Mike Mentzer Muscle Building Podcast For Skinny People

Former Mr Universe Mike mincer not infrequently I am told by bodybuilders that they enjoy the personal fashion in which my articles and books communicate to them my writings are meaningful to many because in addition to dealing with limited bodybuilding issues I also address their deepest concerns and interests for instance scores of bodybuilders from around the world who read my book heavy duty one have informed me that it seemed like chapter one entitled bodybuilders are confused was written specifically with him in mind that through some special power I was able to Divine what was in his

soul and then make explicitly clear what he had only kinda sort of known or had merely sensed there before each was effusively grateful for what in effect was my having lifted the veil of mystification that hadn't shrouded his thinking and kept him confused on the subject of how to best proceed with his training I accomplished this by logically identifying the nature and source of their Confusion it is this understanding the nature and source of one's confusion which is the first step toward resolving it and make no mistake confusion self-doubt and uncertainty can be monstrously intolerable

most assuredly incompatible with self-esteem confidence and happiness of course I possess no special non-rational Insight which enables me to perceive things that others do not I have diligently trained myself to use logic to be able to make valid philosophic scientific identifications of The Facts of reality something that anyone with a normal intact functioning brain and the appropriate motivation can learn to do which brings me to the subject of the purpose of these audio tapes it is not my intention to merely provide the listener with another bodybuilding program and expect you to then blindly follow it

that would not be worth much long range instead my purpose is to teach you to think logically about training and nutrition so that ultimately you'll be able to think independently about these subjects and thus become your own trainer your own coach and never again have to rely on the suspect opinion of others And how do you put a price tag on that that would be of inestimable value for as wonderful as it may be to have a well-developed physique without the ability to think logically and effectively about a subject that you have been passionately committed

to you are in effect consigning yourself to living as one half of a human being a muscular individual who can't even think about that which is of enormous concern and interest an interesting side note here it was just six years ago that I decided to undertake a study and gain as thorough and understanding as possible of the nature of logic I did so to improve my thinking on all important issues including the theory of high intensity training I realized that if I wanted to be better able to develop my training clients muscles I had to

further develop my mind in the process of learning to think logically about bodybuilding you'll learn something about the nature of thought itself which can then be extended to other areas of life and with continued effort and study you'll soon make the delightful discovery that you've been developing your intellectual range and thereby maturing as a human being should The Practical result is that you become a more efficacious individual with considerable Dominion or control over his being why not consecrate this moment to that goal of not just actualizing your full muscular potential but to the constant active

expansion of your knowledge to an Ever widening range of achievement including the reaching of your full human stature which can be accomplished only by learning how to think properly logically not merely about the best manner in which to proceed with your bodybuilding but about all of the crucial fundamental issues of human existence it was Aristotle the discoverer of the laws of logic the principles of thought who said that a friend is that other person in whom one sees himself one's values reflected in the person of another those who find My Philosophy interesting and attractive share

a certain mutuality of values with me if not always on the level of explicit verbalized understanding at least in terms of subconscious emotional or sense of Life affinity I find this encouraging as I have worked conscientiously over a span of many years developing My Philosophy especially That aspect of most central significance my values which are of a positive nature specifically I value reason objectivity logic knowledge science human progress and happiness the reason why the world has descended to the lowest rung of Hell in man's history is because despite the lip service pay them such life-affirming

values no longer predominate the fact that so many bodybuilders possess a pro-mind pro-life philosophy or sense of life means that there is still hope for man's long-range survival and success what relevance to these issues have in a tape series about bodybuilding they are eminently relevant if you are sincerely interested in developing your body the most vitally important aspect of course being the brain bear in mind that bodybuilding does not exist in a vacuum apart from the rest of life and that as a human being knowledge is your means of achieving your goals so of course

the greater your knowledge the greater your ability to reason the more likely you'll achieve your goals lacking the rudiments of rationality necessary to critically analyze ideas the average bodybuilder Today finds himself impotently bewildered a wash in an oceanic proliferation of new theories on training and nutrition unable to even begin to properly evaluate or judge the flood of conflicting contradictory misinformation most bodybuilders flounder helplessly taking years and years to develop a physique they could have should have obtained in months or allowing the flame of their passion for a more muscular physique to be extinguished they either

cease their training efforts entirely or continue going to the gym merely as a social ritual to temporarily Stave off the inevitable consequences of the refusal to think namely anxiety and fear just a few days ago while explaining to one of my local training clients the reasons for working out only once every four to seven days a man in his mid-thirties whom I've seen in the gym training every day for years and with nothing to show for it had apparently overheard my explanation and entoned Mr metzer what you just said about training so infrequently sounded intelligent

and logical but if I don't train every day what else am I going to do with my time I was astonished at such a question as the individual obviously didn't understand that he was implicitly admitting that his life had been one enormous betrayal why sir I responded I might suggest a number of things for your consideration read a novel or philosophy book by Ayn Rand learn the laws of logic translate what you had merely sensed about the nature of existence into an explicitly verbalized philosophy of life why you might even study neuroanatomy and physiology yes

neuroanatomy and physiology I'm always amazed at how much human beings take for granted their sacred existence or take up a trade and roll in a class go to the movies take walks in the park you might even learn about the true nature of romantic love in short you might seek to actualize your human stature he scratched his head and said half-heartedly yeah I suppose I could find something to do as a microcosm of the culture at large the bodybuilding subculture too exhibits an appalling lack of respect for truth knowledge logic and rationality in certain cases

so great is the Distance of ideas in this field from reality one might characterize them as reflective of a type of modern Madness or schizophrenia for instance the premise that there is no such thing as over training only under eating this idea represents the apotheosis of irrational thinking in this field as it contradicts the most basic fundamental principles of bodybuilding nutritional science a brief logical critical analysis of this idea will reveal it immediately as a monumental absurdity the notion that there is no such thing as over training only under reading implies that if you will

only agree to overeat then you can infinitely extend the limit to which you can train to stimulate the body to grow and this simply is not true because the supply of biochemical resources used up in the process of training to induce growth stimulation is of course strictly limited and cannot be restored instantaneously which would have to be the case for this assertion to have any Merit no matter how much or how often one eats therefore the amount of training one may engage in before it becomes over training is strictly Limited And if it were possible

to infinitely extend the degree to which growth could be stimulated through the indefinite extension of training time and of the amount of food consumed there would already be a legion of bodybuilders whose muscular development would far exceed that of Dorian Yates as most bodybuilders today are chronically grossly over trained and overnourished despite being touted as the science of modern bodybuilding very few have engaged in any rigorous scientific thinking on the subject in fact the legitimate scientific medical community has long looked upon weight training rather gingerly only recently according to minuscule respect the actual value of

bodybuilding goes largely unnoticed because of the preponderance of low-grade mentalities controlling it unlike the hallowed researchers and practitioners of Western theoretical medical science who rightfully Pride themselves on exacting intellectual standards and Noble ethical principles too many of those involved in the sport industry of bodybuilding and to a significant degree exercise science have no explicit intellectual standards and worse their Degree of control has emboldened them such that they actually take pride in violating ethical principles with promiscuous abandon unfortunately too many of the self-styled experts in this field not only fail to make a nominal effort to

stay apprised of the latest state-of-the-art knowledge they actively evade such knowledge and even work diligently to suppress valid ideas that would help people to achieve greater progress as well as to protect their health sheer innocent ignorance is one thing but the conscious evasion and willful suppression of life-enhancing knowledge is another the motive of such people is the irrational desire to project and protect an image of incontestable superiority and omniscient infallibility such only serves of course to make them look ridiculously pathetic and to pose a threat to the young and innocent who are apt to be

duped by the crude sophistry of these not so big big shots when someone establishes himself as an authority in bodybuilding or nutrition or any other Arena involving human well-being that individual has an enormous ethical responsibility to do Everything within his power to keep abreast of the latest word in human thought in that field so there is absolutely no excuse for the bodybuilding Orthodoxy after 50 years to continue promulgating the notion that more is better advocating that bodybuilders trained for hours a day six days a week this I submit early obscene as the dangers of overtraining

have been described and well documented for decades my goodness the issue is human well-being what does it take to make some people indignant while those I just described should be censored heavily they are instead among the most successful in this industry some may recall from my book heavy duty one that just as there are those individuals who do not tolerate exposure to high intensity sunlight stress as well as others with albinos Scandinavians and light-skinned people at the far left end of the Continuum and dark skin types and Negroes at the other so there exists a

similar situation with regard to individual exercise stress tolerance with those who don't tolerate exercise stress well at one extreme and Those who do it the other to Advocate that all bodybuilders or any for that matter should train for hours a day is like suggesting that everyone without regard for genetic considerations should expose themselves to the intense summer sunlight at the equator for two hours and when I speak of the dangers of overtraining it is not merely that over training is counterproductive in that it hampers your training progress it may be life-threatening as the recent research

of Dr Kenneth Cooper indicates this is not so difficult to understand when you consider that intense weight training is a form of stress on the human physiology and who has to be reminded that we are all rather delicate and vulnerable as living organisms it only stands to reason that chronic gross over training could inordinately tax the overall physical system and possibly result in a breakdown where there might be a weak link such as the glandular system Dr Cooper in fact attributes the lymph cancer of Lemieux the hockey great as well as that of Marty La

Quarry the distance Runner to over training while the Science of productive bodybuilding exercise is not infinitely complex there's considerably more to it than the childlike simplistic notion that more is better as children many gain the notion that more jelly beans are better than less then carry that unchecked unchallenged premise through life and misapply it to many subjects such as bodybuilding science in fact if you reflect for a moment you'll realize that the more is better Jelly Bean premises wrong too Beyond a definite limited Point jelly beans make you sick fat and may cause dental problems

the premise more is better is actually an ethical economic principle I.E more money more knowledge more values are better than less one cannot take a principle from ethics or economics and apply it blindly to another context such as bodybuilding and expect any meaningful results the premise more is better means precisely that more is better means more is better look at the implicit logic listener there is a built-in guarantee if 20 sets are good 40 sets are even better and 80 sets better still you can't lose the more exercise you perform the better your progress again

it's a built-in guarantee so why Not just take off of work for three months train 18 hours a day and you'll reach Mr Olympia caliber you see now how useful logic is it is man's method of gaining knowledge which is again his means of survival and is therefore that of most fundamental importance in human life man is not an instinctual creature instincts are a form of knowledge that are hardwired into animals and therefore guide them automatically and unerringly man is a conceptual being who gains and uses knowledge only by a volitional cognitive effort and it

is because one must exercise his Power of Choice exert a specific effort of will to initiate and sustain a process of thought that many don't do it they apparently find the effort involved too much or not to their liking having been brought up in an anti-rational culture many are not taught to Value logic and thus never achieve intellectual self-sufficiency I.E the ability to think rationally and to judge independently they have uncritically accepted Faith as a means of knowledge and faith is the antithesis of reason it is the blind acceptance of ideas for which there is

no rational proof or Sensory evidence and they were taught to judge not or the secular version to keep an open mind the idea that one should not judge or that he should keep an open mind is very dangerous it is used to keep people confused by suggesting it is a virtue to Grant plausibility to anything obviously not everything can be true instead one should cultivate an active mind one that treats ideas critically seeking to distinguish truth from falsehood the approach of most bodybuilders to training from the start amounts to little more than a blind leap

into the dark throughout life we all encounter innumerable theories subject from religion to philosophy to politics to The Healing Arts nutrition and bodybuilding science and because so few in our culture were taught to think rationally or to judge critically most are left disconcertingly confused when confronted with the necessity of making intellectual choices such as which training Theory to employ I realized that I was like this when I reached my late teens most symptomatic was my notion that if something was printed it had to be true I learned later that my notion was illogical of Course

not every idea can be true since so many of them conflict with and contradict other ideas it was Arthur Jones who divested me of this bit of ragtag illogic when He barked Mike just because something is printed doesn't mean it's true in fact ninety percent of what is printed on all subjects is outright hogwash and now some 25 years considerable thought study and experience later I realize Mr Jones was being charitable it's more like 98 of what is printed on most subjects as garbage understanding this is an important first step in developing one's critical ability

the purpose of my writing and Communications with others in addition to providing rational training guidance is to help achieve an ideal Society via a cultural revolution that will bring men back to reason and Logic the only means of solving the problems threatening our very survival wouldn't it be interesting if bodybuilders so often thought of as mindless were instrumental in helping save the world but why not after all it was the ancient Greeks who live not in a dark age as we are today but a golden age which exalted the power of man's mind yet simultaneously

Idealize the beauty of the human body many may recall that the orienting principle of their philosophy was a healthy mind and a healthy body if more bodybuilders would simply reappropriate some of their teeming passion to the Mind philosophy and logic they could literally be instrumental in helping to save or at least redirect the world onto a more rational course the majority of those listening have heard of the Greek dictum a healthy mind and a healthy body which fact played a part in the naming of my new book Heavy Duty 2 mind and body as stated

previously man is not an instinctual creature but a conceptual being the power or health of an individual man's mind is directly proportional to his conceptual range I.E the number of Concepts his mind has integrated how well he understands their exact meaning and the number of logical connections he has made among them as a human being you have no choice as to whether you need a conceptual grasp of reality that is a philosophy to quote iron Rand on this matter your only choice is whether you define your Philosophy by a conscious rational Disciplined process of thought

and scrupulously logical deliberation or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions false generalizations undefined contradictions undigested slogans unidentified doubts wishes and fears thrown together by chance but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of Mongrel philosophy and fused into a single solid weight self-doubt like a ball and chain where your mind's wings of confidence should have grown close quote the purpose of a proper study of philosophy is to gain a fully defined and consistent view of life based on a clear first-hand understanding of objective principles a firm intellectual grasp of objective principles

is an absolute requirement to learn to think and judge independently and thereby enable one to achieve rational goals the most important principle one need grasp to achieve dominion over his being and to achieve his goals whether he desires to develop larger muscles a successful business or happy marriage is the law of causality or cause and effect it was philosophy's Discovery and explicit statement of the law of causality that provided Man with the intellectual base that made for the vast superiority of Western culture and its control over reality as expressed through the achievements of mathematics medicine

physics engineering and all other Sciences the law of causality states that an entity can act only in accord with its own nature and cannot act otherwise or a rock cannot fly a muscle cannot grow without the imposition of the requisite stimulus and man cannot properly exist as anything other than man I.E the rational animal those who do not possess an explicit understanding of philosophic fundamentals such as cause and effect have a very difficult time achieving their goals lacking aware of the role of fundamental principles and guiding one's life they are for the most part emotionally

driven instead of conceptually directed they seem to operate on the fuzzy notion that if their mere desire to achieve a goal is strong enough such will suffice and having never made it a policy to check for inappropriate mental habits they semi-consciously resort to the unchallenged premise more is better if stated in words their attitude would be I want Big muscle so badly if I persevere and go to the gym religiously for hours every day eventually I'll achieve my goal after all everything I've read and heard in the culture suggests that if I'm Relentless if I

remain a slave to my art through sheer den of unrelenting effort I must succeed well the joke is on them how pathetically wrong they are we live in a reality that is an objective absolute it is reality and its laws the laws of nature which dictate what causes must be enacted to affect the development of a rational mind the development of a suntan or the development of muscles Beyond normal levels neither a wish a whim a hope or dream is sufficient to cause a muscle mass increase neither is the application of a false idea or

