Muscle & Fitness Executive Editor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited England last week and took part in two events in Leeds and London, each one emceed by TV host Jonathan Ross and each one called An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to Digital Spy, Arnold went into some detail about his parents and what they thought about his decision to start lifting weights. The site quotes Arnold as follows on the topic:
“My father was absolutely negative about all the weight training. He felt, ‘If you want to get strong, why don’t you get an axe and chop wood?’. He didn’t get it. Every time I went to the gym, he just shook his head and was not supportive at all. My mother was supportive but was scared. She asked doctors if I trained too much and if it was [bad] for my health,” said the 67-year-old.
“Then her major concern was when I started putting pictures of bodybuilders on my bedroom wall. She actually asked the doctor to come to our house and look at the walls, asking, ‘Where did I go wrong? All Arnold’s friends have pictures of girls on their wall, and here are naked men with oil all over their body’. The doctor explained that kids like idols, and she finally relaxed a little about the whole thing.
“When I won the Mr Olympia competition for the third time, they came and saw me win. My father came up to me after and put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Arnold, I now understand, and all the struggles and work you put in, you’re now the champion and I’m proud of you’. Two months later he passed away, so it was one of those great moments. I never think bad about my dad.”
While Arnold was in Leeds, he also got the chance to play Cupid in one couple’s milestone relationship moment. He took to Twitter to talk about the good interview he had with Ross in Leeds and that moment of romance:
I had a fantastic time tonight @wossy! Can’t wait for tomorrow in London. I hope the fans had as much fun as we did. pic.twitter.com/ZYpWCUrBsx
