I met Arnold Schwarzenegger and other great bodybuilders

Throughout my competitive career in the United States, I've met a lot of fitness personalities and great bodybuilders. Today as an IFBB pro, I am often invited to competitions to present trophies or even to official seminars to teach the rules and posing to beginners. You can see these events on my YouTube channel.

But before that, I too was inspired by people of varying degrees of fame. This helped me to set bigger and bigger goals and to reach them. Today I decided to share with you my biggest inspirations. So which bodybuilding stars have I met along the way?

They are all players in the bodybuilding and fitness world. Living in the United States and going to many events or exhibitions like the Mister OlympiaI had the chance to talk to quite a few of them. You probably know some of them, but maybe not all.

Here are the top of my most beautiful encounters that I immortalized with photos.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

My most beautiful meeting is inevitably the legend of bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Everyone knows our schwarzyHis atypical career path, which has succeeded in everything from nothing (bodybuilding, cinema, politics, and many others), has inspired many. He was born in Austria, measures 1m88 and started bodybuilding competitions at the age of 18.

He won 7 times Mister Olympia and many other competitions and it is this in particular that made him known to the general public. He is the idol of the majority of us, competitors or bodybuilding practitioners.

I was able to meet him exactly 3 times while training at the Gold gym in Los Angeles.

Since I live in the United States, I like to make you discover weight rooms as original as each other and if I'm not in Miami, I'm in LA from time to time.

And the must for a bodybuilder is to do at least once in his life a training with the famous Gold's Gym in Venice Beach.

This room has a very special atmosphere, with portraits of bodybuilding legends and all the Mr Olympia's on the walls of the room.

The first time seems unreal, and we are plunged back into the golden age of the BODY.

How did I meet Arnold?

After competing at a Las Vegas event in 2015, I spent a few days in Los Angeles training at Gold's Gym and meeting up with some friends.

And one morning, to my surprise, I see Arnold training as usual.

I didn't dare come and talk to him so as not to disturb his training, and I really regretted not taking a photo that day. But fortunately, when I went back the next day, I saw him in the same place. At the end of his training session, I was able to chat with him and take a few photos.

The following year I met him again and it is always a great emotion to meet one of the people who inspired you the most in your life. Words fail us but I have a wonderful memory of it.

I think many people are very emotional about meeting him. Also, being quite shy and reserved by nature, it was out of the question for me to solicit him further.

At the time of writing this article, he has just turned 71, which does not prevent him from continuing to train.

I have also read his latest book which is entitled Total Recall The incredible true story of my life and I loved knowing the details of his many successes.

This gold gym where the greatest bodybuilders in the world have trained and still train is a must when you travel to Los Angeles. We often meet Arnold Schwarzenegger in person but also Jay CUTLER, Dexter JACKSON, Mike OHEARN, Steeve COOK, Rob RICHES and many others.

Moreover, the weeks preceding the famous Olympia competition are the unavoidable meeting place for all these bodybuilding actors.

You want to know more about Arnold: How did Arnold train?

Dexter Jackson

Dexter Jackson is an American IFBB PRO bodybuilder who won the 2008 Mr Olympia.

That year, he dethroned Jay Cutler. He also won 9 times Arnold Classic. His nickname The blade means the blade: cut and his arm circumference is 50 cm.

At 48, he continues to compete and is now the most successful professional bodybuilder with 28 pro wins and the most appearances at the Mr. Olympia contest: 18 times.

It's a shame to meet him in LA when he was born and lives in Florida.

A few months after our first meeting, he was invited to a competition where I won my second Overall in Men's Physique.

I meet him quite often as he is invited to all the big competitions in Florida to do what is called guest posing and hand out some trophies.

His condition is still exceptional despite his age.

Respect!

Sergi Constance

Sergi constance is of Spanish origin. He started as a professional WBFF and is 6'1" tall.

I met him at Olympia 2016. We had exchanged a few words about our backgrounds at the time as we are both Europeans and had the same guidelines to land the IFBB pro card: namely winning 5 overalls. He is now an IFBB Pro and in his first competition, earned his spot for Olympia on the first try. Never before seen!!!

Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Coleman He is 6'2" tall and was originally a police officer before becoming a bodybuilder. He has won Mister Olympia 8 times as an IFBB PRO. This puts him ahead of Arnold as the most successful.

However, his desire to keep pushing heavier and heavier earned him serious injuries with several back and hip operations. He now walks with the help of a cane or in a wheelchair.

His last competition was in 2009 and he had a competition weight of 134 Kg.

He, like Dexter, is invited to a few competitions in Florida not for posing but mostly for motivational speeches and he goes to Olympia every year.

Jérémy Potvin

Jérémy Potvin is a physical IFBB PRO men's competitor of 1m68 who is every year in the top 5 of Mr Olympia. He is probably one of the nicest people I've ever met. He is very humble and I really enjoyed talking to him.

I don't think I'm wrong if I tell you that he has the slimmest waist of all the competitors. When I met him at the Orlando Europa Games expo, we talked and he asked me a few questions about my background and suggested that the next time I came to Los Angeles that we do a training video together for my You tube channel, so we'll have to follow up...

Simeon Panda

It was when I was competing for Musclemania that I got to know Simeon.

Then, during the 2014 edition and after I got my pro card, I had the honor and pleasure to organize the competition at the cité des sciences in Paris. I asked Ulisses and Simeon Panda to come to attend the competition and give the trophies. That's how I really got to know Simeon.

Now, when we meet, it's always a pleasure to talk.

Another meeting here in the Miami Iron addict room of CT fletcher managed by Mike Rashid with whom he made many collaborations. And finally, at the famous Mr Olympia show. He's 1m85 tall and has a following of over 4 million subscribers.

Known by the Musclemania federation since he was for a long time the muse with his sidekick Ulisses Jr.

He is on the cover of many magazines.

And here's my oldest photo at Musclemania Las vegas where I competed in November 2014. Yes yes, I look skinny next to it.

At the same time, they're in the Body category and I'm in the Men's physical.

Find here an article entirely dedicated to this champion: Who is Simeon Panda?

Rich Piana

Who doesn't know Rich Piana…

He was one of the world's biggest bodybuilders, weighing in at 140 kg for 1m85. He began training at the age of 11, and his first role model was his mother, who was a bodybuilding competitor. By the age of 15, he had already won a few trophies.

In one of his videos, he recounts how, after a competition where his father had taken a lot of time to help him with his posing, he was a little afraid to tell him that he hadn't placed in the top 5 for fear that he wouldn't be proud of him. He wasn't big enough compared to the other competitors, so after this period, he turned to steroids. He talks about it openly on his YouTube channel.

Despite the fact that we don't share the same vision on some things, I've always loved his very tough and atypical background and his vision of business.

During this meeting, he was kind enough to leave a great message in one of my youtube videos where I'm doing some sort of Mr. Olympia story.

At every exhibition he went to, he made it a point to make sure that his stand was the biggest and that the posters were all very high. So, at the entrance you could see where to join him. People waited for several hours to take a picture with him. He always did things in a big way.

The world's most muscular man will die in 2017 after 2 weeks in a coma following a collapse and fall in his bathroom.

Jay Cutler

Jay is 1.75m tall and is very well known in the bodybuilding world. His competition weight is 118 Kg and he has won the Mister Olympia title 4 times.

In this photo in 2015, he was coming to Miami to promote his new brand of nutritional supplements Cutler Nutrition, a subsidiary of the BPI sport brand.

The following year, I won my very first overall at the NPC Winter classic where he was present to greet the competitors.

Phil Heath

And here I am with Mr Olympia himself out of season of course. His real name is Phillip Heathhe has just like Arnold to date has won the Mr Olympia title 7 times and we look forward to 2018 to see if he will dethrone him and join Ronnie Coleman in history.

When I met him at the Florida Nationals, I hadn't gotten my Pro card yet and when I talked to him, he motivated me and told me not to give up. Which I did and managed to get it a few months later.

He is 5'10" and as you can see in the off season, and without tan, he doesn't look the same at all.

Joe Donnelly

Joe Donnelly is a former professional American football player who has turned to fitness. He has been on many magazine covers, articles and has become a successful entrepreneur.

CT Fletcher

If you've been working out for a while and you're a fan of motivational videos, you've at least once wanted to look at youtube and listen to some? Well, let me tell you that his voice is on almost every American motivational video.

In 1980, CT Fletcher starts weight training and weightlifting.

He is an iconic figure in powerlifting competitions.

In 2016, he opened the first Iron addict gym.

He has had serious health problems since 2001 due to high blood pressure caused by junk food. He also inherited the same heart problems as his mother. He just had a second open heart surgery.

His film: My personal opinion on his film is quite impressive: His voice more than motivating, and his desire to train no matter what the situation is quite unnerving and this despite his difficult background and various health problems, nothing stops him. The film of his life remains interesting.

Steve Cook

Steve He is 1m85 tall and is also IFBB PRO Men's Physique. His father is a coach which will help him in this way.

He is known to be sponsored by the biggest brands in the fitness industry. He is very influential on social media including youtube and Instagram.

His physique always inspired me when he was competing in Olympia but since then, the years have passed and the physiques are getting bigger and bigger to the detriment of the aesthetics. Steve is one of the few who has kept his aesthetics, which is why he no longer competes.

He was in a relationship with 2016 bikini miss Courtney King

Janet Layug

Janet is IFBB PRO Bikini. She competes every year in the Mister Olympia and always finishes in the top 5 but to date she has never won the grall. She also finished second at the Arnold Classic. She is without a doubt for me the perfect model and my favorite competitor who represents the miss bikini par excellence while being Mom which is rare in high level professional competitors.

