In modern-day lifting, we're often told that more sets are the answer to building muscle and bringing up lagging body parts. Mike Mentzer's 'Heavy Duty' training system argued the exact opposite.
The bodybuilding iconoclast believed far too many people were overtraining and, as a result, unable to reap the maximum benefits from their work. Instead, he suggested stripping everything back to the bare bones and completing just 1 set per exercise to absolute failure – the point at which it's impossible to move the weight even if a gun were held to your head – before resting for 96 hours and doing it all again.
Mentzer isn't the only proponent of this philosophy. Six-time Mr Olympia Dorian Yates also adopted many of the same principles, despite the high-volume approach favoured by many bodybuilders today and supported by a growing body of scientific research. Yet both Mentzer and Yates built extraordinary physiques, so I was intrigued to see what this style of training actually feels like in practice.
In fact, it's a completely novel approach for me. I never test one-rep maxes and rarely take sets to complete failure. So, here's what happened when I tried Mentzer's shoulders and arms workout for myself.
The Workout
A. Dumbbell Lateral Raise x 1 set of 6-10 reps
B. Rear Delt Raise x 1 set of 6-10 reps
C. Barbell Curl x 1 set of 6-10 reps
D1. Tricep Pushdown x 1 set of 6-10 reps
D2. Weighted Dip x 1 set of 3-5 reps
Is it Worth Trying?
In short: yes.
If your training has become a little stale and you want to push your limits, doing less to achieve more could be worth exploring. Personally, I tend to leave a few reps in reserve on most sets, partly out of fear of dropping the weight and partly to save myself for the extra volume later in the workout.
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With Mentzer’s philosophy, there’s no need to worry about that. When you know you only have one working set, you’re far more likely to give it absolutely everything in pursuit of the biggest possible training stimulus. Arguably, that forces you to work harder than if you’d programmed 3 sets with a couple of reps left in the tank each time.
And it’s those final reps that really matter – when you’re gritting your teeth and the weight is moving painfully slowly – where the gains are often made.
In that respect, it’s perfect if you want to push yourself without doing tonnes of volume. My arms and shoulders blew up with a pump and I could genuinely feel how hard the muscles had been worked. It’s a worthwhile kind of discomfort, too – very different from the fatigue that comes from endless sets and reps.
It also makes complete sense why Mentzer recommended taking at least three full days off between sessions. I went into the workout carrying some fatigue from previous training days, which made it that little bit harder neurologically to push to true failure. Going in fresh would almost certainly help you squeeze out another rep – or even half a rep.
Don’t be fooled, though – it’s not necessarily an efficient workout.
Because I knew I was only doing 5 working sets, I assumed I’d be in and out of the gym in no time and able to crack on with the rest of my day. The intensity quickly put paid to that. The harder the sets became, the longer I needed to recover between exercises just to feel ready to go again.
And it’s not as though you’re only doing 5 sets in total. I still completed 1 or 2 warm-up sets for each exercise to dial in the movement pattern, meaning I ended up doing close to 15 sets altogether – just with a handful taken to absolute failure.
In reality, that’s not dramatically different from my usual training volume.
The rep ranges also meant I had to use considerably heavier weights than normal. I can typically perform 12 reps of lateral raises with 10kg dumbbells, for example, but because the goal was to reach failure in fewer than 10 reps, I jumped up to 14kg.
That immediately makes the exercise more challenging, especially when following Mentzer’s advice of adding brief pauses in the contracted position to squeeze out every last bit of effort.
And prepare yourself for that final superset.
If you genuinely hit failure on the triceps pushdowns and then move straight into weighted dips, simply holding yourself in position becomes a challenge, never mind performing quality reps without shaking uncontrollably.
It’s a truly humbling experience.
How to Do the Movements
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
- Firstly, grab a couple of dumbbells and stand with them by your sides, with your palms facing your body and a slight bend at the elbows.
- Stand tall, pull your navel to your spine to engage your core and pull your shoulder blades back and down.
- Keeping your back straight, and your upper body still – that means no swinging – lift the dumbbells out to your side, keeping the weights higher than your elbows.
- Lift until your arms are parallel to the floor, then slowly lower to the start position.
Rear Delt Raise
- Holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, lean forward as far as possible so that your chest is close to your thighs.
- Without moving your torso, raise the dumbbells up and away from your body in a fixed arc, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of each rep before slowly lowering the dumbbells back down to a hang and repeating.
Barbell Curl
- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding the bar using a shoulder-width grip.
- Squeeze your glutes, abs and shoulder blades. Keep your torso tight. Curl the weight up, moving only at the elbows.
- Squeeze your biceps at the top for a split second, then lower the weight back down.
Tricep Pushdown
- Attach a bar handle to the high pulley of a cable station.
- Bend your arms and grab the bar with an overhand grip, your hands shoulder-width apart. Tuck your upper arms next to your sides.
- Without moving your upper arms, push the bar down until your elbows are locked. Slowly return to the starting position.
Weighted Dip
- Hoist yourself up on parallel bars with your torso perpendicular to the floor – you'll maintain this posture throughout the exercise.
- Bend your knees and cross your ankles. Slowly lower your body until your shoulder joints are below your elbows.
- Push back up until your elbows are nearly straight but not locked. If you have shoulder issues, skip this move.
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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_
