The Uncrowned Mr. Olympia
Kevin Levrone is one of the most highly recognized bodybuilders of all time. Known for his absolutely massive physique and fantastic conditioning, Kevin Levrone has been long regarded as an “uncrowned” Mr. Olympia winner.
Below is a complete breakdown of Kevin Levrone’s profile, stats, biography, training and diet regimens.
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Full Name: Kevin Levrone (Men’s Open Bodybuilder) |
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| Weight | Height | Date Of Birth |
| 240 lbs | 5’11” | 7/16/1964 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Men’s Open Bodybuilding | 1990s, 2000s | American |
Kevin Levrone Biography
Kevin Levrone is an IFBB-certified pro bodybuilder from Baltimore, Maryland. He has won the second most IFBB show titles of all time, behind Ronnie Coleman, with 23 first place finishes. Despite an extremely successful career in bodybuilding spanning almost two decades, he never won the Olympia, leading many fans of the sport to call him “The Uncrowned King.”
Starting off with his personal life, Kevin Levrone lost both of his parents to cancer at a young age. After that, Levrone first took an interest in bodybuilding as a young child. He had an older cousin who was in the military and who inspired him to get into fitness and strength training. He earned his pro card in 1991 at the NPC Finals, and from there it was off to the races.
Levrone began his strong professional IFBB career in 1991 after finishing first in the NPC Finals. He also placed 2nd at the 1992 Mr. Olympia contest, for his first participation, and this was followed by a severe injury in February 1993. Kevin had completely torn his major and minor pectorals while bench-pressing 600 pounds, and the result was that he needed surgery to reattach them. Kevin had ended up undergoing two surgeries, the first one lasted 8 hours, and was to reattach the pectorals. Then while he was healing, Kevin got an infection and he needed a second surgery. It was at this time that everyone thought that Levrone’s career was over, but he only worked harder.
Somehow, he managed to be in contest shape for the 1994 Mr. Olympia only eight weeks later, and placed 3rd, which is remarkable for being post surgery. Kevin had placed 2nd at Mr. Olympia four times, in 1992 and 1995, right on the heels of 6 time Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates, and then was right on the heels of 8 time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman in 2000 and 2002.
Levrone never officially retired from bodybuilding and instead gradually distanced himself from the sport. His most recent appearance was on the Mr. Olympia 2016 stage when he was offered a special invitation to compete, and came back like he had never left.
Competition History
Let’s take a look at the extensive competition history of Kevin Levrone:
- 1991 Junior Nationals – NPC, HeavyWeight, 2nd place
- 1991 Nationals – NPC, HeavyWeight, 1st place
- 1991 Nationals – NPC, Overall Winner
- 1992 Grand Prix Germany, 1st place
- 1992 Grand Prix England, 2nd place
- 1992 Chicago Pro Invitational, 3rd place
- 1992 Night of Champions, 1st place
- 1992 Mr. Olympia, 2nd place
- 1993 Grand Prix France, 5th place
- 1993 Grand Prix Finland, 2nd place
- 1993 Grand Prix Spain, 3rd place
- 1993 Grand Prix Germany, 1st place
- 1993 Mr. Olympia, 5th place
- 1993 Grand Prix England, 3rd place
- 1994 San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st place
- 1994 Grand Prix France (2), 1st place
- 1994 Grand Prix Italy, 1st place
- 1994 Arnold Classic, 1st place
- 1994 Mr. Olympia, 3rd place
- 1994 Grand Prix Spain, 2nd place
- 1994 Grand Prix Germany, 2nd place
- 1994 Grand Prix England, 2nd place
- 1995 Mr. Olympia, 2nd place
- 1995 Grand Prix Spain, 1st place
- 1995 Grand Prix Germany, 1st place
- 1995 Grand Prix England, 2nd place
- 1995 Grand Prix Russia, 1st place
- 1996 San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st place
- 1996 Arnold Classic, 1st place
- 1996 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st place
- 1996 Mr. Olympia, 3rd place
- 1996 Grand Prix Spain, 3rd place
- 1996 Grand Prix Germany, 4th place
- 1996 Grand Prix England, 4th place
- 1996 Grand Prix Czech Republic, 2nd place
- 1996 Grand Prix Switzerland, 3rd place
- 1996 Grand Prix Russia, 5th place
- 1997 Arnold Classic, 8th place
- 1997 Mr. Olympia, 4th place
- 1997 Grand Prix Hungary, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix Spain, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix Germany, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix England, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix Czech Republic, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix Finland, 1st place
- 1997 Grand Prix Russia, 2nd place
- 1998 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st place
- 1998 Toronto Pro Invitational, 2nd place
- 1998 Night of Champions, 2nd place
- 1998 Mr. Olympia, 4th place
- 1998 Grand Prix Germany, 2nd place
- 1998 Grand Prix Finland, 2nd place
- 1999 Arnold Classic, 2nd place
- 1999 Mr. Olympia, 4th place
- 1999 World Pro Championships, 3rd place
- 1999 Grand Prix England, 3rd place
- 2000 Arnold Classic, 3rd place
- 2000 Mr. Olympia, 2nd place
- 2001 Mr. Olympia, 3rd place
- 2001 Grand Prix England, 1st place
- 2002 Arnold Classic, 5th place
- 2002 Grand Prix Australia, 4th place
- 2002 Mr. Olympia, 2nd place
- 2003 Arnold Classic, 5th place
- 2003 Mr. Olympia, 6th place
- 2003 Show of Strengths Pro Championship, 3rd place
- 2016 Mr. Olympia, 16th place
As you can see, Kevin Levrone is a seasoned veteran when it comes to bodybuilding, racking up numerous titles throughout his career.
