Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Tale for Xmas
Arnold: A Tale for Xmas
Once Upon a Time...
Once upon a time there lived a young boy on a farm in rural Austria who dreamed of becoming the best bodybuilder in the world, then the box office king of Hollywood, before becoming Governor of California which generated talk of the constitution being changed in order to enable him to run for President. Promote such a story decades ago and you would have been told there was as much chance of that happening as the lead singer of the Jackson Five turning white.
…… And yet?
Pairing Teutonic determination with American entrepreneurial chutzpah, Arnold Schwarzenegger conquered the triple citadels of sport, show business, and politics, in the process traveling from lederhosen to leadership in the single bound of a half-century. His story represents a quantum leap of achievement, made possible by that mysterious process whereby the age complements the man and the man seems made for the age. With the festive season upon us and the New Year beckoning the legend that is Arnold acts as a shining example of visualizing your dream and then following through on its execution. But In trying to discover what made Arnold Schwarzenegger the unique force of nature he is, don’t look to Venice, Hollywood or Sacramento, the answer lies in a faraway time and place, as he explains in his own words.
THE FIRST SPARK
Summer1962
I think it was almost meant to be because so many things came together that summer of 1962. I was 15 and playing soccer at the stadium in Graz [Austria]. They started to introduce weight-training exercises such as squats to strengthen us. And I instantly liked the feeling of working my muscles. Then at the local lake on a Sunday, all these athletes were there doing things like the shot put, wrestling, boxing, chin ups, and weight training. So at that time I was becoming very physique conscious.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF REG PARK
Summer 1962
When I saw Reg on the cover of a magazine that summer and learned his story – how he went from Mr. Universe -- world’s best bodybuilder -- to movie star. My instant goal was to become another Reg Park. I had no idea at that point, how to do it. But I was absolutely convinced that this was going to happen. I knew, ‘This is what I want to do!’”
FIRST GYM VISIT
July 1962
I walked into the Athletic Union Gym in Graz for the first time and saw a bunch of weightlifters doing clean-and-jerks, others doing incline benches, while others were squatting. Often you’d hear someone screaming out loud as they lifted the weights. It was just like a torture chamber. It reminded me of some kind of gladiator setting where people were training in the most primitive way.
THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL
Summer 1962
Each lifter had a space on the wall where at the beginning of the workout they would write their goals for that specific workout. Then in the next hour or two they would turn that goal into reality. I loved that. If you wrote down six sets as a goal but at four you felt done, guilt would kick in and you knew you had to do those last two sets because it was written on the wall.
A PLAN FOR LIFE
Summer 1962
From that early beginning I was a big believer in committing myself publicly to a goal so that I had to follow through so as not to embarrass myself. I didn’t want people saying to me, “Whatever happened to what you were telling me about becoming a bodybuilding big shot?” I didn’t want to have to reply, “Er, well I changed my mind. I had to eat too much protein”. It just didn’t sound right.
CRASH COURSE
I would ride my bike home after every training session. Because my arms would be so numb from the training, I often couldn't control the bike, and I'd fall into a wayside ditch. Now that's "in the trenches" training. It was a fantastic feeling sitting in the ditch with my arms aching. My arms were so numb that I couldn't comb my hair the next day, but the muscle soreness meant my muscles were growing.
COLD STEEL
Saturday and Sunday the gym was closed, so we couldn’t work out. But we’d force a window and sneak into the gym. It was so cold my hands would get stuck on the chinning bar and I’d rip the skin of my palms as I ended a set.
ARMY LIFE
July 1965 – July 1966
I served one year compulsory service in the Austrian Army from July1965. I went AWOL in October 1965 so I could go and win the Best Built Junior Athlete in Europe contest in Stuttgart and then spent a week in the army jail. Actually the army was a luxury for me. At home I only ate meat once a week, in the army I had it every day. Sometime they’d order me do kitchen work at night preparing food for the next day. That was ideal for me because I would eat as much meat chicken and eggs that I could find in the kitchen.
RELOCATING TO MUNICH
August 1966
At the Best Built Junior Athlete in Europe contest I met Albert Busek who managed the Universum Sportstudio in Munich [Busek was also publisher of Germany’s Sport Revue and President of the German federation.]. I was looking for a way to advance my bodybuilding career and he suggested I should come to Munich and work at his gym. It made sense because in Munich there were many bodybuilders who competed in top contests like the Mr. Universe [staged annually in London]. I felt I needed to be around those guys who knew what it took to succeed internationally so I could pump them for information. Once my army conscription was done I moved to Munich on August 1, 1966.
MEETING FRANCO
I first met Franco [Columbu] at the Best Built Junior Athlete in Europe contest in Stuttgart where he won a powerlifting contest. He was already at Albert’s gym in Munich and had originally gone there from Sardinia to hone his boxing skills, but then turned to powerlifting and bodybuilding. When I moved to Munich we struck up an immediate friendship. We were both foreigners in a new city and we had the same sense of humor. He, Albert and I have been close friends ever since.
LONDON BOUND
September 1966
A few weeks after I arrived in Munich the NABBA Mr. Universe [Bodybuilding’s most prestigious event, eclipsing the Mr. Olympia recently launched in 1965] took place in London. The gym collected money for me to buy a ticket to fly there. At age 19 this was my first plane trip. I sat between two German businessmen and it became clear to them that once I got to London I hadn’t a clue how to get to my hotel. Unbelievably they guided me though passport control and baggage claim, and even let me ride in their taxi to my hotel even though their hotel was in a different direction.
A STAR IS BORN
At that Mr. Universe nobody knew me but they were amazed at “This 19 year old kid with 20” arms.” At the end of my routine I was called out for three encores – something that had never happened before. I finished second in the tall class to Chet Yorton who was more complete and defined than me. All this happened in a huge theatre [the prestigious Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End] filled with 3,000 screaming fans. Afterwards fans were asking for autographs – the first time I’d been asked for one. It really was the most incredible experience -- I felt like King Kong.
It was Arnold’s first exposure on the world bodybuilding scene and vey quickly he became the biggest name in his sport and then it’s premier icon, a standing he has never relinquished since that 1966 day, 48 years ago.