Theory blindly accepted this is the end of side one please turn over the tape at this point to continue with side two a person exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays at the equator in summer would have no slightest concern that the intensity of the stress would be high enough to threaten the physiology sufficiently as to cause an Adaptive response a suntan While the imposition of a high intensity sunlight stress is the primary causal determinant or first necessary cause it would not be sufficient cause to affect the development of an optimal suntan the sun Tanner's primary

concern his overriding consideration would be related to secondary and tertiary causes the proper regulation of the volume and frequency of the exposure time so as not to overdose on the stress stimulus and incur a sunburn or an extreme cases death a person exposed to high-intensity sunlight stress does not threat as to whether he'll succeed in achieving his goal and optimal suntan but only so long as he doesn't overexpose bodybuilders utilizing the blind non-theoretical volume approach to training do fret continuously over the prospect of ever developing their muscles because they know absolutely nothing about the nature

of the causes required to affect the development of muscles Beyond normal levels they are completely ignorant of the first cause required by Nature training to failure to stimulate the body's growth mechanism into motion and they remain solely concerned with Volume and frequency unlike the sun Tanner however who is rationally concerned with the proper regulation of the exposure of the sunlight stress the bodybuilder has an irrational obsession with over imposing the training stress the theory of Sun Tanning by the way is essentially the same as the theory of muscle building both of which derive from the

theory of stress physiology recently one of my phone clients expressed considerable astonishment that he was able to make so much uninterrupted progress with heavy duty high intensity training and I explained to him that such should not be a surprise that there's no mystery to any of this that people have been growing larger muscles for thousands of years that we live in a knowable rational Universe of absolute clear-cut identity Guided by one set of never-changing principles and that the cause-effect relationship between intense exercise and muscle growth has been understood for quite some time even though the

vast majority of self-styled experts here don't seem to grasp it I concluded by explaining to this individual that it is reality in its laws the laws of nature that Dictate what causes must be enacted to affect the buildup of muscle mass Beyond normal levels and that once these causes are understood the task of building bigger muscles while requiring high intensity effort is actually rather simple with a proper understanding of the law of causality bodybuilding progress should be will be immediate continuous and nothing short of spectacular through to the full actualization of one's muscular potential in

one year or less that's right it is possible to actualize your full muscular potential in one year or less while anyone should be able to actualize his muscular potential in one year no one can guarantee exactly what his potential is as the prime determinant of bodybuilding success is genetics and although the subject of genetics or inherited characteristics is widely recognized as of central importance in bodybuilding and Athletics it is rarely understood individuals inherit characteristics peculiar to their parents and not common to the species examples of which are height eye color blood type and body type

these are referred to as Fixed genetics traits and thus not typically subject to alteration from exogenous influences there do exist other inherited traits however such as intelligence and muscle size that are not absolutely fixed and can be progressively altered although within a genetically prescribed range along with specific psychological motivational factors that the individual must possess or require in order to achieve his goals gentleman is the primary factor determining both the rate of response to intense exercise and the degree of muscular development so while anyone can improve upon his level of muscular development with proper training

and nutrition only a small percentage will possess the requisite genetic traits to become champions the most visible of the physical characteristics necessary for the development of a top physique is related to the skeletal structure the formation of the bones dictates not only how much muscle can be supported they also determine a significant aspect of the aesthetic quality of the physique though the size of the skeleton featurely and how much muscle can be supported the actual Size potential of a muscle is determined to a significant extent by its length skeletal considerations and muscle belly length however

are only two inherited characteristics which affect physique potential and were discussed briefly here merely to introduce the listener to the subject there are numerous others including muscle fiber density and Recovery ability an elaboration of which is beyond the scope of this work for those interested in more information on the role of genetics I suggest you refer to my book heavy duty one I am often Amazed by the sisyphean efforts of bodybuilders who are willing to train for hours a day every day for months and years with literally little or nothing to show for their efforts

it is almost as if they're waiting for a zap out of the mystical realm of whims wishes and hopes to one day deliver them their much dreamed of muscles if you are such an individual wake up and stop wasting your time if your present program hasn't been yielding progress for weeks let alone months or years it isn't going to start doing so tomorrow Presumably your life is sacred and the achievement of your goals is of Great Value significance it is important having set a goal that you successfully achieve it as the implications to your confidence

happiness and self-esteem are crucial with a properly conducted heavy duty high-intensity training program you will grow stronger and larger literally every workout until you reach the upper limits of your muscular potential yes as I've already stated in one year or less given your present state of knowledge such may seem impossible but remember it wasn't all that long ago that the Great American unwashed thought we'd never get to the moon impossible they said of course without any knowledge of the scientific principles of cosmology or astrophysics reaching the moon might seem like an insurmountable task and without

the knowledge of the scientific principles of high-intensity anaerobic exercise stress physiology yes the idea that you could actualize your muscular potential in one year or less would seem impossible let me remind you that man has not only been to the moon but he has gone and returned safely many times Sending a man to the Moon is an enormously complex task or goal requiring the application of theoretical knowledge from a constellation of intellectual disciplines including mathematics physics medicine biology physiology Electronics engineering computer technology to name a few if we can send a man to the moon

and return him safely every time we should be able to succeed with every one of our missions to the gym here on Earth in fact it should be a cakewalk compared to a moonwalk another reason in addition to my logical identifications of The Facts of reality to why I'm able to communicate on a meaningful level with bodybuilders is quite simply because I am a bodybuilder myself many of the hopes dreams doubts and fears you may have experienced as a bodybuilder I've experienced too so while it is true that we are all unique as individuals each

in possession of an unrepeatable Irreplaceable personality it is also true that as human beings we share many things this brings to mind another statement from Arthur Jones the man who taught me not only Much of considerable value about the nature of exercise but also about thinking of human beings on the subject of shared experiences and issues Mr Jones said Mike if you want to understand others merely look inside of yourself Mr Jones's concept has served me very well over the years as a type of orienting principle with regard to my writing when searching for a

subject or issue to serve as a topic for an article I would merely invoke Jones's dictum and ask myself okay look inside of yourself with regards to this matter identify and isolate what you find most relevant interesting and exciting as both a bodybuilder and a human being and others will find it likewise those shared matters are referred to philosophically as fundamental issues a fundamental issue dear listener is one that pertains to all members of the species an inescapable part of human existence examples of fundamental issues are is the world knowable or is it mysterious and

unknowable our reason and logic man's sole means of gaining knowledge or our emotions Superior means of cognition is man a rational efficacious being capable of success and happiness or is he a Congenital incompetent doomed to Perpetual doubt and despair is the struggle to gain knowledge and learn how to think for myself worth it or is obeying and pleasing others more important should I passively accept the dominant culture's values or should I look outside the culture to the Grand scale context of the history of ideas for something better whether one should work to develop a more

muscular body is not fundamental for the issue does not inevitably arise in the course of a normal human life what is fundamental is whether it is proper to strive for goals at all and as a title winner I'd be the last to suggest that developing a more muscular physique is not a worthy goal a muscular physique however is not a viable substitute for a mature mind that is a mind with a conceptual grasp and intellectual understanding of the fundamental issues of human life while you are free dear listener to evade the effort and responsibility required

to learn how to think and judge independently and thus deal successfully with that which is of most fundamental importance in human life you are not free to evade the consequences No big muscles do not likely confer a Halo onto your crown or provide one with intellectual confidence and self-esteem I have known a number of top bodybuilders men of extraordinary muscular development who suffered from profound lack of self-esteem who despite all their trophies and the public adulation were riddled with self-doubt and beset by psychological conflicts they had no slightest clue how to resolve none of this

was the result of a deficient or malfunctioning brain no they were intellectually self-arrested each had apparently decided at an early age that he had learned enough one of them was a bodybuilder of the absolute first rank who despite being well known for his massive development was plagued by chronic doubt as how to proceed with his training and marred by a number of serious character flaws while training at Gold's Gym where I conducted my personal training business this individual befriended one of my clients A ranked beginner with no muscle to speak of I was surprised to

learn later that the heavily muscle champ had called my client on a number of occasions Once at three in the morning to ask if there was really any Merit to this heavy duty high intensity training and whether or not he should forsake the volume approach and give it a try many make the unwarranted assumption that the top bodybuilding Champs must be experts on the subject of exercise after all they have the muscles it is a mistake however one cannot cite the apparent success of a couple of dozen of Top bodybuilders as indubitable proof that a

certain training approach is effective or Superior if one were to look back through the course of their training careers and calculate the hours months and even years of wasted effort time during which they made no progress one would have to question whether their achievement could properly be termed success at all you'd conclude by stretching your head and wondering didn't these men have anything better to do with their time and many apparently did not the chant mentioned above for instance never gave much time to thinking about his moral character and his development I can clearly recall

a couple of instances in Gold's Gym where this imposing giant of muscle Used his greater size to intimidate others of lesser physical stature once because a person accidentally got in his way while walking to the water fountain for a drink between sets and I know from an unimpeachable source that there were those who helped this individual financially to get his business started their largest was motivated by sheer benevolence and Goodwill yet were never paid back it was also widely rumored that he regularly beat up his girlfriends when they didn't wait on him hand and foot

precisely as he pleased which may or may not be true obviously the point is big muscles are not The Measure of a Man as much as these tapes are about the human body and its Improvement they are also about the mind and its Improvement why would an audio tape series on bodybuilding also be about the mind because human intelligence of course is what makes it possible to understand anything at all including exercise bodybuilding science and that which is most interesting and that of course is us we the members of the species man the Divine spark

and the great chain of being the highest of all living species on Earth It has been a verd all too often that bodybuilders are dumb or stupid which simply isn't true as evidenced by the number of phone calls I receive from intelligent bodybuilders every day these include people from all walks of life such as medical doctors lawyers physicists stock Brokers students and Tradesmen all who happen to be bodybuilders as well I will not talk down on the assumption that the listener so lacks intellectual depth that he is incapable of exercising the mental effort required to

integrate knowledge of a higher order nor will I insult your intelligence by expecting you to accept anything I say simply because I've won a few bodybuilding contests it is only on the basis of grasping The Logical truth of an argument that one should agree I will not bore you with the type of intellectual pablum or Garbage you've read so often in some of the muscle magazines in case you hadn't noticed the vast majority of Articles written on the subject of training consist of little more than a series of arbitrary out of context biblical like Commandments

Thou shalt perform four sets of this exercise and thou shalt perform five sets of That one why blank out no reason no logic the realm of the intellect is more demanding than the average bodybuilding a writer recognizes and that formulating a valid non-contradictory theory of training requires knowledge of the nature of human physiology as well as knowledge of the nature of man's mind and his method of using it logic a mere passionate discharge of the arbitrary contents of one subconscious onto a piece of paper is just that intellectual vomitus as a man of reason I

act only on the basis of understanding the reasons for doing something as all mature adults should and that is what these tapes are about a reason principled approach to bodybuilding one that can be learned by anyone willing to exercise the required mental effort I presume after all that you purchase these tapes because of your enthusiastic desire to be a successful bodybuilder whether to actualize your muscular potential for personal reasons or to be Mr New England Mr Midwest or Mr Olympia and that you already understand that the basis of a rational approach to bodybuilding or any

other Arena of endeavor is the recognition that Only the specific appropriate knowledge can lead one to engage in the purposeful action required to achieve a goal no the material on these tapes is not infinitely complex but it's not intellectual pablum either why not cast aside all other concerns for now get intense mentally focus on the logic of my ideas and once and for all clear up any in all confusion then you will be able to proceed with the greatest power possible to a human being the power of certainty it only stands to reason that a

serious bodybuilder should want to know that the idea is guiding his training efforts are true ideas and how will he ever come to distinguish true ideas from false ideas unless he learns something about the nature of ideas or knowledge to settle for anything less than certainty about the truth of the ideas guiding you in the pursuit of your life's goals is to abdicate your most fundamental responsibility as a human being and leave your life literally to chance I entered into a personal Renaissance of my own once I began a serious formal study of philosophy and

learned something about the nature of knowledge I learned that knowledge like everything else that exists has identity and nature human knowledge is hierarchical and structure it has a foundation or base consisting of fundamental principles which must first be grasped before one may move upward in logical progression to more complex derivative knowledge this may be most readily observed in mathematics where the fundamentals are addition subtraction multiplication and division it is only on the basis of having grasped these fundamentals that one may move up The Logical hierarchy to derivative aspects such as algebra and calculus algebra and

calculus in other words are logically based on and derived from an understanding of the fundamentals there does exist a viable intellectual discipline exercise science on tape number two I will explain the logically interdependent hierarchy of ideas that make the context of bodybuilding science again so that you may learn to think logically about the subject and go on to confidently and successfully achieve your bodybuilding goals before concluding however I am going to address one important issue which will serve as a direct Prelude to the material on tape too and it has to do with the near

Universal confusion that exists with regard to the fact that there can only be one valid theory of proper productive bodybuilding exercise or any other subject this confusion is centrally responsible for most of the failures in bodybuilding and I can tell you unequivocally without a doubt more fail to achieve their bodybuilding goals than succeed most bodybuilders make the mistake of approaching the subject of training with the idea that all training theories have some Merit or are of equal validity then they waste Precious Precious time frantically trying one after the other in the hope that someday somehow

some way they'll find one that works and as a result few bodybuilders achieve their goals it could not possibly be true that all or many or even two training theories are valid since a theory is a set of abstract principles which purports to be either a correct description of some aspect of reality and or a guide for successful Human Action and there is only one reality there is and can be there for only one valid theory of any aspect of reality There's no debate on the subject just as there is only one valid theory of

epistemology mathematics electricity chemistry physics Evolution relativity likewise there is but one true theory of productive bodybuilding exercise and it just so happens to be the theory of high intensity training the science of exercise like the science of medicine is based on an understanding of the principles of human physiology which of course are Universal that is applicable to all human beings if everyone sells muscles and organs were constituted and functioned differently if everyone was a unique physiologic entity unto himself Medical Science could not exist as a viable discipline doctors couldn't make diagnoses perform surgeries or dispense

medicines it is this fact the fact that the principles of human physiology are Universal that makes it possible for me to state with absolute certainty there is only one valid theory of training I.E one best way to train it is not my mere opinion that every human being requires intense training to stimulate growth it is a well-authenticated fact Beyond debate and because of the magnitude of the Toe on the body's limited recovery ability made by high intensity training is enormous such training must be brief and infrequent to allow for the production of an increase the

major philosophic theme of these tapes is that without a firm intellectual grasp of and guidance by a valid Theory one cannot be certain he is on the right course a sane individual setting out on a trip from Los Angeles to New York will consult a map hey Matt being a fairy of how to get from one place to another without it he would get lost lose whatever certainty and motivation he may have had and terminate his effort along the way knowledge like any other value has to be gained through a volitional effort anyone smart enough

to learn the ABCs write a sentence or read a book can with enough effort integrate and make use of the knowledge contained on these tapes it's not likely that you'll get it on the first listening however so listen to the tapes repeatedly until you do have a firm grasp this is the end of tape one please go on to tape 2 the fundamentals of muscular development most Bodybuilders make a basic mistake in which from one perspective it might be said that this mistake accounts for all of their other mistakes and it is that they don't

take this goal Endeavor seriously enough at least to remember one crucial point that bodybuilding really is a part of exercise science I am not suggesting that one must be a full-fledged exercise scientist or a PhD in exercise physiology to be a successful bodybuilder of course not it would argue one of education however to deny that a firm grasp of the fundamental principles of bodybuilding science would be to the individual's decided advantage the first thing one learns when studying exercise science formally in college is something that many already know or at least familiar with and it

is that the field of exercise science is divided into two fundamentally distinct branches namely aerobic and anaerobic while there may be those listening that probably already know some of this early preliminary material let it be known that I am not merely going through a perfunctory review here to eat up time these basic points are being raised so that I'm certain you have them Clear and clean in your mind then I will connect them to new ideas in the attempt to create a logically clear perspective aerobic exercise of course is geared exclusively to the development of

endurance of a certain type and is properly defined as low intensity long duration activity this last statement listener is very important you might make a note I'll repeat it aerobic exercise is properly defined as low intensity long duration activity bodybuilding is a part of the opposite Branch anaerobic and that is vitally important also so please write it down the fact that aerobic and anaerobic are to be regarded as opposite and I'll elaborate on why that's important shortly anaerobic exercise is not geared ordinarily to the development of endurance although there is something called anaerobic endurance which

is not relevant here instead anaerobic exercise is geared to the development of strength muscular size and speed and is properly defined as high intensity short duration activity high intensity short duration activity it is this precisely this high intensity short duration activity that is responsible for the development Of muscles Beyond normal size not long drawn out bouts of endurance type activity one of the major reasons so many people are having difficulty grasping what I have been communicating on this subject is that they have failed to take the time give some serious thought and adequately distinguish between

the two species of exercise aerobic and anaerobic remember they are literally opposites and have to be regarded thusly where it may be appropriate to train aerobically three times a week for up to an hour or more as the goal is to increase one's endurance which means the capacity to do more and more work such is not proper with the opposite anaerobic precisely because it is the opposite they are opposites with opposite approaches for each required my greatest success as a trainer involves a young phone consultation client from Canada by the name Gareth an interesting name

