A young Arnold Schwarzenegger broke into local gyms when they were closed during the weekends.
He was born in the small town of Thal, Austria to an extremely strict father who blatantly favored his step brother over him and “would not spare the rod” in the face of disobedience. His father pushed him into several sports, most prominently soccer.
He picked up his first barbell in 1960 when his soccer coach took him to a local gym. At the age of 14, he chose body building over soccer as a career. He took to visiting a gym in Graz, and after his workouts, he went to the local movie theatres to see his body building idols; Reg Parks, Steve Reeves, and Johnny Weissumuller.
Even on the weekends when the gyms were closed, he was back, wiling to break and enter to get his work out. He says that; “It would make me sick to miss a workout...I knew I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I couldn’t do it.”
Now while that sort of commitment is admirable, it also verges on slightly unhealthy. If you ever find that your workouts are building not just your muscles but also your criminal record, it’s time to stop and reflect.
