Arthur Peacock remembers his early days with Arnold

By Arthur Peacock
Posted to ledger-dispatch.com June 23, 2011

Welcome back to the world of bodybuilding and fitness. This time, we’ll share a bit of history and take a little trip down memory lane.

At my training facility, east of Jackson, California, I have an autographed picture of the Terminator, aka Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over the years, I have often been asked if I really knew him. I formulated a standard answer, “We were friends and sometime training partners in the late 60s and early 70s,” but I would often get an askance look about the credibility of my reply.

While going through my archives, looking for material for future columns, I came across the photograph of me and Arnold shown here.


Arthur John Peacock poses as Arnold Schwarzenegger relaxes in the background at Gold’s Gym in Venice, circa 1969.
Photo by Art Zeller

It was taken by world-famous physique photographer Art Zeller at the original Gold’s Gym in Venice, California, circa 1969, long before Arnold’s fame and fortune, and prior to his first Mr. Olympia title.

I first saw Arnold at the 1968 Mr. Heart of California, where I was a competitor and he was one of the five judges. I do remember how enormous he seemed, standing over six feet tall and weighing in excess of 200 pounds. He had just come from a winning spree in Europe.

I didn’t take the winner’s trophy — that came the following year.

Some time later, I met Arnold again, at Chet Yorton’s (one of the few men ever to beat Arnold) beach house in Santa Monica. We hit it off immediately, possibly because we were both from Europe and had more in common than just bodybuilding.

Arnold began his training at Gold’s soon after he arrived stateside, courtesy of Joe Weider, the man initially responsible for launching a career that made Arnold a household word. Weider provided Arnold with a car, an apartment and funds to live on, changing the world of bodybuilding forever.

Now, earlier in this column, I stated that I was a sometime training partner of Arnold’s. The truth of the matter is, on certain exercises, he and I would partner up, but his ultimate training partner was his long-time friend, Franco Columbu.

Soon after Columbu arrived from Germany, he became Arnold’s most regular training partner, perhaps because he was the only person who could keep and sustain Arnold’s pace.

All three of us became fast friends and stayed in touch for a number of years after my move to my beloved Amador County. However, life being what it is, we just drifted apart and that’s how it stands now.

I have plenty of anecdotes from those halcyon days, and, who knows, I may share the odd one or two with readers in future columns.

The interesting history of the creation of Gold’s Gym is another story that I may get to tell in the near future.

Until next time — remember, “You are what you eat.”

From Arthur Peacock remembers his early days with Arnold | Ledger Dispatch