In this episode of Hypertrophy Past & Present, Jake and Chris break down Mike Mentzer’s “most productive” routine and use it as a turning point to discuss how training trends shifted across the Golden Era. From there, the conversation shifts to how anabolic steroid use increases tendon and ligament rupture risk and whether the rise of higher-rep training, shorter rest periods, machines, slower eccentrics, and lower frequency in the post-steroid bodybuilding era might partly reflect an unconscious attempt to manage connective tissue risk as drug use escalated.

Key topics include:

• Mike Mentzer’s two-way split (with rest days) and why it’s more “physiology-friendly” than most people expect
• The tendon problem with anabolics: collagen synthesis, collagen breakdown, and possible disorganised tendon structure
• Heavy vs light loads in enhanced lifters
• BFR as a tool to reduce injury risk in enhanced lifters
• Practical programming to reduce injury risk