Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story (English)
Introduction
Do you think you know about Arnold Schwarzenegger? While you may know him as the star behind the Terminator movies, or as the famous Hollywood actor, did you also know that Schwarzenegger was actually born and raised in Austria? Did you know that he was a professional bodybuilder before he became a movie star?In this book, you will learn more about Schwarzenegger and his secret to success.How he became a multi-award winning bodybuilder, a top-grossing actor and later on, a two-term governor of California.This book will explain how Schwarzenegger was able to achieve all these accomplishments.Schwarzenegger is more than the face behind the Terminator.He is also a family man and a leader with strong determination.In this book, you will learn a lot from Schwarzenegger himself and about his action-packed life story.
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Out of Austria
I was born in Austria in the year 1947. Hitler had just been defeated in the war.The citizens were afraid that we would be invaded by the Soviet Union. There were many years of famine.My father and mother sacrificed a lot to raise me and my older brother, Meinhard, who was one year older than me.We grew up in a rural farm village.My father was a police officer and my mother was a housewife.We lived in a small house with two bedrooms and a kitchen. It was in the kitchen that we ate, did our homework and bathed.Mother took care of our home. She used to go from village to village to collect our food. She foraged for grain, sugar and butter.
Father was a big, muscular guy. Meinhard and I would often help him to shovel coal outside our home because we needed to store enough for winter.I grew up in the time of the Cold War when many Austrian citizens wanted to seek refuge in America.Meinhard and I often went to the movie theatres in the city:the first film we saw was Tarzan.We were really amazed by it and watched the film several times. In my eyes, it was as though Tarzan would swing out of the screen right at us. I was very amazed at how Tarzan could move from tree to tree and communicate with wild animals.
I bought movie tickets from the money I earned through my little business ventures.When I was 10 years old, I made money selling ice cream by the lake. I saw many people buying ice cream from a stand and discovered that I could buy one dozen ice cream pops for only one shilling.Then, I would walk along the lake and sell them for 3 shillings each.It was nice at the lake park.People would come there to rest, play sports or to swim.The ice cream businessman took a liking to me.
He would lend me a cooler to keep my ice cream cold.In one afternoon, I could make 150 shillings (around $6.00).Afterward, I would go to the movies with my brother.As a 10 year old, I knew that I was meant for bigger things.I had dreams of going to America..I told my plans to anyone who would listen..I shared my dreams with my family, my neighbours and my teachers.One day at the bus stop, there was an older girl waiting beside me.I told her, “I‘m going to America someday.”She just smirked at me and said, “Yeah, sure, Arnold.”But I did.I reached my dreams and I couldn’t be more proud.
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Building a Body
Our history teacher often assigned us newspaper articles to write our own reviews on.It was a fateful day when he gave me the sports section.It was there I saw the awesome picture of Mr. World.His name was Kurt Marnul; he had just made a record on the bench press for lifting 190 kilograms.I became friends with the lake lifeguard, Willi.One day, I saw him doing push-ups and he asked me if I wanted to try.Willi was friends with a group of weightlifters and bodybuilders. At first, bodybuilding was like a game to me, but as I got older I became more serious.When Willi and his friends went to Vienna for the World WeightLifting Championship, I tagged along.There I saw Mr. World, Kurt Marnul in person.
He showed off his amazing physique, which really inspired me.What further ignited my passion for bodybuilding was seeing the movie ‘Hercules and the Captive Women’. Willi told me that the leading man in the film was Reg Park, Mr. Universe. At age 15, I started my formal training at the gym.Willi was actually friends with Kurt Marnul.One day, he told me that Mr. World himself was hanging out by the lake.It was so amazing to see my idol in person!He was kind, and looked really cool and he always had a beautiful woman by his side.I spent more time with my older friends, who became my mentors.That is common at the gym; older guys become like brothers, training the younger ones. We always shared bodybuilding magazines where we learned how to train, what to eat and how to further build our muscles.
I was very inspired by American magazines.Often, there were photos of bodybuilders posing at Muscle Beach, California.They showed off their great bodies, flexed their muscles and did their signature poses. What was more, was that bodybuilders always seemed to be surrounded by sexy women in bathing suits.I also read the life story of Hercules’ Reg Park in these magazines.He was from a poor family in England.He got into bodybuilding and with hard work, Reg eventually became Mr.Universe. With his rising fame, Reg was cast as Hercules. He became a millionaire and lived in Rome with his beautiful wife.
At 15 years old, I already had a solid dream: bodybuilding will be my ticket to America. First, I would train to become Mr. Universe.Then I could go to America and be a movie star like Reg Park.I saw it very clearly in my mind. Because of that, I had extreme focus and dedication.I knew what I wanted to do and where I was headed. I worked hard to realize my goal.
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Mr. Universe
I went to Munich to work as a gym trainer at the Universum Sport Studio. As a kid from a farm village, I was really amazed by the huge city. Munich was full of activity.There were many hotels, shops, restaurants and commercial buildings. People from all over Europe were there.I was already 19 years old and had served for a couple of years in the army. In the gym, I was able to train men of various occupations; cops, businessmen, construction workers, entertainers, athletes and others.I met Germans, Americans and other nationalities.I became close friends with bodybuilders like me.My friends and I help to train each other. We would help one another to weight lift and improve our bodies.
I had to work 8 hours a day, so to develop my own body, I woke up early in the morning to train. I would work out for two hours before work and two hours after work. If there were fewer customers, I would work out for 30 minutes during my lunch break.Most bodybuilders join Mr. Austria first,then Mr. Europe before trying for the title of Mr. Universe.But I couldn’t wait that long – I made myself ready for the huge competition of Mr. Universe.I signed up straight for Mr. Universe which would be held in London in two month’s time.I developed this technique called “shocking the muscle”. One thing aspiring bodybuilders should know is that our muscles adjust so easily. If you keep on lifting every day, even if you add more and more weight, your muscles will increase in endurance.
You can surprise them by lifting ultra-heavy weights. As a result, your muscles will become stronger and more durable.I made it to London in 1966 for Mr. Universe. I had little money in my pocket. All my belongings fit into one gym bag. When I saw the other contestants, I was intimidated. Their bodies seemed more defined than mine. But I was already there and there was no backing out.The competition was held at Victoria Palace Theatre. Each contestant had to impress a panel of judges. We would stand in groups of two and pose our bodies, highlighting each of our body parts. We were given numbers pinned to our posing briefs. For example, the judges will call “Number 8 and Number 14, please step forward and show us your quadriceps.” Then the judges would compare and deliberate.
As the day went on, I realized that I had overestimated my competition. I was the tallest among all the contestants. I became more confident with my own body. Somehow, in the evening, word got around that there was this tall teenager with a weird name who had big potential.The contest came down to me and an American named Chester Yorton. He won Mr. Universe that year, but many people predicted that next year I would definitely win.When I returned to Munich, I realized what if I went to London not just to join the competition, but to win? What if I trained harder with my eyes on the goal? After all, it was Chester and not me who won the trophy.