Heavy Duty Testimonials
from Around the World

105 LBS. OF FAT LOST WHILE GAINING 10 LBS. OF MUSCLE -- Posted 2/6/08
Edward Alves - Ontario, CANADA

I have always been the "big kid" everywhere I went. Even my parents would ridicule me thinking that it would motivate me to lose weight. In high school, I dabbled with weights and lost a lot of weight but still was not where I wanted to be; then I got married and life became easier, and well, I got very fat. Last year, I weighed 354 LBS and with a shirt size of XXXL and waist size of 54 inches. I was very big and disgusting.

I joined the YMCA and had a membership for over a year but never went to workout, because I just could not find the motivation!! I read every kind of book and was determined to go, but I never did.

Last November, I joined a gym close by the house and hired the in-house personal trainer. I worked out for the whole month of November and December without seeing any results, so I stopped using him as my trainer. I then hired another gentleman who is an amateur bodybuilder, and he taught me about my dietary needs. I immediately began to see changes where no one else did. I set my goals small - one inch at a time. His workout consisted of two hours a day for four days. I was seeing development but was spending far too much time in the gym.

Just before the summer of 2007, I ran across a book that caught my eye, High-Intensity the Mike Mentzer Way© written by Mike Mentzer. I read the book about his HEAVY DUTY™ high-intensity training, and I thought this cannot be true, this cannot work, but then realized, hey for 20 minutes per workout (40 minutes a week), I will give it a try. I did and stuck with it for 6 weeks. The development and gains that I saw were remarkable in that 6-week period! Weight just seemed to melt off me and muscle started to show up. My workouts are so intense that I find I need to eat more on those workout days just to maintain my energy level in order to accomplish my normal everyday activities.

Just two days ago on January 23, 2008, I got on the scale and it revealed that I dropped 105 lbs of fat while gaining 10 lbs of muscle! I am so happy!! I have gone down from a size 54 waist to a size 38 and from a XXXL shirt down to a size XXL shirt - I still like them a little baggy. Lol

BEFORE EDWARD JULY 2006

AFTER EDWARD JANUARY 2008

HEAVY DUTY™ is by far the best workout program that I have ever done and my gains have been so fast. Joanne Sharkey, I want to thank you for keeping Mike and Ray Mentzer's legacy alive, and I hope everyone looks at bodybuilding with an open mind and checks out what could give them their best gains - HEAVY DUTY™. As Mike Mentzer said:

"My advice to volume bodybuilders is that you discard everything you thought you knew about training, as you didn't really "know" anything; and take a fresh, new, unobstructed look at the subject of productive bodybuilding exercise."
--- Mike Mentzer, Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body

I've included some pictures as proof of what is stated in this testimonial - the proof is in the pudding.

Regards,
Ed Alves

BUY THE BOOKS -- Posted 10/8/06
Brian Blinstrup, Chicago, Illinois

I recently read Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body book - and once I picked it up, I could not stop. Interesting, enlightening, and most of all, intelligent are the words that come to mind about this book. The sport had only one true genius, and that was Mike Mentzer. My one regret is that I could not become one of his clients. It would have been an experience beyond belief. I truly idolize him. I now have Heavy Duty I, Heavy Duty II and High Intensity Training The Mike Mentzer Way in my library. These books are my bodybuilding "bibles".

I squandered my youth with a host of personal problems, and countless training mistakes to boot. Combined, the two caused me to quit bodybuilding for many years. At age 40, I began to pursue bodybuilding again, only this time with intelligence and wisdom - I had bought Mike's books, and it all became clear! If only I had followed the teachings of Mike in my early adult life!

Thanks for keeping Mike's legacy alive. His teachings will live forever.

Brian Blinstrup

NO ILLUSIONS-38-POUND GAIN IN 4 YEARS! -- Posted 6/10/06
Paul Skinner, MS - Registered Dietitian and Licensed Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer

During the past three years, I have been honored to write articles on nutrition for Mike's official website – www.mikementzer.com. In addition, I'd like to submit an updated testimonial showing my personal progression in muscle gains. I had written previously that at age sixteen I had made little or no progress with the volume training approach. After reading about Mike, I stopped overtraining - and at age 18 after using the HEAVY DUTY™ training program, I went from 165 to 180 pounds and could bench 350, squat 550, and deadlift 550.

