Mike Sommerfeld discussed a “very rare” gene disease that he has dealt with since he was 24 years old.
Mike Sommerfeld has emerged as one of the biggest competitors in Classic Physique moving forward. He finished as the runner-up to Chris Bumstead during the 2024 Olympia. Following the event, he opened up about a rare disease that he has suffered from since the beginning of his career.
“This is called Porphyria Variegata. It is very rare so 0.0000001 percent of people have this type of gene sickness and these people mostly live in South Africa.”
Sommerfeld competed at the amateur level in 2014 and burst onto the scene in the IFBB in 2019. That year, he competed at the Romania Pro. Following his debut, Sommerfeld’s progress was swift and impressive. He soon entered a number of professional competitions, steadily improving his rankings. His hard work paid off with wins at events such as the Xtreme Bodybuilding & Fitness Pro and the Poland Pro Supershow.
The hard work and dedication for Sommerfeld has paid off and this put him on the biggest stage next to Bumstead.
Mike Sommerfeld Opens Up About Rare Disease
Mike Sommerfeld joined RXMuscle to open up about this rare disease he suffers from. He discovered it when he was 24 at the beginning of his bodybuilding career.
“I am literally one in a million here in Europe and the first time I really noticed it was in 2018 when I turned Pro. I was walking outside in the sun and my skin started to burn, like almost chemically, super bad, super painful. I was 24.”
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“I didn’t realize what it is and I was starting to scratch my skin and I noticed that I had my skin like pulling off everywhere and my skin was like paper. I could just pull it off and nobody knew what it is.”
Sommerfeld continued to explain what the disease was:
“Every time my body is producing hemoglobin and blood cells, there is some toxin that builds up and my liver has to filter it but at that stage, six years ago in prep, low foods, hard diet, it went really crazy.”
Sommerfeld ended by explaining how this impacts his prep for competitions. He has to adjust what he does over the final month but he has perfected this process at this point of his career. Mike Sommerfeld looks like he will be a force in Classic Physique for years to come.
“Right in the end, we are not pushing any hard drugs or orals. We try to get ready early, like 3-4 weeks out and then just cruising and taking pressure off, doing less cardio, less intense workouts, better sleep. Just making sure I am ready early.”
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