Mike Rashid

Mike Rashid is a successful bodybuilder, boxer, author and entrepreneur in the field of bodybuilding and fitness. He became a WBFF pro and at 36 years old he already owned the Miami Iron Addicts gym, he also has his own brand of supplements and clothing.

He also has a strong following on his youtube channel and regularly performs feats with CT Fletcher who is a bit of a mentor to him.

Michelle Lewin

I have met her countless times since she lives in Miami like me.

I also shot a video where she made a mini appearance. You can find the details of our meeting here.

Michelle competed in NPC in Florida once or twice but never qualified to become IFBB Pro. She created the brand Labellamafia.

She is now the most famous fitness model in the world and followed by more than 13 million people.

How I met Michelle LEWIN ?

Hany Rambod

You probably don't know him but he is "just" the trainer of Jeremy Buendia and Phil Heath who are currently Mr Olympia Men's physique and Bodyduiling respectively. He has also trained Jay cutter and other big names.

Being a bodybuilder himself, Hany Rambod was unable to continue due to injury. It was he who developed FST 7 technology (Fascial Stretch Training 7).

India Paulino

India Paulino is ifbb pro Bikini. She has competed in Olympia many times but her best finish was 3rd. She had qualified for 2017 but could not compete because she got pregnant.

9 months after giving birth, she has regained her shape and just qualified for Olympia 2018.

Morris Mendez

Morris Mendez was the first pro contestant of Musclemania.

He is 5'9" and a nurse by trade. He started weight training at the age of 18, but did not start competing until he was 27.

He worked for GNC, one of the largest distributors of dietary supplements in the US market.

Ashley Kaltwasser

I present to you here AshleyThe 2014 and 2015 Mister Olympia winner in Bikini. She started with track and field and eventually became a competitor in 2011.

Sadik Hadzovic

Everyone knows Sadik. I briefly mentioned it in another article since he took his posing classes with the best in the business: Frank Zane,.

When I took this picture, I had just competed in my very first amateur NPC competition.

He is 1m80 tall and always finished second to Jeremy Buendia in men's physique at Olympia. Then he decided to switch to Classic physique where he only finished 4th at his debut. It was Franck Zane who helped him work on his posing.

Chul Soon

During my Musclemania competitions, I was able to meet Chul. The exchange was quite difficult because he doesn't speak English at all but fortunately his cameraman and photographer who follows him everywhere helped to interpret. When he does his posing, he often does some break dancing and it's quite nice to see.

Juan Diesel Morel

It was on my way to the Powerjouse gym Bev francis that I met Juan Diesel Morel. IFBB PRO American living in New York, he has made a name for himself in the bodybuilding world with his unconventional approach to nutrition and his huge 20,000 calorie cheat days that he shares on his Youtube channel.

At 36 years old, his goal is not to become Mr Olympia because of all the sacrifices it requires, but he continues to compete from time to time to enjoy himself. He is 1m80 tall and weighs between 133 and 140 kg depending on the season.

Mike O'hearn

Mike is, like Arnold, a man of many facets. He is a bodybuilder, sports coach but also a model and an actor. He played the role of Clark Kent in a Superman movie. He holds the record of magazine covers with more than 500 to his credit. Nicknamed the titan, he is 1m91 tall and when he trains or travels he never separates from his dog Spyke, a magnificent youski.

Gerardo Gabriel

Gerardo At 1m72 tall, we both made our debut at Musclemania, we earned our pro status there and eventually ended up in amateur NPC, then IFBB PRO. We have almost the same background.

The day of this picture, we were both amateurs, he won the first place which allowed him to compete at the nationals and win his ifbb pro card.

Branch Warren

Branch Warren is a 43-year-old American professional bodybuilder. He has won the Arnold Classic twice in 2011 and 2012.

I met him during a competition where I was invited to give the trophies to the winners, Branch Warren was invited as a guest poser. (guest who opens the results of the competition with a posing).

Other encounters that left their mark on me too

Bob Chicherilo who is none other than the official presenter of Mr Olympia and many other competitions and of course former IFBB PRO.

Darrem Charles IFBB PRO Classic physique that used to compete in the Bodybuilding category at Mr Olympia.

James Grage who is none other than the founder of the BPI sport brand and has a Youtube channel with many followers.

Markus Rühl One of the most monstrous professional bodybuilders!

And finally, the head judge of the famous Mr Olympia competition. He is the husband of Beverly Francis, who was also a bodybuilding competitor and, for those in the know, named their famous gym The Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in New York.

On my last visit to New York, Steve Weinberger took time to watch me pose and tell me what improvements to make to my physique to try to qualify for Olympia. I actually shot a video of this experience.

There were many others but unfortunately, we can't immortalize every moment. All these experiences have allowed me to continue to dream, inspire me to surpass myself and continue in my passion.

What about you? Which bodybuilding stars have you met?

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Other articles to read :

All about bodybuilding competitions

Vlog mister olympia 2018

How to choose a good bodybuilding coach?

All my competitions in Men's physique