If Arnold Schwarzenegger weren't a bodybuilding legend, then what would he have become? It's hard to imagine him as anything else, but apparently, there is an answer to that.

Last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on This Past Weekend with Theo Von and talked about his life story, mindset, and lessons he learned from his multiple careers. Their conversation then shifted towards how Schwarzenegger challenged the expectations to fulfill his dreams of becoming a bodybuilder.

"I was rebellious in a way because I mean, think about it. Soccer and track and field, they were kind of like the in sports. But when I was exposed to weightlifting and to powerlifting and to bodybuilding, I fell in love with that."

Growing up, the athletic environment in Austria revolved around mainstream sports like soccer and track and field. But Schwarzenegger found himself drawn towards bodybuilding, a discipline that was widely unknown in his environment.

The key point was when he saw stars like Reg Park and Steve Reeves on screen. The young Schwarzenegger was captivated by their physical power and cinematic presence. Watching their films triggered a shift in ambition, and that's when he decided that he wanted to build a physique like theirs and use it as a gateway into movies.

He recalls seeing a photograph of Reg Park holding his Mr. Universe trophy in London.

"I saw that picture, it was like him holding the trophy and flexing his bicep. And then I said to myself, can you imagine if this is me? I'm going to make this me. And so that's what I was training for."

From then on, the Austrian Oak started training every day for two to three hours. After school, he started doing 500 sit-ups while having lunch.

How do training partners help bodybuilders grow?

Although bodybuilding is an individual sport, Arnold Schwarzenegger shed new light on the sport by emphasizing the role of training partners.

"Even though it is a sport that you are on your own, but in the end, you still rely on your training partners. I was very fortunate always that I had the mentality of being able to attract the best training partners. So I had guys that were as hungry as I was because that's the important thing."

According to Schwarzenegger, having a training partner to compete with, who counts your reps and pushes you to go the extra mile, is always a blessing.

Historically, Arnie trained with some of the best bodybuilders during his time, most notably Franco Columbu, who was also his best friend. Apart from him, he trained with veterans like Frank Zane, Dave Draper, Ric Drasin, Jusup Wilkosz, and Mike Sapp.

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Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil