The Growth Mechanism

Kick-start your growth mechanism with Mentzer's rational HIT approach.

Q: I’ve been following routine 1 from Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body. I started by training once every 96 hours, or four days, as you suggest, and I made great strength gains for four months. At that point my progress slowed considerably. Then I followed your advice and took a three-week layoff before reducing my training to once every seven days. Now my strength increases are spectacular compared to anything I’ve ever experienced. Despite my strength gains over seven months, however, I’ve gained no bodyweight. I’m not much of an eater, and consuming the extra calories that your book recommends makes me quite uncomfortable. What do I do?

A: You’ve been training to failure, so you’re activating the growth mechanism and getting stronger. Thus, a change is being effected in your musculature. Even so, you need more calories so that the growth mechanism has the nutritional raw materials it requires to build the second story, the new mass. Presently, you’re getting only enough calories to maintain the first story, your existing mass. I’ve seen a few individuals gain a little weight while training on a maintenance level of calories, but they all do better when they’re in positive calorie balance.

The change in your muscles has been a qualitative increase — an increase in strength — which is fine, but you’re looking for a quantitative change, meaning more bodyweight and muscle mass. Turning on the growth mechanism in and of itself is not sufficient. You must consume more nutritious calories.

I’m not speaking metaphorically when I refer to a “growth mechanism.” It involves a series of specific, logically sequenced biochemical changes. The workout itself doesn’t produce muscle growth; it’s merely a stimulus that produces a change within the body. (Exercise is capable of producing two kinds of results: a positive change, which occurs when you exercise properly, training with sufficient intensity and not overtraining, or a negative change, which occurs when you train improperly.)

In other words, it’s the body that produces the growth but only if two requirements are met: adequate rest, so the body has the time it requires to respond to the training stimulus via full recovery and completion of the growth production process, and enough calories beyond maintenance needs so it has sufficient nutritional raw materials to meet the needs of the growth mechanism.

Your strength increases indicate that you’re inducing more growth stimulation than you’re getting. I understand that some people find it uncomfortable to eat more than maintenance levels of food. Nevertheless, I still advise you to eat up to 500 calories beyond maintenance a day. Don’t make it unduly torturous, however. For as many days as you can tolerate, eat the additional calories, which you can do rather easily. I’m not suggesting that you indiscriminately consume excess amounts of food; that will only make you fat. Do it methodically: Keep a nutrition journal for several days and establish your present daily calorie-intake average, which in your case will roughly be your maintenance level. Having done that, increase your calories as suggested.

Eat the additional food for as many days as you can tolerate, then back off, reducing your calories for a couple of days to maintenance level. Once you’re comfortable, up the calories again for as long as you can possibly tolerate it. Continue increasing and lowering your calories and over time you’ll find that your metabolism will change and the additional food won’t bother you. The easiest way to increase your food intake is to take a packet of one of the very good protein products each day and mix it with whole or skim milk. Drink intermittently through the day in small doses–as little as half a glass at a time, if necessary–and you’ll be getting close to the exact number of extra calories and nutrients required, with little or no discomfort.

Exercise Substitutions

Q: I read in Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body that deadlifts and squats are by far the greatest overall growth stimulators. Unfortunately, I have a nerve impingement in my lower back that makes it impossible for me to perform those exercises. Even if I did them slowly with lighter weights than usual, I’d probably still make my injury worse. Talk about frustration! I’m so excited about growing as fast as possible. What do you suggest? A: You have to realistic. I understand something about the nature of your lower-back injury, as I owned a MedX lower-back rehab clinic at one time. Severe lower-back problems can cripple you and may necessitate surgery–more than 125 million Americans suffer severe, chronic lower-back pain–and from what I understand, such surgery is not always successful.

By no means should you attempt squats or deadlifts. Remember, this is bodybuilding, not body destroying. I emphasize that because I’ve seen bodybuilders ignore injuries or take large doses of medication that mask the pain and then perform exercises that directly affect the injured area, making it much, much worse. As a trainer, of course, my primary concern is always safety.

