Tag: Lee Haney
Lee Haney: Open Athletes Are ’60-Lbs Overweight Traumatizing Themselves with Terrible Diets’
Lee Haney rose to the top of the sport with exceptional balance, conditioning, and fullness. In a recent Escape Fitness interview, Haney fired shots at Open bodybuilders for poor nutrition and relived his first Mr. Olympia victory in 1984.
Bodybuilding legend Lee Haney dominated the IFBB Pro League during the 1980s. He is an eight-time Mr. Olympia winner (1984-1991), a reign he made possible with an unyielding work ethic and sheer determination. During his bodybuilding tenure, Haney faced the cream of the crop, having battled with three-time Mr. Olympias Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane, as well as Lee Labrada, and Rich Gaspari.
Since Haney’s dominant title run, the sport has undergone dramatic changes. After Haney retired on top in 1991, mass monsters would soon stake their claim in the division. Despite changes to the category, fans, and bodybuilding veterans alike agree that Haney displayed one of the most complete physiques ever.
While he competed in a different era, Lee Haney has continually warned competitors today about who they choose to train with. And now it appears Haney is taking issue with Open competitors who have developed a seemingly unhealthy relationship with food.
Lee Haney Talks Poor Nutrition & Offers Advice to Bodybuilders: “Always Stay Within Striking Distance”
According to the bodybuilding icon, low-carb diets are for ‘fat boys.’ He encouraged athletes to keep a healthy relationship with food so it’s easier to prepare for bodybuilding shows.
“Low carb is for fat boys. If you look like a porkey the pig in the off-season, you’re fat! You got to burn that stuff off. When you trying to get rid of all that weight through aerobics and starvation, your muscle is not going to have that life to it.
That life force where it looks great on stage and it’s popping because you’re aerobic-ing yourself to death and stress will show up on your physique, it’ll tear you up. So, my message has always been in bodybuilding as I share with young athletes, always stay within striking distance. Train around, no more than around 12-15 pounds over your competition weight,” said Lee Haney.
Haney says 3% body fat is the goal on stage and believes athletes can adjust their nutrition based on where they are in their respective prep.
“If you’re 15 or 16 weeks out, if you’re 15% body fat, then guess what? You can drop a percentage every week until you bottom out at 3% or 3.5% you’re ready then. And if you get there too quick then guess what? Increase the food intake. I don’t believe in zero carbs. I never had to do that. I was a carb monster. My carbs would be 4 to 500 grams of carbohydrates a day because I was never a fat boy.”
“These guys get 40, 50, 60 pounds overweight and they have to traumatize themselves, eating chicken and green beans, what kind of life is that? It’s terrible man. It’s ignorance,” added Haney. “Never go below 50 grams of carbs. Zero carbohydrates for me, keto for me, if you want to call it keto, we just said lower your carbohydrates.”
Unlike his contemporaries, who consumed sunflower seeds, almonds, and walnuts, Haney underscored that modern competitors carb up with bacon, cheese, and ‘garbage.’
“The muscles overcompensate when you put the carbs back in, that’s why we want to hit the stage and we’re full and the muscles and the veins are popping. Even on another point, when we do carbohydrate deplete, we don’t use bacon, cheese, and garbage. We used sunflower seeds, we used almonds, we used walnuts.”
“They have half-truths [people in fitness and bodybuilding], they don’t live and they haven’t lived what we lived. When I say we, we’re bodybuilders, that’s what we do. We understand the science of food. They don’t [online coaches]. They just read stuff and don’t get it right and get a lot of people hurt living off statins.”
Haney on Winning 1st Mr. Olympia in 1984: “It Was a Dream Come True”
Haney said he won his first Mr. Olympia weighing 233 pounds. He credited Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Robby Robinson, and Ed Corney as early influences.
“Winning a Mr. Olympia is a miracle in itself and to be there on the same stage with Frank Zane and Robby Robinson, Sergio Olvia was there… wow. You know, that was absolutely incredible. It was like a dream come true man. You watched these guys in the magazines, you grew up admiring them, there you are, standing on stage with them. To be the winner and the victor, wow. Thank you, lord,” added Haney.
