Michael Francois – Complete Profile, Workout And Diet

Michael Francois is a retired IFBB Pro bodybuilder from the USA. His career can be best explained as a short-lived but extremely bright spark in the vast realm of bodybuilding. Francois competed in the 1990s era of bodybuilding and he is best known for beating Flex Wheeler to win the 1995 Arnold Classic title. This is his complete profile, biography, workout, diet, and statistics.

Michael Francois (Bodybuilder)

Born: March 4, 1965
Birthplace: Cascade, Iowa, USA
Residence: Westerville, Ohio, USA
Nickname: The Beast from the East
Height: 5′ 8″ (173 cm)
Competition Weight: 235 lbs (107 kg)
Off-Season Weight: 270 lbs (122 kg)
Arms: 22″ ( 56 cm)
Chest: 60″ (152 cm)
Legs: 31″ (79 cm)
Calves: 21″ (53 cm)

Michael Francois Biography

Early Life

Michael Francois, popularly known as Mike Francois in the bodybuilding world was born on March 4, 1965, in Iowa, USA. He was one of the nine children and the seventh youngest sibling. While growing up, he started lifting weights to gain strength and improve his performance in football, wrestling, and track.

“I played every sport that was available to me growing up, baseball, football, wrestling, basketball, and track and field. So, athletics and staying fit was always something that was a natural part of my life.”

After graduating from high school in 1983, Michael entered a pre-seminary program at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987. Francois continued to pursue sports during his college days as well and he was on the verge of getting a scholarship to play football at Iowa State.

However, destiny had something else in the store and Micahel Francois suffered a ligament tear during the seventh game of his senior year. His hopes to continue with his athletic career in football died with this injury as ligament tears were not easily fixed back in the day.

Studying to become a catholic priest

Dejected and trying to find answers to his inner questions, the young boy from Iowa started introspecting and found solace in spirituality. Soon after his senior year, Francois felt a calling to serve God as a Catholic priest. He then relocated to Columbus, Ohio to attend the Pontifical College Josephinum where he was studying to become a Roman Catholic priest.

After graduating from college in 1987, Francois was assigned to theological graduate studies at the Josephinum Seminary. Becoming a priest is an eight-year process and the Iowa native had four more years to go. He continued to train during this time but had no clue that a future in bodybuilding awaited him.

During the seventh year, Michael met his future wife and decided to get married. This meant he could not become a priest as they could not marry.

“It wasn’t the easiest of decisions to make and it took a lot of time, prayer, and counseling. Now, of course, I can’t imagine what life would have been like had I not made that decision.”

But once Michael Francois left the Seminary, he had a lot of time to train and decided to try his hand at competitive bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding Career

In 1990, Michael Francois stepped on the competitive bodybuilding stage for the first time and it became evident that he was there to stay. He became the 1990 Mr. Ohio heavyweight and overall champion, winning two more competitions in the subsequent years.

Francois became popular among bodybuilding fans after winning the amateur Musclemania competition. The Iowa native had muscle maturity and density that far exceeded his age. 

The veteran bodybuilder continued to build momentum over the next three years and ended up becoming the 1993 NPC National Championships overall winner while dominating the competition in the heavyweight division as well. He earned the IFBB Pro card with the win and made his professional bodybuilding debut at the 1994 IFBB Chicago Pro Invitational.

His first pro win also came at the same show and Francois started dominating the pro bodybuilding scene with increasingly dominant showings. He won the 1994 IFBB Night of Champions next and beat the legendary Flex Wheeler at the 1995 Arnold Classic to take home the trophy.

Francois scored his final victory at the 1995 San Jose Invitational. He made his Olympia debut that same year and surged into the top seven by defeating several tough competitors.

Unfortunately, this marked the high-water mark of Michael Francois’ professional career as he could not repeat the success he found up to that point.

Francois had become a highly-touted prospect heading into the 1996 Mr. Olympia and most people expected him to do better than the previous year. However, he finished eleventh at the show, suffering a four-spot skid.

