How Did Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Chubby” Teenage Son Transform Himself to Be Worthy of Father’s Bodybuilding Legacy?

Joseph Baena, the youngest son of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He demands an authentic 565K followers on Instagram, thanks to his training videos and physique updates. The 26-year-old came to the limelight a decade ago for all the wrong reasons when his mother’s affair with the bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the tabloids. Baena was pronounced as the love child of the Austrian Oak, having striking similarities with his father.

But Baena was not alarmed by the new revelation. The young actor took it in his stride to build a beautiful bond with his biological father, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, Baena enjoys a devoted fan following on social media who hail him as the bodybuilding heir of the 7x Mr. Olympia. Despite the wear off of Arnold’s ripped physique with age, his decades-old fans relive their icon’s glorious past in Baena’s flexing videos. But where did it all begin?

The story that inspires every bodybuilder on the planet started in Thal

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quest to succeed started in his early childhood days. Born to the local police chief in the village of Thal, near Graz city in Austria, Arnie had to cope with the family’s strained financial conditions. So, when he came across Reg Park’s muscular physique on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine, he knew his destiny. Surviving his father’s harsh punishments, Arnie found solace in lifting weights at the gym. 

The governor started lifting weights at 15 and started competing in Amateur bodybuilding competitions. But his name reverberated among the bodybuilding community when he won the Mr. Universe contest at 20. Joe Weider spotted Schwarzenegger in one of those competitions and invited him to America to compete at IFBB’s Mr. Olympia. 

The early 1970s was Schwarzenegger’s era on the Mr. Olympia stage and is revered as the most iconic phase of the sport. The ripped physique of the Austrian Oak from that time still finds its place on gym walls. While fans miss Arnie on the bodybuilding stage, there is a sense of respite when they watch Joseph Baena’s bodybuilding videos. But when did the youngest son of Schwarzenegger start weight training? 

Joseph Baena’s contrasting story 

Unlike his bodybuilding father, Joseph Baena was a chubby child. The 26-year-old has been vocal about his teenage body image issues owing to being overweight and started bodybuilding much later in life. “I didn’t really start hitting the gym until my junior year of college,” Baena once confessed.

Despite being the look-alike son of the most popular bodybuilder on earth, Baena was bullied for his “chubby” physique. “It was my closest friends that were the ones that bullied me the most and made fun of me for being overweight and all these kind of things,” the actor revealed while promoting his film Bully High. And the humiliation didn’t stop there!

Baena got rejected from the “soccer or basketball” teams in school for being a “chubby kid.” However, the 26-year-old was keen to lose weight and joined swimming upon a friend’s advice and built his lats after intensive sessions. However, the weight loss journey was an on-off affair for the young lad until his father, the bodybuilding maestro Arnold Schwarzenegger, intervened.

Joseph Baena once narrated how he neglected his weight loss journey during his sophomore year. “I was chubby again. I was eating baguettes, croissants, and schnitzel every day of my life,” he said while calling himself a “big body dysmorphia guy,” on the Bradley Martyn’s Rawtalk Podcast. However, life-changing advice from Arnold Schwarzenegger changed Joseph Baena’s identity and destiny.

From chubby kid to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding heir

The Austrian Oak’s unparalleled glory as the 7x Mr. Olympia champion inspired many bodybuilders to pursue the sport. However, the legend’s influential role in the 26-year-old son’s bodybuilding journey unraveled the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger 2.0. Now, Baena is considered the bodybuilding imprint of the Austrian Oak. But the Chariot actor’s love for training started a few years ago when his father gifted him a self-authored Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. 

Schwarzenegger told Baena, “Look everything every question that you have it’s right in here. So just do your research.” Arnie’s youngest son “took that to heart” and read the book by heart and “got cut again.” “Then that really started my addiction to the gym,” Baena confessed. A few years down the lane, Baena now trains with Arnold Schwarzenegger and bodybuilding elites like Mike O’Hearn. 

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Joseph Baena and his love for life

The 26-year-old has not just inherited Arnold Schwarzenegger’s crazy bodybuilding looks but also his love for training. Arnie’s fans knew that the only constant in Schwarzenegger’s life was the admiration for the gym. Baena reciprocates the same passion for training as his father, carrying forward the Austrian Oak’s legacy. Expressing his love for the gym, Baena shared a TikTok video using a love percentage filter, choosing “the gym” as his partner. 

The youngster claimed in the video, “I’m with the love of my life! Nothing can get in between us,” referring to the gym. He further cemented himself as an ardent gym-goer by training even during Hurricane Hilary this year.

Despite entering the professional arena, Joseph Baena’s Instagram videos reflect his love for training. Fans hail him as the true successor of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding legacy. His natty status further raises his popularity among fitness enthusiasts. As they wait for his official debut on the Mr. Olympia stage. But only time has to unravel whether audiences can witness the Mr. Olympia journey of Arnold Schwarzenegger once again through his son.

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