“The previous year I weighed 243 but winning at 233. I had went back and figured out through my notes and studied what had went wrong. No one had stepped on an Olympia stage at the weight and at that height. I knew that was a winning package. You size up your competition. I always knew if I had a combination of Arnold, Robby, Frank Zane, Ed Corney, who can beat that? And I felt that’s what I had achieved during my whole career, not just for that one but during my whole career. That’s what I wanted to be like, a combination of all of those gentlemen, those awesome legends.”
Haney isn’t the only bodybuilding veteran from a different era taking aim at the Open category. A few months back, 1990s standout Rich Gaspari accused Open bodybuilders of abusing steroids instead of depending on consistent training. In an additional Fitness, Fame & Fortune podcast, Gaspari said he personally favored the look of Classic Physique Olympia Chris Bumstead over recent Men’s Open Mr. Olympia winners.
Given his expertise, Lee Haney is determined to educate new talent making their way into bodybuilding. He stands by his approach, which saw him set the all-time Mr. Olympia win record that was later matched by Ronnie Coleman.
You can watch the full video on the Escape Fitness YouTube channel below:
RELATED: Lee Haney Shares Iconic Police Traffic Stop Photoshoot After First Mr. Olympia Win in 1984
Published: 24 May, 2023 | 4:44 PM EDT
Lee Haney Shares Iconic Police Traffic Stop Photoshoot After First Mr. Olympia Win in 1984
Bodybuilding icon Lee Haney has a lot of strong memories he’s taken away from his time in the sport. Recently, he looked back on his ‘most iconic’ photoshoot shortly after winning his first Mr. Olympia title in 1984.
As an active IFBB Pro League competitor, Lee Haney was unique and well-rounded. Having possessed an aesthetic combination of mass, conditioning, and fullness, Haney extended his reign as Mr. Olympia from 1984-1991. While building his physique, he faced the who’s who of the bodybuilding world, defeating names such as Frank Zane, Lee Labrada, and six-time winner Dorian Yates.
In addition to discussing his rivalry with Yates, Haney has been critical of the standards present in today’s Men’s Open division. He continues to warn up-and-coming bodybuilders about the dangers of dehydration and poor coaching. In light of the growing problem, Haney recommended a set of safe contest prep tips which center around proper nutrition.
Lee Haney / Instagram
Haney isn’t the only bodybuilding veteran to take aim at dehydration recently. Samson Dauda’s coach, Milos Sarcev, has tackled the topic as well as 1990s standout Rich Gaspari. Sarcev believes dry conditioning should no longer be rewarded by judges as it encourages dangerous practices.
In his latest Instagram post, Haney was filled with nostalgia resharing a photoshoot after winning his first Olympia title. He explained that a nearby police officer was tasked with stopping oncoming traffic so they could capture the image.
Lee Haney Shares Iconic Photoshoot in New York Following 1984 Mr. Olympia Victory
Haney revealed that Mike Nevuea took the photo in the middle of New York City traffic.
“In 1984 after winning my first Mr. Olympia title and completing a indoor studio photo shoot, i was asked by the photographer to (Mike Nevuea) to step in front of a man hole for a out door shot. I said to him “who’s going to stop this traffic”? Low and behold, a police officer was standing near by and brought the traffic to a halt.
I removed my shirt and the rest is history. Thanks to Mike and one of New York City Finest this is one of my most iconic photos. I love New York” Lee Haney shared.
Some in the bodybuilding community reacted to Lee Haney’s post, like Gaspari, who remembered training with Haney before he went on a historic Mr. Olympia-winning reign.
Reflecting on his career, Haney thought about quitting after the seventh Mr. Olympia title. When he was actively competing, Haney struggled with motivation after reaching the top of the sport. Despite the pressures of being a champion, he returned for his final Mr. Olympia contest in 1991 where he defeated Yates to win his final Sandow trophy.
RELATED: Bodybuilding Legend Lee Haney Pleads With Bodybuilders To Be Open About Mental Health
While the Men’s Open has undergone major changes since Haney’s time in the spotlight, there’s no denying his impact on the category. He remains one of the most successful bodybuilders of all time and is tied with Ronnie Coleman with eight Mr. Olympia titles.
