Weight Training Tips and Articles

Heavy Duty Weight Training

June 27, 2008 on 3:10 am | In Weight Training Routines, High Intensity Weight Training, Build Muscle |

  One of the more unique weight training routines is the Heavy Duty routine. It’s an extremely low set, high intensity routine. 1970s bodybuilder Mike Mentzer created Heavy Duty with the belief that most bodybuilders of the time were training way too much - some were doing 3 or 4 hour workouts. He advocated much shorter workouts with a few very high intensity sets per muscle group with plenty of rest to avoid ever overtraining. In his heyday, former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates used a variation of Heavy Duty.

  A Heavy Duty routine calls for as little as 1 or 2 sets per exercise and only a few exercises per muscle. Every set must be done to failure and possibly even beyond it with forced rep and other high intensity techniques. With the set count so low, only major compound exercises should be done.

  To do a Heavy Duty weight training routine effectively you really need to know your body and have the ability to get a lot out of each and every set you do. It’s not a good idea for a beginner to try Heavy Duty since they are still trying to learn proper exercise form and how their body reacts to weight training. A good time to try Heavy Duty would be when you feel you’ve been overtraining for a while. If your body feels beat up and you weight train almost every day for hours at a time you could give Heavy Duty a try to get more recovery and allow your body to “catch up” and build more muscle and strength.