ISSUE 288 MAY 2024
If a (legal) pill was developed that meant you could get in great shape and optimum health without needing to exercise, would you take it? I’d wager the majority of people, regardless of how much they enjoy working out, would say yes. Thankfully for us at Men’s Fitness, that isn’t happening any time soon (it would be a much thinner magazine, for a start). So the next best thing is surely minimising time spent working out in return for improved progress. Only, this isn’t the stuff of hypothetical fantasy; it’s an established protocol popularised decades ago by a mustachioed bodybuilder. Mike Mentzer’s ‘High-Intensity Training’ (HIT) approach, often also referred to as the ‘Heavy Duty’ method, advocates for short, intense workouts – often just one set per exercise – with a focus on maximum effort, proper form, and strategic variation to achieve optimal muscle growth and strength gains. If that sounds too good to be true, Mentzer trained this way en route to winning the Mr. Universe title, becoming the only person in history to do so with a perfect score. But while the volume is dialled right down, the intensity – that focus on max effort – means it isn’t for the weakly motivated or the distracted phone-scroller. So can it work for the committed yet everyday gym-goer? MF writer Chris Carra attempted to answer just that – find out how he got on from page 40.
Elsewhere, we take a trip to Ancient Rome; Dominic Bliss reports from an endurance race like no other; HYROX Master Trainer Jake Dearden provides a race-ready conditioning workout for anyone tackling their first HYROX event; and Rob Baker, chief coach of the victorious Cambridge Men’s Crew at this year’s Boat Race, delivers a brutal rowing session for the maso
