"Reg Park taught me to turn off my ego and be grateful for criticism," says Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger, on his way to fame and success, had to put aside his pride several times and listen to more experienced fighters than himself. One such example was written by Arnold in his new newsletter, where he talked about the advice his friend Reg Park once gave him. The latter won the Mr. Universe title on three different occasions during his time in bodybuilding - 1951, 1958, 1965.

As you can read for yourself below, Schwarzenegger improved his calves thanks to the advice he received from Reg and was able to achieve a more symmetrical physique. Had he not listened to Park at the time, he might not have achieved such results.

When I went to work out with my hero Reg Park, he pulled out a tape measure and measured my calves and biceps. He said, "Arnold, your calves are 19 inches but your biceps are 21 inches. You can win Mr. Universe like that, but you'll never be the best. You need to build up your calves. So to get bigger, you're gonna have to do 10-15 sets every day.

It rattled my crate so much because I was young and at first I was like, "I'm Mr. Universe, why is he telling me that?" But I put my pride aside and listened to him. I trained my calves. I loaded the calf machine up to 700 pounds, doing 15 sets every day. I left no stone unturned. I was adamant. I trained like Reg Park told me to and the results were exactly what he said: My calves were 21 inches and it made my body much more symmetrical. Naturally, I thanked Reg for his advice. Although it was painful at first, I got better and learned to turn off my ego and be grateful for criticism.

After each competition I went to the judges and asked them to point out my mistakes. Even though I won. I never wanted to hear about my strengths. I wanted to hear everything they thought was wrong so I could continue to improve. I needed to hear my weaknesses. Honest criticism is how I grew up." Schwarzenegger said.