#1 Have fun

I am fairly certain that I’m on a very short list of people that has actually seen every non-published outtake of one of the best documentaries ever created in fitness: Pumping Iron. I would say if it wasn’t for this documentary highlighting a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is hard to say how fast the fitness industry would have evolved. I literally got the chance to sit in Arnold’s office to watch every clip ever shot on the entire movie. It took me days to complete such a task, but it was an incredible experience.

One common theme surrounding the guys, starting with Arnold, was that they did what they loved to do each day.

This included training, competing, and building their business because that’s what they had fun doing. It was hilarious to watch the numerous outtakes of Arnold joking around pulling pranks on the other guys, and messing around in general. I also saw the guys giving it right back to him.

The environment was totally light hearted, even though it took extreme discipline to look like Greek Gods. They enjoyed every minute of the process, and would not trade it for anything else. Even Joe Weider was subject to the teasing among the group. After going through the footage, is was particularly unique to see the conversations between Arnold and Joe. So few individuals have witnessed this, and I have got to say it was pretty damn cool to hear and see.

The takeaway here is to look at the glass half full no matter what venture you set out to accomplish, and if it’s truly your passion, it will lead you the way.

#2 Daily intensity & competition

What’s unique about this exceptional era in fitness and one of the huge reasons that I love it, is that all these guys trained together and went to battle every day.

As you can imagine, this created more competition between everyone, and with the right amount of smack talk, it pushed them to higher limits. They saw each other every day, and when it came to competition, they saw each other side by side on stage. Arnold said that he would go back and forth between Franco and Ed Corny for training partners because they had strengths that helped push him harder. He simply knew that if he wanted to be the best in the sport, he had to be pushed by those with those strengths.

Trying to do this all on your own would be awfully difficult, borderline impossible to do on your own. Having daily struggles with people that you can count on is imperative to succeeding.

For instance, I know that at 4am there will be people at Old School Gym, and that will in turn breed intensity and competition. Arnold, Franco, Frank Zane and others felt the same way when they walked into Gold’s Gym. I also remember sitting there watching my favorite Ed Corny test Arnold on squats rep for rep. You can’t be scared to beat the best, and with that, it pushed him to be great.

#3 Who cares what people think

In those days, bodybuilding and fitness weren’t as socially acceptable as it is today because the majority was weighing around 150 lbs. back then. I know people used to say, “Arnold, I don’t wanna look like you.” He would say, “Good, you can’t even if you tried lol.” Arnold and the Golden Era bodybuilders had unparalleled swagger that drew me in at a young age as I began to study them. I knew that I wanted to mold my gym, work ethic, and my physique after Vince Gironda, Steven Reeves and Frank Zane.

The reason that I mention these guys is because Arnold is so much larger than me. That being said, I do believe that initially my swag and confidence did originate from reading all about Arnold and watching Pump Iron. An idol worth noting here is MJ of course, because his poise is out of this world, which has transferred well for me into my line of work. These guys walked around Venice like they owned it, because ultimately they did at this time in history.

Having the privilege to see all of this uncut footage, behind the scenes, and outtakes has made me feel blessed, and I am pleased to have shared it with you.

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