Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding career

Arnold Schwarzenegger began his bodybuilding career at the age of 15. He calls the main problem of the initial stage of his sports career a lack of experience and knowledge about such a relatively new sport at that time as bodybuilding. The young Schwarzenegger considered Rega Park to be his ideal.

At the same time, he is making impressive progress; In his book The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, Arnold writes that his arms then increased by half an inch (1.27 cm) in two months of training, and total muscle mass by twenty pounds (9.071 kg) per year. It took Schwarzenegger only five years to earn his first Mr. Olympia title. At the same time, Schwarzenegger does not deny that he used anabolic steroids during that period.

In 1967, Arnold became the youngest Mr. Universe in history. At that time, Schwarzenegger's height was 188 cm, chest girth - 144 cm, biceps - 52 cm, hips - 68.5 cm, shins - 47 cm, neck - 46 cm [16]. By 1968, having won all the bodybuilding championships held in Europe, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to pursue a bodybuilding career in the United States.

His main task as a bodybuilder after moving to the United States, he calls the goal "to hew the muscle mass brought from Europe, to give it the desired shape." In his New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, Arnold writes: “I was a capable student. I went up to the judges and asked what, in their opinion, I did wrong. " He learned a lot from his "colleagues in the shop", including his idol, the Olympic champion and 4-time world champion in weightlifting Yuri Vlasov, after a personal acquaintance. This acquaintance happened during the World Weightlifting Championships in Vienna in 1961, where a young thin boy Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to Yuri Vlasov.

Hard work has brought numerous victories; a special place in his career is occupied by the victory in the competition "Mr. Olympia" in 1980; she was a surprise comeback after a five-year hiatus. During the absence of Schwarzenegger, due to the growing popularity of bodybuilding, competition in competitions has increased significantly.

After 1980, Schwarzenegger finally ended his sports career. However, he made a significant contribution to the popularization of bodybuilding, spreading his vast experience in books and in bodybuilding magazines.

In 1988 he organized his own competition "Arnold Classic".

Schwarzenegger, among others, calls his idols Yuri Vlasov (they met 2 times - in 1961 in Vienna and in 1988 in Moscow), Leonid Zhabotinsky and Vasily Alekseev.

In 2015, Arnold Schwarzenegger was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame

Business career

By the age of 30, Arnold Schwarzenegger became a millionaire. His fortune was multiplied by a successful investment. He started a mailing list business, founded the construction company Pumping Bricks, and went into real estate. At the heart of his financial empire is Oak Productions, through which film studio royalties, comic book and video game royalties go. As of 2007, Arnold Schwarzenegger's assets are estimated at $ 900 million.