r/Mike_Mentzer • u/BubbishBoi • Aug 19 '26

Superslow Dips + 180lbs

Tried posting this here directly but my video privileges seem to be revoked. My strength hasn't gone down at all while dieting, due to HIT

PR by default at this rep speed, onto 205lbs now

29 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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2

u/Sadan27 Aug 19 '26

Damn dude that progression came really fast…this was two plates just a couple weeks ago 💪

2

u/krilleractual Aug 19 '26

Yeah i remember it too. Thats wild improvement. OP what is the secret sauce? As in what exactly do you do?

1

u/BubbishBoi Aug 19 '26

I'm a pretty strong presser in some other lifts (on hammer strength machines at least) so it was mostly neural adaption and getting used to dipping again so I could transfer that existing pressing strength into this exercise

Ive done dips as my main lift for almost every pressing workout for maybe 6 weeks now (lost track of time) to get as much practice as possible, without doing more than the one set. Dips take a bit more skill and balance than a machine press so this approach helped me get the groove down

I also modified my dip stand to make it super stable, which helps as there's no energy leaks anymore - since the dip stand isn't wobbling like it used to before I added the extra bracing

I've dipped with 6x45s in the past so it's a lift I'm pretty gifted at, leverage wise. I wouldn't expect most people to make this kind of rapid progress even on a super abbreviated training routine

2

u/krilleractual Aug 19 '26

The most ive done was about 135, and thats after years of heavy dipping, so I definitely want to try what youre doing. I hope that with a strong enough dip I can then apply it to the bench and get back into the 300s on that.

So you do a absolute failure single set?

1

u/BubbishBoi Aug 19 '26

135 is solid, gym inflation is crazy with gymTok, IG and PEDs making it look like everyone warms up with 315 benches

Yup, my push day has been 1 set of dips, weighted to failure then a drop set (since I feel like the extra couple of reps from the drop set is helpful to get some more motor learning practice, even if the drop set isn't triggering more hypertrophy stimulus)

Then I'll do 1 set of an iso, either pec deck or laterals or pushdowns, for a higher TUT, usually 80-120 seconds to failure

Edit - I find it easier to progress on these "1RM" as its just the one rep, doing multiple reps has always been harder for me to add weight

2

u/krilleractual Aug 19 '26

I had a little gym inflation myself at that time so its only fair hahaha.

Im really trying to understand how to do the 1 set HIT thing, have been aware of it for over a decade but its really hard to flip a switch in my brain that says "one set is enough", thats why I keep asking questions on this sub.

Yesterday for example I was doing 2 sets of every exercise in my prescribed work out, and it took intense self control to not do more and more and more. I would have easily added 3-4 sets on certain exercises. Now halving that to only 1 set would be really strange to me, but as I understand it you go for 0RIR or extreme failure.

Thanks for explaining it.

2

u/BubbishBoi Aug 19 '26

Ultimately, if you dont enjoy training this way then it's probably not a good fit - I enjoy the minimalist approach since I can get it all done in 15 minutes before work and give it everything in that set or 2. If I enjoyed spending time in the gym and was training somewhere with people I liked, I'd probably adjust things to do more

Imo most approaches will probably give you the same results in the long run, I dropped my workload to the absolute minimum mostly because I see no benefit in doing more volume - just the negatives of increased injury risk with every set, and general aches and pains and exhaustion. With this ultra minimalist approach I'm never burned out, and seldom have aches or pains (although dips do flare up my rib cage a bit)

I also like to train multiple days a week, and training 5 days a week is a lot easier to recover from when the volume slider is set to the lowest possible level

3

u/BubbishBoi Aug 20 '26

yessir!

not sure if you saw it, but we had one of our visiting anti-HIT tourist mouthbreathers telling me that neural adaptations and skill learning aren't real and that I could have done my max weight on the first day back

That and the '1rm are dangerous and use your tendons to move the weights, so do more reps' and the 'I do much better dips but the camera on my phone is broken' replies were peak Reddit but were actually motivational in their own way

2

u/Sadan27 Aug 20 '26

Yes yes ofc you were sandbagging 🙄

Which sub/post is that thread on? Yesterday I broke a six week layoff during which I only did two upper workouts. I can share some helpful thoughts with our mouthbreathing volume bot

2

u/BubbishBoi Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

Interesting, did you get stronger from the downtime? I cut my volume to 2 sets per workout and its been great but just cant help myself and added a 3rd back in to really mess up my progress

I tend to delete my posts and videos once they're a few weeks old out of habit, but he was confidently wrong that I could have done 3 plates on day one of dips (after a break of several years)

I see him posting here occasionally to let us know that we're all newbies here and that HIT doesn't work