20 Motivating Facts About the Austrian Oak – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger's love for films propelled his obsession with America and therefore saw competitive bodybuilding as an avenue through which he had to get there. He won the Mr. Universe title at the age of 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times.

Arnold Schwarzenegger immigrated to the United States in 1968 at the age of 21.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a self-made millionaire at the age of 30 before appearing in his first movie. He used what he learned in school to invest his bodybuilding contest winnings in real estate and to market gym equipment and exercise supplements.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is famous for using psychological tricks on his opponents. Once when he was having breakfast with Lou Ferrigno and his family, Arnold looked across at Lou who had already placed second to him at last year's Mr. Olympia competition and said: "I'm going to win Mr. Olympia for the 6th time, don't you think that's incredible?" He seemed so confident that Ferrigno and his parents accepted that Schwarzenegger had already won.

Arnold found that in bodybuilding shows the top 5 bodybuilders have very little difference between them and that a bodybuilder who stands onstage and convinces the judges with attitude and confidence in the presentation won in the end. On one occasion, if he was pumping iron backstage during the day's pre-judging session, he would walk up to a fellow competitor and ask "Do you have some knee injury that you've been dealing with?" The competitor would look at him and say "No, no injury. My knees are fine." Arnold would then walk away saying "Well it certainly looks like it because your legs are a lot slimmer than when we competed last time." The effectiveness of Arnold's way of psyching out his enemy before they actually stood onstage was later explained by him in interview years later.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tricked Sylvester Stallone into starring in 'Stop or My Mom Will Shoot' by spreading rumors that he wanted the lead role. Stallone took the role just to keep it from Arnie.

While filming Predator, Jesse Ventura was delighted to find out from the wardrobe department that his arms were one inch bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger's. He suggested to Schwarzenegger that they measure arms and the winner gets a bottle of champagne. Ventura lost because Schwarzenegger had told the wardrobe department to tell Ventura that his arms were bigger.

In preparation for 'Terminator', he worked with guns every day for a month, practicing weapon stripping and reassembly blindfolded until the motions were automatic. He spent hours at the shooting range practicing with weapons without looking when reloading or cocking.

Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't allowed to voice himself in the German dub of "The Terminator" because the producers thought that his Austrian accent wasn't tough enough for the Terminator. In fact, he's never dubbed himself in all of his movies since.

After Kanye West's mother's death due to heart problems resulting from her cosmetic surgery, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the "Donda West Law" legislation making it mandatory to prove well being prior to undergoing cosmetic surgery.