Near the end of his career as a personal trainer, Mike Mentzer determined that he was recommending workouts to his clients who had a set number that was too high for maximum muscle growth. He had been using 2-4 sets of maximum intensity per muscle group, but he noticed that his client’s results had stopped.

This puzzled him, but after careful consideration, he decided that to reinvigorate the growth of new muscle he needed to reduce the sets to 1-2 for small muscles and 2-3 for larger ones. His clients began to break through plateaus and build new muscle mass. All series were led to muscular failure.

When he got a call from bodybuilder Dorian Yates, who was training for the upcoming Mr. Olympia contest, he built a new program designed to quickly add muscle to Dorian’s body. Believe it or not, he used just one set for biceps and triceps as described on the show below. Since Dorian was used to hard training, he took to this program quickly and made excellent gains.

It is extremely important to push yourself to the max for this HIT routine or it won’t work. You must train harder than ever. Try to add repetitions and/or weight each session to overload the muscles. Try Mike’s routines to revitalize your training!

Leg Extensions: 1 x 12-15, 15 second hold on top at the end

Leg Press: 1 x 12-15, 2 forced reps, 15 second hold at the top

Squats-1 x 12-15

Leg curl: 1 x 12-15, 2 forced reps, 15 second hold at the top

Stiff Legged Deadlift-1 x 12-15

Calf Raises or Toe Presses: 1 x 12-15, 15 second hold at the top

Nautilus Sweaters: 1 x 8-10, 15 second hold on top

Lat Pull-downs-1 x 8-10.2 forced reps, 15 second hold at the end

Cable Rows: 1 x 8-10, 15 second max crunch hold at end

Machine Shrug: 1 x 8-10, 15 second max crunch hold at top

Pek Dek-1 x 8-10.2 forced reps, 15 second hold at the end

Machine Bench Press: 1 x 8-10, 15-second hold at the top

Machine Lateral Raises: 1 x 8-10, 15 second hold at top

Machine Presses: 1 x 8-10, 2 forced reps, 15-second hold

(Do 1 set of only lateral raises or machine presses if you add 2 forced reps and 2 forced negative reps at the end of the set)

Machine Curls: 1 x 8-10, 2 forced reps, 15 second hold at the top

Cable Pull-downs Palms-Facing-1 x 8-10, 15 second hold at top

(Do 1 set of curls only if you add 2 forced reps and 2 forced negatives at the end of the set)

Seated Triceps Extensions: 1 x 8-10.2 forced reps, 15-second hold at the end

Close-Grip Bench Presses: 1 x 8-10, 15-second hold at the top

(The dips can be substituted)

(Do 1 set of triceps extensions only if you add 2 forced reps and 2 forced negative reps at the end of the set)