Friends, good day! We invite you on a fascinating journey through the history of bodybuilding! In this new series of articles, we’ll be exploring legendary athletes who made an invaluable contribution to the development of this sport. We’ll explore their biographies, training methods, and secrets to success, and discover how they became bodybuilding icons. And we’ll begin, of course, with Arnold Schwarzenegger - the man who not only built an incredible physique but also changed the perception of bodybuilding as a whole!
Mister Olympia trophy
A General History of Bodybuilding
At the end of the 19th century, the world experienced a renaissance in the cult of a healthy and strong body. Strongmen, demonstrating incredible strength with kettlebells and barbells, took center stage. These athletes sold out arenas, performing in circuses and delighting spectators. In Great Britain, the image of the «athlete» became associated with the ideal of the «gentleman.» It was during this time that weightlifting, later incorporated into the Olympic Games, emerged.
One of the most outstanding bodybuilders of that era was Eugen Sandow (Eugene Sandow), a European of Russian descent. He amazed audiences with his unique feats of strength. For example, standing in a half-bridge, he lifted a wooden beam holding a horse, and also performed backflips with two 24 kg kettlebells in each hand. For his outstanding achievements, Sandow was awarded the honorary title of «His Majesty’s Professor of Physical Culture» by the King of England. At the beginning of the 20th century, Sandow moved to America, where he actively promoted a sport new to the country. Thanks to his efforts, athletic competitions began to be held in the United States, with Sandow himself presenting awards to the winners, who were recognized by journalists as the strongest man in the world.
Eugene Sandow
Interesting fact: The Mr. Olympia trophy features Eugen Sandow considered the founder of modern bodybuilding. The Sandow statue, depicting a nude athlete holding a round barbell, became the tournament’s top prize in 1977, paying tribute to the great athlete.
The Origin of Bodybuilding
American entrepreneur Bernarr Macfadden played a significant role in popularizing bodybuilding. In the late 19th century, he began publishing the magazine «Physical Culture,» and in the early 20th century, he organized the «Best-Built Man in America» contest, which contributed to the development of interest in athletics.
- Beginning in the 1920s, changes occurred in athletics. Previously, strength athletes were often overweight and fat. However, a new ideal of the athlete gradually began to emerge toned, muscular, with clearly defined muscle groups. The primary goal of athleticism became the harmonious development of the body. Athletes began to focus less on strength feats and more on body proportions and parameters.
- In 1939, the first Amateur Athletic Union was organized in the United States, and by 1940, the first bodybuilding competitions were held, marking the birth of modern bodybuilding. During this period, strength training diverged into two areas: weightlifting for strength development and weightlifting for harmonious and proportional body development.
John Grimek
One of the most prominent representatives of the second area was American John Grimek. He became famous for his demonstration performances, where he posed on stage for 40 minutes, captivating the audience. Grimek won the title of «Mr. America» several times.
Bodybuilding, which originated in Europe, migrated to America, where it was called «bodybuilding.» However, Europe was destined to make a new contribution to the history of physique perfection, and that contribution was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Having begun training at the age of 15, he achieved incredible results within just a few years. In 1967 and 1968, he won the Mr. Universe title in Europe, and in 1969, he won two similar competitions – in London and New York. In 1970, he reclaimed his title and added victory in the prestigious 1970 Mr. Olympia competition. Schwarzenegger held this title for six years, being recognized as the undefeated world champion. His participation in Hollywood blockbusters increased his popularity and had a huge influence on the development of bodybuilding. The film «Pumping Iron,» in which Schwarzenegger played the lead role, turned him into a global star and popularized bodybuilding.
At this time, new bodybuilding stars emerged, such as Bill Pearl, Sergio Oliva, Serge Nabre, and Lou Ferrigno. However, Arnold Schwarzenegger remains the most popular bodybuilder in the world, despite his political career and departure from sports and film.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: A World-Class Legend!
