What Makes You Happy?
What’s up guys! I will be posting some cool stuff this upcoming week and I will be having some cool interviews with some peeps within the next two weeks. I was watching this video at 4:45 AM this morning…it is a must watch! Don’t be afraid to fail!!! What is driving you? Is each workout pushed to the max? Stop going through the motions, it is your duty to the world….
Finale to the Arnold series
Arnold
Me: “Ok, so we are getting near the end of our time. Let’s get a few more questions in. What are you planning on doing in the next year?”
Arnold: “I am going to be in a few action movies this year. I love acting and it is a way of competing for me. Competing against myself and other action stars. I will also be doing a lot of traveling and such, speaking a ton at corporate businesses and even a few jails. The corporate guys love being able to schmooze with me and it allows me to polish my speaking skills. You never know if that law will be changed…you know, the one about foreign born presidents (laughing). I go to the jails to speak with the guys like I did back in the movie, Pumping Iron. It may sound strange, but it brings me back to my primal days being around these guys and I actually think I have a great impact on a few of them.”
Me: “Cool. There are also rumors of you being a part of the Illuminati. Do you care to comment?”
Arnold: “All I will say on that is that I do have a unique inner circle. I have accomplished many great things in my life and there are other men that understand and harness this same power. When you put two or more of these minds together, earth altering things can happen. So, hopefully that answers your question.”
Me: ” I won’t push it. What would you like to leave with?”
Arnold: “You can have and do anything you want in life if you focus so intensely on it that you can almost burn a hole through the ether. This is and will always be the great secret to life. Keep pumping!”
Arnold Interview part 4
Arnold
Continued….
Arnold: “Well, what the public saw was only a piece of the puzzle. Maria and I have been married for over twenty years and many of those years were great. We have 4 wonderful kids together and those kids are the focus of my life now. Yes, I did cheat on Maria and no, I didn’t go about it the correct way. With my celebrity and power, I have always been approached by a large number of ‘female fans’. Sex to me is a bioligical function, nothing more, nothing less. I don’t really care if this offends people, but we need to look at nature. I have always had the ability to have flings with no feelings involved. As a male, even a female for that matter, novelty is one of the biggest aphrodisiacs. By the way, that goes for anything, not just the opposite sex. I have always been a man that holds nothing back and I understand our primal needs. Obviously, Maria wasn’t alright with this, but it was something she had to deal with. We didn’t go public until after I was out of office for political reasons. Listen, I am not saying what I did in my past was right or wrong, but it is what I did.”
Me: “How’d you explain that to the kids?”
Arnold: “Simple really. I was honest with them. Sometimes as adults, we put too many stipulations on things and are overly sensitive. My love for my children hasn’t changed, it grows stronger by the day.”
Me: “Thanks for being so open about that. Let’s get back to what the fans want to hear about. Tell me some crazy training stories from your competition days.”
Arnold: “Ahh. The good old days. Kyle, there are so many, so I will keep it to just a few. Back in Austria, me and my buddies used to take a full keg, 3 turkeys, a squat stand and some lady friends and go traveling into the woods. We would squat for hours, drink, eat and have some fun with the girls. Think about it, what else does a person really need? We were hitting all of our bioligical needs. We did that quite often actually. Then there was the time that a young, arrogant bodybuilder came to me for posing advices. So, I had to shoot him back down to Earth. I told him that when you put your arms up, you have to scream and when you bring them down low, you need to do a low pitch scream. I said that the judges and crowd would go crazy for this and they will absolutely love it. So he did and they carried him off the stage because they thought he was crazy.”
To be continued with the final part tomorrow….
Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger part 3
Success
Continued….
Me: “So, what do you think of today’s bodybuilders? Are they getting out of hand?”
Arnold: “I will always have a brotherhood and fraternity with all bodybuilders. It is such a unique sport that the only people that will ever know what you go through when getting ready for a contest are other bodybuilders. It is a surreal experience, but one that is priceless. With that said, today’s guys are huge. But, they are only playing to what is called for. Yes, the physiques might not be as ‘appealing’ as they were back when I competed, but if I competed like that today, I would not place. If I were competing today, I’d have to play the same game. I do feel that bodybuilding would gain a ton of fans back if it were a little less freaky.”
Me: “Who is the number one bodybuilder of all-time?”
Arnold: “Kyle, do you even have to ask? I can say unequivocally that I am. I am not being arrogant, but if you look at who has had the most impact on the sport, it is clear. If I did not retire from ’76-’80, I would have won 12 Olympias in a row. Compare that to Michael Jordan. Jordan probably would have won 8 in a row if he did not stop to play baseball, and that in itself is incredible. Can you imagine if I had won 12 in a row? And, even though I wasn’t as big as the guys today, my frame would hold 50-60 pounds more than some of these guys if I were competing today. Don’t forget, I am 6’2″, a virtual giant in bodybuilding. My arms topped out at 22″ and my chest was 57″ in my prime at 240 pounds. But again, stats aside, I had the biggest impact on the sport.”
Me: “Wow, you really do tell it like it is. Could you tell us who has the freakiest physique of all time then?”
Arnold: “Without a doubt, Ronnie Coleman. In this day and age he won 8 in a row, pretty incredible. His thickness and density are unrivaled. I would have honestly liked to see him win 9 and break my record. Ronnie is also a great guy and one of the strongest bodybuilders I have ever seen. Don’t forget, he turned an IFBB pro as a ‘natural’ guy. That is pretty damn hard to do.”
Sick
Me: “Ok, now to the hard question. What the hell happened with you and Maria?”
To be continued….
Arnold Schwarzenegger Interview Part 2
Commando
Me: “So, the mind is the key to all of your successes. What would you say to those that are quick to point out the steroid use?”
Arnold: “Yes Kyle, you must train the mind. Now, about the steroids. I don’t condone them for youngsters. In fact, we only used them from about 12 weeks out from a show and in minimal doses compared to what you see today. They were not illegal then either, so yes, I used them, but I did nothing wrong. The side effects of steroids are highly exaggerated anyway. For a healthy adult male, there is no problem in 90% of the cases as long as they are used in moderation. Kind of like 100% of any other drug out there.”
Me: “Interesting, I have to agree on that point. Would you ever consider using them again? How do they play into your exercise regiment now?”
Arnold: “If I had to get ready for a movie in which I had to be in top shape, then yes, I would consider them. However, I only used them back then as a tool to enhance my physique. Just as I used bodybuilding as a stepping stone, I used steroids as one of the tools in my tool box. Let me point out, that working out to me will always be a spiritual enhancement. I know people have seen recent photos of me and they are quick to put me down because of my condition now. I am 64 years old and enjoying life. I have no reason to be ripped and jacked up right now. I do have a workout center in my home and I workout every single day for an hour. I will always have that to fall back on and get into the right mental state.”
Me: “I always get pissed when people put you down because of your body now. You led a revolution. Do you have any good business success stories for us? ”
Arnold: “I always had the same mindset in business as I had in bodybuilding. I knew the end before it happened. I used psychological tactics to always have the upper hand. One time, I wanted to put an add in one of Wieder’s magazines and he sends me a bill! He wanted 50% of all the prophets. I couldn’t believe it since he had built his empire around me. However, I then proceeded to send him a bill for all the times I have appeared in his magazines and I let him know that from now on he would have to pay to use my likeness. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. I won. By the way, the ad was for a muscle building pamphlet I sold which did quite well.”
To be continued tomorrow….
Arnold and The Dip
Beast at life!
Arnold Schwarzenegger- The greatest bodybuilder to ever live….
The Dip-Book by Seth Godin and what every person that is awesome at life must go through…
At first, you may think these two things might have nothing to do with each other. Maybe it’s just because I just finished The Dip yesterday and Friday I had a viewing of Pumping Iron at my gym. Either way, connect the dots and enjoy.
I have always said that lifting and life parallel each other. As a coach, I can tell you right away which one of my athletes will be successful in life and which ones will be average. The ones that are “willing to go through this pain period and push and go on, they may get to be a champion and if you can’t, forget about it.” If that looks familiar it is because it is a famous Arnold quote from Pumping Iron. They say that Arnold had the highest pain threshold of any bodybuilder, often pushing himself so far beyond what any other bodybuilder was willing to go through. The athletes that attack the workouts, aiming to turn their body’s into weapons, those are the ones that will be presidents of companies, great fathers, own their own companies and so on.
In the book, The Dip, Godin talks about how the dip in the curve to greatness it what separates the average people from the ones that become great. Most people quit when they get to the dip, because it causes them to get uncomfortable and they don’t have immediate success. But the larger the dip, the better for you because it acts as a moat between average and greatness. (If you are taking the time to read this, I am assuming you want to be great at something.) The dip will happen no matter what and if you find success without going through the dip, it will be short lived.
Arnold pushed himself through the dip time and time again. He had such a supreme confidence in himself and he knew the other side of the dip would come. He pushed through the reps, the most painful ones when all others would quit. He did not quit for short term pleasure like so many people in the gym and in life. He knew if he kept going, the long term payoff would be far greater. Arnold also said way back when, “The worst thing to me is to be the same as everyone else.” In other words, average or mediocre.
Perhaps the secret to coming through to other side of the dip is telling people where you are going to wind up before you even start your journey. Dan John calls this “using other people’s will power”, Napolean Hill said “tell the world what you are going to do” and Cialdini of Influence said human beings have a deep need for commitment and consistency. These all tie together. If you want to survive the dip and you have the passion for what you are chasing, then by all means, push through those 10th, 11th and 12th reps. Go through the pain period of becoming a champion. Interestingly, many of the wives and girlfriends of the men and athletes of my gym could not stand Arnold in the movie because of his arrogance and supreme confidence. What they failed to realize is that is why he was great and accomplished everything he set out to do. If you want to succeed in lifting, push through the dip. If you want to succeed in sports, push through the dip. If you want to be great at life, push through the dip!
GETTING BIG
The reason I love training athletes so much is because I have been in their shoes, I have been in their mind. When I was a junior and senior in high school, I wanted to get bigger so badly that I often ate until I puked. I did not do this on purpose, but the drive was there and I knew that I had to drive the body out of its comfort zone to get the muscle that I wanted. When an athlete tells me he is eating good and a lot, I ask to see his nutrition journal. It is says 2 eggs and cheerios for breakfast, you can be sure as heck that they are going to get an earful from me. Does that even sound like it is a breakfast for a young athlete that wants and needs to get bigger? Cereal is garbage and you should be eating 6 to 8 whole eggs (cage free) for breakfast. The whole idea is to make the body step out of its comfort zone. Training as a young athlete is as much mental as it is physical. You have to put a 10 in to get a 10 out, nothing less.
MINDSET AND GLUTAMINE
Before I get to a quick inspirational video by the legend, Arnold, just wanted to drop some quick knowledge about glutamine. Glutamine is one of the essential amino acids that is critical to immune function. One of the most highly depleted AA in endurance runners is glutamine, is it a wonder that most endurance athletes that do way too much volume are constantly sick? One of the ways around this is to supplement with glutamine or better yet, supplement with branched chain amino acids (BCAA). “A high BCAA intake spares glutamine in the body and this may be a better overall strategy to protect immune function” (McDonald, 2007). There’s that, now check out this quick video:
