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“You Don’t Grow in the Gym”: Quoting the Philosophy of Late Bodybuilding Legend Who Resented Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike O’Hearn Disseminates a Valuable Lesson

Published 05/13/2023, 1:46 AM EDT

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Mike O’Hearn has always been upfront about sharing his pearls of wisdom in bodybuilding and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Thus, this practice made the fitness fraternity consider him a mentor. The athlete recently engaged himself in a live Q&A session on YouTube, where he addressed issues related to fitness. When a user needed his suggestion on the amount of rest required to pump up muscle, the American bodybuilder had the best answer.

The seven-time Fitness Model of the Year quoted the late IFBB legend Mike Mentzer, who once picked a bone with Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, leaning on Mentzer’s genius, O’Hearn came up with the best theory of recovery.

Mike O’Hearn follows the conventional method of pumping up

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As per the video, the 54-year-old fitness icon was answering the queries of his fans. That’s when a fan asked about the recovery process after doing “10 sets per week per body part” to build muscle in the long term. Sharing the fact that it depends on individuals, the athlete confirmed, “My best arm growth was often nine sets per week.” 

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Later, he stooped to praise a remarkable insight of the legendary Mike Mentzer about “The amount of time between training, between sets, between workouts, and about recovery.” O’Hearn added, “He talked about how you don’t grow in the gym. We know that the gym is where you tear down the muscle, right and then you go home and you start feeding it, you start recovering.”

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Loving Mentzer’s analogy of training each body part by giving it a rest for 7 to 21 days, O’Hearn gave it to him for enriching him with this wisdom in the 90s. Even though it’s been two decades since his demise, O’Hearn joins other bodybuilders who think Mike Mentzer is still relevant and was much more than what the feud with Arnie projected him to be.

Mentzer’s once criticized the bodybuilding legend

In the 1978 Mr. Universe contest, Mentzer became the first bodybuilder to etch a perfect 300 from the judges. In fact, he has also got the fame for criticizing Schwarzenegger after his 1980 win on the Olympian stage. He dissed the idea of The Austrian Oak’s comeback that year and winning the trophy. “There is no way Arnold Schwarzenegger deserved to win in 1980, not even close,” Mentzer explained.

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In fact, during an interview, Mentzer came up with a massive revelation, “It was interesting at the 1980 Olympia, the only people who saw Arnold as the winner were the seven judges and his closest friends.” Seemingly, a small on-stage altercation between the two led to a lot more, eventually making Mentzer quit the sport forever.

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However, Mike O’Hearn is indeed playing the medium to pass on the wisdom of Mike Mentzer, by infusing his experience with it.

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Written by:

Soumili Chatterjee

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Soumili Chatterjee is a pro-writer for EssentiallySports. With a Master's degree in English, Soumili's passion for sports writing has taken her on an extraordinary journey in the American sports arena. Inspired by the famous quote by ice-hockey legend Gretzky, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take," Soumili has taken these words to heart and has made it her mission to meet her idol someday.
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Edited by:

Brandon Gabriel