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a bodybuilding legend, born on July 30, 1947, in Austria. His official website: http://www.schwarzenegger.com.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s anthropometric data is impressive:
- Height: 187 cm
- Chest: 145 cm
- Competition weight: 107 kg
- Off-season weight: 118 kg
- Waist: 86 cm
- Thigh: 72 cm
- Biceps: 56 cm
- Calf: 51 cm
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s strength statistics are also impressive:
- Bench press: 227 kg
- Squat: 248 kg
- Deadlift: 323 kg
- Total (bench, squat, deadlift): 798 kg
These data demonstrate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s outstanding physical attributes and strength capabilities, which made him one of the most famous and successful bodybuilders in history.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Participation in Bodybuilding Championships:
From 1965 to 1980, Arnold Schwarzenegger competed in various prestigious bodybuilding competitions, demonstrating outstanding results. Below is a chronology of his performances:
- 1965: Mr. Europe (Junior), Stuttgart – 1st place
- 1966: Mr. Universe-NABBA, London – 2nd place
- 1967: Mr. Universe-NABBA, London – 1st place
- 1968: Mr. Universe-IFBB, Miami – 2nd place
- 1968: Mr. Universe-Pro-NABBA, London – 1st place
- 1969: Mr. Europe-IFBB, Essen – 1st place
- 1969: Mr. International-IFBB – 1st place
- 1969: Mr. Olympia, New York – 2nd place
- 1969: Mr. Universe-IFBB, London – 1st place
- 1969: Mr. Universe-Pro-NABBA, London – 1st place
- 1970: Mr. Olympia, New York – 1st place
- 1970: Mr. Universe Pro-NABBA, London – 1st place
- 1970: Mr. World, Columbus, Ohio – 1st place
- 1971: Mr. Olympia, Paris – 1st place
- 1972: Mr. Olympia, Essen, Germany – 1st place
- 1973: Mr. Olympia, New York – 1st place
- 1974: Mr. Olympia, New York – 1st place
- 1975: Mr. Olympia, Pretoria, South Africa – 1st place
- 1980: Mr. Olympia, Sydney, Australia – 1st place
Arnold Schwarzenneger: Biography
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, in the trading community of Thal, near Graz, the capital of Styria, to Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907–1972) and Aurelia Schwarzenegger, née Jadrny (1922–1998). His parents married in 1945 and were Catholic, attending church every Sunday. Arnold was the youngest son; his older brother, Meinhard, was born in 1946. The Schwarzenegger family name comes from the Swiss village of Schwarzenegger.
The Schwarzenegger family history is unique. After the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, Gustav Schwarzenegger joined the Nazi Party and the SA. During the war, he served in the Feldgendarmerie and participated in the siege of Leningrad, where he was wounded. According to Arnold, in the documentary miniseries «Arnold» (2023), his father lay under the rubble of a collapsed house for three days during the war and suffered PTSD.
After denazification, Gustav Schwarzenegger was allowed to serve as the local police chief because no evidence of his involvement in war crimes was found. The family lived modestly, and buying a refrigerator was one of Arnold’s most vivid childhood memories.
Arnold described the Austria of his childhood as a poor country reeling from the aftermath of war. In his book «Total Recall,» he wrote that he was born «in the year of the great famine.»
Arnold’s relationship with his family was complicated. His parents prioritized conformity over individuality, which provoked resentment in young Arnold, who always dreamed of wealth and fame1. Under his father’s influence, Arnold began playing football, but at 14, he chose a career in bodybuilding, inspired by Reg Park, Steve Reeves, and Johnny Weissmuller, whom he had seen in films. In 2001, Schwarzenegger said his father wanted him to become a police officer like him, while his mother suggested going into retail.
At 14, Arnold was greatly influenced by the victory of Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov and his personal encounter with him. He hung a photo of Vlasov in his home, which sparked a conflict with his father. In 1961, Vlasov, while attending the World Weightlifting Championships in Vienna, met the young Arnold, wishing him success and offering him moral support. Vlasov’s performance inspired Arnold, and he trained in weightlifting for several years before switching to bodybuilding.
Arnold trained daily at the Liebenauer Gym in Graz, even on weekends when the club was closed, climbing through a window using a stepladder.
In 1971, Arnold’s brother, Meinhard, died in a drunk driving accident. Arnold did not attend his brother’s funeral, learning of his death three days later. Meinhard left behind a three-year-old son, Patrick, whose education Arnold later paid for and helped emigrate to the United States. In 1972, Gustav Schwarzenegger died of a stroke. Arnold was unable to attend his father’s funeral due to knee surgery (see A. Schwarzenegger. Total Recall: My Incredibly True Story).