All is not lost, however. I’ve had a number of personal-training clients who had the same injury as yours. In most cases the problem is due to profound weakness of the lower-lumbar muscles. About a year and a half ago I was waking up every morning with my lower back so stiff and sore, it took me 30 minutes before I could stand up straight. After four’yes, only four’MedX treatments I was completely symptom free. I still won’t attempt heavy squats or deadlifts, but I feel much better.

I suggest you substitute leg presses for squats and slow, controlled hyperextensions and shrugs for deadlifts. Leg presses are effective overall growth stimulators, and though they’re much safer than squats, you must still be careful. Use a lighter weight than usual and perform your leg presses so that it takes seven to 10 seconds to lower the foot plate. Don’t lower into the full, rock-bottom position, in which your pelvis starts to curl off the back support. That places your lower back in a weak position, making an injury a very real possibility. Lower your thighs three-quarters of the full distance that you’re capable of covering, keeping your hands on your upper thighs in case you reach failure halfway up and need assistance. Just don’t use the strength of your arms to assist throughout the set.

The spinal erectors and traps are the muscles most activated by the deadlift. They’re also the muscles you focus on when you do hyperextensions and shrugs. As with leg presses, perform the hypers slowly–seven to 10 seconds–making absolutely certain that your torso rises no higher than parallel to the ground. Once you’re in the top position, hold for three or four seconds, then lower under control; repeat in the same manner. Using lighter weights and slower reps requires a certain mind-set. After years of training the old-fashioned way, it may take you a little time to achieve it. Review my advice a number of times, especially right before starting each workout, so it goes deep into your subconscious. I’m very serious here, as any worsening of your injury could cripple you to the point where you’d be unable to exercise.

The slower rep speed eliminates momentum, an outside force that can amplify the total force imposed on the muscles, tendons and ligaments and so increase the likelihood of injury. I suggest you perform shrugs on a machine designed for that purpose or use a bench press machine: Stand in the middle of the machine so you can grab the stable handles on both sides at a level just below where you’d reach the fully extended position of a shrug. If neither of those machines is available, use dumbbells. Begin by placing the dumbbells carefully on a bench, lifting them with your back flat and your head up, almost in deadlift style. Use lighter dumbbells than what you’d use for a standard set and perform the reps slowly. When you have the dumbbells as high as you think you can get them, hitch them up another inch, then pause, lower under control and repeat. When you do shrugs, make certain that you’re standing straight, with your head up and your chest thrust forward slightly.

One last point: Keep in mind that you’re a bodybuilder, not a weightlifter. Your primary concern is not to hoist the heaviest weights possible but to achieve maximum contractions of the muscles in order to induce full growth stimulation. Lifting lighter weights with a slower speed is not only more productive, but it’s also a hell of a lot safer. Safety should be of paramount concern to all who lift weights, as, presumably, you regard training as a healthy, rewarding activity you’d like continue throughout your life.

My advice to anyone suffering cervical and/or lumbar pain is to seek out a MedX exercise rehab clinic in your area. I’ve seen it work miracles in many cases, including my own.

The Power of Ideas

Q: Not too long ago I received a degree in sports management, and I’m now running one of New York City’s top health clubs. Man, were you right when you said that the average trainee knows nothing of value about exercise. I observe our members’ workouts and simply can’t believe what they’re doing. Even more disturbing is the fact that the owners and managers of most health clubs know nothing about exercise or how to set up a gym. Most exercise emporiums are dirty and dangerous, and in most cases the certified trainers are horrible, employing counterproductive and dangerous training practices. Most don’t even keep progress charts on their clients, so how can they know if they’re prescribing the correct volume and frequency? It’s very frustrating to watch, as I’d like the bodybuilding-and-fitness field to flourish, something that depends largely on trainees making meaningful progress in safe, user-friendly gyms and health clubs.

