HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

i have a problem, i am confused on what i should do for a routine, should i use HD or volume? i have been using HD style workouts on and of for a year, what i menat by on and off is i would do HD for about 2 months then switch to volume for 1 month i would do that off and on mixing up vol and HD. i have not gained much, when i started HD i was 155, well im still that weight, i got a little stronger, but not as much as i thought. the only exercise i got strong in was my squat and that was a 70LB gain, and my legs are still small as the rest of my body. i am 5′11 and 17 years old, i follow a pretty good diest and also tried bulking, eating 24/7. i have a very fast metabolism, i was thinking of doing a wholebody workout which im on now, it goes as follows,

squat

bent row

bench press

military press

lying ext

barbell curl

i do 1 set of 6-10 per exercise and i worlout whenever i fell recovered

i was planning on doing this routine until my metabolism slows down and then i can start packing on the pounds, but recently i found a voulume routine that interests me. it is one exercise per bodypart, its the same routine as my whole body you do 1 muscle a day and work it once a week, and you blast that body part with that one exercise for 30-40 min. ive tried it before and it gives you an unbeleivable pump. but it takes to long to workout and i like short workouts. i want to get super big super fast, what should i do? and another thing if i do go on a HD 2 routine, if i want to use this routine all my life i am still young, and eventually i dont want to do consolation workouts once every 15-20 days i will get bored, i want to workout about 1-2 days a week or more but short workouts, WHAT SHOULD I DO!!!!

Hey Paul,

Your routine you have right now looks just fine, but I would add a calf exercise like calf raises of any sort, a direct tricep exercise like close grip benchs, or skull crushers, etc. You could train your whole body once a week, or you could add more rest days in-between your workouts if you feel the need to. Do 1 set per exercise and go to COMPLETE MUSCULAR FAILURE, until you can′t do another rep, and do 1-2 rest pause reps at the end of a set (this technique has added a lot of mass to my physique and I′m sure it will for yours, to perform them go to failure and then rest 8-10 sec. and perform another rep and do that once more). Since you haven′t gained a lot/none of muscle mass I want you to try this. Eat a high calorie diet since you have a fast metabolism and since you are going to school, eat around 100-110 g. of protein (I know this is a higher amount of protein than what I suggested earlier but this will ensure you have enough protein in your diet), eat a high amount of carbohydrates (potatos, rice, beans, etc.) and a low to moderate amount of fat. Be sure to get enough sleep (app. 8-9 hours a night) and try to keep your stress level down to a minimum. Try this for 1-2 months and see what happens; if you do everything right you should be adding plenty of size and strength. GOOD LUCK!

Later

hey paul,

you can try doing the athletes routine every other day or every two days for four weeks. you might like, if u need more frequency. ive dont the once a week volume thing myself, but the problem with it

is that theres not enough frequency. i think thats why mike started recomending the athletes routine over the ideal, because you hit the whole body more frequently.

id try it every other day first, then after four weeks you should be overtrained enough to experience gains with the once a week program.