Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Ahead of His Time
January 6, 2009 | Posted by billspaced I picked up this article over at Bodybuilding.com about why the author of the piece thought Arnold Schwarzenegger was ahead of his time (he was). It’s an interesting read about perhaps the most famous bodybuilder there ever will be.
This one talks about how his training program, largely concocted of Instinctive Training, molded his super-size biceps, chest, and calves, to name just a few of the Austrian Oak’s most famous body parts.
Here’s a link to Why Arnold Was Ahead of his Time.
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Categories: bodybuilding | 
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger | 
15 Comments »
Awesome article, this is some great stuff in there, i had no idea arnold was a visionary, but i guess he did some big things.
“When he couldn’t do anymore full reps, he would drive the weight up as high as he could,
usually just barely above the bottom stretch point, and do partials till the muscle couldn’t
even twitch. It burned like crazy, but it worked.”
Pathetic. He was well ahead of his time. There is no doubt that he worked his body up beyond a boxer but I have my own thinking that he may have taken drugs to increase his performance. The California cheif has come a long, long way – but at what cost? His body? His soul?
He has trained way overboard if you ask me.
Thanks for the post!
Fit Box Store’s last blog post..Dipping Frame
@fit box store Why do you say “pathetic?” Something tells me that he would have trained with abandon even without the steroids (of course, he couldn’t have trained with as much weight, sets, or reps) — the guy knew what he wanted and he did whatever it took to get there.
Maybe it’s not a prescription for being a “good citizen” but it’s certainly a recipe that a lot of athletes have followed.
My post wasn’t about the virtues of drugs, but the fact that in any sporting endeavor, it seems like there are always one or two way ahead of their competition. That’s all.
I certainly don’t condone any drug use.
@admin77
I certainly do not condone drug use. I am merely highlighting the fact that the rumour was that he did use medical and drug related enhancements to increase his performance and gain.
“My post wasn’t about the virtues of drugs, but the fact that in any sporting endeavour, it seems like there are always one or two way ahead of their competition. That’s all.”
This made me chuckle. A nice way to include it. Unfortunately that is the case, the other option is always for drugs, and with more drugs on the market then ever, boxer or body builder, its a temptation that we can all stay clear from.
fit box’s last blog post..Dipping Frame
@fit box I didn’t mean to suggest that you condoned drug use. I think today, most people consider drug use abhorrent, former drug users included, like Arnold himself.
I think there’s no doubt he used steroids. I’m pretty sure I recall him saying that he did. I think 99 percent of professional bodybuilders on the IFBB circuit did then and do today.
But I still stand behind my original contention — Arnold was ahead of his time. Take out the steroids, and he STILL would have been years ahead of his competition.
A level playing field is level, whether drug use is allowed or not, as long as everybody has the right and ability to use the same tools.
I’m not in this game to be the biggest or the best. Bodybuilding and other fitness pursuits are just that — for people to participate in to become fitter and healthier. Taking drugs puts all of that in a backseat. It’s simply not worth it to me or most of the rest of the world. But professional athletes of all sports seem to disagree.
It’s interesting to note, too, that the sports that seem to take the scourge of performance-enhancing drugs seriously are the ones that are mired in controversy. There will ALWAYS be athletes — elite-level — willing to take the chance at winning at the expense of getting caught, and more importantly, at the expense of their own bodies, and, as you say, souls.
Thanks for the comments. Love your site, too. Very impressive. Nice work.
Agree definetley ahead of his time, his biceps were actually incredible, even to todays standards.
Agreed billspaced, even with drug use it takes pure dedication to look like that..
Harry’s last blog post..Target your lower abs
wow this was a great read, who knew that there was that much thought that went into it. @ Harry i agree those biceps are huge. To look like that you have to devote your entire life to it.
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“I think there’s no doubt he used steroids. I’m pretty sure I recall him saying that he did. I think 99 percent of professional bodybuilders on the IFBB circuit did then and do today.”
Can you find the quote or did you read this in an interview – I am pretty surprised and I am not surprised if you follow me – mind here in the UK at my local gym I find many people back chatting and saying this guy has this, this guy does this, he goes to this bar/club and does this. My point? You guessed it – people are like the media and are notorious in accusations and portraying this in altered bizarre reality’s.
I do agree however that he did take some enhancements beyond any modern day supplement and diet and training aside, some illegal enhancement may have been taken by him, like you say all sports, boxing included has its bad eggs – solution? Permanently ban for good. Just look at Australia on Shayne Warne..
My husband (a German, who has followed Arnold from his early career) tells me that Schwarzenegger was once very publicly accused of taking steroids after many of his contemporaries had condemned their use.
Arnold apparently replied something like “Of course I took them. So did …” and he named the other bodybuilders who had bagged him as fellow steroid users. It seems none of the guys he named stood up against this.
It is so easy to sit back and bag someone who has made it and look for excuses why he had it so easy in life. Well, the bloke came out of nowhere, took on the world and won. And kept winning.
The man is a phenomenon. He has made it to the very top because he had the determination to go further than anyone else.
BTW Do you really believe that the era of the performance enhancing drug is over? Been watching any cycling lately?
Rosie Peters’s last blog post..How to live to be 101
I wholeheartedly agree, Rosie! He is a phenom, even still. He knew, and knows, what he wanted and went after it.
And yes, cycling is making a mockery of itself.
There will always be “performance-enhancements,” some legal, some not. There will always be one guy who wants to win more than the rest.
Well said, billspaced. Schwarzenegger actually said “first you need the want power, then you get the willpower”.
BTW, I’ve just finished re-reading Education of a Body Builder that Schwarzenegger wrote 30 years ago. Plenty of interesting stuff not only on his determination, but on his training methods and his inventive ways of tweaking particular exercises to hit the right parts of each muscle.
Rosie Peters’s last blog post..How to live to be 101
I do agree Arnold was way ahead of his time. If he was competing in 2009 he would be a real freak of nature. Burt honestly i like is physique a lot more than the bodybuilders of 2009.
@ Build Muscle Mass (great backlinking technique): I agree with you. Arnold and his peers at the time had much better aesthetics (they were better to look at, in MY OPINION). But the guys and gals now have taken bodybuilding a lot farther.
I’m not saying it’s good or bad. What I am saying is that bodybuilding is a sport that is ever-changing, and the athletes of the sport have chosen to take it where it is today.
We may never see the likes of Arnold, Frank Zane, and Samir Bannout again.
But, as in everything in life, change happens, for better or worse.
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