A: I’m no longer young or foolish enough to believe that I can change the world. That’s something no individual can do. It doesn’t mean, however, that nothing positive can be done.

You may recall my comments in my book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body, ‘Man’s fundamental, defining characteristic is his conceptual faculty.’ Everything people do is preceded and prompted by an idea they have, and the success or failure of their actions depends on the quality of their ideas.

The only thing that intelligent, concerned people can do to help our industry flourish is spread the right ideas. Don’t make the mistake of taking on the role of white knight, imposing your ideas on people who aren’t interested in reason and logic. The best place to start is right in your health club. Periodically give seminars at which you explain that exercise is not merely a casual activity and that there is science involved. Diplomatically point out some of the common mistakes you see, then demonstrate the correct manner in which to perform exercises. End up with a succinct explanation of the fundamentals of exercise science–intensity, volume and frequency–and their relationship. The purpose of such a seminar is not necessarily to change everyone’s minds right then, but to indicate that perhaps there’s more to training than they realize. The rational few will grasp your logic immediately and will change. The irrational majority will laugh it off, even joke about your efforts. Forget them. They’ll end up getting what they deserve. (One can’t ignore, evade or repress the power of ideas that have impunity.) Others will find your explanation interesting, but they may not fully embrace it immediately. I’ve spoken with an incalculable number of individuals who spurned the theory of high-intensity training when I explained it. Then a few weeks or months later I was happily surprised to discover that, having given further consideration to the logic of my argument, they sought me out to tell me I was right.

I, too, am concerned about the survival and growth of our industry, and it’s obviously contingent on the meaningful progress of those who weight train. I, too, have seen and talked with people who gave up training after several months–and no progress–having used the blind, nontheoretical volume approach. They were mind-numbingly confused due to their semiconscious belief in the notion that more is better. That’s fallacious, of course, for if it were true, everyone would succeed.

You see, the idea that more is better means just that: more is better. There’s a built-in guarantee that if one hour of training a day yields satisfactory results, then two would make for even better progress and three hours even more and so on. As I’ve often said, the science of exercise is not infinitely complex, but there’s much more to it than the simplistic notion that more is better.

Yes, it can be frustrating. I’ve been making logically unassailable statements like that for years, with little or no impact on most people. Most people are not sincerely interested in the objective truth; instead, they seek to project and protect an image of godlike, omniscient infallibility. To admit they’ve been wrong would be unbearable–their blighted characters would crumble like a house made of playing cards.

In the overwhelming number of gyms the trainers often know less than the trainees. I find it curious that more and more clubs are requiring their trainers to be certified, with no consideration about the quality of the certification programs. If trainers should be certified, why shouldn’t gyms be certified? I agree with you: Most gyms I see are dirty and dangerous, with no rhyme or reason as to the equipment they use or how it’s placed in the gym. Once, in a gym that was severely overcrowded with machines, I saw an elderly woman take a frightening whack in the chest as she walked past a pec deck. The trainee who was using it had all but thrown open the movement arms, which extended into the small walking space that separated the equipment.

All I can do is spread rational ideas about exercise. It hasn’t been easy, for the more my ideas have been embraced, the more virulent the attacks of my detractors have been. Those who are intransigently devoted to disseminating rational ideas–about exercise and the state of the world–must not allow their detractors to make them angry. It’s going to happen, and the more well-known you are, the more rabid the attacks will be. For instance, there’s a chat room on Infoseek that’s devoted exclusively to putting me down, and the vile impertinence of those involved is so great, it makes me wonder about their actual motive. It isn’t difficult to figure out. After all, if you hate someone, why spend so much time thinking and writing about him? (For those interested in that philosophic phenomenon, I refer you to Ayn Rand’s essay ‘The Age of Envy,’ especially the part about hating the good for being good.)

