The greatest bodybuilder of all time has had his say on the issue of steroids
Arnold Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Olympia contest in 1970, at the age of 23. He proceeded to win a further six Olympia titles, before retiring in 1980.
However, when discussing modern bodybuilding, he believes there is an over-reliance on drugs that needs stamping out.
Speaking at the recent Arnold Classic event in South Africa, Schwarzenegger said:
“There’s a lot of people that have the feeling that if they take drugs, then that will enhance their performance.
“But what happens is that if you think that you take two pills that it will help you and then there are guys that will say ok if I take ten, it’s five times as good, and then they go and overdose.”
In a more general sense, Schwarzenegger criticised the ‘quick-fix’ attitude of people relying on performance-enhancing drugs.
“You see people overdosing and just thinking that the answer is ‘there’s a quick shortcut to success’ – but there is no shortcut to success.”
The Austrian has previously admitted to using anabolic steroids, but is critical of how prevalent they are in modern bodybuilding competitions.
“It was what I had to do to compete. The danger with steroids is over-usage. I only did it before a difficult competition – for two months, but not for a period of time that would harm me. And then afterward it was over.”
Schwarzenegger then went on to have a glittering movie career. He starred in films such as Commando (1985), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), Kindergarten Cop (1990), True Lies (1994) and the Terminator series.
Arnold then moved into politics, being named Governor of California in 2003. He served until 2011, but has still engaged in political debate. He’s a keen environmentalist, and recently shared a stage with climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Schwarzenegger has also campaigned against gerrymandering – the manipulation of electoral boundaries so as to favour a particular party, group or class.