Published: 4 May, 2023 | 7:07 PM EDT
Lee Haney: “America Now Has A Sick Society Of Young People” | The Mike O’Hearn Show
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Mike O’Hearn speaks with Lee Haney about the health crisis in bodybuilding (and beyond) for younger individuals who desperately try to catch up in older age.
Lee Haney needs no introduction. He is a 8x Mr. Olympia champion, a world record only tied by Ronnie Coleman. Haney represents the absolute elite in pre-mass monster bodybuilding history. He has also gone on to dedicate his life towards fitness and health for new generations – becoming appointed as chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports by Bill Clinton. So what does Haney feel about bodybuilding today with the many young deaths plaguing the sport? In Generation Iron and Barbend‘s latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show, special guest Lee Haney expresses the urgency of being healthy as young as possible – instead of waiting until mid-life.
Mike O’Hearn considers Lee Haney more than a role model for him in bodybuilding. He calls him a leader of the pack showcasing what was possible. To say that O’Hearn was inspired into bodybuilding by Haney is an understatement. But more than just the massive muscle and elite trophies – Haney’s focus on health in bodybuilding are what stuck with O’Hearn the most.
Lee Haney has always said, “Stimulate, not annihilate” when it comes to bodybuilding and fitness. Those words carry much more weight today – as the conversation about health in bodybuilding has reached a pinnacle point. There has been much discussion about the dangerous level of drugs and PEDs modern athletes use. As well as the dangerous levels of weight and size champion bodybuilders achieve these days (leaning closer to 300 pounds in weight). It is the exact opposite direction that Haney took bodybuilding.
With a vast background in fitness education, and personal experience as a champion bodybuilder to boot, Lee Haney sits down with Mike O’Hearn to talk about the importance of educating young people in today’s society. Not only for aspiring bodybuilders – but for the entire culture at large.
Lee Haney believes that young people are more unhealthy today believing that they can make up for it in middle age. Both Haney and Mike O’Hearn want to express the urgency that this is not the proper course. Let’s jump into it.
“America now has a sick society of young people because we are not taking care of teaching them the basic fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise.”
Lee Haney dispels the common thinking of being invulnerable during youth
Lee Haney stands out from other bodybuilding champions in one major way. He knew his hard limits while pushing the boundaries of what his body can do. So instead of going the eventual path of mass monsters like Dorian Yates or Ronnie Coleman after him – he focused on lighter weight and more volume. In a previous interview, Haney admitted that his frame couldn’t handle a training and diet regimen like Ronnie Coleman. Despite this, he was still able to rise up and become a world record holding Olympia champion.
Perhaps it was simply a different era, but Lee Haney exemplifies having your cake and eating it too. He was able to focus on longevity and health during his prime bodybuilding years. He was also able to become a 8x Mr. Olympia champion. Many athletes today believe that the only way to succeed in the sport is through heavy PED cycles and massive weight. Lee Haney avoided that while also succeeding.
As Lee Haney sees it, not only has bodybuilding today become more unhealthy – but the entire culture of America has become unhealthier. Part of this is due to systems outside of young people’s control. Processed foods became far more popular. Fast food is now around every corner. And if you happen to have little money – this are the cheapest options to keep yourself fed.
However, Lee Haney also believes that mentality has shifted. The basic fundamentals of fitness and health education are not being stressed enough. Due to this – many young folk believe they can live fast while they are young and worry about health when they get older. This is problematic thinking. That’s like building a house first and then handling the foundation later.
“We looked at statistics showing that, you know, this new generation, and I’m saying it now, they’re not living past 50 years old. Because of fast foods. Because of not taking ownership of their health. They’re dying prematurely.”
The growing problem with heart disease at younger ages.
While Lee Haney doesn’t reference drugs specifically, he does point out that heart disease is one of the leading causes of pre-mature death. This holds true not just in bodybuilding but in the American culture at large.
