"Fantastic - The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger " by Laurence Leamer -
a book review by Kevin Carbone, FitnessSource1.com
After reading "Fantastic - The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger" a biography by Laurence Leamer, I realized I have only one thing in common with Arnold. As young teenage bodybuilders we both thought that the Weider Research Clinic was a huge research center with scientists walking around in white coats developing new dynamic "Blitzing and Bombing" training principles, "Space Age" exercise equipment, and "Wildcat" food supplements all guaranteed to build massive muscle from the "Master Blaster" and "Trainer of Champions" Joe Weider. Truth be told, the famed Weider Research Clinic existed only in the pages of Weider's "Muscle Builder" and "Mr. America" magazines and of course in the fertile promotional and marketing imagination of Joe Weider himself. But, ultimately none of this hyperbole or over exaggeration was harmful to either of us because in Arnold's case it motivated him to train harder in order to get to America and in my case it also motivated me to train harder if only to reap the many benefits of being muscular and fit. After forty or so years, I still train as does Arnold because it has become embedded in our lifestyles. I guess you could say no regrets for either of us.
Unfortunately for me this is the only commonality that I share with the fascinating life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Laurence Leamer has aptly named this book "Fantastic" because not only is this Arnold's favorite word with which he describes everything, but his life has been a journey that has been extraordinary to say the least, and in a word truly fantastic. Not only does this word sum up Arnold's life but he is a fantastic character who puts a positive spin on any endeavor that he undertakes. Let's quickly summarize some of Arnold's main achievements: Seven time Mr. Olympia winner which is bodybuilding's highest crown; business and real estate entrepreneur; not only the world's biggest movie star, but the world's first international movie star; current governor of the state of California and believe me if it was in any way possible he would run for President of the United States! Oh, and how could I forget this one - he marries into American royalty being the star Republican of the Kennedy clan! Any one of these achievements would have been enough for any other mortal, but to Arnold they are just stepping stones to something greater.
I feel that Laurence Leamer presents, as they would say on the Fox News network's Bill O'Reilly show - a fair, balanced, and comprehensive account of Arnold's life. He tries to remain neutral showing the good/bad but not evil Arnold. However, I get the feeling that at the end of the day Leamer has been bitten by the patented Schwarzenegger charisma and has probably learned a few life lessons from his extensive talks with the governator. Leamer has written at least ten other books including "The Kennedy Men", "The Kennedy Women", and "Sons of Camelot". No doubt these previous writings helped Leamer to get interviews with Schwarzenegger, wife Maria Shriver and many of their friends and associates. In fact, in the acknowledgment section in the front of the book, Leamer lists the names of over 150 people who he interviewed for this project. This list is the "who's who" of Arnold's life and includes close friends, bodybuilding buddies, plus business and political associates. Leamer felt it was necessary to talk with all of the people first hand in order to get a better grasp as to what makes a remarkable person like Arnold tick.
So what's the secret to Arnold's success and what is it that makes him tick? Reading this book is almost like reading a textbook on the Schwarzenegger method to success. Leamer feels that the key to Arnold is that God gave him an incredible sense of joy for life. Everything he does must have this feeling of joy in order for him to carry on. He is a true extrovert but has the sensitivities and insights of an introvert. An important point is that Arnold derives energy from being with people and hates to be alone. He started bodybuilding at the age of 15 and was going to vocational school with the ideal of becoming a carpenter. In the gym and at school he was always the leader and drew people to him even though he was often younger than many of his friends.
Arnold never liked to read but learned from other people who often became his mentors. He actually had several mentors in his life and like a sponge he would soak in whatever information and good sense they could offer. These profound mentor relationships helped to mold Arnold into what he is is today. Leamer feels that in many ways he is still like an Austrian villager but with these mentor relationships he has built layers and layers of wisdom and knowledge that he continues to utilize on a daily basis. Probably the mentor who had the biggest influence on Arnold was muscle magazine publisher Joe Weider. Joe had created a bodybuilding empire that included nutrition supplements, barbells and other exercise equipment, books, and the Weider System of Training that he sold in his magazines. It was these magazines that inspired a young teenaged Arnold and made it clear that America was the place to be if he wanted to become a top bodybuilding star. Joe brought Arnold to America in 1968 because he saw in Arnold a tremendous potential that would remain untapped unless Joe provided him with the necessary gym facilities, food supplements, and advanced training concepts.
Leamer says that Arnold was an astute student of Weider's life. "Weider was very instrumental", said Arnold. "I learned a lot about business and deal making. He lit a candle. I would be sitting in has office and I saw how you design a magazine. Hanging around him, I picked up all sorts of things." Leamer says that Weider was an engine of self-promotion, a self-created myth, a contrived legend as famous as any of the bodybuilders! These were all the things that Arnold observed and took on as part of his own being. Leamer goes on to say that Arnold learned best and deepest not when people were consciously instructing him but when he made his own observations. He had the brilliant ability to extrapolate the ideas of others, incorporate them into his own thinking, and apply them in new places, eventually in his movie and political careers. Barbara Outland Baker who was Arnold's first real girlfriend said, "I think Joe Weider and I both gave him an imprint of logical thinking patterns. I could see that a lot. And, of course, Arnold learned how to negotiate, because Joe was a hard driver. " Although Weider paid Arnold a small salary for endorsing his products, Arnold was making money through his mail order courses and from doing training seminars on a worldwide basis. Joe advised Arnold to go to school and also to invest his money in real estate. On Weider's advice, Arnold took $28,000 in savings plus another $10,000 he borrowed from Weider and purchased a six-unit apartment house in Santa Monica and lived in one of the apartments with Barbara Outland. Leamer says that Arnold was a man of radical frugality, living not only within his means but far below them. Each investment became a means to a bigger investment.
