The Influence Arnold Had On Me

I just watched a new Arnold movie. No, not Escape Plan. Conan the Destroyer. That’s right, I had never seen the 1984 sequel to Conan the Barbarian. I grew up on Arnold’s movies. I’ve seen Predator 30 times, I stood in line on opening night for T2, and I know every line to Pumping Iron. So, it’s actually pretty cool to see an old-school Arnie flick for
the first time. I thought those days could never come again.

While I was watching the movie, I kept thinking the same four things: “Hey, that’s Olivia D’Abo, the hot hippie sister from The Wonder Years!” “Arnold looks pretty damn good in this movie.” “How have I never seen this? I’ve owned it twice, on VHS and DVD.” “For my debut column in this Arnold Schwarzenegger issue of MUSCLE INSIDER, I’ll tell the story of how I got into bodybuilding.” Late one Saturday night when I was 13 years old, I came upstairs to find my father sitting down to watch a movie on TV. It was, in fact, Conan the Barbarian. I never forgot the Nietzsche quote at the start. You know the one: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Yeah, that one. Then came the opening monologue that still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up: “Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!” Of course, no story about the impact of Conan would be complete if I didn’t mention the legendary first words Conan speaks when asked what is best in life: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!”

Yep, that’s some badass stuff for a 13-year-old to hear. It’s a classic from start to finish. I’ll never forget what happened during that scene
where the captive young boy starts slaving away on the wheel of pain, and it shows the time-lapse montage of him growing up into Mr. Olympia… uh, I mean Conan. I guess they used it to explain how he got so buff in an age before fi tness facilities. I remember being awestruck at how Arnold looked. I turned to my dad and said, “I’d like to look like that one day.” He replied, “He must be 250 pounds. It would take you 10 years to look like that.” Sounded good to me. At the age of 14, armed with The Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, I set off on my journey. It’s funny to look back over
those 24 years and remember all the great people I’ve met, the countries I’ve visited, the gyms I’ve trained in, and all the opportunities that continue to come my way because of my love for bodybuilding. Whenever I see Conan the Barbarian, or any of Arnold’s movies, for that matter, I think of how my life changed that night. I’m sure Arnold has influenced almost every bodybuilder alive.