Franco Columbu on Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty Training: "I Disagreed With Him on That"
A candid conversation with bodybuilding legend Franco Columbu on one of the sport's most debated training philosophies
In the late 1970s, Mike Mentzer shook the bodybuilding world with his Heavy Duty training system — low volume, ultra-high intensity, a radical departure from the high-volume methods that had dominated the golden era. We sat down with two-time Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu — training partner of Arnold Schwarzenegger and one of the most respected figures in the sport — to get his unfiltered take.
Setting the Scene
Interviewer: Mike Mentzer came out in the late '70s with his Heavy Duty training system, which was much lower volume and very high intensity — very different from the way you, Arnold, Robbie, and the champions had been training for years with higher volume and higher frequency. What did you think of that style of training — just a couple of sets?
Franco's Take: Size Isn't Everything
Franco Columbu: Actually, what I experienced in the gym — because Mike and Ray Mentzer trained in the same gym — I saw them grow. Mike Mentzer was a very good bodybuilder, won the Mr. Universe... but I saw one thing I didn't like as much.
The thickness came. He got really thick. But they were on the soft side. And that reminded me — I cannot do 25 or 50 reps to exhaustion, train too light. I have to do heavy weights to get the muscle like a rock. I'd rather have a little less muscle and more density.
Because the way his approach was — it was mass, mass, mass. My problem? I'm short. Mentzer was much taller. Immediately I thought: I cannot train like that. I'll lose my waist. I want the smallest waist I can have — that's number one. Then I want to pile the muscles on top, and they have to look like granite, not just be big in size.
If you want to look proportional training that way, you'd have to gain six inches in height too.
So I was a little bit disagreeing with him on that.
The Real Secret: Mentzer Wasn't Training as Little as People Thought
Interviewer: I've heard that Ray and Mike actually did a lot more — that their training wasn't really that different from what you guys were doing.
Franco Columbu: Exactly — and I'll tell you why. We used to go to the gym, Arnold and I, usually around 7 AM. We'd be there from 7 to 9, sometimes until 10. Then another couple of hours in the afternoon.
When we trained from 7 to 9 — Mike Mentzer was already there. And he never left before I did.
So it cannot be that he only did a few reps and went home. He did most of the same stuff... unless he was resting 20 minutes between every set.
The Takeaway
Franco's perspective cuts to the heart of a debate that still rages today. Mentzer's Heavy Duty philosophy was revolutionary on paper — and it sold a lot of booklets — but according to Franco, what actually happened under the gym roof told a different story. The volume was there. The work was there.
And for Franco himself, the priority was never just mass — it was quality, density, and proportion. A lesson that holds up regardless of what era you're training in.
What do you think — Heavy Duty or high volume? Drop your take in the comments.
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