Charles Poliquin Has Unexpectedly Passed Away At Age 57

It is with deepest sympathy for the Poliquin family, that we at Muscle Insider announce that Charles Poliquin has passed by an apparent heart attack. Charles is survived by his daughter Krystal, and his brothers and sisters. The shocking news was posted on his official Facebook page in both English and in French. He was 57 years old. 

Having trained more than 800 Olympians and medalists in over 22 disciplines, Charles was a world renowned strength coach, known to many as “The Strength Sensei”. He was very well known for popularizing German Volume Training, and hypertrophy for occlusion benefits, and just simply developing amazing athletes. He’s known for and didn’t shy away from challenging techniques backed by science. 

Poliquin was arguably one of the most influential strength coaches in professional sports having published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals of exercise science and strength and conditioning. His training theories were introduced to the bodybuilding community in 1993 through his articles for Muscle Media 2000 magazine, and thereafter in 1998 through the online and print versions of Testosterone Magazine. He later came to write for us here at Muscle Insider. He became a regular contributor in our print magazine and was an online columnist, writing many of our early articles in his column “Poliquin Principles”. You can see samples of his work here.

Additionally, he is the author of eight books, many of which have been translated into 12 different languages, including Swedish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Japanese. His first book, The Poliquin Principles formatted a basic summary of his training methods and provided insight into the training regimens of some of the world's top athletes.

Charles was just an incredible trainer and humanitarian, whose heart was not only in making people healthier, but making lives better. He was a strong supporter and advocate for Destiny Rescue. An organization who’s mission is to Rescue, Restore, Protect, Empower and be a Voice for the Voiceless. Their vision is to see the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children end in our lifetime. Charles had an amazingly generous heart as he’s been known to match contributions to this charity. 

Charles will be deeply missed among the bodybuilding and fitness community.