Mike Katz, one of the bodybuilders from the “golden era” of bodybuilding, was born on November 14, 1944 in New Haven, Connecticut. His biography is notable for the fact that throughout his life this man has tried himself in various hypostases, and almost everywhere he achieved success.
Katz’s childhood was held in rather severe conditions of religious education. He was born into a Jewish family, where they respected the orders and laws of their religion. Therefore, little Mike in many ways refused: to play outdoors on the street, eat meat during the days of fasting, etc. Unused energy Mike still found a way out – the boy loved power exercises, namely simple and useful push-ups. He could squeeze throughout the day, making big breaks between the approaches and, it is worth saying that due to this his destiny has developed exactly as it will be described below.
Seeing the extraordinary physical development of his son, Mike‘s father decided to give him to some sports section, and wherever he could achieve great success and, if possible, ensure his existence. In those years football was the most prestigious and profitable sport. And soon Mike became a member of the football team of his school. Since childhood, accustomed to do everything the best way, Mike carefully trained and became one of the best players in the League.
His last and, perhaps, the best team was the New York Jets. In 1968, in a match for the Super Bowl, Mike Katz gets a serious knee injury, after which he is forced to leave the football world. A year before, Katz had defended a bachelor’s degree in physical education and began teaching in high school. However, after retiring from football, he was not going to remain a teacher until the end of his life and almost wasted his talent – an excellent physical form with pronounced muscles.
The way out was himself – thanks to a coincidence Mike Katz was noticed by Joe Weider and invited him to test himself as a bodybuilder, because he had all the data for this. Three years later, he transformed and gained weight, Katz shared the stage with the future legends of bodybuilding – Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.
Katz took many honored places in the most prestigious bodybuilding tournaments and rightly entered his name in its story, but he still could not become an absolute champion. But he became one of the heroes of the most famous bodybuilding film “Pumping Iron”, which tells about the preparation and conduct of the professional competition Mr. Olympia and the amateur contest Mr. Universe 1975, in which Katz took part.
Mike Katz left bodybuilding in 1981. He completely concentrated on teaching and began to try to open his gym. By 1999 he succeeded and he completed the career of a teacher. His experience was 33 years. Today Mike, who managed to take almost everything from life and test himself in completely different roles, have several fitness centers and writes articles in magazines about bodybuilding.
Mike Katz Photo Gallery
