When Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in America many years ago, he wasn’t the well-rounded, symmetrical bodybuilder we all came to know him as later. He did have some spectacular standout body parts, including biceps and chest. But his back and legs were below average. His calves, in particular, were very poor. Many of his early posing shots involved him standing in water with a lake background, which allowed him to hide his calves. Even when he arrived in America and began winning small bodybuilding shows, his calves were among the worst in shows that he was entering. He won by virtue of his stronger body parts, but he was well aware of the need to improve them if he wanted to place well in national and eventually professional shows.

Arnold could have hidden his calves. But he didn’t. He actually did quite the opposite. One day in the late 1960s, a very frustrated Arnold returned home from the gym and got out a pair of scissors. He also got out every pair of pants that he owned. He proceeded to cut the calves from every single pair of pants. From that day forward, everywhere Arnold went, his poor calves were on display for all to see. For a while he was mocked in the gym by the other bodybuilders, many of whom had better calves than he. However, it wasn’t long before Arnold was the one doing the laughing.

Within a year, Arnold’s calves went from one of his worst, to one of his best body parts. Sure, he had terrific genetics. Nobody with arms so good can be that cursed in the leg department, after all! However, the transition he managed in a single year was nothing short of unbelievable. He wore his calves – his weakness – for all to see. It was his motivation to improve them, and that is exactly what he did. He trained them with thousands of sets and millions of pounds, on a mission to grow them. And they grew.

Look at your own muscle deficiencies. What is your weakest area? Does that body part happen to fall last in your weekly rotation? Does it just happen to be the one that gets shortchanged when time is short and a workout must be skipped or abbreviated? What about displaying your physique? Do you buy clothes which allow you to disguise this weak area? When someone asks you to “make a muscle”, is this weak area the last place you’d display? Do you justify these weaknesses because of some past injury, or lack of time, equipment, etc.?

In a sport where we strive to reach our physical bests, there is a lot of hypocrisy. There are a lot of bodybuilders who claim they outwork everyone. Yet many of these same bodybuilders can’t prioritize their own weaknesses in order to address and eliminate them. Don’t be one of those people who talks about a weak area, and the changes they have planned for it. Stop talking. Start doing. Arnold was able to completely transform his weakest area to one of his best areas in less than a year. Can you do the same?

If you like this article, click here to share: