Mike Mentzer Push Workout: High-Intensity Training for Muscle Growth

Discover a Mike Mentzer-style push workout based on High-Intensity Training (HIT) principles for building muscle with shorter, more focused workouts. In Project Shredded Episode 7, I take you through a home workout targeting the chest, shoulders and triceps, using controlled repetitions, progressive overload and high training intensity.

Inspired by Mike Mentzer, Arthur Jones and the Heavy Duty training philosophy, this workout explores whether you really need long gym sessions to stimulate muscle growth and strength. If you're interested in Mike Mentzer training, Heavy Duty bodybuilding, HIT workouts, training to failure, home workouts and efficient muscle-building routines, this episode shows how these principles can be adapted to a practical push-day workout.

Mike Mentzer Style Push Workout Welcome to Episode 7 of Project Shredded, where I'm continuing my journey with a Mike Mentzer-style approach to training. Mike Mentzer has been a huge inspiration to me—not only because he was a great bodybuilder, but because he was also a great mind who was willing to go against the grain and develop his own system of training. I believe many of his training principles can be useful not only for bodybuilders, but also for the general public and athletes. There are definitely a few points where I disagree with Mentzer, but overall, I believe he was correct about one important thing: Training doesn't have to be a marathon to be effective. I also have tremendous respect for Arthur Jones, who pioneered the high-intensity training philosophy that influenced Mentzer. His belief was simple: training should be brief, intense and productive, rather than spending endless hours in the gym. And this approach has always been debated. Can brief, high-intensity training really build an impressive physique? The answer is yes. But I also believe there needs to be some tweaking. Training isn't one-size-fits-all. Your experience, recovery, lifestyle, exercise selection and goals all matter. In bodybuilding, we've seen legendary physiques produced by athletes who incorporated high-intensity training principles, including Mike Mentzer, Casey Viator and Dorian Yates, among others. The Push Workout The past week has been challenging because of the heavy rain. It's been difficult to get outside without getting completely drenched. But that's not a reason to stop training. When I can't make it to the gym, I simply adapt and train at home. The equipment may be different. The environment may be different. But the objective remains the same: Train hard. Train with purpose. This particular session is built around the major pushing muscles—chest, shoulders and triceps. The philosophy is simple: limited exercises, controlled repetitions, sufficient recovery and high effort. 1. Dumbbell Chest Press Sets: 3 Reps: 8–12 Rest: 2–3 minutes Intensity: Last working set taken close to failure The first exercise is the foundation of the workout. Start with a controlled eccentric movement, lowering the dumbbells under control before pressing them back up. Don't bounce the weights or turn the movement into a race. The objective is to make the chest do the work. On the final working set, push yourself hard while maintaining good form. Once you can no longer complete another controlled repetition, the set is finished. Quality over quantity. 2. Arnold Press Sets: 3 Reps: 10–20 Rest: 90–120 seconds Intensity: Last set to failure or technical failure The Arnold press brings the shoulders into the workout, with particular emphasis on the front and overall shoulder musculature. Start with the dumbbells in front of the shoulders and rotate the hands as you press overhead. Keep the movement controlled throughout. For the final set, increase the effort and continue until you reach technical failure—the point where another repetition would require you to sacrifice proper form. This is where the high-intensity philosophy really comes into play. The last few repetitions should be difficult—but still controlled. 3. Dumbbell Lateral Raises Sets: 3 Reps: 12–15 Rest: 60–90 seconds Intensity: Last set to technical failure After pressing movements, we move into lateral raises to directly challenge the side delts. This isn't an exercise where you need extremely heavy dumbbells. In fact, using too much weight often turns the movement into a series of swings. Use a weight that allows you to maintain control. Raise the dumbbells smoothly, pause briefly at the top, and lower them under control. When the repetitions become difficult, slow down rather than simply throwing the weight around. 4. Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks Sets: 3 Reps: 10–15 Rest: 60–90 seconds Intensity: Last set to technical failure The final movement targets the triceps. Keep the upper arm relatively stable and focus on extending the elbow rather than swinging the dumbbell. The weight doesn't need to be enormous. The goal is to create tension in the triceps and maintain control throughout the entire range of motion. By this stage of the workout, the shoulders and triceps have already been working during the pressing movements, so the final isolation exercise doesn't need excessive volume. My High-Intensity Approach The important thing to understand about this style of training is that high intensity doesn't mean being reckless. It doesn't mean taking every set beyond failure or using terrible form just to say you trained harder. For me, intensity means being completely focused on the working set. No unnecessary distractions. No rushing through repetitions. No ego lifting. Just controlled movement and maximum effort within good technique. Tempo I prefer to keep the repetitions controlled, particularly during the lowering phase. A simple approach is: Lift with control → pause where appropriate → lower slowly and deliberately. When the weight becomes heavy, don't allow momentum to take over. Control the weight. Don't let the weight control you. Warm-Up Before beginning the working sets, I would also recommend a short warm-up. For example: 3–5 minutes of general movement to raise body temperature Shoulder circles and mobility movements Light sets of the first pressing exercise Gradually increase the weight before reaching your working sets The warm-up should prepare you for the workout rather than exhaust you before it begins. How I Approach Failure Failure should be used intelligently. For most exercises, especially compound movements, I prefer reaching technical failure rather than forcing ugly repetitions. Technical failure means you can no longer perform another repetition with safe, controlled technique. For isolation movements such as lateral raises or triceps work, you can generally push closer to failure because the exercises are less technically demanding. Hard training doesn't mean careless training. Progression One of the biggest misconceptions about high-intensity training is that simply training to failure guarantees progress. It doesn't. You still need progressive overload. That can mean: Increasing the weight Increasing repetitions with the same weight Improving exercise technique Increasing range of motion Improving control and tempo Achieving more repetitions before reaching failure For example, if your goal is 8–12 repetitions and you can eventually perform 12 clean repetitions with a particular weight, you can consider increasing the weight and working your way back up. The numbers are only useful if your performance is actually improving. Recovery Is Part of the Workout This is another important part of the Mentzer philosophy. If you train with genuinely high effort, recovery becomes extremely important. Muscle isn't built simply because you trained. The training stimulus is followed by recovery and adaptation. That means sleep, nutrition, rest and managing your overall training load are just as important as what happens during the workout. You don't have to destroy yourself every day. Sometimes doing less allows you to recover and come back stronger. The Complete Push Workout Exercise Sets Reps Rest Intensity Dumbbell Chest Press 3 8–12 2–3 min Last set near failure Arnold Press 3 10–20 90–120 sec Last set to technical failure Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 12–15 60–90 sec Last set to technical failure Dumbbell Triceps Kickback 3 10–15 60–90 sec Last set to technical failure What Do You Think? Now I want to hear from you. Do you believe brief, high-intensity training can build an exceptional physique, or do you believe more training volume is necessary? Drop your opinion in the comments. If you've trained using Mike Mentzer, Arthur Jones, Heavy Duty or high-intensity training principles, tell me about your experience. And if you're following Project Shredded, don't just watch the journey—join it. Follow along, share this article with someone who believes that more time in the gym always means better results, and come back for the next episode. Because this isn't about finding excuses. It's about finding a way to keep progressing. PROJECT SHREDDED — EPISODE 7 Brief. Intense. Controlled. Consistent. What's your training philosophy? Drop it below.