In an era when fitness enthusiasts were obsessed with building their physiques similar to their idols, the right and safe way to train might have taken a backseat. In times like this, Mike Mentzer had always been vocal about doing this the right way to not just witness optimum results but also avoid injuries.
In a resurfaced video posted by the YouTube channel Heavy Duty College, Mentzer talked about bodybuilding authorities’ responsibilities surrounding the sport. Having popular icons meant an influx of fans wanting to embark on their fitness journey. Therefore, self-designated bodybuilding authorities were in charge of their safety.
Coaches, mentors, and even fellow bodybuilders could call themselves a part of the authority who, Mentzer believed, must take care of newbies. Too much exertion or exercising more than the recommended amount could lead to trouble, and he wanted the seniors to prevent that.
With power comes responsibility, and the late icon stressed how these self-proclaimed authorities needed to uphold safety over performance. While there was a chance that the client may want to push the thinking of several real-life examples, it was the duty of the senior to help maintain a balance.
“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.”
Mentzer’s focus was primarily on the dangers of overtraining, citing research suggesting how working out for hours at a time could be detrimental to one’s body. It was the job of bodybuilding authority to make sure one didn’t derive the wrong notion of ‘more is better’ when it came to hitting the gym.
“There is absolutely no excuse for the bodybuilding orthodoxy, after 50 years, to continue promulgating the notion that more is better, advocating that bodybuilders train for hours a day, six days a week…”
For him, high-intensity training claimed the pedestal in these cases, where one didn’t have to spend hours working out, and could still push themselves to the brink and achieve good results. Mentzer never backed down on his claims nor shied away from speaking up, even against fellow bodybuilding colleagues.
Mike Mentzer once called out Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popular training ideology
Mentzer’s beef with traditional bodybuilding techniques went long back, where he would disapprove of theories that called for muscle growth due to multiple sets. In an Underground Seminar, he debunked some theories surrounding this idea and slipped in a snide remark at his onstage rival, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The problem with traditional bodybuilding training, that Mentzer despised, was how they sold impractical dreams and desires. People would come on board the fitness journey, set unrealistic goals, and think that if they keep visiting the gym and aimlessly perform exercises, favorable results would follow. Now a strategy-less approach like that could work for someone genetically gifted like Schwarzenegger, but not for all. Therefore, resistance training and high-intensity techniques were the way to go to witness visible results.