The veteran bodybuilder later admitted that he had abandoned the bodybuilding principles that helped him grow and overtrained to an extent where his physique no longer looked like the one he brought in the previous year’s Olympia.

“I was at my worst as far as hardness and that, I may have been as hard as I’ve ever been but as far as fullness and everything – which plays a large part in hardness – I was at my worst. So I just overdid things and didn’t do them right.”

Francois made several adjustments with his coach Chris Aceto in the next year’s Olympia but unfortunately, he ended up at the eleventh spot again.

Health scare and retirement from professional bodybuilding

Michael Francois had tremendous potential as a professional bodybuilder and would probably have done great things if he stuck around a little bit longer. However, a severe case of ulcerative colitis cut his career short and Francois could not return to competition after the 1997 Mr. Olympia.

According to him, it took a while for him to realize that he had a health condition. Michael Francois doubts that the health problems might have started as far back as 1996 and he became fully aware of it beyond any room for doubt while preparing for the 1997 Mr. Olympia.

“It became very evident and debilitating in the Fall of 1997 in my prep for the Mr. O. Without going into too much detail, I was hospitalized 3 weeks prior to the O in 1997. I kept it completely quiet from everyone except my wife. I didn’t want Weider (my contract) or the judges to find out.”

Michael went ahead and competed at the 1997 Mr. Olympia anyway. However, the results were reflective of his poor health. He started aggressive medication and other treatment to try and get better and he was even cleared to compete at the 1998 Arnold Classic.

Unfortunately, things went down south a week before the show. Francois had to be hospitalized and his colon was removed later. He spent a long time in the hospital and had several near-death experiences during this time. But with the doctors’ efforts, he made a full recovery.

However, the health scare put a full stop to Michael Francois’s bodybuilding career as he could no longer endure the bodybuilding lifestyle.

Life after retirement

Michael Francois used his bodybuilding knowledge to start the next phase of his professional life. He now works as a certified personal trainer. He specializes in formulating customized training and nutrition plans for a wide variety of clients.

He is also a published author and has written several bodybuilding, training, and fitness-related articles in Muscle & Fitness, Flex, and other magazines. Francois was also a host of ESPN’s American Muscle Magazine.

Reflecting on his bodybuilding career, Michael Francois feels that it was like a cherry on the cake as he had never imagined becoming a  professional bodybuilder.

Competition History

• 1990 Mr. Ohio (Amateur), Heavyweight – 1st place and overall winner
• 1991 Musclemania (Amateur), Heavyweight – 1st place and overall winner
• 1993 USA Championships, Heavyweight – 3rd place
• 1993 NPC National Championships, Heavyweight – 1st place and overall winner
• 1994 IFBB Chicago Pro Invitational – 1st place
• 1994 IFBB Night of Champions – 1st place
• 1995 IFBB Arnold Classic – 1st place
• 1995 IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational – 1st place
• 1995 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 7th place
• 1996 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 11th place
• 1997 IFBB Arnold Classic – 3rd place
• 1997 IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational – 3rd place
• 1997 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 11th place

Michael Francois Workout

Michael Francois started his training journey by himself but then collaborated with many people who helped him reach the next level of development. Before turning pro, the Iowa native worked with fellow former Mr. Ohio winner Greg Greenzalis. He taught Francois several bodybuilding lessons.

Michael Francois’s back stood out as the most improved part of his physique at the peak of his career. During the initial years of training with Greenzalis, he did not do a lot of deadlifts and relied primarily on variations of rowing exercises. 

However, that changed in the years that followed. Francois soundly defeated Fle Wheeler to win the Arnold Classic title, and his back was perceived to be one of the biggest factors in this victory. Speaking about his progression in this area, the retired bodybuilder explained:

“Great memories for me! I concur; my back was definitely a body part that needed a lot of attention (along with a lot of other body parts) early on. You hit it on the head with the progress I made while at Westside. Louis really knew what I needed to do to enhance both the thickness and width of my back.”