Gareth during one of his follow-up phone calls I nicknamed him growth as he recently in a nine week period gained literally 50 pounds mostly of muscle this fine young man has been a regular phone client for two straight years and while Gareth Or growth has always made good progress never until recently of the order just described whereas in the past he would train once every 72 to 144 hours or once every three to five days for 30 to 40 minutes Gareth made his greatest progress by far training for approximately 20 minutes once every seven days

Gareth is so excited by his progress as well as by his better and more relaxed understanding of the issue of training frequency that he agreed to do an experiment where he trains only once every 10 days if you are incredulous listener that such progress is possible then you have already forgotten aerobic and anaerobic are opposites we are beginning to see that where again it may be appropriate to train aerobically where the physiologic stresses are quite low for three or four times a week for an hour or more that with high intensity anaerobic weight resistance exercise

where the stresses are literally almost infinitely greater only three to six workouts a month for 15 to 20 minutes each proves most productive when I stated that the stresses involved with high intensity anaerobic exercise are infinitely Greater than the stresses associated with aerobic exercise I meant it literally while an individual in good physical condition can tolerate aerobic exercise for up to an hour with little distress project how you might feel listener were you to attempt one hour of non-stop maximum heavy squatting yes you may even be chuckling the Mind barks at the mere suggestion no

one could tolerate that the high intensity stress would kill him well before an hour had elapsed occasionally when I sign up a new training client locally in Venice California where I conduct my personal training business the client by the end of the first workout will look at his watch and remark well Mr Munster that was only 20 minutes I feel like I can do a lot more and my stock reply to such has become well sir if I'm to take your statement at face value I would have it that you'd like to have me train

you until you can't do anymore and you have to leave the gym in an ambulance the point here is that many bodybuilders have lodged in their subconscious the mistaken notion that bodybuilding exercise involves an endurance component which it does not bodybuilding as I Stated earlier has little or nothing to do with endurance many bodybuilders today still seem to be operating on the notion that their purpose is to go into the gym to see how many sets they can do or discover how long they can endure and this is erroneous because bodybuilding is not aerobic a

bodybuilding workout in other words is not an endurance contest your purpose is not to go into the gym to see how tough you are how much work you can perform or how long you can endure your actual literal purpose as a bodybuilder is to go into the gym and intelligently do what nature requires to trigger the growth mechanism into motion then get the hell out go home rest and grow so what if your workouts only take 20 minutes so what bodybuilding training literally has nothing to do with endurance I make a point in my new

book Heavy Duty 2 mind and body which I am quite proud of as I don't believe anyone has ever established this point before at least not so thoroughly or firmly and it is that the principle of intensity is not merely important it is much more than that it is the Cardinal fundamental of exercise science the intellectual foundation of the whole field That's correct not merely important but the intellectual Foundation of all of exercise science how do I justify such a bold statement well let's look back to the definitions of the two basic branches which make

up the whole of exercise science aerobic and anaerobic they are both defined primarily in terms of intensity aerobic is low intensity anaerobic high intensity and that's the point if the two basic branches which make up the field of exercise science are defined primarily in terms of intensity then intensity is the Cardinal element you may have noticed that more and more writers in the bodybuilding field have been using the term intensity as of late but very few use it properly let it be made clear that the term high intensity is not one that I concocted to

sound pretentious or falsely technical it is the proper scientific terminology in fact the terms high intensity and anaerobic can be used interchangeably exercise scientists who deny the validity of high-intensity training Theory either forgot or never were aware in the first place that high intensity and anaerobic are essentially the same thing Intensity you see is a measure of effort and what is exercise essentially about efforts of various types without a method for measuring the level of effort one doesn't know what is most centrally important about the nature of the training stress or stimulus and therefore he

won't know how to regulate the volume or frequency of the effort to ensure optimal results from the exercise this is fundamentally what exercise bodybuilding science is about when it is understood that the level of effort or intensity is low then we also know that the demands on the body's limited reserve of biochemical resources known as recovery ability are also low and obviously more of that exercise can be tolerated in the way of both volume and frequency when one is clearly aware on the other hand that the level of effort is very high then we know

that the demands are high and the volume and frequency must be low something I learned a number of years ago while studying philosophy and logic which has helped to improve the quality of my thinking enormously relates to the crucial role of unequivocal or precise definitions Concepts of course are the tools of thought if the major Concepts involved in one's thinking aren't held in clearly defined form then his thinking will not be clear or logical either what I would like to do now listener is give you the precise meaning of the concept intensity as an important

step towards teaching you to think logically about the subject of exercise not the concept high intensity or low intensity but the concept intensity please write this down intensity refers to the percentage of possible momentary muscular effort being exerted I'll say it again intensity refers to the percentage of possible momentary muscular effort being exerted in philosophy such a definition would be regarded as highly abstract or technical which may be difficult to grasp I'll repeat it one last time intensity refers to the percentage of possible momentary muscular effort being exerted I clearly recall the first time I

read that definition about 25 years ago I hadn't the slightest clue as to what it meant I had to read it over and over and over before I gained even a glimmering of meeting I do understand the meaning of the concept very well now I also understand that the best way to clarify a highly abstract definition is to go to a concrete example in perceptual reality let's assume that you for instance The Listener hypothetically at least for the sake of this illustration were capable of curling a 100 pound barbell for a maximum of 10 reps

to failure and by that I mean you couldn't possibly perform an 11th rep in fact the 10th rep requires a maximum all-out effort where you're gritting your teeth shaking all over and you barely complete that rep now bear in mind plays what we're doing here we're going to examine a real life concrete example a set of barbell curls with 100 pounds for 10 reps to failure so as to gain a better understanding of the meaning of intensity but before I do I'd like to make a few oblique comments you may have been aware that over

the past few years and more so recently a considerable amount of critical commentary has been aimed at the theory of high intensity even me personally in effect a number of people have been saying how could anybody be so damn Dumb how can menser believe that only one set could possibly be enough he seems like a bright fellow otherwise but he has a critical blind spot here once that couldn't possibly be enough and the reason that they are having a difficult time grasping that such might be possible is that they have allowed themselves to become mindlessly

hypnotized by the mere number itself the number one they just hate the number one here and I must say I'd rather have a hundred dollars than one dollar too but then we're not talking about economics or personal finances either the context is exercise science what these individuals have failed to do listener is what you and I are about to do and that is to forget the number one and instead look at the nature the key term is nature look at the nature of what that one thing is you see the distinction forget the number one

and look at the nature of what that one thing is for you to point out to these same individuals that there are those who may require only one again the unit or number one one hour of exposure to high intensity sunlight stress to develop a suntan they might be surprised it's still the number one If you don't like the number one you could alter the standard of notation instead of one hour of high intensity sunlight you might say a hundred zillion Photon units of light a very large number or instead of one set you could

say 100 units of intensity you may know of the top bodybuilder Flex wheeler Flex trains at Gold's Gym in Venice California again where I conduct my personal training business Flex trains with a partner a big fellow named Rico McClinton Rico knows that I have trained Dorian Yates in the past and he has apparently read some of my work over the past two years or so Rico has made it a habit to periodically tease me at the gym on this subject but always in a good natured fashion every now and then Rico would pipe up so

all of his gym buddies could hear and get a laugh hey Mentor he would say you still believe that crap only once said is all you need to grow and at different times I would use varying analogies to jog his thinking to provide Rico with a different perspective on the issue things like well Rico it only takes one bullet to kill a person so why can't one set be attic with the stimulate growth Or on another occasion it only takes one well-placed Blow from a hammer to stimulate the explosion of a stick of dynamite with

no number of lesser blows having the same effect and he was never impressed by such then here recently he said it again Mike you really believe that stuff don't you it only takes one set to stimulate growth now I did note this time at least Rico was using the proper terminology stimulate growth in fact he seemed more sincere about the issue this time however I stopped Rico Cole providing him with what just may be the perfect analogy Rico I said only one sperm was required from your daddy to stimulate the growth of your mother's egg

into a fully fashioned human baby namely you only one sperm literally to stimulate the growth of all of your skeletal muscles and your skeleton in fact also your skin guts hair brains and so forth Rico was highly impressed and said Mike you got me with that one nothing more to say I'll never bother you about it again what I did was give Rico A New Perspective on the issue of number one and what I'm asking you the listener to do is to discard what you thought you knew and take A fresh new unobstructed look at

this subject now back to that set of curls with a hundred pounds for 10 reps to failure so you might gain a better understanding of intensity let's look at the nature of it let's start in the beginning with the first rep of all the Reps of the set the first rep obviously would be the easiest requiring the least intensity of effort or referring to the definition of intensity that you've written down one would say that the first rep requires the least percentage of his possible momentary muscular effort of all the Reps of the set allow

me to explain this point a little further then we'll move more briskly straight ahead I promise if you were to look outside right now and happen to see a loved one pinned under the front wheel of a car we've all heard stories like this you would dart out there as quickly as you possibly could and in the attempt to remove the automobile you would exert yourself with one hundred percent of your possible momentary muscular effort or to make it more simple from here on let's just plug in the word for the definition you would exert

yourself with one hundred percent intensity of effort Now the first rep of that set of curls would not require anywhere near a hundred percent intensity of effort again it would be the easiest rep of the set that first rep does fatigue you somewhat however and that is why the second rep is at least a little bit harder to complete whereas the first rep may require on the order of eight to ten percent intensity of effort the second rep you see may require closer to 15 to 20 percent intensity of effort the second rep fatigues you

even further still and that's why the third is even harder to complete than was the second and without belaboring the issue you know that's how it goes with each successive rep of the set each becomes progressively harder to complete each requires more intensity of effort than did the preceding until finally we get to the last rep in this case the 10th rep to failure that would be the only rep which is said to require one hundred percent intensity of effort just like trying to lift the automobile now the important question which rap listener would be

more productive in terms of stimulating a strength and size increase the first rep which is the least Intense or the Last rep which is the most intense the only rep requiring 100 percent intensity of effort yes of course the last if you could occur a 100 pounds for a maximum of 10 reps and for some weird reason you only ever just did the first and then put the bar right back down at that point you would never grow why because the intensity of the stress at that point is not sufficiently threatening to the physiology to

Warrant an Adaptive response I.E a strengthened muscle mass increase just like you can obtain a suntan sitting in front of a 100 watt light bulb even if you sit there for an Infinity of eternities the stress is not high enough do you see where it stands to reason that if the last rep is more productive than the first rep it is also better than the second third fourth fifth and so on yes in fact that last rep is quite special it is different from every other rep of the set there is something that occurs physiologically

only on that last rep of a set carry to failure which is literally responsible for flipping on the growth Machinery inside the muscle How is that last rep different what occurs physiologically at that point which makes the last rep so special well no one understands all of the biochemical or physiologic changes entirely some of the changes or differences are readily apparent however for instance compare your breathing on the first rep of the set compared to the last on the first rep you're breathing is not labored at all your heart is beating normally and you experience

no distress by the last rep you are breathing like a racehorse your heart is pounding like a trip hammer and you feel quite different you feel stressed perhaps even lightheaded or nauseous obviously there is something different that is going on physiologically on that last wrap which makes it rather different and now the important conclusion having achieved your purpose of triggering the growth mechanism into motion by going to failure on that one set you don't have to do it again you don't need a second set it's like when you throw the switch to turn on a

light once the light is on you are confident that the electrical mechanism will remain in motion there is no need to flip the Switch up and down repeatedly you just wear it out there is much about the human being which is mechanistic I am not speaking metaphorically when I refer to the growth mechanism there is a physiologic growth mechanism and your purpose once again is to do what nature requires to trigger that into motion by carrying one set to a point of momentary muscular failure and having achieved that by going to failure on one set

it is neither necessary nor desirable to do another set a note here with regard to the detractors of high-intensity training Theory when someone denies the validity of the theory they are in effect denying the validity of the principle of intensity which recall is the intellectual Foundation of exercise science in denying the principle of intensity they are saying that the level of effort is not important plays no role in stimulating growth which is town to mount to saying that the first rep of a set of curls for instance carried to failure at 10 reps is just

as likely to stimulate growth as the last anyone with a modicum of training experience or a little Common Sense knows that such is ludicrous Has of course the last rep the most intense the one requiring a hundred percent intensity of effort is the most productive rep quite often I'm asked if performing a second set would really make that much difference and the answer is Not only would it make a difference but going from one set to two is the biggest mistake of all for it is the biggest increase possible a 100 percent increase going from

one set to two sets represents a one hundred percent increase in the volume of the exercise making for twice the inroad into recovery ability and that's how it should be properly viewed often when taking a new client through a workout he'll note the fact that I have him performing but one set per exercise whereupon he'll ask but Mike you only have me doing one set I feel like I should do another set and I respond to the effect that the feeling he has is fear specifically a fear that he hasn't performed enough exercise to stimulate

growth and that if he could provide me with one good reason not to just one good reason why I should consider allowing him to do one more set I would consider it and after all these years as a trainer Not one single individual has ever given me one good reason and that is the issue listener precisely how many sets one should perform if you honestly believe that one set is not enough it is incumbent upon you to tell me precisely how many sets are required which brings me to the second fundamental of bodybuilding science the

issue pertaining to volume many years ago Arthur Jones made a statement that struck me as remarkably intelligent and very important he said and I quote Mike the issue of volume or number of sets is a negative factor or influence period insofar that one trains a tall whether he does one set or a hundred sets volume is a negative thing here and that is because any exercise makes an inroad into the body's limited reserve of biochemical resources known as recovery ability close quote to help you understand the concept inroad you might visualize an end into the

road or a hole being dug into your body's limited reserve of resources you perform one set and you dig a small hole a second set a deeper hole a third set an even deeper hole and so on this is a negative thing here for the deeper the hole gets the greater The inroad into the body's limited reserve of resources the more of your body's resources then have to be used in the attempt to fill the hole which is recovery leaving that much less left over or available for building a mountain on top the muscle ideally

one would stimulate growth with zero sets then none of the body's resources would be wasted on recovery with all of it being used for growth production and one would grow so damn fast it would stagger the imagination however at this point in time I haven't figured out how to stimulate growth with zero cents just joking of course over training by definition means carrying on any more exercise than the precise amount required to stimulate growth most however seem to regard over trading as something only kinda negative over training is much worse than that it is precisely

that which militates against muscle growth production don't make the mistake of thinking that overtraining is merely wasted effort no it is counterproductive again it is exactly that which prevents you from growing when you are finished working out you don't feel the same as you did before the workout do you Know you're exhausted and by exhausted I don't mean merely in the personal sense that you feel very tired or fatigued but also in the technical sense that you've exhausted or used up a considerable portion of your body's limited reserve of resources merely to fuel the workout

this is the end of side one please turn over the tape at this point to continue with side two you actually feel like you're in a hole you're tired the first thing the body must do following a workout is not grow but recover overcome the inroad that is fill that hole or as I like to say more precisely compensate for the exhaustive effects of the workout or more simply replenish restore put back what was used up put back what was there before the workout the body must first replace what was there before the workout or

compensate before it can put back more than was there before the workout or overcompensate which of course is what growth is recovery is putting back what was there before I.E compensating and growth is putting back more than was there before I.E overcompensating recovery therefore precedes growth and if you train again Before the body has completed both the recovery and the growth processes growth production will be compromised short-circuited shy of a hundred possible units important here is the fact that the process of recovery alone may take up to several days or longer to be completed before

the body even has the opportunity to start producing the growth that the workout merely stimulated please note the distinction between growth stimulation and growth production and if the trainee works out again before the recovery process is completed he will short-circuit the growth production process and merely start digging another hole when I first started training people some years ago I had my clients trained three days a week every 48 hours Monday Wednesday and Friday with weekends off and while most of them did well I was absolutely convinced that they weren't achieving the results I knew were

possible and I didn't attribute this to under training but to over training so as remedy I reduced their training frequency to one workout every 72 hours now they were training on Monday taking Tuesday And Wednesday off then trading Thursday taking Friday and Saturday off and training Sunday and so forth while their progress was better it still wasn't as good as I knew to be possible some might be prompted to ask the question at this point well mentzer what motivated you to continue thinking in this direction it was something I learned from philosophy that went in

possession of a truly valid Theory and beyond that and just as important you're making the proper practical application of the theoretical principles progress will be a little short of spectacular all the time no matter what the field of endeavor whether you're sending a man to the Moon performing surgery or developing muscle mass Beyond normal levels I had to admit that my client's progress wasn't always this it wasn't until I reduced their training frequency to once every four to seven days back in February of 1995 that voila they finally started achieving results of the order I

always knew were possible where prior to that I would only occasionally have a client gain 10 to 20 pounds in a month or 30 to 40 pounds in three to five months since February of 1995 such results have been the rule I was initially reluctant to go to once every four to seven days as I like everyone else apparently had blindly and uncritically accepted the notion that decompensation starts after 96 hours of no training this was during a period of rigorous philosophic retraining on my part when I had reached the conviction I would never ever

again blindly accept anything that mystical they had to say they say who is this they we all keep hearing about I recall that many times I and numerous other bodybuilders I've experienced would remark have you ever noticed that when you take a week or two layoff that you always come back stronger and every single one without exception replied you know now that you mention it yes I have noticed that after a week or two off I always come back stronger I finally realized that if one comes back stronger after a week or two layoff then

he didn't decompensate that is grow weaker and smaller no he in fact overcompensated just the opposite he got stronger and didn't lose anything well if you don't atrophy or decompensate after up to two weeks of no training how the hell is it going to happen after four days It won't and remember it may take up to several days or longer just to compensate or recover from the workout there is no decompensation after four to seven days no way it just doesn't happen I want to wrap up this section on Theory with a broad general statement

on which I'll then elaborate briefly before describing the actual workout program it is this and I'd like you to write it down please very important the big picture the big picture in bodybuilding is comprised essentially of two elements of equal value 50 50. not 60 40 or 70 30 but 50 50. the first element fifty percent of the big picture of course is the workout itself and the other element just as important as the workout the other fifty percent is the rest period between workouts and this is why that is true the workout you understand

does not actually produce muscle growth remember the workout merely serves to stimulate or trigger the body's growth mechanism into motion it is the body itself of course which actually produces the growth but only if left undisturbed during a sufficient rest period you don't rest enough you don't grow enough Now if you accept my premise that the rest period between workouts is that important do you see where it follows logically that there has to be a perfect or optimum number of days of rest and anything less than that will compromise progress and I have found that

for most one workout every four to seven days as I said before is literally almost miraculous compared to any other frequency protocol okay that's enough with training Theory I'd like to start this section on the actual training routine with a preferatory point only if there was a God would he have the luxury of being able to read your genetic material your DNA and say to you with absolute certainty sir Thou shalt perform four sets per workout once every 101 hours any more any less will compromise your progress the point here of course is that I

don't even have the luxury of being able to work with you in person let alone read your DNA therefore I can't guarantee anyone I start him out on the same Baseline program The Almighty would but then I ain't so sure it'd be all that different either as at least we'd both be clear about the fundamental principles I am going to suggest that everyone start with what I have determined through vast personal experience as a trainer Works quite well for most and if after finishing three cycles of the four workout program your strength hasn't increased significantly

that you switch to the consolidation program as described in the booklet that came along with these tapes you might want to take notes on my description of the Baseline program although it too is contained in the booklet I want to go over this one verbally however as there are numerous important points and details which I believe you'll better understand if I explain them on tape some of the points relate to safety and as a personal trainer of course safety is always of Paramount concern you will start by training once every four days on a four

workout protocol so if you start on a Monday that means you wouldn't train again until Friday after Friday you wouldn't train again until Tuesday then Saturday and so forth once every four days and if a scheduling problem arises so that you can't make it into the gym on day four take off one more day and train on day five Also once you've been with the program for three weeks or so start inserting an additional rest day or two even at random if you do you should never hit a sticking point and here's why as you

grow stronger week to week as you will with this program that is as you lift progressively heavier weights the stresses on the body grow progressively greater too until finally unless you do certain things like add extra rest days the stresses will reach a critical point they'll constitute over training and the first symptom will be a Slowdown in progress and if you continue with exactly the same volume and frequency protocol there will ultimately be a complete cessation of progress continue inserting the additional rest days with greater and greater regularity until you are only training once every

five days then start inserting an extra arrest day at random a sixth day continue inserting the extra arrest day or days with greater regularity until you're eventually training once every six to seven days once the fundamentals of intensity volume and frequency are grasped this issue becomes the most crucial one of bodybuilding science that as The weights grow progressively greater the stress is also grow progressively greater and they must be compensated for if after a number of months utilizing the Baseline program while trading once every six to seven days ceases to yield meaningful results switch to

the consolidation program some may want to have the workout program with the additional points in their training journal to take to the gym rather than the accompanying booklet if so write down the words day one close to the upper left hand corner of your paper and then write the word chest next to it the number one exercise number one for the pecs will be pec deck for six to ten reps to failure now from here on you won't have to write the words to failure as that is a given and six to ten reps is

merely a suggested guideline there is nothing magic about the number 10. if you reach 10 but you see you might go to 13 reps to failure don't stop at 10 go to 13. and at the other end if you see by rep 3 you won't reach even six reps but only four or five don't stop and reload get four or five the next time you'll likely get six to ten and if you Don't have access to a pec deck then flat bench dumbbell flies or cable crosses may be substituted directly underneath exercise one write out

the word superset and directly underneath that the number two exercise number two for the pecs will be the incline press preferably on a machine such as the Smith Hammer I carry in her Nautilus if you don't have any machine for the incline press you may perform either regular free weight barbell incline presses or incline dumbbell presses exercise number two should be performed for one to three reps not six to ten one to three reps and make a parenthetic note next to the incline press use a fairly close hand grip your hands should be slightly closer

than shoulder width what should be wide are not your hands but your elbows flare your elbows way back away from your torso toward your ears and you'll feel all the stress go into the pigs contrary to popular opinion a wide grip is not the best way to develop hex and for beginners a superset means two sets one set of each of two different exercises where the performance of one is followed immediately by the other as with pec deck superseded or Followed immediately by incline press all right now write down the word back still under day

one write down the word back and then the number one itself exercise number one for the back will be close grip Palms up pull Downs six to ten repetitions close grip Palms up pull Downs directly underneath that write down the number two which will be regular style not stiff-legged but regular deadlifts there is no superset here by the way there will be no superset unless I specify and where there is no superset you may rest as long as necessary but no longer don't over complicate this issue use your common sense let your breathing slow down

and as soon as you feel ready to resume training do so do not allow the workout to degenerate into a race against the clock and don't malinger either the regular style deadlift is a very productive exercise the most productive exercise of all in fact because it stimulates so much muscle mass everything on the back side of the body from the Achilles tendon to the nape of the neck however there is a bit of a risk factor here not seen with most other exercises so listen carefully If you have one available and you are strong enough

use an Olympic Bar with a 45 pound plate on each end of the bar so you don't have to bend over quite so far always start with the bar roll back flush against your shins grasp the bar with a slightly wider than shoulder width grip and use an interlocking hand grip where one hand is overhand the other hand is underhand squat down in such a fashion that your hips are at least slightly lower than your shoulders and most important of all keep your back perfectly flat and your head up keep your back perfectly flat and

your head up you might even pick out a point on the wall that crevice where the wall meets the ceiling and keep your attention trained on that unwaveringly throughout then stand up in a deadlift fashion with considerable rotation around the hips until you're standing perfectly straight no need to Arch backwards then put the bar back down reset and do another perform five to eight reps as close to failure as you're willing to go if you have problems with your lower back shrugs may be substituted and do six to ten reps to failure That's all on

day one just four total sets then 96 hours or four days later is day two write down the words day two on day two you will train legs the first exercise is leg extensions superseded with exercise number two leg press now just to the right of the words leg extension and leg press using a common bracket or a parenthesis indicate that each is to be performed for 8 to 15 reps if you don't have a leg press substitute squats preferably in a Smith machine you're not going to be doing leg curls for a while just

because an exercise is done traditionally for a certain muscle doesn't mean of course that you are morally or legally bound to do it all year round one of the first lessons I learned as a trainer years ago is that the leg biceps and the biceps of the upper arm over train extremely easily besides the hamstrings will receive sufficient stimulation for now from the deadlift and the leg press on the squat I would like to make a very important Point here this program is designed for the exclusive purpose of marshaling all of your body's energy and

resources onto the side of Maximum growth in your major muscle groups any exercise you Might add beyond what is listed here will merely subtract from Maximum growth in the major muscle groups very often when I give this program to a phone client he will say at the end well Mr menser I see you don't have me doing lay curls for the hamstrings in fact no seated calf raise for the inner calf no bent over dumbbell concentration curls for the lower outer third of the biceps then we're not doing this for that and that for this

and on and on at infinitum and I respond sir but that is precisely how you were training before and that is why you made no progress and we're prompted to call me for counseling you so burned yourself out with all those exercises you dug so deep of a hole your body never had the opportunity to recover from the merely exhaustive effects of the exercise let alone grow why not build a 20-inch arm first then worry about the details remember the issue of volume in anaerobic exercise is a negative factor as I stated earlier and that

your purpose is not to see how many sets you can do or how long you can endure your purpose is to do the precise amount of exercise required to stimulate growth then Get out of the gym go home rest and grow after the leg extension leg press superset take a rest go drink some water walk around the gym for a minute or two then finish up quite simply with a set of standing calf raises 12 to 20 reps and that is it for day two 96 hours or four days after legs is day three on

day three you'll train delts and arms write down the word delts for adults you start out with dumbbell laterals some people call them side raises six to ten reps after a brief rest but no superset here proceed to exercise number two for adults either bend over dumbbell laterals or if one is available sit in a pec deck backwards and work your rear delt six to ten reps here too after adults you'll work your arms you might write down the word arms exercise number one for arms is barbell curls six to ten six to ten reps

with barbell curls and that is a straight bar not an easy curl bar easy curls do not work the biceps they work the brachialis on the outer part of the arm do Straight bar bar barbell curls exercise number two for the arms is tricep press Downs with either A straight bar or a v-bar but do not use a rope do not use a rope either a straight bar or a v-bar six to ten Reps for the tricep press down and if a press down machine is not available perform one set of lying French presses for

six to ten reps immediately after the press down in superset fashion proceed to dips between parallel bars for three to five reps to failure three to five if you can do more than five reps with your body weight then add weight and if you can't do any positive or full range dips then place a chair or bench between the dip bars stand up into the straight arm locked elbow position and lower yourself in negative fashion taking several seconds to reach the bottom then stand up on the chair into the straight arm position and do it

again when you can perform up to 10 negative dips with each rep taking several seconds to complete you should be able to do regular full range dips okay 96 hours later is day four legs yes legs again this time you will start with leg extensions and follow immediately a superset fashion with Smith machine or free weight squats but don't do hack squats unless absolutely Forced to do so hack squats are not very productive and they stretch the knees inordinately you will perform the leg extensions differently this time using approximately 30 pounds more than the last

time when you perform the leg extension with the leg press you will do but one positive rep lifting the lower legs until they are in the straight leg lock knee position you will hold that position statically this is called a static hold wrap the weight will be sufficiently heavy so that you're limited to holding the straight leg lock knee position for approximately 10 to 25 seconds there will come a point during that period of course when you won't be able to hold it anymore and you'll say to yourself if I don't start to lower this

thing in the next moment or two it's going to go Crashing Down do not let that happen when you recognize it's necessary lower the leg slowly and control negative fashion not hyper slow or imperceptibly slow but under strict control all the way down to the bottom and make sure that you keep your buttocks planted firmly in the seat as there is a tendency to want to come up off the seat when your thighs are burning and torque It down do not torque it down lower with the strength of the thigh muscles alone then proceed immediately

to The Squat and perform 8 to 15 reps to failure take a rest for a couple minutes go get some water and finish once again with a set of standing calf raises 12 to 20. and then four days later you start over with day one and repeat the four workout protocol as already described whenever I have a superset listed as with pec deck and incline press or leg extension leg press or leg extension squat start the warm up on the second exercise for instance when performing the leg extension squat superset if you start with the

leg extensions without having first warmed up the glutes spinal Erectors and so forth by doing a couple of sets of squats first off as you finish the leg extension and you're heading to the squat you'll say to yourself but my goodness I forgot the warm up for the squat same thing with the incline press and the leg press by warming up on the second exercise first you cover all your bases in terms of a warm-up and you'll also have the weight set on that exercise so that you may perform a true superset Where one exercise

is followed immediately by another with no rest in between and please don't change the sequence of exercises I've listed everything I've given you here was for a good reason which is not to say that you can't periodically change exercises although I would be hesitant as the exercise is listed are all the best ones for the muscles involved and don't make the mistake of gauging or evaluating the success of any one of these workouts by the standard of feeling whether or not you get sore or achieve a pump I see certain people who have been training

at Gold's Gym in Venice California for hours every day for years if achieving a pump was a Surefire indication that growth was stimulated these people would have 28 inch Arms by now as they get pumped every time they work out the pump of course is only temporary and does not indicate that growth was stimulated and if getting sore was necessary I never would have won a physique title as I almost literally never got sore usually only after 11. you can only evaluate the success of any one of these workouts by whether or not you're stronger

The next time you perform that workout so keep a training Journal as described in the value-added booklet I would suggest that if you have been training recently without a layoff prior to the time you intend to start this program take a break entirely from training for two to three weeks having been over trained you've made a deep too deep and inroad into your body's recovery ability it is important that this inroad be overcome so that when you start with a properly conducted high intensity routine your body will have recovered all the biochemical resources necessary for

optimal growth production please refer to the accompanying booklet for more information on how to properly implement this training program as much confusion as does exist on the subject of training and it's almost omnip prevalent there is just as much if not more on the subject of nutrition I hear it all the time with those who call me for phone consultations one aspect of such confusion about nutrition which is particularly widespread is perhaps best exemplified in the story I'm about to relate Some time ago I received a phone call from a young man probably in his

mid-teens who as soon as he reached me on the phone launched into what seemed like an endless series of questions concerning certain nutritional supplements without even announcing his name he immediately set in asking me about the merits of a host of popular supplements including metrics vanidal sulfate phosphagain creatine Hot Stuff Etc insisting his lack of bodybuilding progress was due solely to his faulty nutrition when I suggested that maybe his training might be the problem he countered with an emphatic no that he was training properly listening to him prattle on a while longer about nutrition it

finally occurred to me that since he was so very confused about nutrition it was not likely he was clear and clean on the subject of how to best proceed with his training and I turned out to be correct I discovered that he was violating all of the laws of nature here he knew absolutely nothing about intensity or the necessity of training to failure he wasn't stimulating much if anything in the way of meaningful growth and even if he had been he Was so grossly over trained working out five to six days a week for one

and a half to two hours a day that his body would not have had the resources necessary to produce growth I finally put a stop to the lengthy catechism and said to him rather firmly young man you remind me of the individual who earnestly desires a suntan but continues to insist on making the mistake of exposing himself to the light of the Moon then waste hundreds of dollars trying different suntan lotions thinking the next one will solve his problem not that the issue of the suntan lotion is completely without import I continued but it only

assumes relevance within the context of having satisfied Nature's First Fundamental requirement which is the presence of a high intensity sunlight stress do you see listener that the relationship of nutrition to bodybuilding is similar while nutrition is clearly of objective importance in the lives of everyone it has a somewhat different role in bodybuilding it is only within the context of having first employed the proper training methodology that then becomes important and then it is rather Simple in fact as much confusion as exists on the subject of nutrition it is really rather simple at least as it

applies to us practically on a daily basis the one guiding operative principle here is make a reasonable effort on a daily basis to consume a well-balanced diet ours has been called an age of complexity with intellectual confusion as its primary characteristic this is the result of people not learning to think in terms of fundamentals and principles a system of thought based on fundamental principles serves as an intellectual blueprint that enables one to answer specific concrete questions without such a fundamental base questions continue to proliferate with no method for answering them whether the subject is ethics

politics training or nutrition the principle of a well-balanced diet is the fundamental that should guide your nutritional program a well-balanced diet by definition is one that satisfies all your nutritional needs once you've made a reasonable effort to establish a balanced diet consider quality supplements as those offered by twinlab the question that logically arises here is what Do I need calories and nutrients for first of all you need nutrients and calories to maintain your health and existing physical Mass second to provide for the production of muscle growth one pound of muscle contains approximately 600 calories and

since muscle growth will rarely exceed one half pound a day you won't have to increase your nutritional intake more than three to five hundred calories a day beyond your daily maintenance level and I'll address the topic of weight loss later no matter what your daily calorie budget might happen to be approximately 60 percent of the calories should be in the form of carbohydrates 25 protein and 15 fat this ratio is agreed upon by all of the top reputable nutritional scientists along with the U.S department of Agriculture and the Senate subcommittee on nutrition the reason for

the predominance of carbohydrates is that sugar is the preferred fuel source of the neuromuscular system the most efficient fuel for high intensity muscular contractions also interestingly enough the brain lives almost entirely off of sugar deriving 99 of Its nutrition from carbohydrates or sugar in fact 80 percent of the brain is made up of something called glia cells whose primary function is to store Sugar the suffix hydrate in the word carbohydrate means water and muscle tissue is not mostly protein but water 72 percent to be precise glucose is stored in the muscle as a polymer or

chain of glucose molecules called glycogen and it is primarily the glycogen that keeps the water in the muscle cell with three grams of water bonded to every gram of glycogen if you've ever been on a low carbohydrate diet and found that your muscles became flaccid or deflated after a few days it was because as the glycogen was used up the water that was attached to it left the muscle while protein has been the most overemphasized nutrient carbohydrates have been the most maligned the anti-carbohydrate litany began in Britain in the early 1950s and reached its apex

in the United States were diet books by so-called experts blame carbohydrates for everything from obesity to schizophrenia many people still believe that carbohydrates make you fat which simply isn't true No nutrient makes you fat in and of itself calories consumed Beyond maintenance and growth needs result in fat deposition whether the calories are from protein carbohydrates or fat as stated previously carbohydrates are vitally important in the diet of everyone especially bodybuilders as they are the preferred fuel source of high intensity anaerobic training and the Brain which derives most of its nutrition from sugar so I don't

think eating carbohydrates causes schizophrenia with regard to the issue of getting fat I used to believe it was common knowledge that excess calories were responsible for fat buildup apparently I was wrong in my many daily phone conversations with bodybuilders from all over the world I see that many don't know much about the caloric dimension of nutrition most remarkable was a client of mine and Dorian Yates who happens to travel a lot as he is an agent for some of the top music groups last year while in England on business I set him up to meet

Dorian and they had breakfast together the conversation centered mostly around bodybuilding and the fact that my client Was having a very difficult time losing fat dorian's suggestion to my client was that he was eating too little which was why he was fat and that he should boost his calories from his maintenance level of around 2200 all the way up to 4 500. this would somehow boost his metabolism Dorian insisted and he'd soon be losing fat rather easily when my client informed me of this upon his return home I said that dorian's advice was ludicrous and

that if he followed it he'd be sorry he insisted that no Doreen is Mr Olympia he knows what he is talking about and that he was going to enthusiastically follow his advice and increase his food consumption up to over 4 000 calories a day two weeks later or so I saw my client in the gym looking rather despondent when I asked him what the problem was he said that rather than lose weight he put on six pounds of fat since trying to hire calorie intake I did not say I told you so but explained it

with the simple logic look I said if one must increase his calories and eat large quantities of food to lose weight how does one gain weight by eating small Amounts of food while dramatically decreasing calorie intake I got the point was his reply on to the subject of protein yes protein is very important of course it is a maintenance repair and growth substance that must be taken in sufficient quantities to ensure optimal muscle growth indulging indiscriminately in massive excesses of protein Beyond maintenance and growth needs however will not somehow cause you to grow any faster

had you merely satisfied need remember listener muscle is not comprised mostly of protein but water again 72 percent this does not mean that you should begin drinking gallons of water a day to hasten the muscle growth process you'll be very uncomfortable if you try it and the excess will merely be passed out of the body don't be concerned with consuming hundreds of grams of protein a day or so many grams per kilo of body weight thinking that so doing will somehow speed the muscle growth process Force feeding yourself massive quantities of protein could result in

fat deposition fats are not nearly the bogeyman some make them out to be they play a crucial role in proper Nutrition in sheathing the nerves synthesizing many enzymes and in helping the digestive process unless you are directed by a physician don't take in less than the recommended 15 percent make a reasonable effort each day to obtain a 60 25 15 ratio of carbohydrates to protein to fat this may be accomplished rather easily by getting your daily complement from each of the four basic food groups namely cereals and Grains fruits and vegetables meat fish and poultry

milk and dairy products consuming fats does not make you fat either recently a training client said to me that whenever he eats fats he gets fat and I told him that such is not true that if I was to have him eat a small piece of butter or lard such would not turn to fat unless he were consuming an excess of calories years ago I had a friend who went off to Montana every few winners or so to climb mountains every day for a month upon leaving for his trip my friend was always rather pudgy

and one month hence after climbing mountains every day he returned very lean with almost no visible body fat while climbing mountains he lived predominantly on fats such as bacon butter beef and animal fat Obviously this individual was expending more calories through his rigorous mountain climbing activity than he was consuming and as a result he lost body weight in the form of fat the only problem with fats is that they contain nine calories a gram as opposed to only four calories a gram for both protein and carbohydrates the point here is that if you're not careful

with regard to your intake of fats the number of calories from them can shoot up very fast and before you know it there is fat deposition with regards to vitamins and minerals they are referred to as micronutrients because they are needed in such small quantities recommended daily allowances of the micronutrients are measured in micrograms as opposed to the grams used to measure the macronutrients vitamins and minerals combined in the body to form the enzymes that serve as catalysts in countless important physiologic processes it is interesting to note here that while most Americans are well nourished

many bodybuilders are grossly overnourished yet they still don't see satisfactory results from their training effort this serves only To underscore the point that training is the first primary requirement while nutrition is secondary it is only within the context of having satisfied Nature's First Fundamental requirement the imposition of a high intensity training stress that nutrition then becomes important for the bodybuilder and looking back to my own bodybuilding career I too wasted considerable time owing to ignorance and confusion in fact when I reflect on how many training and dietary mistakes I made through the years it is

a wonder that I made it as far as I did I unwittingly allowed myself to become deluded by uncritically reading certain muscle magazines especially their fraudulent seductive advertising which promised that we could all become bodybuilding Champions almost overnight if only we would invest considerable money in a certain product a good example was the one that promised a pound a day muscle gains if one were to drink crash formula number seven every day yes it actually promised a pound a day of muscle a very enthusiastic but ignorant bodybuilder I fell for that one hooked Line and

Sinker And gained from 180 pounds to 250 pounds most of the weight being fat in seven months how clever I thought I was the only reason I didn't go up to 280 pounds which was my goal was because my parents weren't willing to foot the milk Bill anymore as I was drinking up to two gallons a day on top of that I was growing rather concerned about the stretch marks which began populating a good portion of the surface of my body along with the fact that I outgrew two or three wardrobes the next six months

I spent trying to undo the damage you see it was in Vogue back then to bulk up and then cut down which meant to gain as much weight as possible despite its composition then lose the fat and be left with just the muscle well by the time I finished getting rid of the fat more than six months later I ended up weighing about 169 pounds less than my starting weight of 180 and with less muscle the near starvation diet and gross over training that led to such a weight loss caused me to lose muscle so

much for bulking up and cutting down despite that and other mistakes I never forsook my dream of becoming an accomplished bodybuilder all through the years I read the Muscle magazines voraciously never missing a trick I knew every fad diet that came down the line and tried them all and everybody was supposed to train differently and follow different diets because we were told everyone is different the bottom line so they said was that because we were each unique and possessed different requirements in regard to training and nutrition it was up to the individual to discover what

was best for him no wonder I and unfollowed others were confused about training and nutrition what a massive contradiction the very people who were selling us the science of bodybuilding were now telling us that bodybuilding is anything but exact that there are no Universal principles or truths and they continue with the same irrationality today bodybuilding cannot be a science under those conditions and as much as bodybuilding has been touted as a science very few have brought critical attention to bear on the subject as a result falsehoods abound severely hampering the thinking of the majority there

is a notion that has been floating around the bodybuilding subculture for years which has It that bodybuilding is eighty percent nutrition and only 20 percent training the implication here is that it doesn't matter how you train or even that you train at all if you will only agree to consume an excess of nutrients you'll grow muscle Beyond normal levels and such simply is not true as the nature of the human physiology absolutely requires that certain specific training causes be enacted to affect the buildup of muscles Beyond normal levels or in other words consuming excess nutrients

will not undo the effects of an improper training program more recently another erroneous idea has garnered considerable attention in the bodybuilding subculture is that one should consume 10 000 calories a day for best results and it is the single most ludicrous crack brain theory of respond in this sport or industry and it flows from the notion that there is no such thing as over training only under eating to help ensure that bodybuilders don't under eat some have suggested that bodybuilders consume 10 000 calories a day a staggering number of calories more than any bodybuilder on

Earth I don't care How large he is requires to build larger muscles when one of my phone consultation clients recently asked me if he should try consuming 10 000 calories a day I of course replied emphatically that he should not then proceeded to logically demonstrate why such would be absurd after establishing that my client only required 3 000 calories a day to maintain his existing body weight of 175 pounds I asked him if he thought it was realistic to assume he would need 7 000 additional calories to provide for daily muscle growth production needs assuming

he was stimulating growth in the first place what that this didn't seem logical rational or realistic I explained that if he were training properly and stimulating 50 pounds of muscle growth a year which is considerable more than most are likely to gain that this would average out to but slightly over two ounces of muscle gained a day since my client required 3 000 calories a day to maintain 175 pounds why would he need another whopping 7 000 calories more to provide for about a mere two ounces of muscle growth yes listener 3 000 Calories to

maintain 175 pounds and 7 000 calories to produce but two ounces of muscle such Notions are always presented out of context with neither a theory nor an iota of evidence to support them in logic these are referred to as baseless arbitrary assertions and as iron Rand has stated there is no room for the arbitrary and the Affairs of man least of all in the realm of cognition with a properly conducted high-intensity training program you will grow stronger each and every workout and make no mistake listener developing stronger muscles is a prerequisite of developing bigger muscles

whenever someone starts to argue with me on that point I say what is one supposed to do to grow larger get weaker yes if you want to grow larger you must grow stronger there is definitely a relationship between strength and muscular size most obvious is the fact that heavyweight weight lifters and power lifters are stronger than light weight lifters and everyone listening to this who ever developed larger muscles observed an attendant increase in strength no one who ever lifted weights grew larger without growing stronger it just doesn't happen It was discovered by exercise scientists long

ago that the strength of a muscle is related to the size of its cross-sectional area many are still confused on this subject because they see some who are smaller who possess less muscle mass that can lift more weight than other larger more heavily muscled individuals the mistake here is in attempting to draw a meaningful comparison between two different individuals the fact is that the man with smaller muscles will grow larger only as he grows stronger and likewise the larger man will grow larger still only as he grows stronger don't make the mistake of comparing yourself

to others the only person you can accurately compare yourself to is you and as long as you are increasing in strength as a result of each workout you are heading in the right direction and you will grow but only so long as you are on a proper nutritional program you will grow stronger each workout as a result of following the workouts suggested on the previous tape when a person grows stronger week to week it is proof that there is a positive change taking place inside of his muscles Since muscles by definition lift weights a muscle

growing stronger can't be exactly the same muscle if it were exactly the same muscle it would be limited to lifting exactly the same weight the main point here is that as a muscle grows progressively stronger over a period of time it is changing somehow I'm not specifying what that change is now I will for now just remember if a muscle is growing stronger it is in a process of positive change if during this period of change the bodybuilder continues to consume nutritionally a maintenance level of calories by definition here he will only maintain his existing

physical Mass he won't lose he won't gain he'll maintain it goes to the laws of physics or thermodynamics you can't create something out of nothing you can't build bigger muscles out of thin air certain nutritional and caloric values are absolutely required what the bodybuilder will be doing by consuming a maintenance level of calories is in essence something less than desirable to some extent at least he'll be frustrating the needs of the growth mechanism he did train to failure which is what nature requires one do to trigger The growth mechanism into motion also he is growing

stronger therefore the muscle is changing when the growth mechanism is activated you might visualize it as a moving conveyor belt of sorts for lack of a better image with a number of little men standing on top who are reaching up they're reaching out to grab the nutritional caloric cement as I like to call it that it requires to build the Second Story the new Mass but remember consuming a maintenance level frustrates those little men they are reaching up but nothing is there the body is only receiving enough nutritional and caloric values to maintain the first

story the existing physical Mass in such a case the muscle change I was referring to earlier were the bodybuilders growing stronger will remain primarily a qualitative strength change it won't manifest much if at all as a quantitative muscle change I.E a muscle mass body weight increase in order to avoid this the frustrating of the growth mechanism and to do the opposite to serve the needs of the growth mechanism one must consume a number of nutrients and calories above his daily maintenance level he Must go into a positive calorie balance this can be done in a

methodical intelligent fashion such that growth production needs are precisely met with little or no access to cause any appreciable fat deposition before I explain how that may be accomplished I'd like to make a few side comments it has been claimed by some that a positive calorie balance is not necessary to build new lean mass while on a bodybuilding program they say that the body can literally steal calories from fat and shunt them to the muscles for growth in fact this is exactly what Arthur Jones alleged occurred when Casey Viator gained 62 pounds of lean muscle

