Mike Mentzer was a famous American professional bodybuilder who went on to become a businessman and author.
He was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2002, following his death the previous year.
Who was Mike Mentzer?
Mike Mentzer was an American professional bodybuilder, businessman, and author. He emerged as IFBB Mr. Olympia heavyweight champion in 1979.
When was Mike Mentzer born and when did he die?
Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and was of German descent.
He was 51 years old when he died on June 10, 2001, and would have been 72 years today (as of 2023).
Where did Mike Mentzer attend school?
He went to grammar school and received “all A’s.” He credits his 12th-grade teacher, Elizabeth Schaub, for his “love of language, thought, and writing.”
He proceeded to Ephrata High School before attending the University of Maryland as a pre-med student. When he wasn’t in the gym he spent his time studying “genetics, physical chemistry, and organic chemistry.”
After graduating he initially wanted to become a psychiatrist.
But having started bodybuilding when he was 11, he was already training three days a week.
Who are Mike Mentzer’s siblings?
The famous bodybuilder was not an only child. He had three siblings; two brothers and a sister. Exactly two days after his death, his brother Ray also died from complications from his long battle with Berger’s disease.
What is the Mentzer method?
Mentzer used rest-pauses, drop sets, and pre-fatigue methods to take exercises to complete and utter muscular failure. He believed that tapping into this level of intensity was the key to unlocking further strength and size gains.
How many calories a day did Mike Mentzer eat?
He consumed food like pancakes and ice cream but managed to maintain his lean physique by limiting his daily calorie intake to 2,000. About his protein, it was calculated to be about one extra gram of protein a day for 10 pounds of muscle growth a year.
How did Mike Mentzer get so big?
Unlike other bodybuilders who ate fewer carbs than protein, Mike believed eating a lot of carbs helped him win competitions. Instead of restricting carbs and eating proteins and fat at every meal, he advocated a low-frequency diet called eating fewer meals with more calories per meal.
Career
After he graduated high school Mentzer spent four years in the Air Force. While serving he would train for more than three hours a day, six days a week.
When he was 18 he started competing in amateur contests. Having recovered from a shoulder injury he was placed third in the Mr America competition in 1975, which he won the following year.
At the Mr Universe competition in Mexico in 1978 he won with a perfect score of 300 and turned professional afterwards.
In late 1979, Mentzer won the heavyweight class of the Mr. Olympia contest with another perfect score of 300 but lost out to Frank Zane in the overall category.
The following year he was placed fourth, tying with Boyer Coe and behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Dickerson, and Zane.
He retired from competitive bodybuilding in 1980 when he was 29.
Mentzer was also hugely popular through his published training courses in a range of books and audio tapes, which initially set out his high-intensity training program but as the science developed this changed to become less intense and with more rest days.
He also started a clothing company with his brother Ray and Dorian Yates called MYM which was also known as Heavy Duty Inc.
How tall was Mike Mentzer?
He began training 3 times a week and by the age of 15, Mike could bench press 370lb (170kg), with a body weight of just 165 lbs (75kg). About his height, she was 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm or 1.78 meters) tall.
Did Mike Mentzer have any children?
Little is known about his private life and relationships. There are no reports about him having a son or a daughter.
Was Mike Mentzer married?
As he kept his private life out of the limelight, it is not known if he was married.
He is known to have had a strong bond with his dad.
Mentzer was quoted in The Barbell: “My father, although not an intellectual, learned something about the value of knowledge in the course of his life and sought to inculcate that value in me.
“He would reward me whenever I did well in school. On one occasion, he gave me a $20 bill for doing well; another time he gave me a baseball mitt.
“He was keen to encourage my studies and would brag about his smart son to his friends.
“He was a tough-minded individualist who always seemed to find it easy to stand up for what he believed in.
“In fact, at times, he reveled in that role, even boasting about his strength of integrity, which had a habit of irritating others of a weak-willed ilk.
“Dad was not averse to a fight. Ray and I responded greatly to our father’s sense of self-esteem, which resulted in our becoming strong individuals.
“I can remember people referring to ‘The Mentzers’—the inference being that we were arrogant and conceited.
“This only served to fuel my innate individualism. In fact, we were not arrogant, we were just proud of ourselves. Dad and I were very close—he died in 1985.”
How did Mike Mentzer die?
Mentzer died on June 10, 2001, in Rolling Hills, California at age 50. He was found dead in his apartment, due to heart complications, by his younger brother and fellow bodybuilder Ray Mentzer.
Was Mike Mentzer rich?
Although there are no confirmed reports about his fortune, some outlets peg his net worth at least $1 million before he died.