle absolutely can be built while losing fat and he was right, my own experience proves it. Basically did no cardio (although in the past month I added in "Zone 2 cardio" as Mike suggested was best for burning fat, science has proved him right again on that) using weight training following Mike's guidelines. It's incredible the results I've had, people think I've taken something. I am proud to say it is all natural, diet and Mike Mentzer's training theories. I never worked out more than maybe 20 mins in any single workout day. I am just 10lbs away from my goal now and when I stop being on a caloric deficit I can't wait to see the continued progress. Good luck my friend.

[@rickclick8359]

Just did a workout be felt I chickened out on that last all out rep to failure. I think this style of training works best with a motivated partner to keep you going. I think Dorian Yates had a great coach if you watch his sessions.