“And as a lot of guys are finding out… is that a lot of us our sick from heart disease. Well my ticker is perfect. My arteries are nice and clean by way of my bloodwork because I never used steak in my preparation off season or on.”
Lee Haney focuses here on nutrition as a whole. What we put in our bodies will have a long term effect on our health. Mostly in ways we can never really notice until it is too late. This is true for PEDs and steroids as well. But Haney here focuses on items such as red meat and processed foods often consumed during the offseason.
Young bodybuilders often want to try and do whatever it takes to be the best and worry about long term health later. The problem is – no amount of money can make up for years of unhealthy habits while you are young. The tragic irony is that young people often feel very health even as they eat junk. It’s not until they are older when the real issues occure.
“So bringing kids up in the way that they should go and managing age should begin with good nutrition. And managing age doesn’t mean just as you grow older, it means even when you are in the bodybuilding level of just getting started, to intermediate, to advanced bodybuilding.”
RELATED: Bodybuilders Are Dying: An Investigation Into Modern Bodybuilding, Health, & PED Use
Wrap Up
Lee Haney is more than just an old bodybuilder complaining about a new generation he doesn’t understand. He is a well educated man who, to this day, still teaches health and fitness education to individuals. Through both personal experience and his education – he has valuable insights into how the new generation should alter course for longevity in bodybuilding and beyond.
You can watch Lee Haney’s full comments in his conversation with Mike on the latest episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show. Check out new episodes every Friday only on Generation Iron or wherever podcasts are downloaded.
Lee Haney Encourages Bodybuilders to be Open About Mental Health
Lee Haney talks mental health in bodybuilding.
Eight-time Olympia champion Lee Haney recently spoke about mental health in bodybuilding. The legend touched on the subject and implored bodybuilders to open up about their mental health and seek help.
Mental health is a topic that has been getting more and more important these days. Never had mental health been more of a concern than it is in our current climate. The last couple years have been taxing for just about everyone. The future has never been more uncertain than it is today and things appear to be on a shaky footing.
Mental health in professional sports has also become a major issue. So many professional athletes run themselves ragged through countless hours of training. They push themselves to the physical and mental limit in order to achieve their goals. While physical recovery has always been emphasized, many don’t treat the mind with the same kind of care. While things like icing, massages, and other physical recovery treatments are employed, there are many athletes who refuse to seek out therapy for their mental health.
In bodybuilding we’ve seen cases of individuals taking their own lives due to depression. These lives could have been saved if mental health therapy was more accepted as a viable option. That appears to be exactly what bodybuilding legend Lee Haney is trying to accomplish.
Eight-time Olympia champion Lee Haney gave a recent interview touching on the subject of mental health. The legend even implored athletes in the bodybuilding community to get help for their mental health issues.
“There’s a lot of issues we face, and we face them on our own, and nobody knows what’s happening,” said Lee Haney. “In the world of bodybuilding, there’s always this picture painted that we’re some super people. We can get over anything. We’re strong, we’re physical beautiful on the outside. We can conquer all. What happens in the mind, and what happens in the heart and the spirit person, can be totally different than what is seen on the outside.
“So I wanted to speak to that particular thing, because that’s something that’s never discussed, something that I feel our industry is missing. So I heard a couple of different times, at this past Olympia, a couple of different athletes that said they had these moments in which they broke down in tears while prepping for the show.
“This is not something that’s happening to these particular people, it’s happening a lot. Many times it’s not being discussed or brought out in the open, but I just want to share my perspective on the importance of mental health, and what I’ve done in my own life, to keep it together. When you’re talking about winning the Mr. Olympia, let alone 8 Mr. Olympias, how do keep it together (in your mind)? When you’re on the top, there’s nowhere to go but down. If you’re not able to control the mental stress of being an athlete, and trying to overcome adversities, trying to get better, trying to pursue something that only one in a million or several billion can achieve, that’s pressure in itself.”
Even before the pandemic mental health has been quite the issue. Many people have looked at things like therapy through a negative lens. But therapy can be a godsend and tool that can save many, many lives. It’s great to see Lee Haney advocating for such an important cause.
What are your thoughts on therapy and mental health?
