A bodybuilding legend just met the sport's newest star. Sam Sulek joined Arnold Schwarzenegger for a back workout at the iconic Gold's Gym. The session was more than a workout; it was a masterclass from the seven-time Mr. Olympia.

This larger-than-life moment for Sulek became reality in 2025 during the FUBAR Season 2 premiere in Los Angeles, when Schwarzenegger joined the emerging bodybuilder for a back workout.

On April 10, the official Instagram account of Arnold Sports posted a short clip of the moment with the caption, “@schwarzenegger and @sam_sulek join forces for a back workout💪.”

The back workout session contained only 3 major movements, which are:

• Lat Pulldowns
• Pullover Machine
• Seated Cable Row

Expressing his experience, Sulek posted the same video on his YouTube channel on June 14, 2025. In that he described the moment as “absolutely surreal, incredibly grateful we were able to line this up, he’ll be back.”

Sulek came into the spotlight through his Instagram and YouTube videos, where he shared training content. He has also built a massive audience of more than 7 million on Instagram and 4 million on YouTube. He earned his IFBB Pro card in early 2025. And this year, he debuted at the Arnold Classic in the Classic Physique division, placing 8th.

The session was not limited to workouts. The Austrian Oak also shared his wisdom with the young bodybuilder.

During the session, Sulek told the bodybuilding legend that pro bodybuilders have warned him about lifting too much weight. So he asked, “Where’s the sweet spot?”

In response, Schwarzenegger said, “There’s no sweet spot. Because everyone trains differently, and everyone’s body requires a different method.

The body doesn’t matter, as long as you go all out and give it as much resistance. The resistance can come from the reps, or it can come from the weight; it doesn’t matter.”

And the legend also said, “Remember, too heavy is not heavy enough.”

Although he does not use very heavy weights due to age, during his golden age, Schwarzenegger was a strong believer in heavy-weight training. According to him, to build impressive muscle, one must train with heavy weights.

This was not all. The session became even more thrilling and exciting when 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman joined the moment while on the way out.

While Sulek did not win the 2026 Arnold Classic, these sessions and aggressions from the legends will definitely help him in his future competitions.

However, the biggest question now is whether he will participate in Mr. Olympia 2026 or if he is planning to appear at Mr. Olympia any time soon. He himself revealed this during his appearance with Chris Williamson.

Sam Sulek talks about Mr. Olympia

On September 15, 2025, on the podcast, Sulek discussed his future goals. He said, “That’s one thing I’ll bring up because guys will ask me, ‘Are you going to move to Open?’ or it’s ‘can’t wait to see as Mr. Olympia’ as though that’s the track that I’m on.”

And in response, he clarified that, as of now, he has no intention of participating in Mr. Olympia and is interested in staying in the Classic division. Sulek is now fully focused on his content creation and on gaining more size.

He said, “It’s more so what am I willing to do that adds to this whole thing with bodybuilding that will take me a certain degree of distance? Because if you’re. a top-level Olympia competitor, that comes with its own things.

Actually, the bigger I’ve gotten, the more I’ve started to be content with the size I already am.”

So, Sulek’s journey highlights that modern bodybuilding success is all about balancing performance and influence while learning from icons and personal goals.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil