For someone who’s dedicated a good two decades or so to bodybuilding, you’d think it would be his implacable passion for the sport that would’ve driven Arnold Schwarzenegger to become one of the heavy hitters in the profession. Or, at the very least, he had his great calling at the young age of 15 when the journey of his metamorphosis into the Hulk commenced. But you’d be surprised at just what fueled him to become the God of pumping iron.
The Secret of the Austrian Oak
Although he’s regarded as a bodybuilding legend today, Arnold Schwarzenegger was merely a teenager when he first picked up weights intending to become perhaps one of the best that the world has ever seen.
But it wasn’t the vocation itself or a burning desire to prove something that stoked his devotion toward becoming the brawniest version of himself. No, it was an unremitting urge to make the rest of his body just as hunky as his private parts that inspired him to sculpt his muscles into perfection. Yup, that’s right.
“What happened was, I saw one time a six foot mirror when I was 15 years old. I looked in the mirror, I was standing there in front of the mirror, totally naked, and there was one particular part of my body that was bigger than the rest of it. I am a man of perfection, and so, I said to myself that I’ve got to bring the rest of the body up to the standard of this one part, and so that’s why I started exercising.”
The man took the term ‘big d*ck energy’ a little too literally, and now he’s a luminary in the world of bodybuilding.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Journey to Becoming Mr. Olympia
Five years into bulking up and becoming a reliquary of lean muscle, the 75-year-old retired professional bodybuilder won his first Mr. Universe contest at the age of 20 after which he’d subsequently go on to land the Mr. Olympia title seven times in a row. In fact, his 1970 victory of the latter was a record-breaking feat after a then 23-year-old Schwarzenegger became the youngest ever Mr Olympia in history.
Though he’s presided over a plethora of such shows and championships, The Terminator star’s fabled Mr. Olympia winning streak is one of his many accomplishments that have helped to build his indefatigable legacy in the sport.
The road to success, however, is seldom free of hindrances, and even Schwarzenegger had to face his fair share of obstacles in his early days of glory; from excruciating diet regimes to his controversial use of steroids and other such supplements, there have been numerous instances that presented a setback to the former governor of California in the way to becoming a bodybuilding icon. But when people look back at his awe-inspiring journey now, they only perceive him as greatness incarnate, and you know what they say, all’s well that ends well.