mass during the one-month Colorado experiment described in my heavy duty book number one he postulated that the number of calories Casey consumed that month weren't sufficient to account for all of the weight gained Casey was not on a weight loss or maintenance diet according to observers of the experiment Jones literally force-fed Casey everything he could shove down his throat including the kitchen sink it was calculated that Casey was fed only enough calories to account for 45 pounds of lean muscle Mass increase therefore that's 17 pounds of Casey's fat was sacrificed somehow to build muscle as

a parenthetic note here using a sophisticated radioisotope assay test the researchers involved with the Colorado experiment ascertained that despite Casey's registering 45 pounds of weight gained on the scale he had also lost 17 pounds of fat that month therefore his Total Lean Mass gain was 62 pounds while there may be some truth to this claim I am skeptical I suspect that either Jones's calculations were skewed and or he really believed Casey wasn't on steroids at the time which he was steroids are extremely potent chemical agents which dramatically alter the body's biochemistry in many ways two

of them being that protein synthesis and glycogen water storage inside the muscle are greatly enhanced so while stolen calories May account for some of the lean muscle mass I believe that the steroids help too this is the end of side one please turn over the tape at this point to continue with side two I conducted a personal experiment years ago in which I went on a calorie Deficit weight loss diet while training without steroids and the first week I lost nine pounds then I went on the same diet while taking steroids and I gained two

pounds the first week one point worth making here is that the stealing of calories from adiposity would be a genetically mediated trait and like all other genetic traits it's expression how efficiently one's body makes use of calories from fat to four muscle would vary across a broad range from those whose body is poor at stealing calories from fat to those whose is very effective and everything in between prior to my emphasizing the caloric dimension of nutrition in my clients most would grow stronger but many didn't gain the mass and body weight they desired since reducing

the volume and frequency of their training as described on tape to as well as emphasizing the need for a positive calorie balance my client's mass and body weight increases are finally keeping Pace with their strength gains and in the majority of cases little or none of the weight gain is fat as mentioned earlier whereas one two or three or four years ago I would only occasionally have a Client gain 10 to 20 pounds in a month or 30 to 40 pounds in three to five months now it is no longer the occasional or exceptional case

it is the rule for those who are acceptably lean as well as those who may be concerned they have a bit too much fat presently I'd suggest you embark on the suggested routine while in a positive calorie balance of three to five hundred a day for that second group who may have a little more fat than they'd like I propose that you place your fat loss concerns on hold for two or three months put on 10 to 20 pounds of muscle then go on a fat loss diet at the end of which you'll not only

be leaner you'll have the extra muscle too for those who are extremely overweight who would like to build muscle yet must lose fat don't worry there is a way of dealing with that efficaciously and I'll get to it soon the goal remember listener is to serve the nutritional caloric needs of the growth mechanism to gain muscle mass and increase body weight while adding little or no body fat to do so in a methodical fashion start by keeping a five-day food diary write down everything you eat for five Days and don't become self-conscious during that period

and alter what you have typically been eating what is needed is a representative sampling so it may be ascertain what your daily average calorie intake is write down everything you eat for five days and the quantity be as accurate with the quantity as possible but don't fret if you think you're off a little at the conclusion of each of the five days sit down with a good calorie counting book if you don't have one buy one as every conscientious bodybuilder should have one since the caloric dimension of nutrition is vitally important and tally the total

calories for the day at the end of the fifth day take the five daily totals add them for a grand total divide by five and you'll have of course your daily average caloric intake you must also weigh yourself at the beginning of day one and on the morning of day six if you didn't gain or lose during that five day period your daily average is also your daily maintenance level of calories let's assume hypothetically that your daily maintenance level of calories turns out to be 2100. upon starting The suggested routine make a conscientious disciplined daily

effort to keep your calories three to five hundred above the maintenance level if you don't you'll maintain you won't gain but I'm not suggesting that all of a sudden you should start shoveling down indiscriminately large amounts of food you'll only get fat I have observed with my phone clients that some not many do not have a set maintenance calorie level but a maintenance calorie range if after two weeks into the training program with a positive calorie balance as suggested you haven't gained a couple of pounds you might be just such an individual so increase your

calories another 300. and the calorie increase should conform roughly with the 60 25 15 ratio with perhaps a bit greater emphasis on protein those who do as indicated and conscientiously keep watch of their calories so that they're in a positive balance of three to five hundred a day will be quite delighted in addition to growing stronger every workout he'll gain seven eight nine ten or more pounds the first month I can't say with any certainty just how much you might gain due to genetic variations As mentioned previously there are slightly more than 600 calories in

a pound of muscle if you are stimulating three pounds of muscle growth a week you will require roughly 600 times 3 or 1800 calories per week above maintenance this translates to 257 calories a day above maintenance I am recommending slightly higher so there's less chance of any slightest frustrating of the nutritional caloric needs of the growth mechanism let's assume in your particular case that your growth requirements don't necessitate a full 300 calories a day above maintenance then yes the excess will turn to fat however there are 3 500 calories in a pound of fat if

you required only 150 calories a day above maintenance the other 150 would turn to fat but you would only gain one pound of fat a month for those with a higher metabolic rate or who have a difficult time consuming even a maintenance level of calories I suggest Twin Labs are X fuel to help boost your calorie intake for those interested in losing fat reduce your calorie intake by 500 to a thousand a day below maintenance level and you'll lose one to two pounds of fat a week And as long as you're on a proper high-intensity

training program you won't lose muscle and you will likely even gain some reducing your calories 500 to 1000 per day is sufficient to starve the fat enough to see a meaningful loss yet still be enough to feed the lead mass and provide for some growth but once you've lost the desired weight go into a positive calorie balance as described recently one of my phone clients reported that while on a calorie deficit diet he lost 11 pounds of body weight over a three-month period increased his strength considerably and even gained a half an inch on his

arms the loss of body weight would have been predominantly or exclusively fat with certainly none of it being from the contractile protein element in the muscle as he did grow stronger and put one half inch on his arms one cannot lose muscle and grow stronger this gain of muscle mass while losing fat does not prove that his body stole calories from fat and shunted them to the muscles it demonstrates that when you're in a modest negative calorie balance the fat can be starved sufficiently to be used as fuel and yet enough nutrition still Provided to

maintain lean mass and allow for at least some muscle growth production I told my client however that as well as he did in terms of strength and lean mass increases he would have done better on a positive calorie balance as a bodybuilder continues to gain muscle mass and body weight his maintenance level of calories gradually goes up until finally weight gain slow down then come to a halt when you see that your weight gains have slowed down increase your calories another three to five hundred and you'll resume gaining likewise as a person continues to lose

weight his maintenance level goes down and the weight loss diminishes and eventually comes to a halt when this starts to happen reduce calories by another 500 or so a day and the weight loss will continue it has been suggested by many reputable nutritional scientists that went on a weight loss program the individual should not go below 12 to 1500 calories as it is impossible to obtain a well-balanced diet below that level in cases of morbid obesity it may be necessary to reduce calories even further but only while under The care of a physician one will

know when he is too low in calories by the fact that he will stop dropping pounds precipitously rather than one to two pounds a week he'll start losing four to five pounds a week or even more this rate of weight loss is indicative that one muscles have begun to catabolize which undesirable for a number of reasons the least of which is that the loss of lean mass will slow down the metabolism since muscle only has 600 calories per pound versus the 3 500 calories per pound of fat the body will burn up to six pounds

of muscle to get the same caloric yield as from one pound of fat hence the much increased rate of weight loss for those Desiring to lose weight yes low carbohydrate diets do work but like all diets that work it does so by being a calorie deficit diet one that is lower in calories than maintenance level you'd be better to reduce the calories of all the macronutrients instead of just one or you run the risk of not obtaining a well-balanced diet and if you are on a well-balanced diet with a calorie deficit it won't hurt your

weight loss efforts to have An occasional treat such as a candy bar piece of pizza or some ice cream just take into account the calories they contain figure it into your daily calorie budget and subtract some other food item a question I get literally almost every day from clients is whether or not it is important to eat six meals a day and the answer is no it is not necessary to have six formal meals a day the body is quite resourceful in that if you were to skip even one of the three Square meals in

a day it would make up for it by utilizing more of the nutrients than usual from the next meal eat your three Square meals a day plus a snack or two along with your supplements and you'll be fine to disrupt one's life to such an extent that he's taking the time to prepare six formal meals a day is to make Nutrition a neurotic Obsession when it should be viewed primarily as a basic need where no more time than is minimally required is spent fulfilling it when a bodybuilder is actually gaining muscle mass as well as

getting stronger he should see a reciprocally reinforcing relationship between the two in other words his muscle mass increases will facilitate even greater Strength increases which in turn facilitate greater growth stimulation and the rate of your strength increase will serve as a relative indices of how much growth is being stimulated if you are only increasing a rep or so here and there obviously there is less growth stimulation than if you're increasing in strength by Leaps and Bounds if at some point you believe you may need more than a three to five hundred positive calorie balance go

higher but be cautious and methodic go up a couple of hundred calories at a time and keep tabs on your body weight if at some point you start gaining very rapidly check to make sure it's muscle and if not simply cut back gaining fat is anathema for the bodybuilder certainly never to one's Advantage a right-thinking bodybuilder should desire to gain only muscle as his goal is not to be only muscularly massive but also defined in appearance it is not necessary as I was led to believe 30 years ago that one must bulk up that is

gained fat with muscle to build muscle which was a very common belief the more fat one puts on the longer and harder it'll have to diet to get it off and I can tell you from personal experience It's not fun now with regard to supplements there is mounting evidence to suggest that even with a well-balanced diet it is impossible to get enough of certain nutritional substances one of them is creatine an important component in the phosphocreatinine compound within the muscle itself necessary for maximum energizing and growth I first started hearing about the positive effects of

creatine a year and a half ago as a remarkably large number of my phone clients began reporting to me unsolicited that whenever they took creatine they trained better and gained faster I found this rather astonishing as I don't ever recall in all of my 33 years of bodybuilding having heard such a redounding endorsement of any supplement and while such would be endorsement enough for most I remain somewhat skeptical then I was approached by Steve blechman owner of twin lab to lend my personal endorsement to his creatine fuel Plus when I express my skepticism to Mr

Blackman he stated emphatically that the reason he wanted me in particular to endorse this product was because of my strict adherence to science and bodybuilding And that this was the one supplement that had the greatest scientific medical research backing it Mr Blackman knew that my main thrust with regard to nutrition was that the individual should seek to consume a well-balanced diet on a daily basis and he agrees he then explained that the research indicated that even when consuming a well-balanced diet including up to two pounds of red meat a day which is high in creatine

such was not sufficient to load the muscles with creatine I responded by pointing out that I had never pretended to have exhaustive knowledge on the subject of nutrition or supplement and that what he had just explained certainly sounded plausible as telling testimony to his honesty and Sound business ethics Mr Blackman said he didn't want me to accept the endorsement offer on his verbal recommendation alone and that he would send me the scientific literature on the subject of creatine's importance in fueling anaerobic high-intensity training and he did volumes of it in fact it was from a

variety of researchers and nutritional specialists and has all agreed that creatine added to a well-balanced diet increased The efficiency of high intensity exercise I ceased being so skeptical now that all remained was for me to try it personally the past six years I have worked seven days a week to build my business and when my business kept me working up to 10 hours or more a day I decided to stop training for a while well a while turned into four long years and I slipped into the worst Shape of My Life so when I finally

decided to start training again on October 24th 1995 I did so with some trepidation because my muscles had atrophied or shrunk considerably and I added 25 pounds of fat while having become very deep conditioned I feared that even mild or moderate intensity workouts would see me nauseous sore and feeling out of sort but none of that happened while I was planning on holding back on the first several workouts such as always been difficult and it was this time by the end of the first workout I had realized that I had gone to complete failure in

all of my sets exerting 100 percent intensity of effort and with a minimum of rest between sets Not only was I not sick or tired I literally felt indefatigable as though I could go on Indefinitely and I gained 30 pounds of muscle or so the first month that sounds like a lot and it is but remember I was regaining muscle which is always easier than gaining it for the first time having come back from numerous layoffs in the past never had I felt this good nor had I ever gained so much muscle in such a

short period And I attribute some of this at least to taking creatine fuel plus daily my phone consultation clients not to mention Steve Blackman were right finally a supplement that serves to truly augment a proper training and rest program I don't want to mislead anyone no supplement is Magic without proper training adequate rest and nutrition no one is going to gain optimally for those not privy to the scientific research in literature obtain and exercise science or physiology textbook and usually in the first chapter there is a complete section on the energy metabolism of muscles in

the subsection on the metabolism of anaerobic activity there is considerable space devoted to the importance of creatine in fueling high intensity exercise It only stands to reason that muscles loaded with creatine will perform better and respond better simple enough back to the concept need the concept need plays a crucial epistemological or intellectual role in nutrition one in fact that reverberates throughout the entire realm of biology if you've ever studied physiology psychology or sociology you've no doubt encountered the concept need indeed the concept need plays an important role in bodybuilding science a rational bodybuilder does not

train Beyond need or necessity because this constitutes over training which results in lack of progress and even the loss of muscle and he does not want to consume food Beyond need since that results in the laying down effect bodybuilding like I've learned is true of every other subject in human life can also be ultimately understood in terms of basic principles they are number one train hard train to failure to stimulate growth number two don't over train get adequate rest and number three eat a well-balanced diet with number two and three being required so that the

body can produce the muscle growth that The workout merely stimulated with regard to point number three once you have formulated a diet that is reasonably well balanced then supplement the most popular supplements with my training clients are Ripped Fuel for increased energy and fat burning RX fuel for extra protein and overall nutritional Insurance creatine fuel for enhanced strength power and muscle growth and finally Sport fuel vitamin and mineral formula which is specially designed for athletes and bodybuilders as it is rich in antioxidant nutrients that have been shown to prevent muscle damage if you had just

arrived from the planet Mars onto the Earth and decided you wanted to build your muscles and I told you that all that is required is one workout lasting 15 to 20 minutes every four to seven days or so such would not strike you as too much or too little you would have an unobstructed look at the matter as a fresh arrival from the planet Mars your thinking would be unhampered by all of the unwarranted assumptions false generalizations and undefined contradictions about weight training that are floating like so much Cognitive to treat us polluting the intellectual

atmosphere of the Earth's bodybuilding subculture the main point to keep in mind is that bodybuilding is anaerobic which is antipodal to aerobic they're defining principles remember are opposites anaerobic high intensity short duration versus aerobic low intensity long duration most of the information presented on these first three tapes is not new what I did was take some well-known well-authenticated facts from exercise and nutritional science and apply them to the unique needs of the bodybuilder and it is up to each and every listener to work with the further practical application to make the concepts work for his

unique needs yes we all have unique needs this does not contradict my earlier assertion that we are all essentially the same we are all most unique in that each of us occupies a different space and time regarding nutrition we all metabolize food at various rates that is we possess varying metabolic rates because we have different metabolic rates we get fat lose weight and grow muscle at varying rates of speed While this is patently evident that we possess different metabolic Rays what is less obvious but very important is that the physiologic principles governing metabolism are Universal

the chemical processes governing our utilization of food for energy maintenance repair and growth have been clearly mapped and circumscribed by physiologists long ago pick up any textbook on exercise physiology or nutritional science and you'll be reading about what goes on inside of yourself and your neighbor and your training partner and everyone so while we each possess the unique stamp of an unrepeatable Irreplaceable personality we're not all that different inside we all need protein we all require sleep we all burn carbohydrates at the rate of four calories per gram we all need intense exercise to stimulate

