u/ishawnmc

If I copied this right, it should start around 37:07 into the video; otherwise, scroll to there for the intended portion.

This is to address those volumebots who pop up here on occasion and propagate the lie that Mike did not practice what he preached and instead trained with volume during his most productive competition years (1974-1980). Mike's friend, occasional training partner, and former IFBB judge Roger Schwab outlined exactly how Mike trained when they worked out together in Pennsylvania in the 1970s including when Mike was in PA for part of the summer of 1980 during his Mr. Olympia preparation.

Workout #2 -Legs:

• Anderson Squats (Full) -start from depth @6.5, low bar: 455 lbs for 9 reps (+1)

• Anderson Squats (w/wider stance start from depth @6.5; 2-4" lift off rack and hold statically for 5-7 seconds, low bar): 405 lbs for 4 reps (+0)

• Trap Bar Hack Squats: 385 lbs for 4 reps (+0)

• Anderson Squats (Strongest Partials) -start from depth @7.5, high bar: 565 lbs for 16 reps (+2)

• Smith Mach. Single Leg Standing Calf Raises: 250 lbs for 40 reps*, high bar (+4 total or +2 per leg).

Work Sets: 5

Time: 35-45 mins

Weight: 199 lbs

Next workout: Delts/Arms Dominant on 8/18.

*Though I usually do these single leg, I did the two legged version with the single leg weight; ergo the 40 rep total.

​

Workout #1 -Chest/Back Dominant:

• Cable Crossover Machine: 66 lbs for 20 reps (New)

Superset

• Smith Inc. Press @30°: 180 lbs for 5 reps (+1)

• Smith Inc. (Strongest Partials): 230 lbs for 4 reps (+20 lbs)

• Close Grip Palms Up Pulldowns: 210 lbs for 7 reps (+1)

• Yates Rack Rows w/height @2: 245 lbs for 7 reps (+1)

• Barbell Shrugs from hooks height @3.5: 315 lbs for 7 reps (+1)

• Rack Pulls w/height @2: 425 lbs for 6 reps (+1)

Worksets: 7

Time: 30-40 mins

Weight: 199.4 lbs

Next workout: legs on 8/15

With Summer (Part II) starting up on Monday, I find myself thinking ahead about upcoming training seasons.

Summer (Part II) will basically be a rerun of Summer (Part I) except with additional workouts in it. Fall was slated earlier this year to be a verbatim reiteration of the Summer sessions. Winter will involve all heavy rack/Smith work again and Spring is always the wildcard. I decided weeks ago to make Spring 2027 a consolidated season so I can really focus on cutting weight for the following summer. But I want to get in a few more seasons of heavy training first.

So with Summer 2026 (Part II), Winter 2027, and Spring 2027 already settled, I found myself revisiting Fall 2026. The workouts would be essentially the same as summer[1] but I am thinking of making one significant change: the rep schemes.

In nearly every exercise I do, I rarely go over 10 reps before raising the weight usually starting the target rep range at 4 or 6 reps. It has been a long time since I did any focused higher rep training for an entire season so I am thinking I may flip the script in the fall. So as I rarely go over 10 reps as a rule, the thought is, 10 reps would become the floor on all exercises in the fall.

Basically, with isolation exercises, the range would go from 6-10 reps to 12-20 reps. With compound movements, the usual 4-10 and 6-10 rep ranges would be replaced with 10-15 reps. And those rare exercises now where I target a 10+ rep threshold would become 12-20 reps.

Of course there is no way I could do those rep ranges with the weights I ordinarily use so a reduction in all workset weights by about 30% would be necessary. This is especially the case if I do all worksets of the fall in dead stop fashion which I am also strongly considering. Casualties to this revamped approach would include the 2-6 rep strongest range partials work sets for the upper body as well as the really low 1-4 rep Anderson static holds work set on leg days. Also, for the fall season, rack pulls for 4-8 reps would be replaced with Romanian Deadlifts for 10-15 reps.

It would just be for a season of course and my usual rep ranges for the exercises would return in the winter. But knowing from experience how demanding the rack/Smith work in the winter will be, I am thinking perhaps adjusting fall in this fashion will take some of the wear off the body prior to rack season.

Note:

[1] My summer protocol is listed here.

Now it is time for a two week layoff to rest up for the training sessions in the second half of summer which will run from 8/10/26-10/14/26.