Arnold has always said that everything he knew he had learned from bodybuilding. He said it gave him confidence, pride, and an unlimited positive attitude. He developed an incredible sense of joy, discipline, and focus from bodybuilding that he carried over into his business and movie career. Much to the chagrin of his political advisors, Arnold will often cite an example or make a point by using an experience from his competition bodybuilding days. His advisors feel that Arnold should play down the bodybuilding "thing", but because it is so much a part of his inner fabric he will not put it aside.
One very important training technique that has helped Arnold not only in bodybuilding but in all aspects of his life is the principal of visualization. In bodybuilding this is where one sees in their mind's eye what their muscles should look like based on another bodybuilder or an exaggerated version of their own reality. It is also referred to as the mind-body connection. An example would be Arnold's practice of visualizing his biceps as great mountains as he pumped out his barbell curls. Arnold would work on a vision until eventually it would become a physical reality. Maybe his arms didn't become real mountains but at 21 inches they were damn close!
Arnold has used this technique of visualization or creating a vision of things to come in all areas of his life. Although they may seem impossible to others, they are very real to him and he focuses totally on them. An example is that Arnold talked about being governor of California 20 years ago! Who would have thought it could be possible? Arnold, that's who! His mantra is to move forward, don't be afraid, and take chances.
Arnold has a love for publicity and knows how to use it to his advantage. He understands that controversy is an important tool for getting your name in the news. Take for example when he called the California legislature "girlie men" or when he would poke verbal jabs at fellow action hero Sly Stallone. Arnold manipulates the media using exaggeration and other promotion techniques he learned long ago from the Weider magazines such as only giving interviews to the top journalists or only being photographed with the top stars. He projected a certain image of himself that was his own making and he became his own product. Leamer says that Arnold considered the media a poster on which to emblazon his message and he would use them as opposed to them using him.
Arnold's acting career is just another fantastic aspect in his fascinating life. Leamer feels that Arnold is the most unlikely movie star of all time. He is not a great actor but he is a movie star in that he has developed a presence as a physical actor. He chooses his film projects very carefully and gets involved in all phases of the film process such as picking the directors and working on the marketing and promotional aspects. These activities were lessons well learned from his days observing "The Master Blaster" Joe Weider at work.
Leamer considers Arnold to be the first international or world-wide movie star and the first star to understand the rest of the world. He is more popular in Europe and Asia than in the U.S. and some of his films have made more money in Europe than here in the U.S.
Leamer has observed that Arnold has a secretive nature and holds things close to himself. An example is when he announced his candidacy for governor of California on Jay Leno's Tonight Show. No one, except his wife Maria, knew what he was going to do. Not even his campaign manager! I wonder if he tipped off his best buddy, confidant, and twice Mr. Olympia winner Franco Columbu? And speaking of Franco, Leamer says that Arnold is very loyal to his old friends. Guys like Franco, Sven Thorsen, Albert Busek, Jim Lorimer and others from the old days are often seen hanging out relaxing with the governator when he has some down time.
Leamer also points out that for a man in such a high political office Arnold has a limited education. He went to vocational school in Graz, took courses at Santa Monica Community College and U.C.L.A., and received a correspondence degree from the University of Wisconsin. Leamer says that Arnold is a quick learner and learns best through other people as opposed to books. Leamer calls Arnold an instinctive conservative because he came to this country with nothing and bodybuilding was largely a conservative's sport. The many years of training and the physical and mental discipline that goes along with it plus his natural entrepreneurial abilities created a conservative and focused personality.
Probably the most painful thing in Arnold's life was his relationship with his father. Gustav Schwarzenegger was a policeman who was a strict disciplinarian and was unusually harsh on his sons Arnold and Meinhard. Gustav was an angry alcoholic who favored Arnold's older brother Meinhard and made it very obvious to Arnold that Meinhard was his father's favorite son. Meinhard was much like his father in that he became an oppressive bully and was a man of empty promises who wasted his abilities and prospects. Arnold, on the other hand, was more like his mother and many credit his best qualities to her influence and good nature. It is interesting to note that Arnold did not attend either his father's or brother's funerals. He seemed to develop an ability to turn his head from what was negative and hurtful and always looked beyond.
Does Arnold aspire to be president of the United States? Author Laurence Leamer thinks so and so do I. His speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention made it clear that he wanted to come across as a national political leader and a great political leader of the 21st century. I think that this speech was intended as the seed to get people thinking of him as a visionary and as future presidential material. In true Arnold style he will not talk about any presidential aspirations and cites his California governor's job as his main focus. However, as someone who has followed Arnold for a long time I think he is using the California governor's position as a stepping stone to the nation's highest office. In fact, using the visualization technique that he is so fond of, in Arnold's mind he is probably already president! Of course it must be kept in mind that the Constitutional prohibition of foreign-born citizens becoming president is a big problem that he might not be able to get around. Only time will tell, but it should be very interesting and exciting.
In summation I would definitely recommend this well written, fair and balanced, down-the-middle account of this truly amazing, or do I dare say "fantastic" life of a guy who has and continues to live the American dream in a big, big way.
"Fantastic - The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger"by Laurence LeamerSt. Martin's Press, New York
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