It’s proper in the free marketplace of ideas for civilized men to debate the ideas on which they disagree. That way they get the opportunity to judge the ideas on their merits and decide for themselves what’s true. Since knowledge is man’s means of survival, progress and happiness, those who embrace the effort and responsibility of scrupulously logical deliberation–and judge which ideas are valid–are rewarded, while those who abdicate their fundamental responsibility suffer the consequences. Owners of health food stores and gyms and everyone associated with the magazines should keep in mind that the meaningful progress of bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts will sell more club memberships, nutrition supplements and all of the products marketed in our industry. Of course, there will be disagreement as to which training ideas are best; however, I implore you to at least consider reading mine, as well as the others. If you do, I’m confident you’ll embrace my philosophy, as an ever-increasing number of bodybuilders, strength athletes and fitness enthusiasts are doing.

You could also write letters to the publishers and editors of the various magazines in the field. You never know when your ideas might have a positive impact. Also, why not consider putting out a newsletter at your club, one that espouses a rational approach to exercise? Mike Moran of Green Bay, Wisconsin, had a hard time keeping his gym going when he first opened it. He was vehemently against aerobics and did everything he could to encourage his members to train intensely, briefly and infrequently. The owners of the other training facilities in Green Bay did all they could to keep his membership numbers down. Mike undertook a vigorous campaign to counter his detractors; he wrote editorials and letters to the editors of the local newspapers, talked to civic organizations and conducted free seminars. Today his is possibly the most successful training facility in Green Bay. I’ll finish with a quote from the conclusion of Leonard Peikoff’s book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand: ‘To save the world is the simplest thing in the world. All one has to do is think.’

Or, as Arthur Jones once said to a young Mike Mentzer, “Just think a little, more than none” and you’ll be surprised at how much you come up with. Thinking, however, is not a casual process.

Editor’s note: Mike Mentzer books are available from Home Gym Warehouse, 1-800-447-0008, or visit www.home-gym.com. IM

The Growth Mechanism

Q: I’ve been following routine 1 from Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body. I started by training once every 96 hours, or four days, as you suggest, and I made great strength gains for four months. At that point my progress slowed considerably. Then I followed your advice and took a three-week layoff before reducing my training to once every seven days. Now my strength increases are spectacular compared to anything I’ve ever experienced. Despite my strength gains over seven months, however, I’ve gained no bodyweight. I’m not much of an eater, and consuming the extra calories that your book recommends makes me quite uncomfortable. What do I do?

A: You’ve been training to failure, so you’re activating the growth mechanism and getting stronger. Thus, a change is being effected in your musculature. Even so, you need more calories so that the growth mechanism has the nutritional raw materials it requires to build the second story, the new mass. Presently, you’re getting only enough calories to maintain the first story, your existing mass. I’ve seen a few individuals gain a little weight while training on a maintenance level of calories, but they all do better when they’re in positive calorie balance.

The change in your muscles has been a qualitative increase’an increase in strength’which is fine, but you’re looking for a quantitative change, meaning more bodyweight and muscle mass. Turning on the growth mechanism in and of itself is not sufficient. You must consume more nutritious calories.

I’m not speaking metaphorically when I refer to a ‘growth mechanism.’ It involves a series of specific, logically sequenced biochemical changes. The workout itself doesn’t produce muscle growth; it’s merely a stimulus that produces a change within the body. (Exercise is capable of producing two kinds of results: a positive change, which occurs when you exercise properly, training with sufficient intensity and not overtraining, or a negative change, which occurs when you train improperly.)

In other words, it’s the body that produces the growth’but only if two requirements are met: adequate rest, so the body has the time it requires to respond to the training stimulus via full recovery and completion of the growth production process, and enough calories beyond maintenance needs so it has sufficient nutritional raw materials to meet the needs of the growth mechanism.

