See also: General description of the Heavy Duty method and example of a Heavy Duty training card
Message sent by: Riccardo
Hello Riccardo,
As you know, heavy duty is a training technique developed by the late American body builder Mike Menzer. He developed his theories to counter the dominance of Weider techniques in body building.
The Weider method, from the name of those who practically invented and developed body building, envisaged and envisaged a training method characterized by:
high number of series and repetitions
high training frequency
This method involves the use of a wide variety of exercises, including those of isolation with the machinery that he himself helped to create and disseminate.
According to Mentzer, the Weider method can produce valid results only if combined with the use of doping substances. On the contrary, a natural athlete who follows these principles will inevitably fall into the trap of overtraining.
After a brief period under the guidance of Weider himself, Mentzer decides to counter his theories with an innovative training method, heavy duty.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEAVY DUTY
"A method suitable for everyone, which allows to develop good muscular masses without resorting to the use of drugs". This "high intensity, low volume" method is characterized by:
MONOSERIE
Few exercises normally multiarticular (mono-articular only in the case of superseries with the method of pre-tiring). Even the abdominals are not taken into consideration, because they are involved and trained during multi-joint exercises
GRADUAL LOAD INCREASE
It is the basis for any improvement and, even if limited, it must always be present, session after session
REPEATED REPETITIONS UP TO THE TOTAL MUSCULAR EXHAUST
Unspecified number, variable according to the exercises and the body areas to be trained (higher for the lower part of the body)
APPROPRIATE HEATING AND SLOW AND CONTROLLED EXECUTION
To avoid accidents, the recommended cadence is 4/4; 4 seconds to complete the negative phase and 4 to complete the positive phase
VERY LONG RECOVERY BETWEEN THE SESSIONS = reduced training frequency;
A rest period of between 96 and 120 hours is generally suggested, lower for a beginner and higher for a professional. In any case, variable from individual to individual and dependent on factors such as: duration and quality of sleep, habits of life, nutrition, integration, etc. ...
PERIODIC CHANGE IN THE YEARS
Mentzer also provides the PERIODICAL INTRODUCTION OF ISOMETRIC AND NEGATIVE SERIES to vary the training stimulus
POSITIVE MENTAL APPROACH
Heavy duty requires EXTREME CONCENTRATION IN EXERCISES, PAIN SUPPORT, TENACIA AND PERSEVERANCE
HOW TO STRUCTURE A TRAINING TABLE
The elements listed above allow you to draw up a training card with the heavy duty method; there are no fixed fees, the important thing is to respect the characteristics just seen.
It is always necessary to take into consideration the individual capacities both physical and psychic, not all (especially beginners) are able to give the maximum in a single series.
However, I give you some examples, just to get an idea of the overall training organization:
TRADITIONAL SUPERSERIES
| PRE-TIRING SUPERSERIES
|
CARD BASED ON 2 WORKOUTS (advanced)
|
As you can see all the examples, although different from each other, are inspired by the principles of heavy duty. Also in this case we must be able to adapt them to the individual, a card and a technique that is the same for everyone does not exist.
HEAVY DUTY: REALLY WORKS?
Before choosing and proposing heavy duty I suggest you read these considerations.
Heavy duty is a natural training method, developed by a doped ...
Miike Mentzer dies at the age of 50 due to heart problems. He never won the Mister Olympia, but he was still one of the best bodybuilders in the world, and it is well known that certain levels of muscle mass and definition cannot be achieved without undergoing doping practices.
Those who follow heavy duty are willing to sacrifice the pleasure of training to increase (perhaps) their muscle mass. Heavy duty is a shortcut, those willing to follow it could be more inclined to follow the others ...
"Whoever follows heavy duty is not a body building enthusiast": if a person loves training he cannot accept to do it only twice a week 10 minutes at a time; if it comes down to this compromise it means that muscle growth is more important than the pleasure of training. And if muscle growth counts so much a heavy duty follower will be more inclined to fall into temptation ...
Heavy duty is an extreme concept, too exaggerated
Typical of the American people: adoring extremes and enhancing them, whether you are a dwarf or a giant is not important, what matters is that you are different, extreme, with the right characteristics to make a show. And if some theories developed by Mentzer are more than acceptable, others (see recovery times) seem to me to be, to say the least excessive.
Evidently Mentzer attributes too much importance to recovery
The original heavy duty envisaged lower recovery times; Mentzer experiments with the technique, realizes that it does not produce the desired effects and decides to further reduce the frequency and volume of training. And if a subject does not get results in this case either, what does he do, does recovery time still increase ?!
The effectiveness of heavy duty should be demonstrated over the years
Any initial improvement could be the simple result of a distortion in the working method. If a subject merely changes some exercise without alternating the correct training techniques he necessarily ends up in a stall phase that can be unlocked by a completely different working method: the Heavy duty precisely.