growth we each possess a limited recovery ability and as bodybuilders know muscle growth Beyond normal levels is never fast enough although you'll be delightfully surprised when you apply the knowledge gained from these tapes considering what you know now having listened to these tapes are you going to let some Hulk Guide you in the wrong direction merely because he has a 19-inch arm are you going to allow your subsequent training activities and dietary practices be continually dominated by the bootleg logic more is better he who acts contrary to what his perceptions and rational thoughts tell him

is the truth is akin to dostoyevsky's underground man who cries what do I care for the laws of nature and arithmetic when for some reason I don't like them or the fact that two plus two equals four yes you are free to evade the responsibility of rational thought and logical deliberation but not free to escape the consequences it's up to you this concludes tape three please go to tape number four menser the man and the controversy Mike I know you've done this many times over during your career you know talk about your background and all

that and I think it would be an appropriate place for us to start here even though some of those listening have been fans of yours a long time and may know something about your life there are always new people entering bodybuilding and I'm sure they would Like to know something of your past anything you consider relevant or important you're right Dave about people entering this field all the time as a phone consultant I receive calls from individuals literally every day who only recently picked up a barbell for the first time and which Alders well for

the future of this industry by the way these no vicious usually know little or nothing about Minor to sports past and since my life is so intimately bound up in bodybuilding relating my past May teach them something about the recent and not so recent history of the sport Dave I was born on November 15 1951 in Germantown a small town outside of Philadelphia at the age of two my family moved to another small town in Pennsylvania Ephrata which wasn't is predominantly a farming Community my dad was the major influence during the first 12 years of

my life although he was an intellectually oriented himself he went to some lengths to inculcate in me the values of education and knowledge when I did do well in school for instance he would reward me there was one occasion when I received all A's in my report card and he gave me a baseball mitt and another one when he Gave me a twenty dollar bill he started me out correctly as now I am a proud and successful capitalist except for the very beginning the first day of kindergarten when I locked my mother out of the

house to prevent her from entering me into school at all I did rather will you locked your mother out of the house yes Dave I was a very shy child for a number of years I spent much of my time alone at home rather introverted not accustomed to being around other children so upon learning I had to go sit in a classroom all day with others my age I rebelled I'll never forget as my mother walked out the door holding my hand to take me up the street to the first day of kindergarten I all

of a sudden bolted back inside and locked the door it never occurred to me that she'd have a key but my next remembrance of that day was my mother walking into the classroom where all the children were seated carrying me wailing under her arm so your rebelliousness has a long history my rebelliousness what do you mean by that Mr procod well I must say Mike a good part of your career seems to have revolved around questioning tradition The Establishment and what So many merely blindly accept yesterday if that's true in fact the first ad I

ever ran in 1977 to sell my books I advertised myself in bold print as bodybuilding's foremost iconoclast iconoclash means literally image breaker while every other top bodybuilder uncritically unquestioningly accepted the wieder Schwarzenegger Dogma which had and still has individuals training up to four hours a day I upon hearing the truth As Told by one Arthur Jones discarded that junk immediately and I've never sacrificed my view of the truth yes Dave I was a rebel I'm a rebel and always will be albeit no longer blindly rebellious as I was often in my youth no not a

blind rebel I now consider myself a radical for the truth and if my telling the truth makes certain people angry that's their problem the truth is everyone's Ally whether each recognizes it or not and if the truth hurts anyone that individual is at odds with reality and is philosophically psychologically in a bad place I decided some time ago that I am not on this Earth to win a damn popularity contest let me note here again that my father was a major influence Dave it was from him that I Learned something valuable about integrity early on

my father Harry menser who was now deceased was someone who always seemed to find it easy to stand up for what he believed in he reveled in it at times boasting about his Integrity which had a way of irritating those of a weak-willed ilk I responded rather heartily to my father's pride and self-esteem which in part is why I am a staunch individualist today I can remember people in my youth referring to the mensers in a tone that inferred we were arrogant and conceited but we weren't we were merely proud of ourselves Mike what about

training in those early years in addition to emphasizing the importance of Education my father placed a very high premium on being physically able and strong this resulted in a rigorously athletic first 10 years of my life Dave I had a reputation around my hometown for wherever I went I would run jump to touch signs overhead and leave fences literally all the time especially jumping fences there were times when I would jump fences seemingly almost all day long looking forever higher ones to challenge my ability and I never miss believe it or not I had A

remarkable leaping ability I also swam very well especially the freestyle in which event I beat the best fellow on a community swim team after receiving a special invitation to try out I gave up swimming almost immediately however as they had to swim so many laps in practice I simply couldn't believe it I truly was overwhelmed by the amount of work they expected and looking back I see that the coaches were grossly over training their athletes as most trainers and coaches do today all operating on the overly simplistic childlike notion that more is better I also

did well in track and field football gymnastics and baseball but as soon as I discovered weight training at the age of 11 I gave up all other sports straight away my early interest in weights extended Beyond bodybuilding to Olympic lifting and powerlifting my hometown including the entire state of Pennsylvania was influenced highly by the fact that the father of American weightlifting Bob Hoffman operated out of York which is only 30 miles from Ephrata as a young teenager a friend of my father's Johnny Myers who was a power lifter would take me on frequent visits to

Muscletown as York was called to watch the Nations and world's best Olympic lifters power lifters and bodybuilders trained I got the opportunity to spend entire Saturday afternoons at the then famous York barbell Club watching men like bill March Tony Garcia and the precocious Bob benarski our best ever heavyweight Olympic lifter practice technique as well as challenge their personal best in the Press snatch and clean and jerk also Terry Todd and Ernie Puckett the first official Champs in organized powerlifting train on the bench press Squat and deadlift this had an enormous impact on me as I

took up these lifts the Press snatched clean and jerk bench press Squat and deadlift early on in fact they were the foundation of my training and by the time I was 15 years of age I pressed around 250 pounds squatted 500 pounds for two reps on a free bar by the way I also got to see and talk to John grimac on a number of occasions it was Huffman and grimac you may recall who launched a muscular development magazine which was and is my favorite and that was the only one I write for exclusively but

is published by Steve Blackman out of Ronkonkoma New York who Recently changed the format to all natural and is now called all natural muscular development in the beginning Dave I trained as the manual which accompanied the barbell set my parents gave me as a Christmas present directed three times a week with about 10 exercises or sets per workout it wasn't until I became a muscle magazine fanatic that I gave up a reasonably sane approach and started training six days a week for up to three hours per session and as I wasn't making progress doing that

I assumed I'd have to train four hours a day but wasn't sure at that point it was worth it as I was working 12 hour shifts in the Air Force working a part-time job trying to spend as much time as possible with my girlfriend the thought of training four hours a day wasn't very appealing just as I was about to forsake my dream of ever becoming a bodybuilding Champion I met Casey Viator who introduced me to Arthur Jones who introduced me to high intensity training Theory during a one hour phone call Mr Jones disabused me

of the notion that I was an expert on the subject merely because I had memorized all of the top Champs routines out of muscle magazines Well Mike tell us more about Arthur Jones yes an interesting subject for me he possesses an unmitigated passion for the Mind especially mathematical exactitude the likes of which I haven't seen since Dave the first time he and I spoke it was on the phone but not a conversation rather a lecture and with a capital l after a very terse almost abrupt introduction he launched into an impassioned disquisition on the subject

of the fundamentals of anaerobic exercise physiology I was stunned not just about what he said which was brilliant but more so how he said it something like Dr Leonard pikov's description of his first meeting with iron Rand in her living room while he was only 17 years of age this man Martha Jones was willing to spend considerable time explaining to a complete stranger in the clearest most objectively precise manner the essence of anaerobic exercise science David seemed like the fate of the entire world hinged on his summoning every scintilla of cognitive energy ringing every bit

of intellectual Clarity possible from himself and the reason he did it in addition to enjoying the experience Of achieving that level of intellectual Precision was because I was sincere and intelligent yet ignorant and sincere 20 year old and as Dr pikov also said about iron Rand that he never expected to meet another individual again with the likes of her intellectual passion I suspect I'll never meet anyone quite like Arthur Jones again that is one of the most insightful stories I've ever heard both about Mike menser and about Arthur Jones certainly unique oh Mike thanks for

sharing that but now what about Steve Blackman I know that you were a writer for Joe Weider for 20 years in fact we worked together at one point in the wieder office in Woodland Hills as you recall what happened after 20 years all of a sudden you're often working for Steve Blackman I originally moved Dave to Southern California 20 years ago at weider's invitation to write for his magazine muscle builder which now of course is muscle and fitness the first few years Joe and I got along extremely well not only did we work well together

during that period we socialized quite a bit and as many who were there recall he seemed to regard me almost as a son believe it or not Joe had a certain love for philosophy as I did so he finally had a top bodybuilder he could promote who he could also talk to on a higher level and promote me he did Dave there were as many as four and five of my articles appearing in each issue of muscle builder I was appearing in his ads and was on the cover regularly then in the aftermath of the

1980 Mr Olympia I vociferously protested in magazines and at my seminars that the contest was fixed for Arnold to win this enraged Ben Weider who talked about it to Joe and apparently Ben's wrath rubbed off on his brother and he eventually turned against me without belaboring it Dave our relationship that is Joe's and eyes hasn't been the same since I perceived a further cooling off of Joe toward me several years ago after Dorian Yates won his first Mr Olympia in fact Dorian was very gracious at the time to cite me as his Idol and even

credited heavy-duty high-intensity training for building his physique this was the first Mr Olympia that Mr Weider couldn't claim he had trained at about the time that Dorian had burst onto the scene I was reaching a creative Pinnacle and my articles in Flex magazine were received with Dorian giving me credit and heavy duty receiving ever greater recognition and acceptance I believe Joe thought that he had created a monster a threat to his concept as trainer of Champs but to his credit Joe still allowed me to write for him Mike haven't you trained a few other top

bodybuilders yes including Aaron Baker David dearth Roland kickinger and David Paul the Barbarian of movie Fame well how did they do under your guidance extremely well in fact Dave I got Aaron Baker interested after that first wbf contest where he appeared in the worst condition of his life having lost 25 pounds of muscle due to Chronic gross over training he was following something called the Bulgarian system which had him training for up to one hour three times a day very disheartened he approached me one day and I explained the heavy duty system he signed up

immediately and within six weeks had regained all the muscle he lost plus some going to an all-time high muscular body weight of 254 pounds I believe it was Aaron made progress Dave literally every workout for months and months which aroused the very intense interest of his Good friend David dearth David embraced heavy duty even more than Aaron as he loved to train hard whereas Aaron didn't David made the best progress of his life as this was when he put on considerable muscle mass and finally lost the image he had as the scrawny Pro David Paul

was perhaps my favorite client ever as he trained harder than anyone I've ever seen including myself David pushed every set so hard one had the distinct impression he didn't care literally if he had pulverized his bones he approached me a while back complaining he hadn't gained any strength or muscle in five years while training for two hours a day six days a week sometimes twice a day I kidded him saying David it took you five years to figure out something was wrong which is a good point to reiterate for The Listener a point I discussed

on tape one if your current program hasn't been yielding results for weeks or months it's not going to start working magically next week cease immediately take a two or three week layoff and then resume training with high intensity David Paul by the way put 185 pounds on his squat in four weeks and gained Seven pounds of muscle that month hmm that's wonderful progress and what about Dorian Yates Dorian is almost a teratological case Dave and Ultra gargantuan physique who like Victor Richards is so imposing that when he walks into Gold's Gym in Venice the other

bodybuilders even Advanced ones grip their teeth they simply can't believe that anyone can attain that much sheer muscle mass the first time I trained Dorian was in 1992 I ran into him at Gold's Gym where he told me he was not satisfied with his progress he had allowed the number of sets he was performing for each body part to creep up to six although he was reluctant to accept my conclusion that he was over training he did allow me to supervise his bicep workout that day the bicep workout consisted of one set of Nautilus curls

carried to a point of momentary muscular failure whereupon I helped him in a contracted position and had him hold it there statically for roughly 15 seconds before lowering under strict control Dorian didn't say much other than he liked the way it felt and with that left the gym thinking the matter was closed I was surprised to see Dory in the next Morning it goes eagerly seeking me out Mikey said I wouldn't be here talking to you right now but I swear I woke up this morning and my biceps were bigger from that one set yesterday

and with that Dave we Doreen and I agreed that I train him for the next two weeks so he could learn the one set system and use it when he returned home to England to prepare for the 1993 Mr Olympia I trained him on a couple of different occasions after that but lately he's made it a point to steer clear of me I suspect he didn't like all the publicity associating him with Mike menser as a multi-mr Olympia winner he is looking to create his own mythology if you will and possibly because he found out

that it wasn't politically correct to be lauding Me In Flex and muscle and fitness that's too bad well in a way perhaps Dave but remember Dorian is his own man and must do what he regards as best for his career he had been so kind as to endorse my heavy duty system and my magazine as which has helped the cause and I sure do appreciate it to pick up the thread mic whether Steve Blackman entered a picture at the right time in the early Part of 1995 in fact when I was really starting to grow

uncomfortable with the strain between Joe Weider and myself certain individuals who had contact with Mr Blackman began reporting to me that he was interested in having me work for him I had never heard of the man before and would reply to these people look if Mr Blackman is interested in having me work for him why doesn't he call me and lo and behold it wasn't long after that that I received a phone call and I'm glad he did call for we hit it off very well from the outset and I have no regrets about leaving

weeder and signing to work exclusively for Steve and the best magazine on the market namely all natural muscular development Mike I'm glad to hear you and he are getting along so well yes he is an interesting intelligent as well as a very decent mandate during the first few of those phone calls last year we each recognized our strong mutuality of values in addition to being about the same age both of us have had a lifelong love of bodybuilding enormous respect for the intellect of Science and a strong desire to advance the bodybuilding industry's future in

fact Steve sees Himself as the man to possibly direct or redirect the future of this sport or industry he possesses a Restless intelligence and exacting standards that demand ever more complex challenges he also has enormous resources including time at the age of 43 Mr Blackman is imbued with the Cardinal element of Youth he knows that great things are possible and has the audacity to achieve them and with regard to the Blackman Brothers twin lab supplement company I decided to endorse their creatine fuel plus because it like the rest of their supplements is the best on

the market last year in 1996 I visited Steve and his brothers at the twin lab facility in Ronkonkoma New York while I was prepared Dave not to be unduly impressed as I had heard reports from a few others including John Romano as to how great an operation Twin lab truly is I was still very very impressed as Ross Blackman started me on the cook's tour of the factory and Warehouse I couldn't help but notice the great pride he had in regard to their achievement and by the time we were halfway through I saw that his

pride was certainly Justified the warehouse is enormous packed with Material and product from the floor to the top of the 35 foot ceiling much of it on conveyor belts which keep everything moving all the time so there is never more than two day storage and thus that the buyer receives fresh quality product which is their Forte they have so many Fail-Safe backup systems at every step along the production line to ensure quality with twinlab you can be certain you're getting what you pay for as opposed to others in the bodybuilding supplement industry who Farm out

their products to be produced by others I see you've been endorsing Twin Labs creatine fuel plus now Mike do you really use it not only do I actually use it Dave I practically live on it at times as busy as I am there are periods when I don't have time for formal sit-down meals especially breakfast and lunch so I drink creatine fuel plus along with Twin Labs egg fuel mixed in non-fat milk periodically through the day but always have a normal dinner more recently I added twin laps Sport fuel multivitamin mineral supplement for the powerful

antioxidant properties which help prevent muscle catabolism during high intensity Training and I've never felt better Mike there was an interesting comment in one of your recent articles in all natural muscular development you stated that you've mastered bodybuilding science to be precise Dave I stated that in looking back to when I wrote heavy duty one four years ago I realized that my level of understanding of the fundamental theoretical principles of bodybuilding science was something on the order of two plus two equals three and a half as a result my client's progress wasn't as good as it

could have been now my understanding is the equivalent of two plus two equals four and that shows up in my clients finally achieving results I always knew were possible before I would only occasionally have someone gain 10 to 20 pounds in a month or 30 to 40 pounds of three to five months now such gains are the rule when I mention the fact that I have finally mastered the fundamentals of bodybuilding science to someone on the phone recently he said there you go again posturing Mentor always so damn certain how can you possibly claim such

a thing and I responded didn't you sir Master the fundamentals of mathematical science namely Addition subtraction multiplication and division I didn't say I continued that I'm omniscient or infallible or even that I possess an exhaustive knowledge of exercise science give me a break I continued I'm a little slow it took me over 20 years to master the simple fundamentals of bodybuilding science and which may be summarized like this to be productive exercise must be number one intense number two brief and number three and frequent the fundamentals in other words relate to the issues of intensity

volume and frequency now in stating that I've mastered the fundamentals of bodybuilding science listener I can't say necessarily that I would start you or a new client on the same Baseline program not the almighty would as mentioned on a previous tape what I do is start the individual on a proven Baseline program one that has worked well for the majority if after checking his strength increases once he has completed two or three cycles of the four workouts I deem his progress is not satisfactory I make modifications an important observation I made several years ago having

been a trainer for two years at that point Is that those with what I refer to as linear physics those with slider builds most often individuals five foot ten or taller and 150 to 185 pounds or so are the ones who usually do not tolerate high intensity exercise stress quite as well as others and with those of that body type whose training history already clearly reveals a lower exercise stress tolerance I start them out on a modified program which I refer to as the consolidation program and I understand Mike that your new book Heavy Duty

