Why Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Obsess Over Reg Park?

David Senra reads Arnold Schwarzenegger's account of becoming obsessed with Reg Park after a magazine photograph and the role of Hercules fixed that gigantic look as the ideal. From that point on, life was utterly dominated by Reg Park. Arnold bought the magazines that published the programs and learned how Reg Park started training, what he ate, how he lived, and how he did the workouts. The more the focus, the work, and the growth lined up with the image, the more it looked real and possible.

People nearby predicted the body could come within five years. He would not wait five years. Most people trained two or three times a week. He escalated to six workouts a week. His father was baffled and told him to stop. The answer was a plan to be the best built man in the world, go to America, and act in movies. His father sighed, went to the kitchen, and told his mother they should take him to the doctor because he was sick in the head. The worry was genuine. With that desire and drive, he was not normal.

Normal people can be happy with a regular life. He felt there was more than plodding through an average existence. Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon were names he knew, and he wanted to do something special and be recognized as the best.