Mike Mentzer

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

Early life and education

Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951 in Ephrata, Pennsylvania and grew up there. In grammar school and Ephrata High School, he received "all A's, though mostly A's and B's." He credits his 12th grade teacher, Elizabeth Schaub, for his love "of language, thought, and writing." 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 he left the university. He said his ultimate goal during that period was to become a psychiatrist.

Bodybuilding career

Amateur

Mentzer started bodybuilding when he was 12 years of age at a body weight of 95 lb (43 kg) after seeing the men on the covers of several muscle magazines. His father had bought him 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. By age 15, his body weight had reached 165 lb (75 kg), at which point Mike could bench press 370 lb (170 kg). 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.

Mike

Mike is an abbreviation or shorthand for Michael.

The name Mike may refer to:

Miscellaneous

People

Mr. Olympia

Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend - an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (IFBB).Joe Weider created the contest to enable the Mr. Universe winners to continue competing and to earn money. The first Mr. Olympia was held on September 18, 1965, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, with Larry Scott winning his first of two straight titles.

The record number of wins is eight, held by Lee Haney, (1984-1991), and Ronnie Coleman (1998–2005). Phil Heath currently holds the title. The film Pumping Iron (1977), featured the buildup to the 1975 Mr. Olympia in Pretoria South Africa and helped launch the acting careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. There is also a female bodybuilder crowned, the Ms. Olympia, as are winners of Fitness Olympia and Figure Olympia for fitness and figure competitors. All four contests occur during the same weekend. From 1994 to 2003 and again in 2012, a Masters Olympia was also crowned.

Ray Mentzer

Ray Mentzer (August 2, 1953 – June 12, 2001) was the brother of Mike Mentzer and winner of the 1979 AAU Mr. America competition. Mike won the rival IFBB Mr America in 1976. Ray also won the 1976 Junior Mr. America and the 1978 IFBB Mr. USA.

He was an proponent of heavy duty training along with Mike and although retiring from competition in 1982 carried on training to the heavy duty high intensity principles. In 1983 he flew to Florida in order to be trained by Arthur Jones. At a body of then unthinkable 250 plus pounds he added even more muscle within a month. At one time, training for just six weeks, he squatted 902 pounds for 2 repetitions.

He died from complications resulting from Berger's disease. It is said those complications resulted in kidney failure. Ray died just two days after discovering his brother Mike Mentzer's dead body in the very same apartment due to heart failure.

He has a daughter who was born in 1986.

External links

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (/ˈʃwɔːrtsənˌɛɡər/; German: [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈalɔʏs ˈʃvaɐ̯tsn̩ˌɛɡɐ]; born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, investor, author, philanthropist, activist, former professional bodybuilder and politician. He served two terms as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011.

Schwarzenegger began weight training at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence in bodybuilding and has written many books and articles on the sport. He is widely considered to be among the greatest bodybuilders of all times as well as its biggest icon. Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon. His breakthrough film was the sword-and-sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian in 1982, which was a box-office hit and resulted in a sequel. In 1984, he appeared in James Cameron's science-fiction thriller film The Terminator, which was a massive critical and box-office success. Schwarzenegger subsequently reprised the Terminator character in the franchise's later installments in 1991, 2003, and 2015. He appeared in a number of successful films, such as Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), Twins (1988), Total Recall (1990), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and True Lies (1994). He was nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" during his acting career, and "The Governator" (a portmanteau of "Governor" and "The Terminator", one of his best-known movie roles).