Mike Francios

[LI Ape]

He was a great bodybuilder, too bad he got sick

[Kärnfysikern]

when was he competing??

what sickness did he get?

[LI Ape]

He was competing in the early and mid 90s and wound up with intestinal and colon disease. i think he is an IFBB judge now.

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[bigkev]

yep, he won the night of champions and the arnold, the ironman, etc... he was awesome. my all time favorite. i wrote him a letter years ago and he replied with a hand written letter and an autographed picture. a real class act. he had his large intestine partially removed. saw and article on him not long ago. he is about 220lbs, still looks awesome. and as ape said, an ifbb judge as well.

[bigkev]

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[RageControl]

Wow his muscle seperation is awesome in that 1st pic.

[abz]

The first two pics are examples of what backs should look like!!! to bad he got sick...

[LI Ape]

there is a pic of him doing stifflegs, you gotta see how seperated his hamstrings were. If Kev cant find it i will scan it in

[Socio]

Yeah he got colitis which affects the absorption of nutrients and future Mr.O contender for sure he had all the goods essecially the back hich is what u need to win a O

[mando]

i've seen dorian many times in birmingham , and have to say mike was the only guy who could match dorian for back poses , its sad he had to retire , he was thick n hard all the way , plus a nice guy , i liked mikes thighs , arms n back !...........dennis james's body reminds me of mike , similar build , with low heavy reps ...awesome !!

[Billy Boy]

He was an all round nice guy,

[BigDude]

say what you want, but in my mind, Mike always had a better package than for example Jay Cutler in 2001. Jay is good, but Mike is a super freak!!!

[BigDude]

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[THE BIG RED MACHINE]

I agree. I would even go, as far as to say that if it wasn't for the colitis, Mike Francois would have been an Olympia threat. I think with a little more weight, he may have even beaten Ronnie to the top.

[bigkev]

i have to agree.

[LI Ape]

Originally posted by bigkev
i have to agree.

Me too. The first time I saw him was 95 at a bodybuilding show In Staten Island. I couldnt get over his legs and calves, they were huge. He had a powerlifting backround which explains the dense muscle (you gotta lift heavy!). And to think he was gonna be a preist, I'd go church more!

[RageControl]

Damn what a shame hes got a crazy build i have never seen muscle seperation like that . deffinatly mr.o material glad hes still involved even tho he doesnt compete.

[Mr Big]

His bi-cep peaks in that Back dble bi pose are incredible.
He definatly one of my favs, its to bad about his accident.

[GhostFace]

Yeah, Mike was definitly an underestimated bodybuilder of the 90´s.

[retired]

I remember a back-training article that Francois did in Muscle&Fitness...There was a black and white picture of his spinal erectors, they looked like tree trunks. For sure one of the freakiest bodybuilding pics that I've even seen.

[c-sharp]

Mike Francois is my fav. bodybuilder of all time! Hell Yeah!


Mike would CRUSH most of these dudes out there now.


It was a sad day when I heard about his health problems. Glad to hear he is around 220 lbs. Most of the pics. I have seen of him lately it was hard to tell what his physique looked like.


I mention his name on some boards and these young kids don't even know who I am referring to; shame.


Oh yeah, Mike was 5'8" and around 255lbs if I remember correctly. He has little to NO GUT. Some of these guys today could learn a thing or two from Mike.

[ironmike7000]

A buddy of mine trained at the same gym as Mike Francois in Columbus. He said just watching him train was amazing. He said he was as strong as he looks.

[elite01]

guy would surely have won the O one day, no doubt.

[Nate_Dog]

Awsome genetics.... pitty... he could have really gone places.

[retired]

He looked awesome in his last few shows (1997 Arnold Classic and San Jose). He was a hard 260lbs on a 5'8" frame- awesome.

[humpymuscle]

damn, i didn't know that's what happened to him. he was one of the guys who first inspired me to train. then he disappeared. His old pics are still inspirational.

[sir20]

He have beutiful arms and symmetry, anybody have some more pics and maybe even videos of him?
I have a little video clip of him where he is posing to ACDC (thunder) music. very nice.

[DELTA9MDA]

hes in the 97 mr o.

[wael]

yep, he won the night of champions and the arnold, the ironman, etc... he was awesome. my all time favorite. i wrote him a letter years ago and he replied with a hand written letter and an autographed picture. a real class act. he had his large intestine partially removed. saw and article on him not long ago. he is about 220lbs, still looks awesome. and as ape said, an ifbb judge as well.

Mike François never won the ironman, he won four pro contest (Chicago pro 94, NOC94, AC95, san Jose 95), and he was at his best at the AC 95,
And yes he's one of my favorite, actually I think the only one which had realistic chance to beat Ronnie Coleman was Mike, excellent back, bie, tri, chest, deltoids, quad, hams, gluts, calves... most of his body part beat Ronnie if he in his best.

I know he is not too much in touch with bodybuilding right now (I read this in magazines, despite of his contest François classic), but I wish him the best for the rest of his life.

[Cole Trickle]

AWESOME built

[Jack87]

Mike Would have been Mr. Olympia IMO
if he had never gotten sick... He had what
it took to take the title against anyone...
To bad it never played out to see it unfold...