12-Week Mike Mentzer Workout Routine (Download Free PDF)

If you’re looking for a bodybuilding workout routine of Mike Mentzer, you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve designed two routines inspired by MikeMentzer. The first is based on High Intensity Training (HIT). It will be a 4-day split (1 day workout, 4 days off).

The other one will be a heavy-duty routine for experienced lifters. It’s also a 4-day split, but has more frequent workouts than the first one. For example, you’ll train 4 times out of 10 days.

Both programs are designed to help you gain strength and muscle size over time.

I’ll also share a PDF of each program that you can download for free and keep it handy.

About Mike Mentzer

Mike Mentzer (1951-2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, author, and philosopher.

He is one of the most popular names in the fitness community, known for his innovative and intense training approaches (High Intensity “Heavy Duty” training system).

His training program involves high-intensity, low-volume, and infrequent workouts.

He used to perform fewer reps with maximum effort to maximize muscular strength and hypertrophy.

Mike Mentzer’s HIT training helped him win Mr. America, Mr. Universe, and Mr Olympia (heavyweight division) in the late 70s.

His major championships include:

• 1976 Mr. America: Won both the Medium Class and the Overall title in the AAU.
• 1978 World Amateur Championships: Took 1st place in the Heavyweight division.
• 1978 IFBB Mr. Universe: Won the Heavyweight division and became the first bodybuilder to win with a perfect score of 300.
• 1979 Mr. Olympia: Won the Heavyweight division and placed 2nd Overall, securing a perfect score during prejudging.

If you are looking for a time-efficient training program for bodybuilding that involves little exercise, you can try Mike Mentzer’s HIT training plan.

Mike Mentzer High Intensity Training (HIT) Philosophy

Mike Mentzer’s high-intensity training is about building muscular strength and size without spending hours in the gym.

His HIT workout involves performing one working set of 8-10 reps with maximum effort, ensuring you have no energy left to do even one full rep at the end of the set.

Here are some techniques Sir Mike uses during the Heavy Duty Training for building mass and shaping physique:

1. Train Larger Muscles First

Mike Mentzer used to train his muscles in sequence, starting from large to small. For example, if his session includes training chest and triceps, he hammers his chest before striking the three-headed arm muscle.

2. Full Range of Motion

Mike Mentzer suggests performing every rep with a full range of motion to ensure your muscles are activated nicely. To do this, perform each rep with full extension and contraction with a 1-2 second pause between reps.

3. Progressive Overload

Mike Mentzer recommends constantly increasing weight or the number of reps and sets to challenge your muscles and stimulate muscle growth. To do this, know your strengths and make a little increment every week or two to push yourself a little harder.

4. Low Volume Training

Mike Mentzer’s training emphasizes training less, focusing on heavy-duty, high-intensity workouts to failure, and allowing ample rest for optimal muscle growth.

For example, he said in an interview that he only trains 30 minutes per session, four times a week, which is only two hours in seven days.

Mike said too much volume leads to overtraining and keeps you from making the best possible gains.

5. Forced Reps

Forced reps allow you to push yourself a bit harder. It involves taking your partner’s help to perform one or more reps when you can’t do them on your own. Many professional lifters use this technique to intensify their muscle growth and strength.

6. Optimal Recovery

You don’t have to think about recovery if you train in Mike Mentzer’s style. His training involves training a maximum of two hours a week, allowing your muscles ample time for recovery.

12-Week Mike Mentzer HIT Workout Routine (A)

This routine follows a 20-day cycle (1 day workout, 4 days off).

It includes training two body parts a day with 6-8 sets per muscle group.

Follow this split for 12 weeks (4 cycles) and see if it works for you.

Warm up before lifting weights. Follow this guide for activating the muscle before hitting weights.

Perform 1-2 warm-up sets (at 60-75% of your 1RM) of each exercise before going heavy in the working sets.

I’ll only include working sets in the table. Try to lift as heavy as possible and ensure the last 1-2 reps feel pretty challenging.

Try to lift a little heavier every week.