I used Mike's basic Ideal (Principled) Routine and then later his Consolidation Routine. I gained 28 pounds of muscle in one year - with measurements as follows at age 41, at 5' 6" tall with 15% body-fat:

June 1, 2003		June 2, 2004
Weight:	174 lbs.	Weight:	207 lbs.
Chest:	43"	Chest:	46"
Neck:	16 ½"	Neck:	17 ½"
Bicep:	16"	Bicep:	17 ½"
Waist:	33"	Waist:	34 ½"
Thighs:	25"	Thighs:	27 ½"
Calves:	16"	Calves:	17 ½"

I experienced a 38-pound muscle gain with 15% bodyfat in 4 years!

June 1, 2006
Weight:	212 lbs
Chest:	47"
Neck:	17 ¾"
Bicep:	17 ¾"
Waist:	35"
Thighs:	28"
Calves:	17 ¾"

These are all cold measurements using a precise tape measure I purchased at a health food store so that there would be no slack in the tape or the tendency to angle it to give the illusion of greater girth. I will be 44 years old this month, and I can certainly see that my consistent use of HEAVY DUTY™ methods all these years has paid off enormously!

Paul Skinner
Belvidere, Illinois

[To read a new Tribute Article posted by Paul, click here]

MIND AND BODY -- Posted 6/10/06
Will Maruszczak - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I love to train - I mean I REALLY love to train! I'm not a bodybuilder, nor am I too interested in body image. I'm more interested in the functional purposes of lifting weights. I think of it as "soul building" -- a strong mind leads to the desire for a strong body -- and the result is a strong soul.

Because I believe in objectivity, after reading High Intensity Training The Mike Mentzer Way, I felt obligated to put it to the test and decide for myself if it works. And I'm a believer in absolutes -- in order -- in the one theory of muscle growth, because it is logical and because it works. I had tried EVERYTHING, every possible way of training: Volume training - 10 sets of 10 reps, 5 sets of 5, 3 sets of 10 etc. You name it - I've tried it. But I never really noticed much of an improvement considering the amount of time I was putting into my training. To borrow a term from the business world, my Return On Investment (ROI) was considerably low … not a good use of my time.

In my first attempts to utilize the principles put forth by Mike, I reduced the number of sets and exercises I was doing - and I started seeing some results. But the truth of the matter is that I was still doing too much training, too frequently. Therefore I reduced the number of exercises I was doing, to the multi-joint lifts- squats, deadlifts, benches, and chin-ups. My deadlifts went up from being barely able to lift 135 lbs to reps with 225 lbs!

The same with squats. On a 3-day-a-week routine, I was finding that I was tired all of the time and really lacked enthusiasm in the gym, so of course my progress ground to a halt. It wasn't until I read The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer and did more research, happily discovering that he recommends a Consolidated Routine of 4 exercises (deadlifts, squats, dips, and chinups/close-grip lat pulldowns), did I realize I was STILL overtraining.

After further refining my training by reducing the number of sets to 1 and increasing the days off in between to 5 (now 6), and sure enough, my lifts have started going up. The following reflects my progress:

Deadlifts:	225 lbs to 265 lbs for 11 reps.
Squats:	215 lbs to 245 lbs.
Dips:	25 lbs to 45 lbs
Chinups:	7 reps
Bodyweight:	152 lbs to 190 lbs (38-pound gain in bodyweight)

Talk about a ROI!!! The results have been nothing short of extraordinary! My bodyweight has skyrocketed in less than three years – rapidly enough that my mother-in-law felt the need to pull my wife aside one day and ask her if I was "taking something" to make my muscles bigger!

