The NIP™ Program developed for my own personal needs.  As a Martial Artist Strength and Power was of always great importance.  I was always looking for anything that gave me an extra edge.

So eventually my journey lead me into weightlifting.  I religiously followed Bodybuilding magazines such as Muscle & Fitness and Flex in the quest for results.  I did in fact gain a fair amount of strength and power.  But I eventually hit a plateau.

Like most people serious about training, I started putting more hours into my workouts.  Only to find my results were not getting better.  I was only leading myself into over training.  As a result I felt tired and moody all the time.  All of which are some classic signs of over training. That was my body’s way of telling me I needed to stop what I was doing.

Then I stumbled upon the writings of Mike Mentzer.  Mike was a former Mr. Universe bodybuilding champion.  He was considered a bit of a rebel in the bodybuilding world.  Mike Mentzers training program was known as Heavy Duty High Intensity Training.

His program went against many of the common and popular held beliefs in bodybuilding.  This included challenging some dogmas in Bodybuilding that was not limited to the following :

  • You have to train for long periods of time : The Heavy Duty theory argued that you cannot workout hard and long.  Your workouts at the appropriate intensity shouldn’t last more than 20-30 minutes a session.
  • You need to eat allot of protein to gain mass : It was common belief in Bodybuilding magazines that you had to eat allot of protein to build Muscle size.  Mike Mentzer contradicted this belief, stating since Muscle was mainly comprised of water.  So the requirement for protein was often overemphasized by bodybuilders.  Utilizing the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences would be sufficient for bodybuilding.  Obviously there was a financial agenda attached to the promotion of Protein.  Since the bulk of revenue for some Muscle magazines were from supplement ads versus the subscription base.     (Personally I am a Vegetarian and can attest that utilizing the RDA has had no negative effect on my strength and power)
  • Everyone is different : It is true everyone has variations in how they can apply universal exercise principals.  Mentzer believed in a scientific and logical approach.  That universal principals could be applied that worked on all human beings.  Whereas some adjustment of variables might be made to suit the individual.  This can understood in the analogy of varying the dosages of a medication.  Yet there would be a common objective with a prescribed medication.  However the dosage of that medication might be adjusted to suit the individual.  The “Everyone is Different” principal had become an all encompassing write off to justify any program.  Yet Mentzer was adamant on universal principals of exercise science that applied to all individuals.

I immersed myself in the Theories of Mike Mentzer.  He was a big part of what shaped the NIP™ program.  I agreed with most of his theories and what he wrote.  I have provided an extended branch based upon the theories of Heavy Duty.  Similar to how he expanded upon the theories of Arthur Jones.  (The founder of the Nautilus machines)

You can learn more specifically of Mike Mentzer’s program at this link.

Mike Mentzer – Creator of the Heavy Duty Bodybuilding System

Arthur Jones – Founder of the Nautilus Company