Your strength increases indicate that you’re inducing more growth stimulation than you’re getting. I understand that some people find it uncomfortable to eat more than maintenance levels of food. Nevertheless, I still advise you to eat up to 500 calories beyond maintenance a day. Don’t make it unduly torturous, however. For as many days as you can tolerate, eat the additional calories, which you can do rather easily. I’m not suggesting that you indiscriminately consume excess amounts of food; that will only make you fat. Do it methodically: Keep a nutrition journal for several days and establish your present daily calorie-intake average, which in your case will roughly be your maintenance level. Having done that, increase your calories as suggested.

Eat the additional food for as many days as you can tolerate, then back off, reducing your calories for a couple of days to maintenance level. Once you’re comfortable, up the calories again for as long as you can possibly tolerate it. Continue increasing and lowering your calories and over time you’ll find that your metabolism will change and the additional food won’t bother you. The easiest way to increase your food intake is to take a packet of one of the very good protein products each day and mix it with whole or skim milk. Drink intermittently through the day in small doses’as little as half a glass at a time, if necessary’and you’ll be getting close to the exact number of extra calories and nutrients required, with little or no discomfort.

Exercise Substitutions

Q: I read in Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body that deadlifts and squats are by far the greatest overall growth stimulators. Unfortunately, I have a nerve impingement in my lower back that makes it impossible for me to perform those exercises. Even if I did them slowly with lighter weights than usual, I’d probably still make my injury worse. Talk about frustration! I’m so excited about growing as fast as possible. What do you suggest? A: You have to realistic. I understand something about the nature of your lower-back injury, as I owned a MedX lower-back rehab clinic at one time. Severe lower-back problems can cripple you and may necessitate surgery’more than 125 million Americans suffer severe, chronic lower-back pain’and from what I understand, such surgery is not always successful.

By no means should you attempt squats or deadlifts. Remember, this is bodybuilding, not body destroying. I emphasize that because I’ve seen bodybuilders ignore injuries or take large doses of medication that mask the pain and then perform exercises that directly affect the injured area, making it much, much worse. As a trainer, of course, my primary concern is always safety.

All is not lost, however. I’ve had a number of personal-training clients who had the same injury as yours. In most cases the problem is due to profound weakness of the lower-lumbar muscles. About a year and a half ago I was waking up every morning with my lower back so stiff and sore, it took me 30 minutes before I could stand up straight. After four’yes, only four’MedX treatments I was completely symptom free. I still won’t attempt heavy squats or deadlifts, but I feel much better.

I suggest you substitute leg presses for squats and slow, controlled hyperextensions and shrugs for deadlifts. Leg presses are effective overall growth stimulators, and though they’re much safer than squats, you must still be careful. Use a lighter weight than usual and perform your leg presses so that it takes seven to 10 seconds to lower the foot plate. Don’t lower into the full, rock-bottom position, in which your pelvis starts to curl off the back support. That places your lower back in a weak position, making an injury a very real possibility. Lower your thighs three-quarters of the full distance that you’re capable of covering, keeping your hands on your upper thighs in case you reach failure halfway up and need assistance. Just don’t use the strength of your arms to assist throughout the set.

The spinal erectors and traps are the muscles most activated by the deadlift. They’re also the muscles you focus on when you do hyperextensions and shrugs. As with leg presses, perform the hypers slowly’seven to 10 seconds’making absolutely certain that your torso rises no higher than parallel to the ground. Once you’re in the top position, hold for three or four seconds, then lower under control; repeat in the same manner. Using lighter weights and slower reps requires a certain mind-set. After years of training the old-fashioned way, it may take you a little time to achieve it. Review my advice a number of times, especially right before starting each workout, so it goes deep into your subconscious. I’m very serious here, as any worsening of your injury could cripple you to the point where you’d be unable to exercise.

