"Mike Mentzer - American Odysseus" - A Book Review

John Little is a fitness writer and author of several books, including the Bruce Lee biography "Wrath of the Dragon." He co-authored "Body by Science" with Dr. Doug McGuff in 2009, which in my opinion is the single greatest book ever written for the layperson about high-intensity exercise. In 2025, Little published "Mike Mentzer - American Odysseus", which is a detailed biography of former bodybuilder, philosopher, instructor, and writer Mike Mentzer. The author brings a unique perspective to this project, having been friends with Mentzer for over 20 years before his untimely death in 2001 at the age of 49.

Mike Mentzer grew up in Ephrata, Pennsylvania in a complicated family dynamic; he had older half-siblings from his mother's previous marriage in addition to his younger brother Ray. At the age of 11 he saw his first bodybuilding magazine, and soon thereafter he began weight training. As he grew large and strong throughout his teenage years, it was clear that he had the genetic potential to pursue competitive bodybuilding. Upon graduation from high school, Mentzer did a stint in the Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. It was during this time that he first started using steroids to prepare for bodybuilding contests (amazingly, they were not illegal until 1990). The story takes a most interesting turn when Mike learns about Nautilus training principles in the early 1970s from a fellow competitor, and he even spent several months in 1974 living in Florida and training with Nautilus founder Arthur Jones at Nautilus headquarters.

In the 1970s (and probably still today) bodybuilders utilized a high volume approach to their training, often doing split routines four to six days per week with as much as twenty sets per muscle group. This was the way that Arnold Schwarzenegger trained, and most bodybuilders followed his lead. Mentzer's methodology (heavily influenced by Jones) involved three full-body workouts per week, taking each exercise to muscular failure, and totalling about an hour per workout. Based on what we know now this was still very high volume, but much less than what other bodybuilders were doing. Mentzer's high-intensity strategy propelled him to a win in the Mr. America competition and a second place finish in the 1979 Mr. Olympia contest. If not for corrupt judging and the heavy-handed influence of Schwarzenegger (returning to competition after a five year retirement), Mike likely would have been victorious in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. It was at this point that he walked away from bodybuilding, never to compete again.

Mentzer never officially retired from bodybuilding, he simply stepped out of the limelight and retreated to a more quiet life. There was a family history of mental illness, and Mike struggled with depression for much of his life. He began self-medicating during the 1980s, acquired other bad habits that would lead to trouble down the road, and was in a dark place for several years. John Little proved to be a trusted friend during this time and helped him get back on his feet. It was during the late 1980s and early 1990s that Mentzer started a thriving personal training and consultation business, working with bodybuilders as well as the general population. An intellectual at heart, Mike began studying his clients' data and realized that there was an inverse relationship between intensity of effort and volume/frequency of exercise. He renamed his approach "Heavy Duty", and began reducing the duration and frequency of his clients' workouts. As a result, they made much more sustained progress over time.

Unfortunately, Mike's lifestyle, genetic factors, and the years of steroid use created significant health problems that ultimately led to his death in 2001 at the age of 49. However, his influence in the high-intensity exercise community continues to this day, in no small part due to John Little keeping the flame going. Mentzer was very different from his contemporary bodybuilders; he was bright, articulate, well-read, studied philosophy in his spare time, and even had aspirations of becoming a psychiatrist. He took the time to ask questions and learn about physiology so that he could maximize his own workouts as well as those whom he trained. His Heavy Duty approach was quite similar to what we do at Total Results, at least in terms of volume and frequency, and I believe he even had conversations with Ken Hutchins in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Hutchins mentions Mentzer in his writings). Mentzer had a significant influence on me, not just in terms of his training approach and cerebral mindset, but he also inspired me to read the works of Ayn Rand. I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to him.

John Little does an outstanding job of telling Mike Mentzer's story. He shares personal anecdotes and experiences based upon his friendship with Mentzer, but is also critical of some of his life choices. Mike's death is a cautionary tale of steroid use, and sadly, he recognized the role they played in his demise once it was far too late. Bodybuilding is a niche sport filled with drug abuse and corruption, and while this book is about far more than just bodybuilding I recognize that probably will not incentivize most folks to read it. However, in my opinion this book is worth reading in order to shine a light on Mike Mentzer and his contributions to the science of high-intensity weight training.