Didn't get a chance to honor the 10th anniversary of Mike Mentzer's death. It's 2:00 am Hawaii time and I missed it by 2 hours. Busy day. I remember exactly what I was doing when I got the news. I read it in the local paper The Daily Breeze and because I lived in Redondo Beach, CA at the time I was only about 3 miles from where he lived and died.
Though he's still very controversial and always turns up heated debates he was still my inspiration as a teenager. If nothing else, he taught me to think and question the commonly accepted protocols being promoted by the magazines which at the time was our main source of information. And if anything he saved me a lot of wasted time and effort being spent in the gym doing set after set day after day. If I had followed the conventional routines I doubt I would have had the time to do much of anything else like go to school and get an education and participate in other sports and activities since all my free time would have been spent in the gym. In a sense, he showed me a way to live a richer fuller life and still be involved in weight training and bodybuilding. I think it was also the reason I have been able to be so consistent in going to the gym and have been at it non stop for about as long as Jay Cutler has been alive. Training 3 days per week for less than an hour is something pretty much anybody can make time for. The commonly accepted 6 days/wk 2 hours/workout requires quite a life style commitment. Something that just wasn't worth it for me to do.
All and all, despite being somewhat disillusioned I still consider him to have been a very positive influence in my life and still adhere to the basic principles laid out by him and A. Jones.
RIP Mike and Ray Mentzer. You have not been forgotten.
