During his prime bodybuilding days, Arnold Schwarzenegger had built many bonds and made many friends. But one of his constants was his training partner and best friend for decades – Franco Columbu. The Italian bodybuilder met Schwarzenegger in 1965 during a competition in Stuttgart, Germany. Since then, the duo have been inseparable.
Across many competitions that they would participate in, Schwarzenegger and Columbu would make it a point to always train together. They’d push each other to do their best, and that’s how the duo would always break records and build title-winning physiques. While Schwarzenegger would dominate the open categories of various championships including Mr. Olympia, Columbu would ace in the 212 category.
However, these wins didn’t arrive without struggles. In his book, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, Schwarzenegger recalled an incident where his all-time idol, Reg Park, taught him the true powers of the mind. He went on to not only apply this in his life to perform some serious feats of strength, but he also taught his best friend Columbu about this.
Sometime in the late 60s, Schwarzenegger spent his time in South Africa, staying with Park and his family. There, he got first-hand experience of how his idol trained diligently while holding immense power over his brain and body. One of his first lessons was knowing the true strength of the mind, especially during bodybuilding.
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“I was amazed to see Reg doing calf raises with one thousand pounds. “The limit is in your mind,” he said…And he was right. The limit I thought existed was purely psychological.”
This he then carried to his best friend Columbu when they trained together. Now that Schwarzenegger knew that it was all in the mind and humans tended to put psychological barriers on themselves, he encouraged Columbu to go beyond limits hilariously.
The Italian was admittedly stronger than the Austrian. Yet, one day when they had been training together at Gold’s Gym, squatting with 500 lbs, Columbu stopped before Schwarzenegger exclaiming that he was tired. However, without missing a beat, the star went over to some women in the gym and began talking to them. Upon returning, he had a plan to get his best friend to train harder.
He told Columbu that the women didn’t believe he could squat 500 lbs. That did the trick. Not only did he pick up the weights again, but he also performed ten more reps to show off!
“This was the same body that had been too tired ten minutes before. His thighs were probably screaming “What the f**k?” So what had changed? The mind.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger once lifted 700 lbs in his prime
Recalling his greatest feats during his bodybuilding journey, Schwarzenegger reminisced about his strength and determination. In a recent episode from the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast, he spoke of his prime days. The star stressed how important it was to do physical activities to feel productive and how his achievements came about that way.
Currently, in his late 70s, Schwarzenegger remembered how he used to deadlift 700 lbs, bench over 500 lbs, and squat over 600 lbs. These feats made him feel like ‘King Kong’! And that’s why he’s an inspiration for generations to come.