Military Service
In 1965, at the age of eighteen, Arnold Schwarzenegger was drafted into the Austrian army for a year of service, where he was trained as a driver-mechanic for the M47 Patton II tank. Remarkably, he was assigned to this position, despite it typically being filled by men over 21. It was in the army that Arnold first began eating meat daily.
During his service, he competed in the junior Mr. Europe competition and won. He left his unit without permission to participate in the competition, for which he was arrested for between two weeks and two months (according to various sources). Schwarzenegger himself, in his book, «The Education of a Bodybuilder,» claims to have spent one week in solitary confinement, after which he was given two days’ leave, as the officers felt his victory enhanced the army’s prestige. Contrary to popular belief, this competition was not his competitive debut; His first performance took place two years earlier at a lesser-known competition in Graz, where Arnold placed second.
Schwarzenegger said he found time and space to train even during field training, which lasted several weeks. He built a barbell from scrap materials and stored it in a tank.
He recalled: «I made great progress early in my training when I was serving in the Austrian army and was very busy. During six-week maneuvers along the Czechoslovakian border, I had to drive a tank fifteen hours a day, pump fuel with a hand pump, wrestle with huge fuel barrels, and perform repairs. We slept in trenches or under tanks and had to get up at six in the morning. However, my friend and I would get up at five, climb into the tank’s tool compartment where we kept our weights, and train for a full hour before the general reveille. After the day’s training ended, we trained for another hour. I can’t imagine more difficult training conditions, and therefore I maintain that finding the time and energy for training is a matter of motivation and interest. A true athlete will always, in any situation, find the time and place to train.»
At the same time, Schwarzenegger admitted that he wasn’t the perfect soldier and once sank his tank.
Describing his military service, Arnold recounted in his autobiography how he eagerly awaited the officers’ orders to begin physical training, and he cites the significant increase in muscle mass and strength as the main result of his service.
Bodybuilding Career
Arnold Schwarzenegger began his bodybuilding career at age 15. Initially, he struggled with a lack of experience and knowledge in this relatively new sport. His role model was Reg Park.
Despite this, Arnold made impressive progress. In his book, «The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding,» he wrote that his arms grew half an inch (1.27 cm) in two months of training, and his overall muscle mass increased by twenty pounds (9.071 kg) in a year. Just five years later, he won his first Mr. Olympia title. Schwarzenegger admitted to using anabolic steroids during this period.
In 1967, Arnold became the youngest Mr. Universe in history. At that time, his height was 188 cm, his chest 144 cm, biceps 52 cm, thighs 68.5 cm, calves 47 cm, and neck 46 cm. By 1968, having won all the major European bodybuilding competitions, Arnold decided to continue his career in the United States.
After moving to the United States, he considered his main goal as a bodybuilder to be «to trim the muscle mass he brought from Europe and give it the desired shape.» In his «New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding,» he noted that he was an apt student, listening to the judges and analyzing his mistakes. He learned a lot from his colleagues, including Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov, whom he met during the 1961 World Weightlifting Championships in Vienna.
Although Arnold’s physique wasn’t ideal (his deltoids were considered a weak point), his pectorals and biceps became his signature muscles and set the trend for huge arms in bodybuilding for years to come.
Yuri Vlasov
Hard training brought Schwarzenegger numerous victories. His victory in the Mr. Olympia competition in 1980 holds a special place in his career, marking an unexpected return after a five-year hiatus. During his absence, competition in bodybuilding had increased significantly.
After 1980, Schwarzenegger finally retired from competition. However, he made a significant contribution to the popularization of bodybuilding by sharing his experiences in books and magazines.
In 1988, he organized his own competition, the Arnold Classic.
Schwarzenegger named Yuri Vlasov (whom he met twice), Leonid Zhabotinsky, and Vasily Alekseev among his idols.
In 2015, Arnold Schwarzenegger was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Political Career
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political career is characterized by a centrist stance, despite his affiliation with the Republican Party. He supported Republican John McCain in the 2008 election but took a more liberal stance on a number of issues. He supported Kyoto Protocol and stem cell research.