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
Lee Haney on Modern Bodybuilding and Coaching: “Athletes Are Bigger But Lack Quality”
Lee Haney says modern athletes have greater size, but less quality.
Eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney has given a critique on modern bodybuilding and coaching. The legend suggests that the modern era is too focused on size over quality.
Modern bodybuilding is a completely different game today compared with the Golden Era. While today the focus has been on size, athletes packing on massive amounts of muscle, during the Golden Era the focus was different. Now while the argument of which era was better for bodybuilding has been floating in the air for awhile now, there’s definitely a nuance that few have been talking about.
Many have focused a great deal on the end results. The arguments have been “bodybuilders are too massive” or “bodybuilders don’t pose like they used to”, valid arguments in and of themselves. But there is a angle that many arguments fail to include. What has changed about the focus of training?
Eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney has had a great deal to say about the subject. Haney has criticized modern bodybuilding in the past, but his most recent post may have hit the nail on the head.
You see while many arguments focus on the size of bodybuilders and their lack of skill in presentation, Lee Haney is suggesting that the issue could be more with athlete training than anything else. In fact the bodybuilding legend suggests that coaches these days could be the main culprit.
Lee Haney made a recent post to Instagram highlighting what he thinks the main difference is between bodybuilding today and yesterday. The eight-time Olympia champion suggests that bodybuilders don’t focus on separation anymore and more on size. The training mentality has shifted and therefore the end results have changed as well.
“After close evaluation of the Olympia, It’s my professional opinion that the training systems used lack the ability to create muscle maturity or quality muscle separation. No so with the top 10 during the eras past. Yes, athletes are bigger but lack quality.”
Lee Haney suggests that the modern era focuses on quantity over quality. From the results of recent shows it’s hard to argue with the man. Haney then went on to discuss the state of training and coaches in the modern era.
“I later had a conversation with the coaches that worked with one of the top athletes. I asked: what type of training system did he used for his athlete (top (5)?
“And behold? he gave me an answer that was total out the realm of what was used to create some of the greatest physiques ever. Of course he himself looked like a dancer.
“There in lies the problem with the quality of 95% of open class bodybuilders. The problem with most of the current coaches is that they haven’t been there done that. I said it and stand by it. I have the hardware to backup what I said.”
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So are the coaches to blame for the state of modern bodybuilding? While one could simply argue that bodybuilders are just different today, it still doesn’t change the fact that past eras featured athletes with more balanced physiques. The modern mass monsters is now the norm where it used to be a rare occurrence. Now the opposite is true. The mass monsters dominate the stage while balanced bodybuilders have fallen by the way side.
Do you agree with this assessment from Lee Haney?
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
Lee Haney: Evander Holyfield Claims He Will Not Comeback To Fight Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield told Lee Haney he doesn’t plan on fighting Mike Tyson… but is it true?
While Lee Haney is best known as a world record holding 8x Mr. Olympia champion, he also spent some time training boxing legend Evander Holyfield. In fact, he still occasionally keeps up with Holyfield to this day. As rumors continue to swirl about Mike Tyson fighting Holyfield in a future bout – we wanted to know if Haney could provide any clarity on the situation. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Lee Haney talks about training Evander Holyfield and the unlikely chance he will fight Mike Tyson.
Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson are two legendary boxers in their own right. So it’s no surprise that excitement grew once rumors released claiming that these two icons of the sport might potentially face off in the ring. As of this writing, there has been no confirmation that this match will happen.
That doesn’t mean that Mike Tyson hasn’t been teasing the fans a bit. In a recent interview on The Dan Patrick Show, Tyson alluded to the rumored fight being still very much a possibility. “[Holyfield is] on the table, but I guess the people wanted Roy,” said Tyson during the interview.
Roy of course is reference to Mike Tyson’s recent national press tour as he promotes his exhibition match versus Roy Jones Jr. on Triller pay per view.
But while Tyson claims that fighting Evander Holyfield is on the table, Lee Haney has words that paint a different picture. Haney was a personal trainer for Evander Holyfield during a period where the boxer was trying to put on more pounds of muscle. Haney has remained in occasional contact with Holyfield ever since.
