Arnold! Arnold!

Arnold, come on!

The voices of his friends drifted up from the lake.

Arnold was 15 years old, hanging out with his friends by the lake in his hometown of Thal, Austria.

They had carried in weights and were working out in the grass and trees.

Arnold was far from the biggest or strongest.

In fact, he was brand new to bodybuilding.

But already, he was showing signs of promise. He was naturally athletic, and his body was very

adaptive, rapidly building strength and size in response to the little weight training he had already

undertaken. He had a vision now. He later said, it was more than a young boy's mere pipe dream

of a distant, hazy future, confused

fantasies of being a fireman, detective, sailor, test pilot or spy.

I knew I was going to be a bodybuilder.

It wasn't simply that either.

I would be the best bodybuilder in the world, the greatest, the best-built man.

He shook himself out of his daydream and joined his friends curling dumbbells, doing pull-ups on tree branches, and doing handstand push-ups in the grass.

He was lifting more intensely than them, pushing himself harder, because he could see his destiny now.

He saw himself standing on a podium, holding a trophy, and he could hear the cheering in his ears. It would take years for the rest of the world to find out, but he already knew his destiny.

I'm going to show you how great I am.

This was our fighting fellow.

I just want to say from the bottom of me heart, I'd like to take this chance to

apologize to absolutely nobody.

...