I am particularly fond of "The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer", which I've read cover to cover several times. You know what I've noticed? That when someone finally understands the theory of HEAVY DUTY™, it all makes so much sense. No matter how one trains, in order to continue to grow and progress, one will eventually have to reduce the amount of work they are doing. I love HD training, I have done lots of training over the years and never before have I felt the way I do after a HD workout; my heart is pounding, my legs are wobbly, and I can feel a huge chemical reaction going on inside. I'm tired for a couple days afterwards, I don't seem to see much in the way of improvement, but then I'll wake up one morning and my muscles feel TIGHT and swollen, like they're about to burst, almost as though I just had a good "pump" workout, and my arms are bursting out of their sleeves! I love workout days. I wake up knowing what's coming, I'm excited, I'm electrified, I feel alive!! I know that even if I seem to make no gains, I inevitably am continuing to build my soul. I will always train this way, because it's SO MUCH FUN!!!! I LOVE TO TRAIN!!!!!

A humble but enthusiastic student of Heavy Duty,
William Maruszczak

810 for 23 REPS ON THE LEG PRESS -- Posted 6/10/06
Peter Card - Lynn, Massachusetts

In memory and pay tribute to a man so deserving of it, I want to say thank you Mike Mentzer for all the valuable information and truth we now have through the HEAVY DUTY writings. I have been using the HEAVY DUTY training methods since 1992, but the newest books have helped me out a lot (HIT The Mike Mentzer Way and also The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer). I'm making my best gains, since I got and read these newest books!

On April 30, 2006, I did 810 for 23 reps on the leg press, and yes, they were full range reps and the seat was on the 1 setting. Because of the new books and Mike's advice in them, I am growing like a weed and my confidence is a lot higher now too - so thank you for keeping Mike's works available on www.Mikementzer.com and his legacy alive!

Peter Card

HEAVY DUTY™ HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING: THE IRONCLAD TRUTH! -- Posted 6/10/06
Gerry Lefurgy - Natural Bodybuilder - Chilliwack/Fort St. John, British Columbia – CANADA

Weight-training took a hold of me when I was an impressionable 16 year-old. As the typical story goes, I started buying muscle magazines and hoping someday to emulate the physiques of the stars.

' The pictures that I liked the most were the classic black and white photos of Mike Mentzer in Gold's Gym or such in the late '70's and early '80's. Formidableness personified, he ground out rep after excruciating rep against the weights. Mike's writing ability in his columns also struck me as quite articulate. Mike's writings didn't rely on the assumption that the reader was gullible and/or naive enough to believe that simply because one has won bodybuilding titles that that constitutes expertise on the theory of productive exercise science.

Instead, Mike conveyed a sense of logic and non-contradictory reasoning that simply wasn't present in any of the writings of many other bodybuilding authors. While their work may have been useful, those who did not properly comprehend and thus acknowledge high-intensity exercise as an exacting science, (which directly flows, as Mike would write, from medical science), lacked a non-contradictory foundation for their arguments. In short, I could sense something very powerful and true in Mike's arguments that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

At the start, I was on a high-volume training program, and I labored away in the gym. As I progressively got bigger and stronger over the years, I noticed that I was not able to continue making gains in lean muscular size and strength by continuing to work out with the same exercise high-volume and high-frequency. I adjusted by decreasing these and every time I did, I noticed that my ability to generate intensity in the gym increased dramatically and so did my progress. I had stumbled upon the golden triumvirate of exercise science, albeit, in a halting and ad hoc manner.

It was only when I received as a Christmas present, High Intensity Training: The Mike Mentzer Way (Mike's final written book), did I fully discover and understand the seven basic fundamental principles of high-intensity exercise. Armed with this knowledge, my training partner and I took to the hills and were blown away by our progress! At 5'7" and 175 pounds, following are some of my current poundages after 18 months of properly indoctrinated HIT:

	BEFORE	AFTER
Squat:	345 for three reps	375 for five reps
Leg Extensions:	180 for eight reps	265 lbs for eight reps
Dips:	BWT.& 40 lbs for 3 reps	BWT & 75 lbs DB around waist 4 to 6 Reps
Front lat pulldowns:	180 lbs for 8 reps	240 for 7 reps
Univ. Machine shrugs:	300 lbs for 6 reps	405 for eight to 10 reps
Calf Press:	600 lbs for 12 reps	800 pounds for 10 reps

I obviously lost bodyfat and replaced it with lean muscle tissue, so my weight didn't change as it was kept stable by a simultaneous loss of fat and increase of muscular growth. My peers have noticed that I look leaner and more cut, yet I weigh the same as before. Obviously, then, I have acquired new muscular tissue, which I didn't have before I started HEAVY DUTY™ properly, in response to all those who say that HEAVY DUTY™ HIT only makes one grow stronger, not bigger.

