Mike Mentzer was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author.
Calisthenics or callisthenics (/ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups, such as standing, grasping, pushing, etc.
The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoids, and the triceps, among other stabilizing muscles. A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.
Bicep curls are a group of weight training exercises in which a person bends their arm towards their body at the elbow in order to make their biceps stronger.
Body for Life (BFL) is a 12-week nutrition and exercise program, and also an annual physique transformation competition. The program utilizes a low-fat high-protein diet. It was created by Bill Phillips, a former competitive bodybuilder and previous owner of EAS, a manufacturer of nutritional supplements. It has been popularized by a bestselling book of the same name.
Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training techniques such as bodyweight exercises, isometrics, and plyometrics.
A squat is a strength exercise in which the trainee lowers their hips from a standing position and then stands back up. During the descent, the hip and knee joints flex while the ankle joint dorsiflexes; conversely the hip and knee joints extend and the ankle joint plantarflexes when standing up. Squats also help the hip muscles.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods until the point of exhaustion. HIIT involves exercises performed in repeated quick bursts at maximum or near maximal effort with periods of rest or low activity between bouts. The very high level of intensity, the interval duration, and number of bouts distinguish it from aerobic (cardiovascular) activity, because the body significantly recruits anaerobic energy systems. The method thereby relies on "the anaerobic energy releasing system almost maximally".
A resistance band is an elastic band used for strength training. They are also commonly used in physical therapy, specifically by convalescents of muscular injuries, including cardiac rehab patients, to allow slow rebuilding of strength.
Plyometrics, also known as jump training or plyos, are exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time, with the goal of increasing power (speed-strength). This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extension to a contraction in a rapid or "explosive" manner, such as in specialized repeated jumping. Plyometrics are primarily used by athletes, especially martial artists, sprinters and high jumpers, to improve performance, and are used in the fitness field to a much lesser degree.
One-repetition maximum in weight training is the maximum amount of weight that a person can possibly lift for one repetition. It may also be considered as the maximum amount of force that can be generated in one maximal contraction.
In weight training, training to failure is repeating an exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, i.e. the point where the neuromuscular system can no longer produce adequate force to overcome a specific workload. Two systematic reviews published in 2021 found no benefit to training to failure on hypertrophy, while one of the reviews found some evidence that not-to-failure training is superior for strength.
Ray Mentzer born in Philadelphia was the 1976 Junior Mr. America, 1978 IFBB Mr. USA and was winner of the 1979 Mr. America competition. Ray's brother, Mike Mentzer won the rival IFBB Mr. America in 1976 during Ray's Junior title.
Circuit training is a form of body conditioning that involves endurance training, resistance training, high-intensity aerobics, and exercises performed in a circuit, similar to high-intensity interval training. It targets strength building and muscular endurance. An exercise "circuit" is one completion of all set exercises in the program. When one circuit is completed, one begins the first exercise again for the next circuit. Traditionally, the time between exercises in circuit training is short and often with rapid movement to the next exercise.
Super Slow is a form of strengthening physical exercise popularized by Ken Hutchins. Super Slow is Hutchins' trademarked name for the High intensity training approach advocated by Arthur Jones. It is based on ideas from the 1940s and 1960s called 10/10 "muscle contraction with measured movement" and implemented using fixed weight Nautilus machines. In more recent times, such "Time Under Load" ideas have seen a renaissance with Dr Doug McGuff's best selling Body by Science.
Progressive overload is a method of strength training and hypertrophy training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system. The principle of progressive overload suggests that the continual increase in the total workload during training sessions will stimulate muscle growth and strength gain by muscle hypertrophy. This improvement in overall performance will, in turn, allow the athlete to keep increasing the intensity of their training sessions.
Ballistic training, also incorrectly referred to as power training, is a form of training which involves throwing weights, and jumping with weights, in order to increase explosive power. The term ballistic refers to a method of training, where the athletes' body or an external object is explosively projected into a flight phase [31] and can, therefore, include exercises such as jumps, throws, or strikes. The intention in ballistic exercises is to maximise the acceleration phase of an object's movement and minimise the deceleration phase. For instance, throwing a medicine ball maximises the acceleration of the ball; this can be contrasted with a standard weight training exercise where there would be a pronounced deceleration phase at the end of the repetition i.e. at the end of a bench press exercise the barbell is decelerated and brought to a halt. Similarly, an athlete jumping whilst holding a trap bar maximises the acceleration of the weight through the process of holding it whilst they jump; where as they would decelerate it at the end of a standard trap bar deadlift.
The Colorado Experiment was a bodybuilding experiment run by Arthur Jones using Nautilus equipment at the Colorado State University in May 1973.
Street workouts are a physical activity performed in outdoor parks or public facilities. The movement behind street workouts became popular in Russia, Israel, Myanmar, Morocco, Eastern Europe, and the United States, especially in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other urban East Coast neighborhoods. It is a combination of athletics, calisthenics, and sports. "Street workout" is a modern name for calisthenics in outdoor parks. There are also street workout teams and organized competitions for exercises such as pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, dips, rows, muscle-ups, sit-ups and squats. A street workout also involves static (isometric) holds such as the human flag, front lever, back lever, L-sit and planche.
German Volume Training (GVT), commonly referred to as the "10x10 workout", is a form of weight training. It employs high set counts and moderate repetitions. GVT workouts typically involve 10 sets of 10 repetitions focused on a specific muscle group.