Training of Kevin Levrone
Being that Kevin Levrone competed at the professional level, and was a front runner at the Mr. Olympia for a number of years, his training was very intense, and it was fairly unique. For starters, Kevin Levrone trained using a push/pull/legs split, with lower repetitions, often staying in the 6-8 rep range on his working sets. He also trained with a ridiculous amounts of set volume.
Here is what his days would look like:
Monday and Friday: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (Push Day)
- Flat barbell bench press- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Incline barbell bench press- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Machine press- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Cable crossovers- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Dumbbell press- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Lateral raises- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Shrugs– 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Close grip bench press- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Skull crushers- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
Tuesday and Saturday: Legs and Abs
- Hack squats- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Leg curls- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Leg press- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Standing calf raises- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Seated calf raises- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Cable crunches- 4 sets of 25 reps
- Leg raises- 4 sets of 15 reps
Wednesday and Sunday: Back and Biceps (Pull day)
- Straight-arm cable pulldowns- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- T-bar rows- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Bent-over dumbbell rows- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Seated cable rows- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Machine rows- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Incline dumbbell curls- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Dumbbell curls- 4 sets of 6-8 reps
- Preacher curls- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Cable curls- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Kevin would often utilize sets till failure on his last working set, and he would only take 1-2 minutes in between sets as a rest period, he also uses a lot of basic exercises.
When Kevin was asked about his favorite and most preferred exercises, his answer was pretty simple and straightforward. Amongst his favorite exercises, he named the big compound movements, which include bench press, bent-over rows, and squats; which are exercises you saw a lot of in the Golden Era, when guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger were dominating the stage.
While Kevin’s favorite exercises may just seem like basic exercises, that’s pretty much what his point is. Levrone believes in the effectiveness of performing basic exercises to derive both strength and hypertrophy gains.
Diet
While training regimens certainly are important to crafting a massive and shredded physique that comes even remotely close to Levrone’s, diet is just as important to progression.
Unsurprisingly, Kevin prefers eating a very strict diet, without cheat meals, hence the reason he came in extremely conditioned and ready to go at each show. He is actually famous for his “growing into a show” tactic which he used when preparing for upcoming competitions, and this is not a very popular tactic in the bodybuilding community. It involves dropping body fat while packing on muscle mass, and is very hard to do. So instead of the standard bulking and cutting routine that usually goes for an entire year, Kevin grew over the several months before the show, but also cut down.
Here is what Kevin would typically eat in a day when getting ready for a show:
- Meal 1 – 10 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 1/2 oatmeal
- Meal 2 – 1 cup cooked rice, 12 oz fish
- Meal 3 – 1 cup cooked rice, 12 oz chicken breast
- Meal 4 – 1 cup cooked rice, 12 oz fish
- Meal 5 – 1 cup cooked rice, 12 oz fish
- Meal 6 – 12 egg whites (sometimes Steak)
As you can see, there is a good amount of protein, and not an overabundance of carbs and fat, and this is part of the reason he came in so ripped and massive at every show.
Life Outside of Bodybuilding
Since ending his competition career, Levrone enjoys playing other sports like tennis and golf, and he has also acted in several films as well as being a bit of a musician. Levrone released an online training platform in early 2016, naming it TeamLevrone.com. But earlier in 2015, he released a supplement line called, “Kevin Levrone Signature Series”.
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