Many people who were actually there have verified that Mentzer was severely bi-polar.
Ken Sprague Sr told me Mentzer would try to clean the streets around Venice during his manic phases. Someone within the Weider organization took pity on Mike and helped get his Heavy Duty training business going when they saw him homeless. Can anyone else verify that?
One thing is also clear, Mike never got passed the infamous 1980 Olympia.
I think Mike could have taken 1981 off and come back to win the O in 1982,83.
Maybe his life would have been different if had tried that?
Sadly, we'll never know and it looks like heart failure took him .
I was always a huge fan of Mike and remember seeing him win the Universe on network TV.
His original Heavy Duty routine kept me in the sport when I was ready to quit.
I went to one of his seminars but never got to talk to the man one on one.
RIP Mike, you are missed.