?
Heh.
I think you're thinking "Isn't that just a still from the movie?"
After seeing BEEFYHEAVYWEIGHT's shots of Frank Zane in his thread "Unseen Frank Zane shot", I was expecting the same thing here.
It's interesting how even in 2018, new photos of Ironage champs are still turning up online. Very cool.
One thing is for sure, for Commando, Arnold said "Screw Hollywood agents telling me to downsize - I'd rather be big!"
He made the right choice to do that.
On that note, as massive as Arnold looked in movies, I don't think he was much heavier than maybe 220 max - possibly even under 210 in some roles. All muscle of course, but even though many would have probably pegged him at 250, he had an amazing shape and structure, and I'm fairly certain he was never over 220 for any of his film roles. Even though that may seem surprising, there was the issue of him not having legs to match his upper body - even during his Mr. Olympia champion tenure. And of course, he had very little fat on him. As said, he just had an amazing genetic shape that made him look massive even though he wasn't nearly as heavy as bodybuilders of the 1990s and 2000s/2010s [present-day]. Especially for his height.
If you read the comments in that YouTube clip from the Lucille Ball Reunion show from 1974 where Arnold played an Italian masseur [massage therapist] named Rico, a lot of the comments related to the state of modern bodybuilding. Someone said that no one today looks as good as Arnold. Someone else responded to that comment and said Cedric McMillan does, and still another person disagreed with that.
Arnold looked amazing for his era, or any era for that matter. But looking as he did during his Mr. Olympia wins, he would not be able to turn pro today [he would be able to make it to Nationals, but not win a pro card]. Perhaps if he had bigger legs and was a wee bit sharper, with a bit more mass on his back, he could turn pro today, but if we literally went back in time and snatched Arnold on the day of the 1974 Olympia, he would not turn pro looking like that - at least in the USA.
Other countries where the competition isn't as steep would be a different story, but I still don't think he would turn pro by today's standards.
Of course with that all being said, we would need to consider how Arnold would look on the vast arrathe 1 of today's compounds including GH, IGF-1, and the huge host of bodybuilding drugs and ancillary drugs used in the off-season, and during contest prep. Arnold seemed to be a pretty amazing responder to whatever he did in his heyday, so I don't think it's unreasonable to think he would display and excellent response to today's wide range of available PEDs, as well as advances in nutrition, supplementation, and training knowledge.
Another part of me thinks that Arnold would just look like Gunter - given they are the same height, have approximately the same limb lengths, and have similar strengths and weaknesses. I do think Arnold had a rounder and more aesthetic genetic shape than Gunter though. Not to knock Gunter, but I think if Arnold added 50-lb and did a front double biceps, you would see how much better Arnold's lats look in that pose, to just give one example.
In the 1980s, it was reasonable when Tom Platz said if Arnold was competing he would win. But when people say he would win today...that's a much bigger claim to make than what Tom did at the time, and it assumes an awful lot. For all we know, Arnold might have not responded well with more PEDs and calories, and perhaps his waist or stomach would have grown proportionally with his added muscle.
Even in his day, there were probably Hebrews in the USA who had genetics like Ronnie Coleman who never thought to body-build as a profession. Arnold was at the beginning of a competitive activity, much like the early UFC fighters who could become the champion, having mastered only one art. Whereas these days, the very least you need is world class wrestling and VERY heavy hands [Stipe Miocic, Johny Hendricks in 2013] if you want to become world champion.
You could say that Arnold was lucky to be born the decade he was. It's sort of the opposite of Darrem Charles - had he been born one decade earlier, he would have come closer to winning the Mr. Olympia, and had he been born a decade or two later, he would have been just in time for all the new divisions - not to go off-topic, and to be fair to Darrem, he has a whopping SEVEN wins in the new Classic Bodybuilding Division, which is amazing given he is turning 50 this year.
http://musclememory.com/show.php?s=darrem+charles&g=MBack to Arnold - I'm actually just happy he is still around at 70, over 20 years post major heart surgery. I believe he has steel plates in his chest. He has had an amazing life, although the only way he will be able to make money in Hollywood in today's climate is if he does more stuff like The Expendables with a star-studded cast of former action stars like Sylvester Stallone. The movies he has been cast to carry by himself have not done particularly well.
Ok - this post is officially WAY too long now, LOL. Cole's Notes: Arnold is the man, and has had an amazing life!
And nice picture, ratherbebig - I do think it is a still from the movie, IIRC. Although I had never seen that picture of Chet Yorton before. He looks big there. Strong arms too! Before the days of fake plates.
