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Lee Haney's First Contest & Road to the Pros
TEENAGE DREAMS
It was 1976 and I was 16 in 1976 when a Nautilus Fitness Center opened up in my town of Spartanburg, South Carolina. There was so much buzz about Nautilus equipment at that time in the ‘70s that I rushed over to join. The YMCA where I used to train had been free and I wasn’t prepared for the cost of the membership at this new place. I couldn’t afford it, but the owner, John Lankford, was kind enough to make a deal. If I would wipe off the equipment and mop the floors every night at closing, I could train there. John was a powerlifter, and it was through him that I learned that the foundations of bodybuilding lie in the heavy power movements to build size and strength. When you add in more pure bodybuilding movements for quality and muscularity, you had the perfect training program. And that’s when I really started to put size on. After a while, I was looking good enough that John and some other members convinced me to try competing at the 1977 Mr. South Carolina contest.
My prep was as simple as could be. I continued eating clean food as I had been: canned tuna, grilled chicken, apples, sweet potatoes, egg whites, greens and plenty of water. I didn’t do any cardio because there was no need. My metabolism was naturally fast, and keeping weight on was more of a challenge than staying lean. I trained every body part twice a week, hitting weights every day but Sunday. I was 5’11” and 175 pounds.
Next, I needed posing trunks. I’d seen them in magazines, but didn’t know where to buy them. So, I went to Kmart and bought a pair of blue underwear with red trim! I also knew I needed a posing routine, so I mimicked what I saw Robby Robinson doing in a magazine and hoped for the best. The contest was in Greenville, and there was no teenage class. At 16, I was up there in the men’s tall class with guys in their 20s and 30s. I still remember the man who won my class and the overall, Ted Caps. He had great legs, a perfect tan, he could hit a vacuum, and what an exciting poser. We’re still friends, and his claim to fame is that he once beat an eight-time Mr. Olympia!
Even though I didn’t win, I was hooked. I cherished the smell of the posing oil, the camaraderie of warming up with the other guys backstage, and just the sheer joy and fun of being part of the event. I wouldn’t win my first contest until I was 18, but that first contest gave me all the motivation I needed to keep going. So many people there were incredibly encouraging; especially when they found out I was only 16. Hearing again that I had so much potential really lit a fire under me. I returned home and trained even harder, and kept reading and learning as much as I could.
A year later, I had added a full 25 pounds and won the Mr. Palmetto contest at 200 pounds. Many of the people competing and in the audience had seen me the year before and couldn’t believe the progress I had made. A month later, I won the Mr. South and knew I was definitely on the right track. Since I was still only 19, it made sense to give the 1979 Teenage Mr. America a try. The guys at Nautilus were very supportive of that idea and excited at my chances, so much so that John and the rest set up a seminar at my gym to raise the money for my trip to Michigan for the show. I was now working bagging groceries on the weekends, but without their support I never would have been able to afford the plane ticket and hotel. John would accompany me to Reading, Michigan and act as my coach.
I want to especially acknowledge my girlfriend at the time and today my wife, Shirley. I recall being a few weeks out from the Teenage America when my car battery died and my cash reserves dried up. Unknown to her mom and dad, she gave me nearly her entire month’s pay while working at the library as a page. Side note, guys: I’m still paying her back today and I’ll always love her for being by my side.
I was number 79 in a field of almost 100 teenagers from all over the country, one of whom was Phil Williams, who like me would go on to become a pro when he won the 1984 USA overall title. At the end of the night, I was the Tall and Overall Teenage Mr. America. This told me that if I continued to work hard and improve, I had the opportunity to reach the next level and become a professional bodybuilder.
Now my drive to be the best I could be was through the roof! I hauled a four-foot trophy back home to South Carolina, and the local newspapers all did stories about my win. Having the support of the community and my friends at the gym meant so much to me. I will never forget how they extended the hand of hope and love to a kid like me who they just wanted to see succeed at the sport he was so passionate about. I proudly set my Teenage Mr. America trophy in the window of the grocery store I worked at, and began planning and dreaming about my next contest. It was going to take a lot of work to get from there to the pro stage, but I was ready and eager to make it happen. In 1982 I won the overall at the NPC Junior Nationals, then took the overall at the full-blown NPC Nationals, which qualified me for the IFBB World Championships. In those days you didn’t get a pro card by winning the Nationals you had to win your weight division at the World Championships. I travelled to Bruges, Belgium and came home with the heavyweight title. I was a pro and I couldn’t dream of the success I would have over the next decade.
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Lee Haney won 8 Mr. Olympia titels achter alkaar. Op 31 jarige leeftijd stopte hij met wedstrijdbodybuilding.
