Being one of the legendary bodybuilding experts, Mike Mentzer had his niche in the bodybuilding world. His techniques, though unorthodox at the time, soon became one of the most popular methods to gain muscle. He gained this level of expertise from his mentor and good friend, Arthur Jones, who was one of the key figures in the bodybuilding world.
Mentzer grew more and more popular and reached his peak when he created history in 1978. He achieved the perfect score at the Mr. Universe championship, and all of this happened due to his ideologies, similar to those of Jones.
Spreading awareness about high-intensity principles that his mentor hooked him onto, Mentzer later developed his take on the training plan. However, his 1978 achievement made waves and gave him the title of professional bodybuilder.
Later, in 1979, he went on to lock horns with Frank Zane, and the latter won the overall championship with his peak aesthetics and symmetry. However, Mentzer was still on top in the heavyweight category, and his Mr. Universe achievement was still in the limelight.
“I knew I had to win the ’78 Universe, or kiss it goodbye. So I trained very very hard… fortunately did win that one.”
However, Mentzer’s only source of pure elation came from his Mr. America 1976 win. Even after his perfect score a few years later, he admitted that nothing came close to the feeling he got from the former championship.
“Winning the Mr. America involved a sense of achievement and triumph that nothing else after even came close to. I was glad to win the Mr. Universe of course, especially with a 300 perfect score, but it was anti-climactic.”
He soon went on to leave a permanent imprint on the bodybuilding world with his signature training methods. Armed with his heavy-duty plan, Mentzer often debunked myths surrounding training for gains.
Mike Mentzer talks about soreness during training
Speaking about how his technique stood against traditional bodybuilding training, Mentzer once came clean on how gaining muscles was not as dense. A popular myth floating around at that time was how one needed to feel sore to grow, which the late legend debunked.
He boldly claimed in an interview that he wouldn’t have won Mr. Universe had this theory been true. Owing to his heavy-duty training plan that provided enough recovery time, Mentzer never felt sore. He still gained a lot of muscle, and his methods eventually became extremely popular.
