Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Mike Mentzer's book is the absolute truth of how to train, and grow huge muscle's. Since I have started using Mike's principle's using high intensity training I stay sore up to 5 to 7 days. I have been training for 25 years and thought that I had reached my full genetic potential. I am 235 pounds and have already gained 5 pounds in four weeks. I squatted with 550 pounds using forced reps and negetives with rest-pause and felt the stimulation deep within my muscle fibers. You definitely have to rest your entire system training this way. Hail! Hail, to Mike Mentzer for sharing the truth. I thank you greatly.

This book is, in many ways, a tribute and memorial to Mike Mentzer. Although it is not written by him, as "High Intensity Training" was, it is written by his co-author on the book (and by his business manager)-- two people who knew him well. As you would expect, most of the book is directed at high intensity training, although in this book, it is referred to as "heavy duty" training. Much of it is also directed at Mentzer's philosophy of body building and of life in general. The first part of the book deals with the importance of character in relation to body building, something that Mentzer felt strongly about. The basic principles of heavy duty training are presented in the next part of the book, along with several workout programs. Of particular interest are several advanced programs where he emphasizes the importance of long rest periods. In some cases, though, his suggestions for rest periods seem overly long, but I'm sure he knew a lot more about that than I do.
The book compliments Mentzer's earlier book and is a good book to buy if you have the earlier book, as it adds several new ideas and techniques. It is filled with black and white photos, and is a delight to read. Strongly recommended.

Mike Mentzer, by far, has to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He really knew what he was talking about and literally was a bodybuilding scientist. He came to his conclusions by trial and error by himself and with 1,000's of clients that he trained. Mike put together specific principles which are outlined in the book about how the biological functions of the body produce increases in muscle growth based on the nature of intensity and the duration of stress placed upon it and the need for recovery.

Recovery time has everything to tell with duration and intensity of exercise. The greater the stress the more time one needs in order to make full recovery of the adaptation (Growth of Muscle). To the non steroid bodybuilder, this takes days and sometime over a week depending on the stress and ones ability and genetic makeup. High Intensity therefore is what mike stressed and not volume. Intensity of effort causes the body's mechanism to have to adapt = muscle growth. Anyone who doubts Mike Mentzer and his principles can go and talk to one of the greatest of all time, Dorian Yates who put Mikes principles into practice and was a 6 time Mr. Olympia while most of the time only working out for 45 mins per workout. (Youtube him talking about HIT).

As in my own training, putting these principles into practice I have seen dramatic results in my strength gains and the aesthetic gains in muscle density as well. If you have been confused about fitness and body building as even most iron junkies are, do yourself a favor and get this book and or Mikes other books.

Mike Mentzer, was way ahead of his time, i bought this book almost a month ago, read it in less than a day, and decided to follow his instructions, after years and years of training, i followed his principles, and they just WORK, believe me, this is the last bodybuilding book you will ever buy. easy to read, and very interesting.

This book is the answer to the question: Who is Mike Mentzer? His greatest contributions to bodybuilding science, his having the guts to stand up to Arnold and corporate bodybuilding, his advanced training techniques -- everything! It made me appreciate Mentzer that much more. John Little together with Joanne Sharkey has done a fantastic job of making Mike's ideas sparkle with new radiance and relevance. The photos are great (I I haven't seen most of them before) and very inspirational. Little, a long time close friend of Mentzer's, speaks from the heart about his friend but also uses air-tight logic to present his points. The Consolidation Routine is a killer -- especially when used with the advanced technique of Infitonic! Long live Heavy Duty! This book is a long overdue tribute to a very great bodybuilder and an even greater human being.

This is actually my favorite of Mentzers works. I like it specifically because it is so broad and manages to be both specific and abstract.
I enjoy Mike's writings and ideas in this form.
He is a philosopher and writes best in a philosophical context.
This book pretty much sums up the duration and evolution of his entire philosophy.
I am not a religious devotee of Mike Mentzers' philosophy entirely.
I train with slightly more volume and eat more protein than Mike suggests.
Mike's approach is fantastic and well thought out. It is also dogmatic.
My suggestion would be to look into this, as well as Arnold's work, and maybe some other books like those of Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates, and find what suits you best.
As I've said before, I haven't come across the perfect bodybuilding book yet.

Does this author say or think anything himself, or does he just write about what other people say and think? First, he was a Bruce Lee expert, now he is a Mike Mentzer expert. I think one of these days he will be declared "the world's foremost Soupy Sales expert."