So, here’s the complete routine:

Day 1st – Chest and Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Pec Deck Flies	1	6-10	No Rest
Incline Bench Press	1	3-4	1-2 min
Narrow Grip Pull-down	1	6-10	No Rest
Conventional Deadlift	1	5-8	–

Instructions for day one:

• Perform dumbbell flyes or cable crossovers if you don’t have access to the pec deck machine.
• Use the machine to do the incline bench presses. If the machine is unavailable, use free weights.
• Use a shoulder-width grip to perform the incline bench press.
• Grip the handle with an underhand grip (palms under the bar) to perform the lat pulldown.
• Perform barbell shrugs if you can’t do the deadlifts.

Day 6th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Leg Extension + Leg Press (Superset)	1	8-15	1-2 min
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Instructions for day two:

• You can substitute the leg press with the Smith machine back squats.

Day 11th – Delts and Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Lateral Raises	1	6-10	1-minute
Bent-Over Lateral Raises	1	6-10	1-2 minutes
Straight Barbell Curl	1	6-10	1-minute
Triceps Press Down	1	6-10	No Rest
Parallel Bar Dips	1	3-5	–

Instructions for day three:

• Use a straight or V bar to perform the press down (avoid rope), and if you don’t have access to the cable pulley, you can do lying French presses as an alternative.
• Use weight if you easily perform five dips, but if you can’t even perform one, do 10 negative dips.

Day 16th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Leg Extension	1	8-15	No rest
Free Weight Squat	1	8-15	2-3 minutes
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Instructions for day four:

• Perform leg extension with a full range of motion using more weight than the previous day. Perform one additional static hold rep to finish your leg extension. To do this, hold your legs extended for 10-25 seconds (until you can no longer hold), then slowly return your legs with strict control to the start.

Day 22nd – Chest and Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Flyes	1	6-10	No Rest
Incline Machine Bench Presses	1	3-4	1-2 min
Medium Grip Pull-downs	1	6-10	No Rest
Conventional Deadlifts or Heavy Shrugs	1	5-8	–

Day 27th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Smith Machine Back Squats + Leg Press (Superset)	1	8-15 per exercise	1-2 min
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Day 32nd – Delts and Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Bent-Arm Machine Lateral Raises	1	6-10	1-minute
Bent-Over Rear Delt Raises	1	6-10	1-2 minutes
Chin-ups (weighted)	1	4-6	1-minute
Concentration Curl	1	6-10	1-minute
Close-Grip Bench Press	1	6-10	No Rest
Parallel Bar Dips	1	3-5	–

Day 37th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Leg Extensions + Leg Curls (superset)	1	8-15	No rest
Stiff-Leg Deadlift	1	6-8	2-3 minutes
Seated Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Day 43rd – Chest and Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Cable Crossover	1	6-10	No Rest
Nautilus Chest Press	1	3-4	1-2 min
Barbell Row	1	6-10	No Rest
Nautilus Pullover	1	8-10	–

Day 48th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Leg Extension + Leg Press (Superset)	1	8-15	1-minute
Lying Leg Curls	1	10-12	1-minute
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Day 53rd – Delts and Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Overhead Press (Free Weight or Machine)	1	6-10	1-minute
Upright Row	1	6-10	1-2 minutes
Rear Delt Flyes	1	6-10	1-minute
Straight Barbell Curl	1	6-10	1-minute
Lying Triceps Extension	1	6-10	No Rest
Triceps Pushdown	1	3-5	–

Day 58th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Smith Machine Lunges	1	10-12	No rest
Back Squat	1	6-8	2-3 minutes
Romanian Deadlift	1	6-8	2-3 minutes
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Day 64th – Chest and Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Pull Ups	1	6-10	No Rest
Pec Deck Flies	1	6-10	1-minute
Incline Bench Presses	1	3-4	2-minute
Close-Grip Pull-downs	1	6-10	1-minute
Conventional Deadlifts	1	5-8	–

Day 69th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Leg Extension + Leg Press (Superset)	1	8-15	1-minute
Seated Leg Curls	1	10-12	1-minute
Standing Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

Day 74th – Delts & Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Lateral Raises	1	6-10	1-minute
Rear Delt Row	1	6-10	1-minute
Barbell Shrug	1	6-8	1-minute
Weighted Chin-up	1	4-6	1-minute
Straight Barbell Curl	1	6-10	1-minute
Weighted Dips	1	6-10	1-minute
Triceps Overhead Extensions	1	6-10	–

Day 79th – Legs Workout

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Barbell Back Squat	1	8-15	2-minute
Smith Machine Reverse Lunges	1	8 per leg	1-mintue
Lying Leg Curls	1	10-15	1-mintue
Seated Calf Raises	1	12-20	–

3x Weekly Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty Workout Plan (Split B)

In the above video, Mike Mentzer mentioned he used to train three times weekly. His split involved training chest, shoulder, and triceps on day 1; back and biceps on day 2, and legs on day 3.

