The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer by John Little with Joanne Sharkey (McGraw Hill,2005)
Mike Mentzer (1951-2001) was not just another bodybuilder. Despite boasting one of the most perfectly developed bodies in the history of the sport, his primary contribution was as a philosopher, a sage and a public intellectual.
He defied the lazy stereotype of the muscle-bound, uneducated bodybuilder through his eloquence and intelligence. This book showcases his legacy – in the fields of nutrition, training and building body mass. Above all, it explains the scientific and philosophical underpinnings behind his famous – and allegedly unnervingly effective – Heavy Duty Training regime. You don’t have to be a fully-fledged bodybuilder to appreciate this book. If you just enjoy free weights training at the gym, this book will capture your imagination.
Mentzer believed that self-improvement was the most crucial human aspiration – and this applied to all areas of life; body mind and spirit. As an Objectivist in the school of Ayn Rand, he believed in the fundamental nobility of man. Bodybuilding was more than public art; it was the expression of basic human desires for HUNGER – Height, Uplift, Nobility, Grandeur, Exaltation and Reverence. The body was a form of communication and the key was to send the right message.
And that’s all in the first chapter of this unique portrait. The second chapter draws a sharp contrast between Mentzer’s positive, inspirational ideals and the more wily approach of his great rival, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Austrian Oak was infamous for his psychological tactics and game-playing to gain advantage over the competition. Arnold’s skills brought him tremendous success and proved powerful enough to propel him to Hollywood stardom and a successful political career as governor of California; but Mentzer fans believe he lost something in the process. Mike Mentzer, the authors argue, renounced the Machiavellian path and instead strove for the betterment of the sport above all things. His collaboration with protégé Dorian Yates in the 1980s can be seen as part of this altruistic mission.
Part II of this work covers his controversial but very popular High-Intensity Training regime. Traditionally, bodybuilders had been slaves to the gym, training relentlessly for six hours a day with the huge cost in time and energy this involved. Mentzer realised that the rate of improvement was related to the intensity of the training rather than the frequency, and preferred to train once every four or five days but at very high intensity levels. He realised the enormous demands that bodybuilding placed on the human system and that adequate downtime and rest was essential.
Mentzer summarises his philosophy thus: “You can train hard or you can train long – you just can’t do both. And it so happens that it takes hard training to build big muscles”. The High-Intensity training philosophy (brand marketed as “Heavy Duty”) was one of the most controversial and successful development in the sports in the 1980s and Dorian Yates became its most notable exponent. The reader should however consult the disclaimer at the start of the book before trying to apply any of Mike Mentzer’s training ideas.
The book details a number of training programmes (including Mike’s most productive routine) before closing with a question and answer session on his Heavy Duty Training ideas.
“The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer” is illustrated on virtually every page with pictures of Mentzer in his prime, the living embodiment of his own beliefs on human potential. It is a time travel machine to the last years of the golden age of bodybuilding – expect to see a large number of quintessentially Seventies moustaches and retro photos.
Mike Mentzer died a sudden death from cardiac complications on the morning of June 10, 2001.This book is part testament and part inspiration. It captures a perfect moment in time, when everything seemed possible. It is a genuine, even moving account of a bodybuilding legend from people who knew him. Through this book, his legacy lives on.
(c) WestOcean 2009
