Who was Andreas Munzer? One of the leanest and most vascular bodybuilders ever

Austrian bodybuilding sensation Andreas Munzer is often considered one of the leanest bodybuilders the sport has ever witnessed. He made a big name for himself in the sport before passing away in 1996.

The standards of a good physique have evolved over the years in the sport of bodybuilding. Even though the initial years of the sport favored athletes who were more conditioned, the focus shifted towards more muscle mass during the early 90s.

Born in October 1964, Andreas Munzer was often considered to have almost zero percent body fat. Making a name for himself in the pro bodybuilding scene, he emerged as a strong candidate in the 1980s. With a paper-thin skin, Munzer weighed in at around 200 lbs.

Training sincerely for a decade or so, Andreas Munzer managed to put on around 20 lbs of muscle mass in the next few years. He perfectly maintained his shreds and striated look while doing so. Born just 30 miles away from Arnold Schwarzenegger's village Thal, bodybuilding became the only escape for Munzer during his tough childhood years.

Andreas Munzer's mentor

Soon after making a name for himself in the sport, Andreas Munzer met Albert Busek. He was also one of the first promoters of bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. Busek helped Munzer get into the limelight and ultimately led him to the cover of the popular bodybuilding magazine Flex Magazine in 1990.

Even though most athletes gain back a few pounds of fat after a show, Munzer managed to maintain his shreds year-round. Unfortunately, this might have been the reason behind his sad demise later in 1996.

The sport of bodybuilding involves using a lot of performance-enhancing drugs, diuretics, and other compounds to achieve freaky size and unreal body fat percentages. After abusing multiple drugs for years and years, Munzer's body finally gave up. His autopsy reports show that the reason behind his death was multiple organ failure (via ABC News). While a healthy male requires at least 3% body fat to survive, Munzer's reports reveals that he was at almost zero percent body fat.

Dying at the young age of 31, Andreas Munzer's last bodybuilding show was eight days before his death. Competing at the 1996 San Jose Pro, Munzer secured the seventh position in the contest. Months prior to the show, Munzer had complaints regarding severe abdominal pain. However, ignoring all this, Munzer still decided to step on the stage for San Jose Pro.

On March 12, three days after his last show, Munzer was admitted to a hospital to save his organs from hemorrhaging. Unfortunately, he was declared dead by the hospital staff on March 14 due to multiple organ failure.

Despite his death years ago, Munzer remains to be one of the most iconic bodybuilders of all time. Often considered as the human anatomy chart, Munzer truly depicted the most shredded and vascular physique ever on a bodybuilding stage.