This program involves lifting more than the above one

It also involves performing only one working set per exercise with full effort.

Rest for a short time between exercises (less than a minute).

Like the previous program, perform dynamic warm-up exercises before lifting weights.

Week 1–4-7-10: Monday – Chest, Shoulder, & Triceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Cable Crossover	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Incline Bench Press	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Lateral Raises	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Bent-Over Lateral Raises	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Triceps Press-down	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Nautilus Triceps Extension	15-20 reps	8-10 reps

Week 1–4-7-10: Wednesday – Back & Biceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Nautilus Behind The Neck	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Close-Grip Underhand Pulldown	15-20 reps	6-10 reps
Bent-Over Barbell Rows	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Shrugs	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Upright Row	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Nautilus Curls	15-20 reps	8-10 reps

Week 1–4-7-10: Friday – Legs

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Leg Extension	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Leg Press	15-20 reps	6-10 reps
Leg Curls	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Standing Calf Raises	15-20 reps	6-8 reps

Week 2–5-8-11: Monday – Chest, Shoulder, & Triceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Flat Bench Press	15-20 reps	4-6 reps
Pec Deck Flyes	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Overhead Press	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Upright Rows	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Reverse Pec Decks	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Skull Crushers	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Weighted Dips	15-20 reps	6-8 reps

Week 2–5-8-11: Wednesday – Back & Biceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Pull-ups (use weight for working set)	8-10 reps	4-6 reps
Lat Pulldown	15-20 reps	6-10 reps
T-bar Row	12-15 reps	6-8 reps
Shrugs	10-15 reps	6-8 reps
Low Back Extension	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Nautilus Curls	10-15 reps	6-8 reps
Concentration Curls	10-15 reps	4-6/side

Week 2–5-8-11: Friday – Legs

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Back Squats	12-15 reps	4-6 reps
Smith Machine Reverse Lunges	10 reps/side	5-6/side
Leg Extension	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Stiff Leg Deadlifts	10-12 reps	4-6 reps
Standing Calf Raises	15-20 reps	6-8 reps

Week 3–6-9-12: Monday – Chest, Shoulder, & Triceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Incline Machine Bench Press	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Dumbbell Flyes	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Cable Crossover	10-15	6-8 reps
Bent-over Lateral Raises	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Overhead Press	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Triceps Press-down	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Nautilus Triceps Extension	15-20 reps	8-10 reps

Week 3–6-9-12: Wednesday – Back & Biceps

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Barbell Deadlifts	15-20 reps	3-4 reps
Medium Grip Lat Pulldown	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Seated Rows	15-20 reps	6-8 reps
Nautilus Pullover	10-15 reps	6-8 reps
Nautilus Curls	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Hammer Curls	15-20 reps	6-8 reps

Week 3–6-9-12: Friday – Legs

Exercise	Warm-up Set	Working Set
Leg Extension	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Back Squats	12-15 reps	6-8 reps
Leg Press	15-20 reps	6-10 reps
Seated Leg Curls	12-15 reps	6-8 reps
Seated Calf Raises	15-20 reps	8-10 reps
Standing Calf Raises	15-20 reps	8-10 reps

Download The Mike Mentzer Workout Plan PDF

Final Thoughts

If you want to get huge by exercising a little, Mike Mentzer’s high-intensity training program can help you.

In this article, I shared two splits: one that involves lifting only once out of five days, and another that has three sessions per week.

One might think he trains very little, but those routines plus diet helped him achieve many titles in his professional bodybuilding career.

You can try one of Mike’s routines to see whether it works for you or not.

Besides his workout program, if you want to learn more about him and his exercise wisdom, I highly recommend exploring his YouTube channel, where he has published hundreds of videos about health and fitness.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)