Ray Mentzer

Who was Ray Mentzer?

Ray Mentzer 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.