Once rumors grew about Mike Tyson facing off against Evander Holyfield, Lee Haney reached out to Holyfield in an attempt to get confirmation. Holyfield quickly denied the fight, saying he had nothing to do with it.
Of course, Lee Haney also admits that perhaps Holyfield is working in secret in order to keep an element of surprise. Perhaps this rumored fight is such a high profile occasion that Holyfield is keeping his cards close to the chest until the right moment.
Lee Haney also goes into detail about his time training Evander Holyfield and shares some interesting anecdotes from a very different time in both the sport of boxing and bodybuilding.
You can watch Lee Haney’s full comments on Evander Holyfield in the GI Exclusive interview segment above!
*Image courtesy of John Kloepper and Steve Lott. Changes made to combine header image. CC BY-SA 3.0
Gunter Schlierkamp: The Biggest Reason Lee Haney Should Be Considered Greatest Of All Time
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Gunter Schlierkamp goes into great detail as to why he believes Lee Haney is the undisputed greatest bodybuilder of all time.
There are only two people who earned the world record of most Mr. Olympia wins. Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman have yet to be matched in the years since their bodybuilding careers. But for the most part, it seems history has favored Ronnie Coleman of the two. He is often considered the greatest bodybuilder to ever live. This is due to his unfathomable mass monster size. A size that still has not been matched to this day. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Gunter Schlierkamp explains why Lee Haney, and not Ronnie Coleman, is the undisputed greatest bodybuilder of all time.
Gunter Schlierkamp is an old school kind of guy. That becomes clear in the beginning of our latest interview segment. We discuss bodybuilding’s popularity in mainstream culture and how the internet influenced it. Schlierkamp goes into detail as to why he feels something has been lost in all the technological change.
There are too many options for things and consumers seem to favor cheaper items over high quality items. It’s a quantity not quality world. He finds this to affect bodybuilding itself. It’s evident in the supplements people buy, the influencers people follow, and the number of divisions the sport now has.
So it makes sense that Gunter Schlierkamp considers Lee Haney his favorite bodybuilder of all time. Haney was the first bodybuilder to achieve a world record eight Mr. Olympia wins. This was later matched by Ronnie Coleman. Often times, Coleman gets more of the spotlight. This is due to his inhuman physique that would make Haney look small in comparison.
But Gunter Schlierkamp has very good reasons for favoring Lee Haney as the greatest of all time. Side note – he also puts Ronnie Coleman in his top five, just one notch behind Haney. We asked Schlierkamp why he felt Haney is the ultimate best bodybuilder of all time. In a refreshing move, he gave a very detailed answer. The answer is so convincing – that it might perhaps cause others to pause and reconsider their own “best of” list.
Gunter Schlierkamp first defines what, in his opinion, makes a bodybuilder the best. Who did it and was the most dominant at the end, who is still healthy today, and who did it the right way. These may seem like vague terms – but what he’s talking about here is the past, present, and future of a bodybuilding icon.
Lee Haney was the first to change the game of bodybuilding. He was the first to win eight Mr. Olympia competitions. Schlierkamp also believes that Haney could have won more if he hadn’t decided to retire. And that’s exactly the point, Haney went out on top instead of slowly dwindling down into a has-been. This is rare in the bodybuilding world.
Gunter Schlierkamp also points out the Lee Haney is healthy and active in his twilight years after bodybuilding. Ronnie Coleman, on the other hand, has had a massive amount of health issues – very possibly due to how hard he pushed his body. We covered it extensively in our documentary film Ronnie Coleman: The King.
Lastly, Gunter Schlierkamp believes that Lee Haney “did it right.” Meaning that he knew his own limitations, knew how to keep his achievements as healthy as possible, and still changed the game in memorable way. It’s the reason we still talk to him today. Perhaps by today’s standards, if you simply compare physique to physique – you would be more impressed by a mammoth like Ronnie Coleman. Again, Coleman’s achievements are incredible. But for Schlierkamp – Haney gets a notch above for doing everything perfectly right.
You can watch Gunter Schlierkamp go into full detail about Lee Haney in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!