Francois did a lot of deadlifting, employing different variations like lifting off the floor, out of the rack, box pulls, and sumo deadlifts, among others. All the while, he also paid attention to other horizontal and vertical pulling exercises like lat pulldowns, seated rows, pull-ups, etc. The veteran bodybuilder swears about the benefits of deadlifts and advises young bodybuilders to start doing this exercise to develop their back.

At the peak of his career, Michael Francois lifted extremely heavy weights but the focus always remained on getting bigger, stronger, and building an aesthetically pleasing physique. In hindsight, he feels lucky to not have suffered any major injuries considering the amount of weight he was lifting.

The 1995 Arnold Classic winner worked with famed bodybuilding coach Chris Aceto for a large chunk of his bodybuilding career and the duo developed a great rapport. Francois was amazed by Aceto’s simple approach to bodybuilding training and subsequently, he took that same approach with his clients after retiring from competitive bodybuilding.

Preferred exercises and training split

Here is the arms, chest, and back workout that Michael Francois followed while preparing for the 1997 Mr. Olympia:

• Bench Press
• Seated Chest Press on Iso-lateral Plate-loaded Machine
• Incline Chest Flyes
• Close-Grip Seated Cable Rows
• Rope Triceps Pushdowns
• Biceps Curls

Although Michael Francois’ full training split is not available, here is the list of his preferred mass-building exercises for each body part:

• Chest – Incline Bench Press with a 30-degree incline
• Upper back – Wide Grip Seated Cable Rows
• Biceps – Barbell Curls, Hammer Curls
• Triceps – Skullcrushers and Close-Grip Bench Press
• Vastus Medialis / Tear Drop – Leg Press with lower feet position on the sled
• Quad Sweep – Heel Elevated Front Squats
• Posterior Deltoids – Reverse Pec Deck Flyes or Cable Rear Delt Flyes
• Calves – Standing Calf Raises

Michael Francois Diet

Michael Francois was known as an eating machine during the peak of his bodybuilding career. He began focusing on eating clean foods and following a strict diet since high school as his goal was to be as good of an athlete as he could be.

Francois realized that eating high-quality food would give him a better chance at being that and he never went off the track in this department. As a result, following a bodybuilding diet, which many consider to be the toughest part of a bodybuilding lifestyle, was never a challenge for him:

“I was hungry many many times, but the urge to cheat or go off the diet was never tempting for me. I had a goal and I wasn’t going to let food or hunger stand in the way of me achieving my goals.”

Throughout his bodybuilding career, Michael Francois followed a five-meals-a-day diet plan as anything more than that was too much for him. During the bulking phase, he ate approximately 6000 calories each day and cut down from that for the rest of the year.

As far as protein intake was concerned, the 1995 Arnold Classic winner tried to consume between 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Although Francois never went on a zero-carb diet during his bodybuilding career, he kept the carbohydrate intake to a bare minimum, 150 to 350, during competition prep. He increased the carb intake, but ever so slightly, during the off-season.

Personal Life

In the third year of the 4-year program at the Josephinum, Michael Francois met a girl, Shannan, and their friendship grew into love. After much prayer and guidance, Michael and Shannan decided to pursue the relationship and they married in 1991. While speaking about her role in shaping his life and career, Francois once said:

“My wife has been the largest part of where I am today. Not only my personal life but also as far as bodybuilding goes. I might have made many mistakes in life in general had she not been there. So she’s been the definite largest factor in where I am.”

To Conclude…

Some of the results in Michael Francois’ short-lived bodybuilding career were so promising that the sudden ending makes him one of the biggest ‘What If’s in bodybuilding history. Although we will never find out how far he could’ve gone if the health condition did not pull him down, the legacy Francois created in the short span speaks volumes about his potential.

 

Michael Francois Gallery

---