The Austrian Oak. The Terminator. The Legend. The Governator. Ah-nuld. 

There are many iconic bodybuilders whose names are synonymous with the success of bodybuilding. One bodybuilder in particular became a household name, and continues to be an inspiration to aspiring bodybuilders to this day, even 30 years after his reign as Mr. Olympia. You may know him as the 38^th governor of California, or even the Terminator, but to bodybuilding enthusiasts around the world, he will be forever be known as the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Born in 1947 in Thal, Austria, Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was raised by strict Roman Catholic parents, and was regularly abused by his father. Vowing to leave Austria and become a rich movie star, Schwarzenegger decided to use bodybuilding as his vessel to do so. Schwarzenegger began to weight lift at the age of 15, and only 5 years later at the surprisingly young age of 20, won the coveted Mr. Universe title. Even after he arrived in the United States, Arnold continued to dominate the bodybuilding world. With his amazing symmetry and large stature, he eventually went on to win the most important bodybuilding competition in the world, Mr. Olympia. Not satisfied with one Olympia title, Arnold went on to win the title six more times with his final title in 1980, reaching a record that was unprecedented and not broken until Lee Haney in 1991. His legacy was immortalized in a bodybuilding competition that is considered one of the stepping-stones to Olympia for many up and coming bodybuilders, known as the Arnold Classic. Many of the current generation Mr. Olympia winners first won the Arnold Classic.

Arnold’s impressive physique led him to star in many film roles. Because he was such an imposing figure, most of his roles were of characters that were action heroes, cops, special agents, and other “macho” types. Some of his most iconic works came from the Terminator series and the Conan the Barbarian series. Due to this increase in popularity, Arnold Schwarzenegger name became a household name, and because of his physique, many young men began to take on bodybuilding, in hopes of replicating Arnold’s aesthetic success. He effectively turned bodybuilding into a widespread activity and hobby, which was a huge milestone, considering that bodybuilding itself was originally seen as an oddity to the general public. After Arnold’s retirement from bodybuilding, he continued to stay active in the bodybuilding community, in part of his ownership of many gyms and magazines, and presiding in many contests and awards shows. He even used the fame he had garnered over the years to launch a political campaign to run for the governor of California.

            
From a personal perspective, Arnold is the quintessential bodybuilder. He had the charisma, the physique, the discipline, and the personality that sport demanded. Many people aspire to look like Arnold, and some people even have his pictures on their walls to constantly remind them of what they could look like. Perhaps this is “obsessive”, in terms of the level of commitment. Regardless, no one can deny that the amount of hard work that Arnold put into his body is nothing short of impressive. Although he is now old enough to order off the senior citizen’s menu at Denny’s, he continues to be an inspiration to bodybuilders all around the world, old and new. He promised that he would be back, and he's never left.