Schwarzenegger: 'You Get A High From It'

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets particularly animated during an extensive radio interview today with Pro Bodybuilding Weekly hosts Dan Solomon and Bob Cicherillo. In a candid moment, Schwarzenegger suggests it was a something of a mistake to enter the Mr. Olympia championship in 1980, after he had ended his bodybuilding career and handed the title to Franco Columbu and Frank Zane.

"Why would I take a title like this from the guys?" Schwarzenegger said. "I already had a big ego and that came into play with this whole thing." Schwarzenegger said he "barely won" the 1980 title, after he psyched himself up by telling himself he was a "loser." Later, the governor said bodybuilding gives people confidence: "You get a high from it."

Listen to the audio here. (Scroll forward to the Schwarzenegger interview, which starts about minute 14:00.) 

Schwarzenegger rubs baby oil on his arms while preparing for an exhibition on "bodybuilding as art" at The Whitney Museum in New York in 1976. The photo was taken by actress Candice Bergen, who worked as a photographer for Esquire, Life and New York magazines early in her career.

(Photo: Candice Bergen via AP)