Mike Mentzer

Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 – June 10, 2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mentzer started bodybuilding when he was 11 years old.

Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and was of German descent.

In grammar school and Ephrata High School, he received "all A's."

He attended the first Mr. Olympia and later said: “The 1965 Mr. Olympia contest was almost a religious experience for me." By age 15, his body weight had reached 165 lb, at which Mike could bench press 370 lb . Mike's goal at the time was to look like his bodybuilding hero, Bill Pearl. After graduating high school, Mentzer served four years in the United States Air Force. It was during this time he started working out over three hours a day, six days a week.

Mentzer started competing in local physique contests when he was 18 years old and attended his first contest in 1969.

In 1971, Mentzer entered and won the Mr. Lancaster contest.

In 1971 he suffered his worst defeat, placing 10th at the AAU Mr. America, which was won by Casey Viator.

Mentzer considered his presence at this contest important later on, as he met Viator, who gave Mentzer the contact information for his trainer Arthur Jones.

Due to a severe shoulder injury, he was forced to quit training from 1971 to 1974.

In 1975, he started attending the University of Maryland as a pre-med student where his hours away from the gym were spent in the study of "genetics, physical chemistry, and organic chemistry."

After three years of study at the University of Maryland he dropped out.

He said his ultimate goal during that period was to become a psychiatrist.

Mentzer started bodybuilding when he was 11 years old at a body weight of 95 lb after seeing the men on the covers of several muscle magazines.

His father had bought him a set of weights and an instruction booklet.

The booklet suggested that he train no more than three days a week, so Mike did just that.

In early 1975, however, he resumed training and returned to competition in 1975 at the Mr. America contest, placing third behind Robby Robinson and Roger Callard.

Mentzer went on to win the competition the following year in 1976.

He won the 1977 North America championships in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and competed a week later at the 1977 Mr. Universe in Nîmes, France, placing second to Kal Szkalak.

In 1978, Mentzer won the Mr. Universe in Acapulco, Mexico with the first and only perfect 300 score.

He became a professional bodybuilder after that 1978 Universe win.

He won several amateur bodybuilding competitions before turning professional in 1979, including the 1976 Mr. America title and the heavyweight division of the 1978 IFBB Mr. Universe.

In late 1979, he won the heavyweight class of the Mr. Olympia, but lost in the overall to Frank Zane.

In late 1979, Mentzer won the heavyweight class of the Mr. Olympia, again with a perfect 300 score, but he lost in the overall to Frank Zane (who was awarded his third title) that year.

In the 1980 Mr. Olympia he placed fourth in a tie with Boyer Coe behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Dickerson and Frank Zane.

Influenced by the concepts developed by Arthur Jones, Mentzer devised and successfully implemented his own theory of bodybuilding.

One of the most iconic bodybuilders of all time, his Heavy Duty Training program still inspires lifters to this day.

In the 1980 Mr. Olympia he placed fourth in a tie with Boyer Coe behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Dickerson, and Frank Zane.

Mentzer retired from competitive bodybuilding after the 1980 Mr. Olympia at the age of 29.

He maintained that the contest results were predetermined in favor of Schwarzenegger, and held this opinion throughout his life.

While Mentzer never claimed he should have won, he maintained that Schwarzenegger should not have.

Nevertheless, the two eventually had an amicable relationship.

In 2002, he was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame.

He is sometimes referred to as the "First Scientific Bodybuilder".

In 2002, Mentzer was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame.

He appears in the music video for the Nantucket's cover of "It's a Long Way to the Top".

Mentzer was an Objectivist and insisted that philosophy and bodybuilding are one and the same, stating that "man is an indivisible entity, an integrated unit of mind and body."

His books therefore concern themselves equally with philosophy and bodybuilding.

Mentzer followed the bodybuilding concepts developed by Arthur Jones and endeavored to perfect them.

He credits his 12th grade teacher, Elizabeth Schaub, for his "love of language, thought, and writing."