At some point, I'll be moving on to Mike's Consolidation Training Routine as outlined in The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: The Art, Science and Philosophy of a Bodybuilding Legend. High-intensity training methods have enriched my whole life as a human being. I never got the chance to directly thank Mike for that, and I was as saddened as anyone when he and his brother Ray passed away five years ago. However, I feel that as long as there are bodybuilders who have benefited from Mike's HEAVY DUTY™ high-intensity training, commence to train hard, have integrity and give of themselves, then Mike's legend lives!

The theory of high-intensity, anaerobic, bodybuilding exercise is not true because I or anyone else, no matter how many might agree, say it is true. It is the fact that the logic of the theory is unassailable which makes it true.
-- Mike Mentzer (HD II: Mind and Body book)

Gerald Lefurgy

SKEPTICAL PERSONAL TRAINER SEES RESULTS! -- Posted 6/10/06
Dimitri Kalkanis - Personal Trainer - Whitestone, NY

I must say that when I first read of Mike's HEAVY DUTY™ high-intensity training routine, I was a major skeptic. I could not fathom how working out so infrequently and with such little time in the gym could be so effective. However, I was desperate enough to give it a try as my “volume training regime" was getting me little gains and, in fact, it was working against me.

When I began the HEAVY DUTY™ workout in February of 2005, as outlined in Mike's book, I honestly thought that it would be a waste of time. Nevertheless, I was willing to devote some time to it, as my usual training method had failed to yield any substantial results. Also, my "education" as a personal trainer completely contradicted Mike's theories.

After only using Mike's HD method for one month, I saw the results that were promised - but these results were never delivered by my previous volume-training method.

First off was a dramatic change in my strength. My chest fly with dumbbells was 60 pounds for about 8 reps on my first set prior to employing Mike's system. After only two workouts, it increased to 75 pounds! A 15-pound gain after two workouts!

My legs (always a weak point) produced far more dramatic results. Before, the most I could squat for 12 repetitions was 225 pounds. After only four workouts, the weight I could move rose to 270! An amazing 45-pound gain! The best part was that I actually had to increase the rest between workout sessions, which, of course, meant more rest/recovery time.

I use Mike's HEAVY DUTY™ system to this day. I no longer work for the franchise gym I used to, as they do not like the fact that I encourage my clients to actually put more rest time in between workouts. In fact, instead of referring those clients to the supplement center of the gym, I always told them to buy Mike's books instead! Now, I have all private clients, and they couldn't be happier about the results they have achieved utilizing Mike's system.

I'm a skeptic at heart, but I have seen first hand, the results of Mike Mentzer's training method, and I recommend it to anyone that is serious about building their physique and ultimately, their health.

Dimitri Kalkanis, Personal Trainer

20-POUND MUSCLE GAIN & 10-POUND FAT LOSS IN 2 MONTHS! -- Posted 6/10/06
Mark Holloway – LONDON, U.K.

My name is Mark Holloway, I am 40 years old, and I have been using Mike Mentzer's HEAVY DUTY™ Consolidated Routine outlined in The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer book.

Within two months, I have gained 20 Lbs of muscle, and I also lost 10 lbs of fat in the process!! I know it is muscle, because every day I used a “Bod Pod" and tanita machine which measures lean body tissue. Who would have thought that training once every seven days, performing only one set of two exercises in a workout, would have yielded such great gains?

Try telling this to other gym members, and it always invokes different responses, aggression, or genuine interest. In any case, I don't care, because I'm getting results. What is really exciting is to think of where I'll be in about 2 years time - I can't wait !!!

With every workout I am stronger; sometimes I scare myself with the weights I'm using now, especially the deadlift, which to me is the “King of the gym". If you don't deadlift, you have not exercised, it is so grueling, demanding, and yep, rewarding.

WELL DONE, MIKE MENTZER! RATIONAL THINKING RULES!

Thank you Joanne Sharkey and John Little for The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer book.

Mark Holloway, London

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