The slower rep speed eliminates momentum, an outside force that can amplify the total force imposed on the muscles, tendons and ligaments and so increase the likelihood of injury. I suggest you perform shrugs on a machine designed for that purpose or use a bench press machine: Stand in the middle of the machine so you can grab the stable handles on both sides at a level just below where you’d reach the fully extended position of a shrug. If neither of those machines is available, use dumbbells. Begin by placing the dumbbells carefully on a bench, lifting them with your back flat and your head up, almost in deadlift style. Use lighter dumbbells than what you’d use for a standard set and perform the reps slowly. When you have the dumbbells as high as you think you can get them, hitch them up another inch, then pause, lower under control and repeat. When you do shrugs, make certain that you’re standing straight, with your head up and your chest thrust forward slightly.

One last point: Keep in mind that you’re a bodybuilder, not a weightlifter. Your primary concern is not to hoist the heaviest weights possible but to achieve maximum contractions of the muscles in order to induce full growth stimulation. Lifting lighter weights with a slower speed is not only more productive, but it’s also a hell of a lot safer. Safety should be of paramount concern to all who lift weights, as, presumably, you regard training as a healthy, rewarding activity you’d like continue throughout your life.

My advice to anyone suffering cervical and/or lumbar pain is to seek out a MedX exercise rehab clinic in your area. I’ve seen it work miracles in many cases, including my own.

The Power of Ideas

Q: Not too long ago I received a degree in sports management, and I’m now running one of New York City’s top health clubs. Man, were you right when you said that the average trainee knows nothing of value about exercise. I observe our members’ workouts and simply can’t believe what they’re doing. Even more disturbing is the fact that the owners and managers of most health clubs know nothing about exercise or how to set up a gym. Most exercise emporiums are dirty and dangerous, and in most cases the certified trainers are horrible, employing counterproductive and dangerous training practices. Most don’t even keep progress charts on their clients, so how can they know if they’re prescribing the correct volume and frequency? It’s very frustrating to watch, as I’d like the bodybuilding-and-fitness field to flourish, something that depends largely on trainees making meaningful progress in safe, user-friendly gyms and health clubs.

A: I’m no longer young or foolish enough to believe that I can change the world. That’s something no individual can do. It doesn’t mean, however, that nothing positive can be done.

You may recall my comments in my book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body, ‘Man’s fundamental, defining characteristic is his conceptual faculty.’ Everything people do is preceded and prompted by an idea they have, and the success or failure of their actions depends on the quality of their ideas.

The only thing that intelligent, concerned people can do to help our industry flourish is spread the right ideas. Don’t make the mistake of taking on the role of white knight, imposing your ideas on people who aren’t interested in reason and logic. The best place to start is right in your health club. Periodically give seminars at which you explain that exercise is not merely a casual activity and that there is science involved. Diplomatically point out some of the common mistakes you see, then demonstrate the correct manner in which to perform exercises. End up with a succinct explanation of the fundamentals of exercise science’intensity, volume and frequency’and their relationship. The purpose of such a seminar is not necessarily to change everyone’s minds right then, but to indicate that perhaps there’s more to training than they realize. The rational few will grasp your logic immediately and will change. The irrational majority will laugh it off, even joke about your efforts. Forget them. They’ll end up getting what they deserve. (One can’t ignore, evade or repress the power of ideas that have impunity.) Others will find your explanation interesting, but they may not fully embrace it immediately. I’ve spoken with an incalculable number of individuals who spurned the theory of high-intensity training when I explained it. Then a few weeks or months later I was happily surprised to discover that, having given further consideration to the logic of my argument, they sought me out to tell me I was right.

I, too, am concerned about the survival and growth of our industry, and it’s obviously contingent on the meaningful progress of those who weight train. I, too, have seen and talked with people who gave up training after several months’and no progress’having used the blind, nontheoretical volume approach. They were mind-numbingly confused due to their semiconscious belief in the notion that more is better. That’s fallacious, of course, for if it were true, everyone would succeed.

You see, the idea that more is better means just that: more is better. There’s a built-in guarantee that if one hour of training a day yields satisfactory results, then two would make for even better progress and three hours even more and so on. As I’ve often said, the science of exercise is not infinitely complex, but there’s much more to it than the simplistic notion that more is better.

