The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend [Paperback]

John Little (Author), Joanne Sharkey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2005

The last word on how to build a better body--from the late, great Mike Mentzer

With his revolutionary "Heavy Duty" system, Mike Mentzer changed the way bodybuilders train, showing them that "less is more" when it comes to making great gains. In The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, you will discover Mike's most advanced training techniques and philosophies--previously known only to his inner circle and personal clients.

Drawing upon never-before-released materials, his longtime colleague John Little reveals Mentzer's most powerful lessons and workout plans, including:

• The importance of working to failure
• Techniques for pushing past mental and physical plateaus
• How overtraining impedes progress
• A complete advanced "Heavy Duty" training system

The workout that worked "like magic" for Mr. Universe himself More than an instruction manual, this thorough compendium brings together a lifetime of insights, training truths, and personal philosophies from one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Little, longtime friend of Mike Mentzer, is the author of more than twenty-five books on bodybuilding, martial arts, history, and philosophy. His books have sold in excess of 600,000 copies and are now published in several languages.

Joanne Sharkey was Mike's closest friend and business manager. As the CEO of Mentzer-Sharkey Enterprises, Inc., she continues at the helm of the Mentzer legacy and operates Mentzer's official Website at www.mikementzer.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071452931
• ISBN-13: 978-0071452939
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Little is uniquely suited to the task of relating the philosophy of Bruce Lee and his approach to life. Little has a degree in philosophy from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the author of two books on health and fitness (having spent over fifteen years as a writer for several fitness magazines), and is himself a student of Lee's art of jeet kune do.

Selected by the Bruce Lee estate, Little is the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations and to edit books on the subject of Lee's martial art and its far-reaching philosophical underpinnings. Little's keen awareness of the subtleties of both Eastern and Western philosophy coupled with a respect for the preservation of the essence of Lee's words and meaning give this book an integrity that is all too rare.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a good effort, February 16, 2007

By 

C. Owens "co2" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend (Paperback)

Being a fan of Mentzer, I was eager to read this. He does stand as someone I truly have admired in my life time. I have enjoyed his other books and always came away better for reading them. However, I was very disapointed in this book. I soon realised that the problem is it was not written by Mentzer. The first half of the book is honestly just a little too reverent in painting Mentzer as a hero. I admire him, but John Little makes him sound like a saint. It's just a little much. The second half improved as it delved into Mentzer's philosophy on training using many of his own quotes. But even here, John Little refers to his previous book so blatantly and repeatedly, he often sounds like a broken record. It was a shameless redundant self promotion that almost makes one question his sincerity.
My advice, this is just fluff and promotion. Go buy one of Mentzer's books such as Heavy Duty as it is eye opening. Mentzer was a prolific writer and had a such a keen sense of logic that made the other books such as pleasure to read. This feels like a somewhat goulish attempt by those that have survived him, to use his name and drain one last bit from his devout fans.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Merely a copy of Ayn Rand and Muscle& Fitness articles, October 14, 2006

By 

John E. Davidson (El Paso, Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend (Paperback)

Nearly half of this book is a reprint of Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty Training Advice that the author reprinted from old Muscle and Fitness magazines. His material about Dorian Yates's training is reprinted from old muscle magazines as well and is partially incorrect at that. The ONLY thing good about this book were the pictures and he used virtually the same photos several times at that. Hey Little, how many times can you use a photo of Mentzer on a Nautilus Pullover machine? I am a HUGE Mentzer fan having had a phone consultation with him once but this book straight up sucks. I view this book as nothing more that trying to milk another dollar off of Mentzer's good name. As the previous review stated there is nothing here that is original. If you were a regular reader of muscle magazines, you know all of this information already. Save yourself the money and purchase a book written by Mentzer himself such as Heavy Duty 1 and 2.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the best on consolidation training, March 28, 2011

By 

jay rhine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend (Paperback)

the research Mike did in the two years before his death is the most important part of this book. Read it carefully, ignore the pictures. The publisher should not have included photos of Mike from his training days in the 70's. In the text Mike teaches that single joint isolation exercises can lead to over training. The most productive workout can be had in a brutal four to six minutes!