For those who post to this forum wondering what progress can look like on a Heavy Duty style high intensity protocol, here is a record of the summer progress thus far of a 53 year old non gear user as taken from my training logs...

Chest/Back

Pec Deck Flies Supersetted w/Smith Incline Press

June 10, 2026

150×6/180×2

June 27, 2026

150×8/180×3

Cable Crossovers Supersetted w/Smith Incline Press

July 16, 2026

60×13/180×4

Smith Incline Press Partials

June 10, 2026

230×1

June 27, 2026

230×3

July 16, 2016

230×4

Cable Pullover Holds Supersetted w/Palms Up Pulldowns

June 10, 2026

105×2/210×4

Palms Up Pulldowns

June 27, 2026

210×5

July 16, 2026

210×6

Yates Rack Rows Supine Grip -From Rack Height @2

June 10, 2026

245×5

June 27, 2026

245×5

July 16, 2016

245×6

Barbell Shrugs -From Rack Hooks Height @3.5

June 27, 2026

315×4

July 16, 2016

315×6

Rack Pulls -From Rack Height @2, Pulling From 3-4"s Below The Knee

June 10, 2026

425×1

June 27, 2026

425×4

July 16, 2016

425×5

Legs

Anderson Squats (Full) -Starting From Rack Depth @6.5, Shoulder Width Stance, Low Bar

June 15, 2026

455×2

June 22, 2026

455×4

July 2, 2026

455×5

July 11, 2026

455×6

July 20, 2026

455×6

July 27, 2026

455×8

Anderson Squats (Partials From the Bottom) -Starting From Rack Depth @6.5 , 1-4" 5-7 second holds/negatives, Wide Stance, Low Bar)

June 15, 2026

385×2

June 22, 2026

385×3

July 2, 2026

385×4

July 11, 2026

405×2

July 20, 2026

405×3

July 27, 2026

405×4

TrapBar Hack Squats -With Bar Flipped Upside Down, Heels on Platform, Toes on Gym Floor, Gripping From the Bar and Not the Handles

June 15, 2026

345×11

June 22, 2026

345×12

July 2, 2026

345×13

July 11, 2026

345×15

July 20, 2026

385×2

July 27, 2026

385×4

Anderson Squats (Strongest Range Partials) -Starting From Depth @7.5, Shoulder Width Stance, High Bar

June 15, 2026

565×4

June 22, 2026

565×6

July 2, 2026

565×8

July 11, 2026

565×9

July 20, 2026

Did not do (was stagnant on full range reps so omitted partials)

July 27, 2026

565×14

Smith Machine Single Leg Calf Raises

June 15, 2026

Did not do (aggravated left Achilles tendon, so omitted calf work)

June 22, 2026

240×10

July 2, 2026

250×12

July 11, 2026

250×14

July 20, 2026

250×16

July 27, 2026

250×18

Delts/Arms

DB Side-Bent Lateral Superset Trisetted w/Smith Overhead Press w/Shoulder Width Grip

June 18, 2026

20×12/140×4

July 6, 2026

25×8/140×5

July 23, 2026

25×10/140×6

Smith Overhead Strongest Partials w/Wider Grip

June 18, 2026

170×4

July 6, 2026

170×8

July 23, 2026

170×9

Barbell Curls Supersetted w/Palms Up Pulldowns

June 18, 2026

80×8/195×4

July 6, 2026

90×5/195×5

July 23, 2026

90×6/195×6

Smith JM Press Supersetted w/Smith Reverse Grip Bench Press

June 18, 2026

90×5/170×3

July 6, 2026

90×6/170×4

July 23, 2026

90×8/170×5

Tomorrow will be my first delt/arm dominant workout since December.

I have found over the past year that my rest gaps between workouts have gradually drifted from a fixed 4 day gap between workouts. At first, it was adding 2 additional rest days between training sequences. Then it became more about needing a random fifth day with greater regularity in spots. Hopefully, shortening the gap between workout #2 and workout #3 will help offset that drift a bit.

Workout #1 -Chest Back Dominant

Rest 4-5 Days (usually 5)

Workout #2 -Legs

Rest 3-4 Days (usually 3)

Workout #3 -Delts/Arms Dominant

Rest 4-5 Days (usually 4)

Workout #4 -Legs

Rest 5-7 Days (minimum 5 days)

Repeat Sequence

Basically, rather than a fixed 4 day gap between all my workouts as I had been doing for a while now I will be going with more of a rolling range depending on the specific workouts to be performed as well as of course the occasional scheduling factors.