When I first got into weight training, I had a simple goal. I wanted to look like Schwarzenegger. As a child of the 90s that grew up on superhero comics, action movies, and pro wrestling, Schwarzenegger was the male physique that popped into my head whenever I thought of the term. It seemed unfathomable to me that every man wasn't striving to emulate that physique.
After a few months in the gym, it became glaringly apparent that I wouldn't be able to achieve Schwarzenegger's size without pharmacological intervention. Consequently, I felt like I had been lied to. For years, bodybuilders like Mike O'Hearn assured me that they built their bodies on chicken, rice, broccoli, and a side of hard work. In short, the fitness industry lies. And in other news, water was found to be wet.
As a result, I shouldn't have been shocked to find out that the events in 1977's Pumping Iron were exaggerated too. In the video embedded above, the YouTuber Alex Boucher separates the facts in Pumping Iron from the "lies." Furthermore, Boucher asks if the "lies" the movie is built on are a bad thing.
