Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Use Anabolic Steroids?

Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Use Anabolic Steroids?

Everybody knows who Arnold Schwarzenegger is. To some he is the biggest idol on the planet. He has become a public icon for bodybuilding and health world wide.

Arnold started lifting weights as a young man at only fifteen years old living in Austria at the time. His father wanted him to become a police officer and the mother wanted him to go to trade school. 
Ever since Arnold picked up his first pair of dumbbells he dreamt of fame and success.

After training for only a few years Arnold started competing in Olympic weightlifting and power lifting. He quickly packed on muscle size and by the age of 23 he was already a legend in the bodybuilding world.
He had already won Jr. Mr. Europe, Mr. Europe, Mr. Universe and even Mr. Olympia. Winning this would make him the best bodybuilder in the world. Seven times in a row he won the Mr Universe title. There is no one who doubts Arnold as one of the best bodybuilders in history.

Was it all just hard work and determination?

However after all his victories and success there has been speculation about how he got his incredible body. Was it all just hard work and believing in himself? Or was there something else? Did Arnold Schwarzenegger use anabolic steroids?

The answer is of course, yes. There are many people who can witness to this and even Arnold himself has openly admitted his steroid use. When he was competing as a bodybuilder he very freely spoke of his steroid use and how it gave him the edge.


It his however worth mentioning that during this time steroid use was completely legal and Arnold did not break any laws using performance enhancing drugs. Both weightlifters and bodybuilders used anabolic steroids excessively during this time.

Arnold said once that  “steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest. I did not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle maintenance when cutting up (losing weight).”

He does not regret taking steroids as it helped him reaching his goal which was to become a professional bodybuilder at the young age of 21. People estimate that he started using steroids when he was fifteen years old and on a strict diet he gained over 50 pounds of muscle during a short period of time. When Arnold was taking steroids there was no real information about them and any long term side effects were not known.

Arnold has also stated that once they were banned in 1990 he never took them again.