Mike Mentzer’s opening flex sets the tone

SportLocation Fitness Desk · 11 Sept 2026

Mike Mentzer starts with a broad front pose, then shifts through back and side positions to show how bodybuilding is built on control as much as size.

Mike Mentzer begins with the kind of front double-biceps pose that makes the whole frame work: elbows wide, chest lifted, shoulders flared and the body held square to the light.

What follows is less about one big hit and more about sequence. He turns to show the back, then settles into a side-facing flex that brings the chest, arm and torso into a tighter line.

That change of angle matters. In bodybuilding, the pose is the performance, and Mentzer’s routine here is built on switching from width to thickness to shape without losing control.

The final lowered turn reads as a transition rather than a finish, which keeps the clip moving and underlines the discipline of holding form between poses.