I’ve heard Arnold say a million times that he’s always been in avid disagreement with the use of steriods and other miscellaneous drugs. I’ve also heard a million times that “…Even Schwarzenegger made his biggest gains using steriods.” One question: 1) I certainly understand that one now so involved in youth sports, overall nutrition, and even his own Arnold Classic, etc. etc., wouldn’t want to admit publicly that he had used steriods in his competition days, but on what grounds, using what information obtained from where, do we know that “even Schwarzenegger” has used steriods?
I once saw an old tv show with Arnold being interviewed buy (Barbara Watlters), I think thats who interviewed him. She asked him about steriod use and he admitted to taking them under doctors supervision. He said he had won many contest with and without the use of them.
We have eyes connected to the brain.
Well…in clear view on “Pumping Iron” he is smoking a joint…so that takes care of the “miscellaneous” part. (It’s doubtful that he only “inhaled” that once).
The question is does one have the capability to build a worldclass physique, of that size, while doing marathon workouts without the use of anabolics AND at a time when supplements were hit or miss at best, and pure Voodoo at worst. The answer is VERY doubtful. One can draw their own conclusions.
Arnold used to work out quite often with Mike Katz who owns the World Gym I belong to and who has been a friend since High School. Mike is the big blonde guy in Pumping Iron. The answer to your question is “yes”, Arnold used steroids, and not in insignificant amounts. Arnold is a professional user of people and will say whatever is necessary to get what he wants.
Mr. Roids, which World Gym is this? I read before that you are in CT, right?
According to his unauthorized bio, which his lawyers tried to squash but couldn’t, he started using roids almost as soon as he started training, as a mid-teen. If you read his auto-bio, he said he used to train with a young doctor who coached him as a youth. Hmmmmm… I smell D-bol…
He’s admitted to steroid use though. That’s never been a question. The question is how young and how much?
Is the Mike Katz who owns “Katz” restaurant same as THE mike katz who owns world gym? lol
I once thought so…
This is purely educated speculation on my part, but here’s what I think. First, Arnold has gone on record saying that he’d won the Olympia both on and off steroids. His opinion was that steroids don’t make THAT much of a difference in one’s physique - maybe five percent or so - so it didn’t really matter. (I.e. that he was at least more-than-five-percent better than anyone else, so whether he was on or off, he’d still win. I think that anyone who’s read much about the man will agree that this is a pretty typical comment from the 70’s Arnold.) Second, I’ve read that “biography” and anyone who believes all the innuendo that that woman wrote is, well, let’s just say “gullible” and leave it at that. So I wouldn’t base an opinion on anything contained in there. She also wrote that Arnold and Sly Stallone had this huge feud over Brigitte Neilsen (sp?), etc. and basically tried to dig up whatever dirt she could on Our Hero. When she couldn’t dig anything up, she fabricated. The whole steroids-at-age-15 thing is just more of the same, IMHO. Third, my reasoning for point two above is that in his own bio, although he talks about a whole host of other, non-good-public-image stuff, he doesn’t mention taking steroids. This wouldn’t mean much today, but back when he wrote the book (a) steroids weren’t vilified as they are today and (b) Arnold wasn’t particularly worried about his public image. What he DOES say in the book was that no one could keep up with him in the gym and that they “all thought that I was on some crazy drug program or something”. Which implies that he wasn’t (at that time). If you look at his pics up to age 19 or 20, he gets progressively bigger and bigger, but never has the vascularity, cuts or hardness that he would show later. So basically, he looks like someone with fantastic genetics would look if he trained and ate a whole hell of a lot. So I have to disagree with Mufasa on that one.
Farnsworth, I belong to the Branford, CT World Gym but Mike also owns one in Hamden and one other location although he may have sold that one.
Kenneth, I think you might be a little off there. Actually he wrote the longest running play in Broadway history which is still at the Wintergarden…“Katz”. lol
Anyone who is a true Arnold fan and also knows anything about anabolics knows Arnold used steroids, but only for the few months leading up to each year’s Olympia. Most of the year he would only weigh around 200 pounds, then would get increasingly bigger up to the O, where his weight was in the 220-240 pound range over the years.
For one thing in those days the cycles the guys were using etc. were shared among each other instead of guarded like the knowledge would effect national security. 200 lb.? Maybe when he was 17. He’s my height. I weigh 200 lb or so at much higher BF. I don’t have near the measurements he had, or the look. Muscle is denser than fat too. I’m betting he walked around at about 270 in the off season and cut down to about 235 for competition.