In 2003, Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California and re-elected in 2006. He initiated a spending-cutting campaign and refused a gubernatorial salary. After his reelection, Schwarzenegger adopted a centrist stance, supporting the Kyoto Protocol and criticizing the Iraq War. He is ineligible to run for US President because he was born outside the country.
As governor, Schwarzenegger signed legislation recognizing Armenian Genocide Remembrance Week. He was criticized for SB 777, which aimed to combat discrimination against LGBT people in schools.
Early in his career, Schwarzenegger opposed same-sex marriage, but later changed his stance. He supported its legalization in California. His efforts to cut state spending failed to overcome the budget deficit, leading to conflicts. In 2014, he expressed support for the Euromaidan movement.
In 2017, a run for the US Senate was discussed, but he abandoned the idea. Ahead of the 2024 US elections, Schwarzenegger endorsed Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
We won’t dwell on Arnold’s political ramifications and scandals; after all, that’s not what this site is about :)
Let’s explore Arnold Schwarzenegger’s training principles and everything related to them.
Schwartz’s Training Fundamentals:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding legend, adhered to six key principles that helped him achieve incredible success:
1. Mental Focus:
Schwarzenegger placed enormous importance on the role of the mind in training. He believed it was necessary to concentrate 100% to achieve maximum intensity. He used visualization, imagining his biceps as enormous mountains, and this helped him lift incredible weights. He wrote about the need to believe in your potential and command your muscles to lift weights, even when it seemed impossible.
2. Diligence in Training:
Arnold strived to be the best, so he understood that he had to train harder than anyone else. His workouts often attracted the attention of the entire gym. He believed that training at less than 100% was a waste of time. Diligence was important, as was choosing the right exercises.
3. Choosing the Right Exercises:
Schwarzenegger favored multi-joint exercises that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. These include the bench press, squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, and bent-over rows. He believed these exercises allowed him to train with maximum intensity and stress the target muscles. Arnold wrote that mastering these movements and working with heavy weights was the key to increasing strength and muscle mass.
4. Heavy Weights and Low Reps:
Schwarzenegger emphasized using heavy weights and performing low reps. He aimed for 6 to 12 reps per set, believing this was the optimal range for stimulating muscle growth. He emphasized warm-up sets and gradually increasing the weight, approaching failure.
5. Prioritizing:
Arnold paid special attention to his weaknesses. When he realized his calves were lagging behind, he began training them more frequently, at the beginning of his workout when he was strong, and even between sets. He also cut off the legs of his pants to constantly remind himself of his weakness and motivate himself to work on it.
6. Acquiring and Applying Knowledge:
Schwarzenegger believed that knowledge was the key to success in bodybuilding and beyond. He constantly learned new information, experimenting with exercises and loads to determine what worked best for him. He understood that every person is unique, and a training program that works for one may not work for another.
Nandrolone Decanoate 250mg ZPHC
Anabolic Steroids
It is a known fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger used anabolic steroids in preparation for competitions. At the time, these drugs were completely legal. Arnold primarily used a combination of Nandrolone (400 mg/week), Primobolan (up to 800 mg/week), and Methandrostenolone (up to 100 mg/day). Testosterone was rarely used at the time, as aromatase inhibitors were unavailable.
In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued German doctor Willi Heepe, who predicted his early death due to his use of anabolic steroids. The court fined the doctor US$10,000. That same year, he also sued the tabloid The Globe, which had also made baseless predictions of his early death.
An interesting fact about Schwarzenegger’s chest:
For Arnold Schwarzenegger, building a powerful chest began with strength training, as he trained as a weightlifter early in his career. He believed that having a strong base facilitates muscle gain. Therefore, he recommended incorporating a weightlifting cycle into the program during the off-season to increase tonnage before returning to bodybuilding-style training.
Arnold incorporated basic exercises into his program that targeted the pectoral muscles from different angles. He believed the program should be fundamental and very heavy, preferring flat and incline bench presses over numerous machines and trendy techniques. Arnold used pumping sets only at the end of his workouts.
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- https://web.archive.org/web/20110524003649/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-312729/Arnie-I-abused-child.html