Magnificent pics!

     

I was reading the autobiography Total Recall and Arnold writes that his heart surgery was a very tough time for him. Also his mother’s passing away. He shared a close bonding with his mother. Also torrid time of his separation from his wife.

     

Arnold’s childhood was spent in hardships. This was from where he got the will and drive. He wanted to succeed in life. He left hid home in a village Thal near Graz in Austria and went to Munich. From there he was invited by Joe Weider and bodybuilding was the field which made it possible for him to come to America the land of opportunity.

     

Sudeb Banerjee - 04 August 2015 01:11 AM

Magnificent pics!

     

Arnold persuaded Joe Weider to bring Franco Columbu to Usa. Franco was Arnold’s favorite training partner. After he arrived in America Franco had lost a lot of weight. So whenever Joe Weider came to their small two room apartment Arnold would hide Franco and make excuses like Franco has gone for training, etc. Gradually Franco recovered. Franco was a very strong man. He could lift very heavy eights. But he had bow legs. But he made up the defect with right exercises prescribed by Arnold. Both Arnold and Franco stated brick laying business. They also did mail order business. Both Arnold and Franco found girlfriends. Franco eventually studied and became a chiropractor. Arnold says one time Franco and he were working out. Franco lost steam and was not able to handle a big weight in the gym. But suddenly four - five kids entered the gym and they were fans of Franco. Arnold noticed this and said to Franco that they have come to watch Franco. Franco got inspired by this and lifted and did multiple reps with huge poundage. The kids were thrilled to watch Franco in action. Arnold writes that this is the result of will and drive. Franco’s body was the same but it was the mind that changed. So Arnold writes that the body is important but the mind has tremendous power. It is the mind that visualizes and takes us to an upper level. Arnold writes that sometimes his mind was not inspired and those were days when he couldn’t handle lot of weights but he writes with the help of a good training partner like Dave Draper or Casey Viator or Jusup Wilkoz etc Arnold found great inspiration and boost and his strength increased and he could focus and concentrate and did great work outs. In the encyclopedia Arnold has praised Dorian Yates physique a lot. Though Dorian came into prominence in the 1990s when Arnold had retired but Dorian Yates had an awesome body. Arnold writes that as the time goes by bodybuilders are getting more massive. Nasser El Sonbatty, Lee Priest, Ronnie Coleman, Flex Wheeler, etc finds mention in the encylopedia of modern bodybuilding written by Arnold. Of course Reg Park, Sergio Oliva, Lou Ferrigno, Serge Nubret, Larry Scot, Frank Zane, etc had classic bodybuilding frames. Arnold’s calves were difficult to grow o Arnold cut off his pants so that people could see his calves and this served as motivation to him to exercise his calves more.

     

Arnold had a torrid time with his heart surgery. It was after the film Batman And Robin and Arnold had a defective aortic valve which was heriditory defect he inherited from his mother. He didn’t talk about it to anyone not even Maria because Maria would be worried. But eventually he disclosed it to Maria and the first time in the hospital he was opened up the surgery didn’t go as well as the doctors planned so he was opened up scond time. Arnold felt very sick during those days and he writes that that hen after a long time he started getting movie offers and eventually he selected End Of Days there were insurance agents hovering around the movie set to observe whether his career was over. But each time they came to talk to him Arnold said he was perfectly fit. Though the doctors suggested to him that that he shouldn’t do weight training anymore Arnold the super human that he is is still carrying n with his regimen in the morning and night and has built a fabulous physique once again at such advanced age. Arnold had recommended his mother to get her surgery done but she refused and in Austria which was her home in spite of Arnold’s suggestion to bring her to America she passed away when she was visiting her husband’s grave. She just collapsed near the grave say people who saw her there.

     

Arnold writes that he had a great time when he visited South Africa with his family. Arnold had asked Mandela that didn’t he feel frustrated that he had been so many years behind bars. Mandela had replied that the time spent in prison helped him to be a humble person and not resort to violence but increased his tolerance immensely. Arnold was fascinated with this answer and he considered Nelson Mandela as one of his idols.

     

Arnold once considered that he could do comedy with his funny side to his personality and Danny De Vito, Ivan Reitman the director created the movie Twins and it was a great success. They didn’t get any Producer so they divided the cost of the movie amongst themselves and became entitled to the proceeds of the movie. Eventually it was a great success and they earned a lot with the movie running successfully all over the world, cable tv showing the movie in different countries etc.This proved that Arnold could do both action as well as comedies.

     

Impressive! All good, but I like the side chest, really shows how massive Arnolds front delts were.

     

Yeah his upper arm and forearm development in the side chest is also tremendously developed and huge.

     

Sudeb Banerjee - 21 August 2015 01:17 AM

Yeah his upper arm and forearm development in the side chest is also tremendously developed and huge.

Agreed. A characteristic lacking in today’s BB is uniqueness. Today there is a troll like similarity in physiques. Big, blocky, bloated but cut. There is no individuality.

     

Arnold has explained it in his book that the density in the muscles comes from doing the basic exercises like neck press, bench press, curls, squats, pullovers, with heavy poundage of barbells and dumbbells instead of today’s modern machines. Competitors during Arnold’s times were not only defined but also very, very strong.

     

Arnold writes that he was enlisted in Austria as a tank driver in the Austrian Army since it was mandatory for all youths. He escaped from the barracks quietly and in hiding to participate in the Mr. Europe Junior. He won the competition. When he came back to the base camp of army he was caught and put into solitary confinement. When he was produced in front of his Superiors he gave them credit instantly and expressed his desire about pursuing his vision and goal of being a champion of bodybuilding. Initially punished Arnold instead was reckoned as a hero to his other colleagues later. He was also provided with barbells and dumbbells to train in his spare time. Once he was sitting idly in his tank with another fellow colleague and they decided to race. There were few other colleagues of his in the top of his tank and Arnold didn’t know and they fell off when he took off for the race. It was downhill and they crashed into bushes and trees. Eventually he was caught and punished by his Superior. It was night time and he was made to crawl in the mud and enter the tank from below and come out to the top and and crawl down. He had to do this the whle night. In the morning he was totally exhausted.

     

With the movie The Terminator Arnold suggested to Director James Cameron that since the terminator was a machine it should not say “I’ll be back”. Instead it should be “I will be back”. Jim Cameron told him I don’t tell you how to act and you don’t tell me what to write. I have written “I’ll be back” and it stays that way. So Arnold almost ruined the signature line. Arnold writes that he likes to shoot at night. He says The Terminator was mostly shot at night time. Interestingly Arnold was approached for the role of Kyle Reese but in his meeting with Jim Cameron he showed so much interest and information of how robots should be portrayed on screen that he was taken for the role of the killer terminator. Arnold writes that Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor) and the actor who played Kyle Reese used to come to him excitedly and tell him about what they were doing. But Arnold was very focused on his role and didn’t interact much.

     

Arnold writes about Conan The Destroyer that the actress who played Zula and the actor who played Bombatta were both black and they used to quarrel among themselves who came from a superior background. It happened in the make up trailor. Arnold writes he always made it a point to go to where everybody were getting their make ups and not stay in his own make up trailor. He liked to interact with other actors and actresses. So Arnold would try his best to prevent the quarrel between the actress who played Zula and Bombatta. Also in the movie Andre The Giant played the evil beast Daggoth. In front of Bombatta who was over seven foot tall and Andre The Giant also over seven foot with their massive bodybuilding physiques Arnold looked smaller.