Lee Haney: Age, Height, Weight, Titles and History

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Lee Marvin Haney (November 11, 1959, South Carolina) is one of the most legendary bodybuilders in the history of bodybuilding.

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For eight consecutive years, he won the title of “Mr. Olympia”, surpassing the feat of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the title seven times. Many consider him arguably the best bodybuilder of his time.

Lee Haney personified a harmonious combination of proportion and muscle mass. With him, the era of aesthetic bodybuilding ended, giving way to the era of “mass monsters”, inaugurated by Dorian Yates.

Lee Haney has been interested in soccer since he was a child. At age 12, he picked up weights for the first time. At age 19, he won his first tournament, the “Mr. America Junior.”

According to Lee himself, he was born into a religious family and became convinced of the existence of a higher power at the age of 17. At the time, he made a kind of “deal” with God: He would help him win, and Lee would dedicate all his success to Him.

After that, miracles began to happen in his life: within a year, he won the American Youth Championship, the American Junior Championship, the US National Championship and won the title of “Mr. Universe”.

Since then, Lee has taken religion seriously and strived to live as an exemplary Christian.

In 1983, Lee turned professional and, in his first participation in “Olympia”, he finished third. From 1984 onwards, he began an undefeated career in the “Mr. Olympia” tournaments.

After receiving his seventh Sandow statue, Haney wanted to stop, fearing he would eclipse Arnold's fame and break his record. But, he says, his eighth win came surprisingly easily.

After ending his competitive career at age 32, Lee Haney turned to business, becoming the owner of a gym and later two.

When asked about a possible participation in the 1995 Olympia, he replied that he saw no point in it. Another victory would not add anything to his fame, and $100,000 to $150,000 made no difference to him, since the business would bring more return. Much of the money he earns goes to his project, a village for abandoned children.

They live in homes, receive adequate food, education and play sports. They have caregivers, teachers and doctors to monitor their health. The lives of these children are no different from life in an ordinary family.

Lee Haney is a proponent of the high-volume training system. As a young man, he experimented with various training methods and found the multi-set system to be the most suitable for him.

Unlike Dorian Yates, Lee did not work to failure on each set, as he believed that overusing this method would quickly “wear out” the muscles. His philosophy was: muscles should be stimulated, not destroyed.

Haney preferred working with machines and cables, considering that they had certain advantages over free weights, but he used both in his training.

He performed a large number of sets (up to 35 for some muscle groups), with 8 to 10 repetitions in each set and resting for 45 to 60 seconds between sets. In some exercises with submaximal weights, he used the pyramid system, gradually increasing from the warm-up to the working weights.

Thanks to this approach, Lee Haney never suffered any serious injuries in his career. His training schedule was based on a three-day split: three days of training and one day of rest. He paid a lot of attention to abdominal training, the main exercise of which was the hanging leg raise, which he practiced throughout the year.

This allowed him to maintain a lean appearance during the off-season, weighing over 260 pounds. He performed the exercises with maximum mental focus on the target muscles.

After retiring from competition, Lee Haney continued to train and, even after turning 50, remains in excellent physical shape.

He has published three books: “Feroz Lee,” “Bodybuilding Fundamentals,” and “Beyond Training: My Testimony.” Lee Haney is the host of a Christian channel called “Trinity” and hosts the popular program “TotaLee Fit with Lee Haney.”

He coaches world-class athletes and conducts seminars promoting healthy living. Professional bodybuilders and coaches consider him a “walking encyclopedia” of training and nutrition. Lee Haney is the Chief Scientific Officer for the International Sports Science Association (ISSA).

In 1998, US President Bill Clinton appointed Lee Haney chairman of the President's Council on Physical Education and Sports. Lee Haney is a member of the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB).