Mike Mentzer
Who really was Mike Mentzer and what do so many people get wrong about him and his approach to High-Intensity Strength Training?
Here to set the record straight about Mike’s legacy are HITuni founder Simon Shawcross and modern-day renaissance man John Little, who also happened to be a close friend and associate of Mentzer for over two decades.
Simon Shawcross is the founder of HITuni, an e-learning course provider for High-Intensity Training (HIT) and evidence-based fitness. Simon has been in the fitness industry for over 20 years and is a leading provider of high-quality education, resources, and professional development and certifications for the HIT community.
John Little owns the Nautilus North Strength and Fitness Centre in Bracebridge, Ontario, and he is an accomplished author in the fields of exercise, philosophy, history, and martial arts — check out his books here. John’s articles have been published in every major fitness and martial arts magazine in North America and he has produced over 40 publications.
In this episode, we talk about the profound influence of Mike Mentzer on high-intensity training, the enduring legacy of his philosophy, and the inspiration behind the new Mike Mentzer course at HITuni. We go into the challenges of editing extensive and insightful conversations from John’s immense personal archive of Mentzer media, anecdotes about Mike, and the philosophical impact on his training and outlook on life. We also talk about how ahead of his time Mike truly was, as well as his thoughts on individualized approaches to strength training and the role of recovery time between workouts.
Check out John Little’s Mike Mentzer course on HITuni here (Use Code HIB10 for 10% off)
If you want to know the truth about Mike Mentzer, his legacy, and his immense impact on strength training that surprisingly many get wrong, don’t miss this episode!
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Show Notes
- 02:06 – Why is Mike Mentzer becoming more popular recently?
- 06:38 – How the Mike Mentzer course came about
- 12:37 – Who is HITuni’s Mike Mentzer course for and what can you expect from it?
- 17:21 – What people get wrong about Mike and his ideas on strength training
- 23:16 – What’s the optimum training frequency and amount of recovery in between HIT workout sessions?
- 37:01 – Mike Mentzer’s influence on Simon Shawcross (and how Simon finally got into HIT)
- 41:19 – John Little reflects on 20 years of friendship with Mike Mentzer: on life, reading, philosophy, and Mike’s other interests
- 46:04 – What made Mike Mentzer quit bodybuilding? (Mindsets, motivation, and philosophy)
- 54:57 – Mike Mentzer’s influence on John Little and how their friendship developed
- 1:03:10 – How Simon and John literally explored Mike Mentzer’s philosophical influences
- 1:08:00 – Simon’s approach to creating and producing meaningful value
- 1:15:39 – John Little’s many endeavors
- 1:19:25 – John and Simon’s creative process for producing the Mike Mentzer’s course
Note: these are the timestamps for the audio edition. For the video edition’s timestamps, please see the YouTube description box for this episode.
People Mentioned & Selected Links from the Episode
- Simon Shawcross | HITuni | HIB Episodes
- John Little | Nautilus North | Books | HIB Episodes
- John’s Mike Mentzer Course on HITuni
- Heavy Duty College (Mike Mentzer YouTube Channel)
- High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way – John Little (book)
- The Private Side of Mike Mentzer – Irene L. Hause (Interview from 1982)
- Philosophy in a Car Part 1 | Part 2
- About Mike Mentzer | More HIB Episodes about Mike
- Dr. Doug McGuff | Official Website | Ultimate Exercise Studio | Body by Science (book) | HIB Episodes
- Bruce Lee | Bruce Lee in His Own Words (film)
- Cal Newport | Official Website | Deep Work (book) | Slow Productivity (book) | Deep Questions (podcast)
- Arthur Jones | HIB Episodes
- Joe Weider | Official Website
- Ayn Rand | Atlas Shrugged
- Larry Scott
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Ronald David Laing
- Mr. Olympia
- Socrates
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Thales
- Terence
- Richard Feynman
- BodPod
490 – Enhanced Eccentrics and Lumbar Health: The NeGator’s Impact on Aging Spines
489 – How Andy Omel built a 30+ Session/Week Personal Training Business with only Timed Static Contractions
488 – Chuck Bixby: Discovering HIT, Learning from Roger Schwab, and Saving Studios Time
Thanks Laurence for another great podcast.Good luck to John and Simon with the course,it looks fantastic.. Mike’s influence on modern day fitness is still under appreciated.Arthur Jones and his theories were mostly ignored before he made them popular.Anyone wanting to build muscle was told to train sixty sets six days a week,eat two dozen eggs and drink six pints of milk a day to start with!Steroids were not mentioned.Mentzer changed all that!
Great motivation to be analytical, critical thinking, and applying it all your own life. Lawrence, you always do a great job of asking questions and expanding the conversation into different directions. John, I’ve enjoyed your writing since the early 90’s . Simon, I really enjoy your laid back, curious way of expounding the things that interest you. Mike was such a a big part of inspiring me to think outside of the box. I really enjoyed hearing about the life things and the philosophical conversations.