2 mind and body which is filled with quotes has a quote from Thomas Jefferson as the first quote of the book yes and it is perhaps president Jefferson's most famous he said fixed reason firmly in her seat and called to her tribunal every fact every opinion question with boldness even the existence of a God because if there is one he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear close quote if anyone listening thinks that the material on these tapes is too intellectual Dave that perhaps people shouldn't be expected to learn

philosophy remember bodybuilding does not exist in a vacuum apart from the Rest of life even within bodybuilding if one desires to learn to distinguish between true and false ideas he must learn to reason and only a rational philosophy can teach that this is the end of side one please turn over the tape at this point to continue with side two well now that you've raised the point Mike I think it would be appropriate to ask what is philosophy exactly philosophy Dave is the intellectual discipline whose purpose is to study the fundamental nature of things which

then enables the special Sciences to study isolated aspects of the universe or one could say that the purpose of philosophy is to teach man to make valid identifications I.E establish the identity of the fundamental nature of things and one may learn to do this only once she has come to understand the five branches of philosophy Dave forming the base of philosophy's hierarchical knowledge are metaphysics which studies the fundamental nature of reality and man and epistemology which studies the nature of knowledge in man's means of acquiring it logically based on and derived from these two Fundamental

branches is the third branch ethics it is only on the basis of having properly identified the fundamental nature of man including his means of knowledge and of the universe in which he acts that it is possible to formulate a prescription for what man ought to do whereas the first two branches are essentially descriptive ethics is prescriptive the task of a proper non-religious scientific ethics is to teach man quite simply to make the right choices The Next Step Up man's hierarchical structure of knowledge is politics is proper function is to identify and implement the principles that

serve as a logical transition from Guiding a man's actions to guiding his actions with others and to tie it all together and present man his abstract theoretical philosophy in concretized form for his pleasure and contemplation is Aesthetics or art everyone everyone listening to this tape has a metaphysics a view of reality an epistemology a view of knowledge and ethics a code for making choices a politics and an Aesthetics or art values in short he has a philosophy man needs a philosophy in order to live the only Alternative Dave is whether the individual gains his Philosophy

by chance or by choice that's all I want to say about the five branches except that if anyone listening does care if you don't want to leave the creation of your soul to chance literally and that is the issue then start studying Philosophy by reading Ein rand's novel The Fountainhead and concurrent with reading The Fountainhead I strongly suggest you read her book of explicit philosophical essays entitled philosophy who needs it it sounds almost frightening leaving the creation of one's own soul to chance well it shouldn't frighten anyone although it should have a sobering effect most

in our culture have in fact left the issue of their own souls to chance influences One Soul Dave is not some gossamer-like ghostly ethereum lodged in his nervous system your soul is your Consciousness which is comprised of two elements your ideas and your emotions which are integrated your emotions are literally the products of your ideas your thinking and most people blindly and uncritically accept their ideas from magazines books movies family friends teachers by osmosis From the cultural atmosphere as iron Rand put it as a result many of their ideas or beliefs are contradictory which is

why they are torn by conflict and thus uncertain about so many things without philosophy one cannot critically evaluate ideas and he perforce becomes a man of mixed premises with a soul like a shapeless piece of clay stamped by Footprints going in all directions with a proper understanding of the power of ideas that is philosophy one can achieve an integrated personality as I described on tape one where there are no contradictions between a man's thought feelings and actions well put Mike you know one of my favorite articles of yours in all natural muscular development had as

its theme the issue of concrete bound bodybuilders versus principled bodybuilders now what inhale does concrete bound mean that's one of my favorite topics as well Dave let me explain how I came to write that piece I received phone calls and letters regularly from bodybuilders who are being harassed by others in their gym merely because they are training in a radically different fashion namely with brief and infrequent high intensity workouts They are usually called crazy and some have even been threatened with physical violence literally Dave there are essentially two types of people in the world those

For Whom the mind and knowledge matter enormously who volitionally choose to work conscientiously and Achieve cognitive precision and wide scale factual integration then there are the others the mentally passive who decided that the effort required to gain a philosophic scientific that is principled understanding of reality including their own inner life wasn't worth the effort and the mentally passive are the ones who have a penchant for calling my clients crazy or even threatening them with violence philosophically these are referred to as concrete bound mentalities they are limited to dealing with the first level of abstraction that

is Concepts that refer to directly perceivable or concrete objects such as chair table gym weights biceps Etc when confronted with higher level abstractions those not referring to what is directly perceived such as the concept's theory or principle they shrink away bewildered you see Dave gaining a thorough first-hand understanding Of higher Concepts requires extensive mental effort of the sort that these individuals have spent most of their lives actively evading hence upon encountering that better type of individual the one who heartily embraced the effort and responsibility of rational thought and critical judgment the self-arrested concrete-bound person feels

threatened even to the point where he'll use violence these are the ones who leave the creation of their souls to chance as I was discussing previously which brings to mind one of my favorite statements from all of literature and it is from Victor Hugo in his novel Les Miserables listen carefully Dave and I quote they were of those dwarfish Natures which if perchance heeded by some solid fire easily become monstrous there are souls which crab-like crawl continually towards Darkness going back in life rather than advancing in it using what experience they have to increase their

deformity growing worse without ceasing and becoming steeped more and more thoroughly in an intensifying wickedness close quote the point here is that either one continues to gain knowledge and progress Morally or he does not and goes backward there is no such thing Dave as standing still in human life or stagnating either you move forward or backward yes I'm sure we have all heard something to that effect earlier in our life yes and it is an important concept for bodybuilders who desire to mature properly to consider while the degree the one can train to stimulate the

growth of larger muscles of course is strictly limited there is no limit to how much knowledge one can integrate as human knowledge is an open-ended hierarchy they philosophically motivated individual has the capacity to gain knowledge to develop intellectually from his first moment of cognizant awareness to his last dying breath Mike just to switch gears here for a moment I understand that one of your recent articles in muscular development angered a number of people I believe it was your report on the night of the Champions contest yes it did Dave it did anger some people so

far three different individuals have contacted me in protest of what I said about them in that article one of those three threatened me physically they Severely self-arrested concrete bound individual as I was leaving Gold's Gym after my own workout this particular person confronted me screaming maniacally then he started pushing me saying that I attacked him personally in that article and that he wanted to go outside and beat me up I told him that if he touched me one more time I'd make sure he would spend some time in jail and that it was a free

country so I could write anything I chose short of libel by then the employees from behind the front desk were there to pull them off me at which point he was still railing on and on something to the effect that I was a horrible writer anyway and that he'd get me back somehow in fact I said nothing about his moral Worth or person in that article Dave I merely reported that he wasn't in his best condition for this contest or his last one imagine how such an individual might act in a real crisis situation when

he has so little self-control in one where there is no real threat he is in dire need of the type of Mind training that a philosophy of Reason provides the day after that incident I was again leaving the gym when Flex wheeler piped up so you think I don't know how to train huh amongst the many glowing things I had written about flexis Physique in that article I also wrote that neither he nor Ron Coleman had the slightest clue as how to properly direct their trading effort I walked over to flex and said No Flex

you really don't know how to train if I could train you for six months you'd beat Dorian Yates and that was that day of a more civilized encounter if you will now uh Mike we don't have much time remaining and I wanted to ask you some questions I have about heavy duty for instance why do you have your clients trained sewing frequently on a split routine isn't it true that if one trains different body parts each workout he can train more frequently since the non-worked body part is afforded rest on the day he is working

other body parts this is a very common belief but it simply is not true you are failing to recognize Dave that exercise in addition to having a localized effect on the given muscle being worked also has a systemic effect that is it affects the rest of the physical system localized Muscle Recovery actually is completed fairly quickly with systemic recovery taking up To four days or longer in some cases haven't you had a heavy leg workout say on a Friday Dave then intentionally rested all weekend thinking you'd be fully recovered but instead you woke up on

Monday still generally fatigued see what I mean yes indeed and I have had that experience and you're right now I see the distinction now very clearly between localized recovery and systemic recovery now my next question has to do with your new ad for heavy duty 2 in all natural muscular development we're in you claim it is possible for an individual to actualize his muscular potential in one year that doesn't seem possible those who know nothing about the scientific principles of high intensity anaerobic exercise stress physiology Not only would think that actualizing one's muscular potential in

a year would be impossible they actually wouldn't know where to begin in projecting how long the actualization of their muscular potential might take those utilizing the blind non-theoretical volume approach to training are continuously fretting as to whether they'll ever achieve their goal of bigger muscles or not because they know Nothing literally nothing about the nature of the trading stress required to stimulate growth or that the volume and frequency of weight training exercise must be cautiously regulated I made the point on one of the other tapes Dave that went in possession of a truly valid Theory

and beyond that and just as important one is making the proper practical application of the theoretical principles progress no matter what the field of endeavor should be nothing short of spectacular all the time remember the purpose of theoretical knowledge is to serve as a guide for successful Human Action Mike I don't ever recall seeing you address the issue of steroid use as it relates to heavy duty training in any of your articles with the trend away from steroids I would think that there would be a stampede toward high intensity training Dave this is one of

the most pressing issues in modern bodybuilding the move away from steroids and the resultant effect on training but you're posing of the question implies that consideration perhaps not generally understood the reason some bodybuilders have gained muscle with volume training relates to The fact that steroids act primarily as recovery ability enhancers were those same bodybuilders to train for two hours a day six days a week without steroids they would begin to lose muscle mass almost immediately heavy duty high intensity training is tailor-made for the non-steroid natural bodybuilder because of the painstaking percussion to properly regulate the

volume and frequency of exercise to prevent overtraining I'd like to warn the neophyte bodybuilder that those outlandish routines you read about in certain muscle magazines which Advocate that you train like the top chaps for hours every day were developed with the explicit understanding that steroid use increases recovery ability or exercise stress tolerance manifold yet continue to be promulgated by unscrupulous Publishers who refused to inform their readers the majority of whom are natural non-steroid bodybuilders that the top Champs who employ them are drug users and with steroid use becoming a thing of the past Steve Blackman

all natural muscular development magazine and twin lab have picked up the gauntlet by investing in research and product development Which leads the way in providing nutritional supplements that serve as the proper healthy way to augment muscular development those insane Marathon workouts do not cannot will not yield any results for those with a normal complement of hormones they don't even work for Christ's sakes for many who do take steroids as innumerable and my phone clients have reported only those with Superior genetics who take steroids make progress while training with the marathon or volume approach and even

they would make much greater progress of course if they train properly the proof of that is my own success with heavy duty kcb8ers Aaron Bakers David Durst David Paul's not to mention Dorian Yates and my hundreds of clients what about women like does high intensity work for them as well as men yes because the principles of human physiology Dave are just that the principles of human physiology they are applicable to all male female black white tall short young and old with some variations of course and the primary difference between male female physiology is the sexual

reproductive system within the context of lesser testosterone endowment therefore It can be inferred that women don't tolerate exercise stress as well as men though not always I have worked with naturally mesomorphic women who gain better than some men my advice to women is to follow the advice of these tapes and the accompanying booklet and start with the Baseline workout whether the goal is to become a bodybuilder a fitness competitor or model or even just develop Optimum Fitness for personal reasons and what about older people in fact high intensity training is very good for older people

as without some form of weight-bearing stress older women in particular become prone to osteoporosis which is demineralizing of the bones older people men and women also tend to lose lean mass unless they engage in some form of weight training anaerobic exercise and as you know the loss of lean mass results in the slowing of the metabolism which makes it easier to get fat I would imagine many like your heavy duty workouts because they are brief and infrequent I have spoken with numerous people especially intelligent career-oriented individuals who were either about to give up weight training

Or were reluctant to start as they were under the impression that training every day for an hour or two was required and they just couldn't justify Dave that kind of time expenditure then they read about my Approach and only trained for 20 minutes every four or five days and now these same people are quite delighted with their progress what never ceases to amaze me Dave is the number of bodybuilders who scoff at the mere suggestion of even trying heavy duty and continue to slave away for hours a day with little in the way of meaningful

progress throughout human history men have done all they could to avoid slavery and here in the latter part of the 20th century there's a group of Knuckleheads who seem to willfully embrace the role of Beast of Burden what about aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory health Dave aerobics have been inordinately emphasized over the last decade ever since it was recognized that the public is more likely to engage in low intensity aerobic activity then in high intensity anaerobic activity some may recall that prior to the heavy emphasis on aerobic conditioning the primary emphasis was On something called Total

Fitness Total Fitness is comprised of several components including skeletal muscle strength flexibility endurance the building and maintenance of lean mass and positive self-image all of which are best achieved through a properly conducted weight training program aerobic activity does next to nothing to provide for increased skeletal muscle strength in fact by overworking certain few muscles to the exclusion of working others at all aerobics can create imbalances in the skeletal muscular system which increases the likelihood of injuries nor does aerobic exercise improve flexibility and aerobic endurance or lean mess and it was never cast in stone that

one must limit his activity to repetitive movement of the legs as on a treadmill or StairMaster to improve his cardiorespiratory endurance the Cardinal principle for improving cardiorespiratory Fitness is that the individuals sustain a certain age-related pulse rate for at least 12 to 20 minutes this can be easily accomplished with high intensity training by limiting rush time between sets or if a person is hell-bent on Doing aerobics remember it is possible to over train here too when training in high intensity fashion as described On Tape 2 limit aerobics to no more than 20 to 30 minutes

twice a week and for the bodybuilder who is seeking to develop maximum muscle mass in the shortest time possible I strongly advise he eliminate aerobics entirely for a while this is because the body has a strictly limited adaptive capacity it's not as if the body has 100 units of adaptive resources for increases in strength of size and 100 units available for adapting with increased endurance the body possesses but 100 units of adaptive energy period or in other words training Guided by mixed premises will not yield results of the same magnitude as what adaptive specific Trading

Mike I see that our time is up thank you very much for a most enlightening interview and I will look forward to talking to you again soon David was my pleasure [Music] returns of all natural muscular development are pleased to have been able to bring you these highly informative lectures by Mike mincer who writes exclusively for their magazine