First and foremost, I must give kudos to the most popular YouTube channel on the land, Nick’s Strength & Power, for reporting this piece of news which I had not been aware of. And that’s saying a lot because we, here, at IronMag get a lot of leads from our loyal readers, but this one went under the radar. Joseph Baena, the son of legendary bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, competed for the first time and did extremely well. He competed in a natural bodybuilding show in Colorado, taking home a great amount of hardware. For those of you out there that don’t compete, hardware means trophies. And in the sport of bodybuilding trophies are what matter most, especially at the amateur level where you can’t win money or qualify for the Mr Olympia. Trophies are where it’s at because that’s what determines which competitor excelled amongst the rest. Joseph was able to compete at a very prestigious natural show in Colorado and was able to win in four categories. This is tremendous news for one of the most anticipated bodybuilding debuts in the sport. Arnold Schwarzenegger is not just the most popular bodybuilder on the planet, but he is also the namesake of the second most prestigious bodybuilding show in the world and has the bodybuilding show that pays the most. It used to be that the Olympia was the Super Bowl of Bodybuilding and it still is because the Olympia determines the best of the best; however, it is no longer the biggest payday. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been able to build a tremendous foothold in bodybuilding and is arguably bigger today than even Joe Weider is. Most people do not know who Weider is outside of the hardcore of the sport, but everybody knows who Arnold is. And now I suspect a lot of people are going to know who Joseph is as well.
Without taking anything away from this young man’s great success, this is what happens with legacies. A legacy is the child of a major bodybuilding star. We saw it with Sergio, we saw it with Hunter, and now we will see it with Joseph as well. This is because when you are the son of a legacy no matter how well you do, it is almost impossible for writers and content creators not to talk about the parents who brought these kids to the world. Their parents who did so much and in a very real way it’s harder for a legacy to excel than it is for anybody else. I have often heard people say that legacies have it made, but in reality legacies have their work cut out for them because not only do they have to do better because of the fact that they have the last name (even though Joseph doesn’t use his dad’s last name), but they are more or less going to be in the shadow of their superstar parents forever. The difference between Joseph and perhaps other legacies is that I don’t know that Joseph wants to go all the way. Of course that’s going to be the next question. The fact that he did so well at the Colorado show is not going to be celebrated for very long without people wondering what’s next? Is he going to do more shows? Is he eventually going to dabble in the super fuel? Let’s not talk about that just yet. I mean that’s what everybody’s thinking, but let’s not fall prey to what so many other outlets will do. We are IronMag after all!
Let’s talk about Joseph’s physique. This was a natural show and it’s natural shows that are always going to be the real litmus test for which competitors are actually going to be able to take it one step further. When you talk about natural bodybuilding and fitness you’re talking about a level of discipline above any other. There are no drugs involved. There are no steroids involved to make the muscles bigger, there are no diuretics involved to make the muscle dryer, and there are no drugs or fillers that are going to fix weak body parts. Natural bodybuilding is not a sport about looking the freakiest possible or looking the biggest possible. Drug free bodybuilding is about seeing how far a competitor can go relying solely on diet, training, and natural food-based supplements. The fact is Joseph answered the call. As the son of the most popular bodybuilder on earth, he showed the world that he was able to follow in his footsteps. I don’t know that Arnold ever competed naturally, but this is a great start for Joseph. I think that if he had started in untested bodybuilding and had started taking a lot of different exogenous hormones, he probably would have looked way bigger – but at what cost? This way he is able to get his bodybuilding career underway and test his wherewithal out of the gate. And I think the results speak for themselves. He was able to win novice and open categories. and this speaks volumes because of the fact that he was able to do it naturally. Who knows, maybe he will continue on the national path? There is a way to get the pro card without ever touching a drug. And once he has the pro card then he can consider other avenues if bodybuilding is really his calling.
We can’t forget guys like Kai Greene and Ronnie Coleman who competed naturally throughout their amateur careers and even during the early portions of their pro careers. This idea that drugs are an absolute prerequisite in order to be successful is nothing more than smoke. A lot of the best bodybuilders started out naturally and stayed natural for a very long time. Look at Keone Peason! Keone didn’t touch drugs until well into his pro career. He was placing Top 5 100% naturally and may have been able to move up even more. The issue then becomes time. Sometimes you must strike the iron while it’s hot and when you’ve run your course as a natty, then taking “the next step,” is sometimes unavoidable. If Joseph found himself in a position like Keone, or like Ronnie, or like Kai, he would have reached his natural potential and then decided to go beyond. But right now, he’s just getting started. Who knows if competing in the highest echelons of the sport is necessarily what he wants to do. And that leads us to our next question.
Was competing something to check off Joseph’s bucket list – or – is this the beginning of a new chapter of his life? Will Patrick be next? That’s the other big question. Imagine BOTH of Arnold’s kids competing, even if it’s just for fun. And what’s wrong with competing with that goal in mind? Competing should be fun. This idea of taking everything to the extreme (e.g. becoming a full-time competitor) isn’t always the desired path. At the same time, I can tell you how things should be and how they are. For years, perhaps ever since the fans became aware that Joseph liked bodybuilding, people have wanted to see this. Now people are going to want to see more and for good reason. Joseph brought a great physique. It was well-balanced, with solid symmetry, and great flow. And although Arnold has two male children, Joseph has a striking resemblance to his dad so that makes the fan-desire to see him become a regular on the bodybuilding scene all the greater. That said, Joseph, like Patrick, knows how to process social media and paparazzi. They understand how fans can be. They may be very well-intentioned strangers, but they don’t get to dictate how they live their lives. I’m sure the support is welcome, but the pressure is not.
For now, what’s important in my purview, is that we celebrate Joseph for a successful prep and a successful debut on the bodybuilding stage. No one should overlook his hard work and or pressure him to dabble in exogenous, synthetic hormones. Let him enjoy the ride and if after competing for a few shows naturally, if he wants to take the dive, then let him and his camp come to that decision. The fans can be overwhelming. Just in writing this article, I’ve seen various message board that are talking about Patrick. By press time, I suspect those numbers will double, maybe triple.
What do you think the future holds for Joseph Baena? Do you think he’ll do more contests? Do you think he’ll stay natty?
As always, thank you for reading my article, here, at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
