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Ray Mentzer (August 3, 1953 – June 12, 2001) born in Philadelphia was the 1976 Junior Mr. America, 1978 IFBB Mr. USA and was winner of the 1979 Mr. America competition. Ray's brother, Mike Mentzer won the rival IFBB Mr. America in 1976 during Ray's Junior title.
RAY MENTZER: HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING THE RAY MENTZER WAY. MIKE MENTZER: IN-DEPTH PHONE INTERVIEW (BY JOHN LITTLE, FEBRUARY 1990) 0:00 / 39:56. To learn more about Mike Mentzer's life,...
- Accomplishments
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- Idols and Influences
- What We Can Learn from Ray Mentzer
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1976 Junior Mr. America1978 IFBB Mr. USA1979 AAU Mr. AmericaEarly Contests
Ray Menzer was born in August 1953, in Pennsylvania, USA. Like other great bodybuilders, Ray discovered his passion for the lifting sport early in his life. He quickly fell in love with the iron and began sculpting his body. By the age of 23, Ray was a full-time competitor. He soon took part in the Junior Mr. America and IFBB Mr. America, winning both contests.
Raising the Bar
In 1978, Ray became the IFBB Mr. USA champion. One year later, he achieved same in the AAU Mr. America show. During this period, Ray was able to grow his physique by leaps and bounds. This was in no small part due to his new training routine, ‘Heavy Duty Training’, which was created by his 21-months older brother Mike Mentzer. Heavy Duty Training revolved around doing extremely intense exercises in a short period of time. In fact, Ray’s workouts would last no longer than 45 minutes. By the 45...
Stepping Down From the Stage
In 1982, after years of competing, Mike decided to step down from his competitive career and focus on new endeavors. Ray Mentzer and Mike Mentzer flexing together on a beach.
Heavy Duty Training
Ray followed a similar training style to his brother Mike; it was called “Heavy Duty Training”. This routine was based on doing 6-9 reps per set at the maximum weight he could lift. The weight would be so heavy that by the 9th rep, Ray would reach failure. Once he reached that point, Ray would have his training partner help him do another 2-3 forced reps, controlling the weight with slow and perfect form. This would make him go beyond the point of muscle failure. Ray’s intense training was of...
Time Under Tension
One of the core principles of Ray’s training was doing low reps and heavy weight. This is why his workouts were called HIT (High-Intensity Training). However, these weren’t the only methods Ray used to increase his training intensity. He also did stutter reps and slow negatives. Stutter reps increased the duration of each set by over 20 seconds. Forced negatives did the same. Ray believed that by increasing the time under tension with these methods, he’d improve his muscle growth.
Squat Saturday Night Parties
Every Saturday evening, Ray would host so-called “Saturday night squat parties”. He’d do squats for hours on end, together with a few other guys. Ray and co. would lift extremely heavy weights, taking long breaks between sets. During one of these‘squat gatherings’, Ray achieved an astonishing feat – lifting a 900-lbs squat for 2 reps.
Back in the day, many bodybuilders believed that a high-protein diet was the number one key to building muscle. Ray Mentzer didn’t share the same opinion. Instead of focusing only on proteins, he ate a well-balanced diet that consisted of several food groups such as; grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, and good fat sources. In fact, carbohydrates mad...
One of Ray’s biggest influences in bodybuilding was Bill Pearl. When Ray and his brother were little, they’d send letters to Bill and tell him how they admired his physique – hoping that they too could one day sculpt strong and ripped muscles like Bill. Here’s what Bill said about Ray and Mike; “Mike and Ray Mentzer used to write to me when they we...
Ray Mentzer was one of the bodybuilding greats of his era. His forte was his strength – literally. With 900-lbs squatted for 2 reps, Ray was one of the, if not the strongest bodybuilder during his prime. As Bill Pettis put it; “Ray is one of the strongest bodybuilders I have ever seen in my life.“ Ultimately, Ray’s life was one full of success but ...
Ray Mentzer was a successful bodybuilder who won the IFBB Mr. USA and AAU Mr. America titles. He also created the Heavy Duty Training method with his brother Mike, but died of kidney failure in 2001 after losing his brother to a heart attack.
Jun 12, 2001 · Joanne Sharkey honors the life and legacy of Ray Mentzer, the brother of Mike Mentzer and Mr. America winner. She shares her memories of Ray as a bodybuilder, a father, a friend, and a man of character and courage.
Mar 27, 2021 · Ray Mentzer (August 3, 1953 – June 12, 2001) was the 1976 Junior Mr. America, 1978 IFBB Mr. USA and was winner of the 1979 AAU Mr. America competition.
Ray Mentzer is a Professor of Engineering Practice and Executive Director of the Purdue Process Safety & Assurance Center. He has a long career in chemical engineering, research, and safety with ExxonMobil and Texas A&M.
Ray Mentzer Professor of Engineering Practice Executive Director of the Purdue Process Safety & Assurance Center
