1972 Mr America Steve Michalik Dead at 63!

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Written by Dave Palumbo

I'm sad to report that 63-year old Steve Michalik has "shuffled off this mortal coil" into what he truly believed was the spiritual realm of immortality. I don't think there's a single bodybuilder the world over who ever doubted for a single second that the 1972 Mr America would exit this world in any way other than on his own terms. And, sadly, that truth was validated when Michalik was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 24, 2012, at the house of his ex-girlfriend.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Michalik became interested in bodybuilding at age 8 after his abusive father threw him into a closet and he started reading his older brother's comic books. ''Captain America was strong and wise and he had integrity and honesty, he was successful in life and conquered the villains and bad guys,'' Michalik recalled. ''I couldn't become Captain America, so I decided to become Mr. America.''

Probably best known for his torturous training system, "Intensity or Insanity"-- made famous during his marathon workouts with Mr. USA John Defendis at the then iconic Mr Americas Gym-- Michalik was both an enigma and extremely charismatic player in the bodybuilding scene of the 70s and 80s. But Michalik's life was anything but ordinary, or easy, for that matter. Shortly after his 1975 Mr. Universe victory, Michalik was in a serious car accident that left him partially paralyzed from the waist down for almost 3 years. Incredibly, he made a successful comeback (placing 4th) at the 1980 IFBB Miami Grand Prix. It was at this contest that Arnold Schwarzenegger dubbed Michalik the "Phantom Bodybuilder" for his return to the stage after a 5 year hiatus. This apt nickname that would stick with Michalik throughout his career.

During his lifetime, Michalik's most memorable antics included almost drowning Defendis at the beach (to teach him what it was like to push to the point of death), telling bodybuilders to eat 20,000 calories per day to get huge, having a syringe pen to sign in at the front desk of Mr. Americas Gym, and routine 100 sets-per-bodypart training sessions. It was these glory days that Steve Michalik will be remembered for most. After all, he taught discipline and dedication to an entire generation of New York bodybuilders.

However, while Michalik's greatest strength was his tenacity in the gym and his passion for bodybuilding, his greatest weakness was the adoration and respect he craved from his worshippers around him. Former employee and apprentice to Michalik, Mike Manavian, summed up the late bodybuilder's existence when he explained, "Steve was a tortured soul!"

Michalik reveled in controlling every aspect of his life—his body, his diet, his workouts. He also attempted to control the people around him; often times in very successful fashion. Throughout his life; however, whenever he felt that "control" slipping through his fingers, he often "left dodge" and recreated his reality someplace anew.

Following Michalik's heart attack and mini-stroke and the closing of the Powerhouse Gym he worked at in the mid 2000s, former disciple John Defendis set his mentor up with a well-paid job at one of his gyms down in South Carolina. Michalik took over the successful personal training program but eventually fell ill and required a kidney transplant. Defendis, generously, kept Michalik on salary during the entire ordeal; however, when he recovered, Michalik repaid his former student by quitting the job and starting his own personal training gym down the block. But that was Michalik; he had to do things on his own terms.

Like Captain Ahab whose ultimate demise resulted from his relentless pursuit of Moby Dick; Michalik's obsession with the aging process and his concomitant loss of strength and power would eventually be his downfall. A mild stroke, heart attack, and finally the kidney transplant must have been way more of a burden to the former Mr. America—a man who liked to smash sledge hammers into the headlights of gym members who neglected to pay their dues on time—than any of us mere mortals can ever imagine. In the end, Michalik's "white whale" was Father Time himself!

Steve Michalik will be greatly missed! My prayers go out to his family and close friends!