After arriving in America, Arnold Schwarzenegger learned what it felt like to train with the best bodybuilders in the world. The Austrian Oak quickly made friends with world-class bodybuilders. Among them was the golden era legend Ed Corney. Corney and Schwarzenegger became friends and training partners. After Franco Columbu arrived, the trio became iconic. Corney, Schwarzenegger, and Franco were featured in many photoshoots together. Earlier today, the Instagram page Chicago Adonis uploaded a collage of the bodybuilding veteran.

The bodybuilding page pays tribute to bodybuilding legends of the past by uploading rare images and narrating the origin of those images. The image in question was from 1976 when the former Mr. Universe and Pumping Iron actor were still in his prime.

A prolific competitor who shared the stage with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Chicago Adonis posted an image from “the December, 1976 issue of Joe Weider’s ‘Muscle Builder and Power’ magazine.” The collage feature Corney hitting the classic variations of the front and back double biceps poses. According to the Instagram bodybuilding page, snapshots were clicked shortly after the 1976 Mr. Olympia contest.

“Mr. Corney (1933-2019), had recently placed third in the Under-200 pound class… behind Franco Columbu and Frank Zane,” read the caption. Ed Corney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane, and many others trained together during their bodybuilding prime at Gold’s Gym. While they competed against one another on stage, they also pushed one another to work harder and improve. Pumping Iron (1977) captured the camaraderie between the bodybuilders perfectly.

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Besides Franco Columbu, Corney appeared in many scenes with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, the scene where Corney and Schwarzenegger push one another to failure while doing squats has become iconic. Besides training together, Pumping Iron also showed how the bodybuilders competed and admired one another during the competition.

Ed Corney challenged Columbu and Arnie for the Mr. Olympia title

The movie “Pumping Iron” came out in 1977 and presented the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition. During the 1970s, the Mr. Olympia contest had separate divisions for heavyweight and lightweight competitors. The champions from each weight class then competed in a final pose down, where the judges selected an overall winner. In 1975, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Serge Nubret stood out as the leading heavyweight contenders.

Meanwhile, Franco Columbu and Ed Corney were the top Under-200 lbs or lightweight contenders. Despite giving Franco and Arnie a run for their money, Corney placed second to Columbu in the lightweight class. In the final, Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger went head-to-head, and Arnie won his 6th Mr. Olympia.

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While Corney never won an Olympia, he won the 1972 Mr. Universe title. He later returned to bodybuilding as a Masters competitor and won the Masters, Mr. Olympia in 1994 and 1995. What did you think about the Ed Corney picture of the Chicago Adonis posted? Tell us in the comments.