“Weight Didn’t Move”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Recalls Tough Days at Gym With Franco Columbu During Early Days of Career

After migrating from Austria to America in 1968, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s journey has not been a bed of roses. While trying to establish his name in bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger faced many challenges. The Austrian Oak was defeated by Sergio Oliva in his first Olympia competition in 1969. This made him focus more on his training. In a recent edition of his newsletter, ‘The Pump Daily,’ Schwarzenegger elaborated on a tough challenge he faced while training with Franco Columbu. 

The Austrian Oak had met Columbu in 1965, and the two bodybuilding champions forged a strong friendship. Describing his workout routine in detail, Schwarzenegger explained how he did heavy weight lifting with Columbu in his newsletter. Elaborating, the Austrian Oak explained how sometimes, both he and Franco were unable to lift heavy weights. Talking about their action after this setback, the Austrian Oak gave his real opinion on Columbu’s strength. 

Bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger gives his fans a rare glimpse of his tough challenge and his workouts with Columbu 

Schwarzenegger stated how during his bodybuilding career, he did a two hours workout in the morning and a two hours workout in the afternoon. Further, Schwarzenegger expressed, “Friday was my favorite day. Because Friday, Franco and I went to the gym and lifted heavy.” While Schwarzenegger and Columbu found it challenging, they also enjoyed it as they had done power-lifting before pursuing bodybuilding. 

However, the former Mr. Olympia champ and Franco did not get positive results every day. “But some days, we came into the gym fired up and the weight didn’t move”, Schwarzenegger admitted. The Austrian Oak explained how there could be many reasons for this, such as less sleep, wrong food, or an imperfect warm-up. He also implied how both he and Columbu couldn’t always understand the reason for being unable to lift weights. Despite these setbacks, the Terminator actor narrated that both he and Columbu would arrive the next Friday to lift heavy weights again in the gym. This depicts how the Austrian Oak and Columbu refused to give up in the face of setbacks. 

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With these statements, Schwarzenegger also shared how both he and Columbu liked to gauge their strength. ‘We were moving big weight, like 500 on the bench, 545 on squat, and 700 on the deadlift,” Schwarzenegger recounted. He also made an admission that Columbu was stronger than him. This was not the only time where Schwarzenegger has given his unique perspective on Franco Columbu. During a 2019 interview, Schwarzenegger gave an interesting perspective on Franco’s personality.

The Austrian Oak’s scintillating views on his best friend Franco Columbu 

Schwarzenegger remarked that while Columbu was smart, he was still a child. Continuing, Schwarzenegger implied that he was a bigger expert in bodybuilding as compared to Columbu. 

Later, the Austrian Oak told how Columbu came to him for advice related to bodybuilding. He also added that it wasn’t a tough task for him to give Columbu false advice. This viewpoint indicates that the Austrian Oak did only what he thought was right for him. 

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The Austrian Oak’s statements point out the immense hard work and consistency, which helped him to win the Mr. Olympia title 7 times. How does Schwarzenegger’s passion for working out at the gym inspire you to work out? Share your thoughts in the comments section!