Yes, it can be frustrating. I’ve been making logically unassailable statements like that for years, with little or no impact on most people. Most people are not sincerely interested in the objective truth; instead, they seek to project and protect an image of godlike, omniscient infallibility. To admit they’ve been wrong would be unbearable’their blighted characters would crumble like a house made of playing cards.

In the overwhelming number of gyms the trainers often know less than the trainees. I find it curious that more and more clubs are requiring their trainers to be certified, with no consideration about the quality of the certification programs. If trainers should be certified, why shouldn’t gyms be certified? I agree with you: Most gyms I see are dirty and dangerous, with no rhyme or reason as to the equipment they use or how it’s placed in the gym. Once, in a gym that was severely overcrowded with machines, I saw an elderly woman take a frightening whack in the chest as she walked past a pec deck. The trainee who was using it had all but thrown open the movement arms, which extended into the small walking space that separated the equipment.

All I can do is spread rational ideas about exercise. It hasn’t been easy, for the more my ideas have been embraced, the more virulent the attacks of my detractors have been. Those who are intransigently devoted to disseminating rational ideas’about exercise and the state of the world’must not allow their detractors to make them angry. It’s going to happen, and the more well-known you are, the more rabid the attacks will be. For instance, there’s a chat room on Infoseek that’s devoted exclusively to putting me down, and the vile impertinence of those involved is so great, it makes me wonder about their actual motive. It isn’t difficult to figure out. After all, if you hate someone, why spend so much time thinking and writing about him? (For those interested in that philosophic phenomenon, I refer you to Ayn Rand’s essay ‘The Age of Envy,’ especially the part about hating the good for being good.)

It’s proper in the free marketplace of ideas for civilized men to debate the ideas on which they disagree. That way they get the opportunity to judge the ideas on their merits and decide for themselves what’s true. Since knowledge is man’s means of survival, progress and happiness, those who embrace the effort and responsibility of scrupulously logical deliberation’and judge which ideas are valid’are rewarded, while those who abdicate their fundamental responsibility suffer the consequences. Owners of health food stores and gyms and everyone associated with the magazines should keep in mind that the meaningful progress of bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts will sell more club memberships, nutrition supplements and all of the products marketed in our industry. Of course, there will be disagreement as to which training ideas are best; however, I implore you to at least consider reading mine, as well as the others. If you do, I’m confident you’ll embrace my philosophy, as an ever-increasing number of bodybuilders, strength athletes and fitness enthusiasts are doing.

You could also write letters to the publishers and editors of the various magazines in the field. You never know when your ideas might have a positive impact. Also, why not consider putting out a newsletter at your club, one that espouses a rational approach to exercise? Mike Moran of Green Bay, Wisconsin, had a hard time keeping his gym going when he first opened it. He was vehemently against aerobics and did everything he could to encourage his members to train intensely, briefly and infrequently. The owners of the other training facilities in Green Bay did all they could to keep his membership numbers down. Mike undertook a vigorous campaign to counter his detractors; he wrote editorials and letters to the editors of the local newspapers, talked to civic organizations and conducted free seminars. Today his is possibly the most successful training facility in Green Bay. I’ll finish with a quote from the conclusion of Leonard Peikoff’s book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand: ‘To save the world is the simplest thing in the world. All one has to do is think.’

Or, as Arthur Jones once said to a young Mike Mentzer, ‘Just think a little, more than none’and you’ll be surprised at how much you come up with.’ Thinking, however, is not a casual process.

Editor’s note: Mike Mentzer is available for phone consultations and personalized supervision at the Fitness Forum in Marina del Rey, California. For rates and info call (310) 827-7661. Also, check out his Web site at www.mikementzer.com. His books are available from Home Gym Warehouse, 1-800-447-0008, or visit www.home-gym.com. IM