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Arnold
Schwarzenegger Legend Bodybuilder was born in Thal, Austria
(German: Thal bei Graz), a small village bordering the
Styrian capital Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois. His
parents were the local police chief Gustav (1907 - 1972),
and his wife, Aurelia Jadrny (1922 - 1998). They were
married on October 20, 1945 - Gustav was 38, and Aurelia was
a 23-year-old widow with a son named Meinhard. According to
Arnold, both of his parents were very strict: "Back then in
Austria it was a very different world, if we did something
bad or our parents, the cane was not spared." He grew up in
a Roman Catholic family who attended church service every
Sunday.
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Gustav had a
preference for Meinhard, the elder of the two sons. His
favoritism was "strong and blatant," which stemmed from
unfounded suspicion "that Arnold wasn't his child." he has
said his father had "no patience for listening or
understanding your problems
there was a wall; a real
wall." He had a good relationship with his mother, and kept
in touch with her until her death. In later life, he
commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his
father's war record, which came up with no evidence of
atrocities despite Gustav's membership in the Nazi Party and
SA. At school, he was apparently in the middle, but stood
out for his "cheerful, good-humored and exuberant"
character. Money was a problem in the household; he has
recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when
the family bought a fridge. Arnold played many
sports-heavily influenced by his father. He picked up his
first weights in 1960, when his football coach took his team
to a local gym. At the age of 14, he chose bodybuilding over
football (soccer) as a career. He has responded to a
question asking if he was age 13 when he started
weight-lifting: "I actually started weight training when I
was fifteen, but I'd been participating in sports, like
soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was
well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going
to the gym and start Olympic lifting." However, his official
website biography says: "At 14, he started an intensive
training program with Kurt Marnul, studied psychology at 15
(to learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17,
officially started his competitive career." During a speech
in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years
old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he
was. My mother wanted me to go to trade school." Arnold took
to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the
local theaters to see bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park,
Steve Reeves, and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen.
Steve Reeves has been part of everything I've ever been
fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, he met former Mr.
Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in
Graz. He was so dedicated as a youngster that he was known
to break into the local gym on weekends, when it was usually
closed, so that he could train. "It would make me sick to
miss a workout
I knew I couldn't look at myself in
the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it "I was
inspired by individuals like Reg Park and Steve Reeves."
When Reeves passed away in 2000, He fondly remembered him:
"As a teenager, I grew up with Steve Reeves. "When he was
asked about his first movie experience as a boy, he replied,
"I was very young, but I remember my father taking me to the
Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real
movie I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a John Wayne
movie." In 1971, his brother
Meinhard died in a car accident. Meinhard had been drinking
and was killed instantly, and Arnold did not attend his
funeral. Meinhard was due to marry Erika Knapp, and the
couple shared a three-year-old son Patrick. Schwarzenegger
would pay for Patrick's education and a life in the United
States. Gustav died the following year from a stroke. In
Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend
his father's funeral because he was training for a
bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the producer both stated
that this story was taken from another bodybuilder for the
purpose of showing the extremes that some would go to for
their sport, and to make his image more machine-like to fan
controversy for the film. Barbara Baker, his first serious
girlfriend, has said he informed her of his father's death
without emotion and that he never spoke of his brother. Over
time, he has given at least three versions of why he did not
attend his father's funeral. In an interview with
Fortune magazine in 2004, He told how he suffered what
"would now be called child abuse" at the hands of his
father. "My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was
the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many of the
children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was
the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an
individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did
not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore,
I became a rebel. Every time I got hit, and every time
someone said, 'you can't do this,' I said, 'this is not
going to be for much longer, because I'm going to move out
of here. I want to be rich. I want to be somebody.' "The Mr.
Universe title was my ticket to the land of opportunity,
where I could become a star and get rich." Schwarzenegger
made his first plane trip in 1966, attending the NABBA Mr.
Universe competition in London. He would come in second in
the Mr. Universe competition, not having the muscle
definition of American winner Chester Yorton. Charles "Wag"
Bennett, one of the judges at the 1966 competition, was
impressed with Schwarzenegger and offered to coach him. As
he had little money, Bennett invited him to stay in his
crowded family home above one of his two gyms in Forest
Gate. Yorton's leg definition had been judged superior, and
Schwarzenegger, under a training program devised by Bennett,
concentrated on improving the muscle definition and power in
his legs. Staying in the East End of London helped Arnold
improve his rudimentary grasp of the English
language.training paid off and in 1967 Schwarzenegger won
the title for the first time in 1967, becoming the youngest
ever Mr. Universe at the age of 20. He would go on to win
the title a further four times. Arnold then flew back to
Munich, training for six hours daily, attending business
school and working in a health club (Rolf Putzinger's gym
where he worked and trained from 1966-1968), returning in
1968 to London to win his next Mr. Universe title. He
frequently told Roger Field, "I'm going to become the
greatest actor!" Arnold moved to the
United States in September 1969 at the age of 22, speaking
little English. "Naturally, when I came to this country, my
accent was very bad, and my accent was also very strong,
which was an obstacle as I began to pursue acting." There he
trained at Gold's Gym in Santa Monica, California, with Joe
Weider. From 1970 to 1974, one of his weight training
partners was Ric Drasin, a professional wrestler who
designed the original Gold's Gym logo in 1973.he also became
good friends with professional wrestler "Superstar" Billy
Graham. In 1970, at age 23, he captured his first Mr.
Olympia Bodybuilding Competition title in New York, and
would go on to win the title a total of seven
times. In 1969, Arnold met
Barbara Baker, an English teacher he lived with until 1974.
He talked about Barbara in his memoir in 1977: "Basically it
came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted
an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man,
and hated the very idea of ordinary life."Baker has
described him as "a joyful personality, charismatic,
adventurous, and athletic" but claims towards the end of the
relationship he became "insufferable - classically conceited
- the world revolved around him."Baker published her memoir
in 2006, entitled Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the
Austrian Oak.Although Baker, at times, paints an
unflattering portrait of her former lover - he actually
contributed to the book with a foreword, and also met with
Baker for three hours. Baker claims, for example, that she
only learned of his being unfaithful after they split, and
talks of a turbulent and passionate love life. He has made
it clear that their respective recollection of events can
differ.The couple first met six to eight months after his
arrival in the U.S. -Although Baker claims that when she
first met him, he had "little understanding of polite
society" and she found him a turn-off, she says, "He's as
much a self-made man as it's possible to be - he never got
encouragement from his parents, his family, his brother. He
just had this huge determination to prove himself, and that
was very attractive. Schwarzenegger met his next love, Sue
Moray, a Beverly Hills hairdresser's assistant, on Venice
Beach in July 1977. According to Moray, the couple led an
open relationship: "We were faithful when we were both in
LA...but when he was out of town, we were free to do
whatever we wanted." Arnold Schwarzenegger Legend
Bodybuilder met Maria Shriver at the Robert F. Kennedy
Tennis Tournament in August 1977, and went on to have a
relationship with both women until August 1978, when Moray
(who knew of his relationship with Shriver) issued an
ultimatum. Arnold has said his
big dream from the age of 10 was to move to the U.S. He
questioned what he was doing "on the farm" in Austria, and
believed bodybuilding was his "ticket to America": "I'm sure
I can go to America if I win Mr. Universe." LA Weekly said
in 2002 that he is the most famous immigrant in America, who
"overcame a thick Austrian accent and transcended the
unlikely background of bodybuilding to become the biggest
movie star in the world in the 1990s. He is considered among
the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding,
and his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual
bodybuilding competition. He Legend Bodybuilder has remained
a prominent face in the bodybuilding sport long after his
retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and
fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests
and awards. For many years, he wrote a monthly column for
the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex.
Shortly after being elected Governor, he was appointed
executive editor of both magazines, in a largely symbolic
capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $240,000 a year to
the Governor's various physical fitness initiatives. The
magazine MuscleMag International has a monthly two-page
article on him, and refers to him as "The King." One of the first
competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in
1965. He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19. He
would go on to compete in and win many bodybuilding
contests, as well as some powerlifting contests, including
five Mr. Universe wins, and seven Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding
Competition wins, a record which would stand until Lee Haney
won his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding
Competition title in 1991. Strongman. In 1967,
Arnold Schwarzenegger Legend Bodybuilder competed in and won
the Munich stone-lifting contest, in which a stone weighing
508 German pounds (254 kg/560 lbs.) is lifted between the
legs while standing on two foot rests. He Legend Bodybuilder
has said the following on his size: "During the peak of my
career, my calves were 20 inches, thighs 28.5 inches, waist
34 inches, chest 57 inches, and 23-inch arms." In a full
squat (buttocks close to ground) Schwarzenegger had a
personal record of 181 kg/400lbs, for twelve repetitions.
Mr. Olympia. His goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder
in the world, which meant becoming Mr. Olympia. His first
attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion
Sergio Oliva. However, He came back in 1970 and won the
competition making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia
Bodybuilding Competition at the age of 23, a record he holds
to this day. He continued his winning streak in the 1971 -
1974 competitions. In 1975, He was once again in top form,
and won the title for the sixth consecutive time, beating
Franco Columbu. After the 1975 Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding
Competition contest, He announced his retirement from
professional bodybuilding. Months before the
1975 Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Competition contest,
filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded
Schwarzenegger to compete, in order to film his training
workouts in the bodybuilding documentary called Pumping
Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for
the competition, after losing significant weight to appear
in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges. Lou Ferrigno
proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual
Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia. After
being declared Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Competition for a
6th consecutive time, He retired from
competition. He came out of
retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. He
was training for his role in Conan, and he got into such
good shape because of the running, and sword training, that
he decided he wanted to win the Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding
Competition contest one last time. He kept this plan a
secret, in the event that a training accident would prevent
his entry and cause him to lose face. He had been hired to
provide color commentary for network television, when he
announced at the eleventh hour that while he was there: "Why
not compete?" He ended up winning the event with only seven
weeks of preparation. After being declared Mr. Olympia
Bodybuilding Competition for a seventh time, He officially
retired from competition. Anabolic Steroids.
Schwarzenegger has admitted to using performance-enhancing
anabolic steroids while they were legal, writing in 1967
that "steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size
while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest. I did
not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle
maintenance when cutting up." He has called his drugs
"tissue building.
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