Pumping Iron

Pumping Iron (1977) is a documentary film, about the run-up to the 1975 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition. The film focuses on Arnold Schwarzenegger and his competitors Lou Ferrigno and Franco Columbu. The documentary was co-directed by Robert Fiore and George Butler. It was based on a book written by Charles Gaines.

Interesting quotes

Lou Ferrigno is performing a heavy shoulder press and is clearly overloaded:

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:Ferrigno: "Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Arnold!"

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Arnold walks up to the counter of Gold's Gym:

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:Arnold "Can I sign up? I want to start gaining some muscles."

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Franco Columbu, talking about his transition from Italy to America:

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:Columbu "...somebody says 'Go to Hell' when they get upset, there they say 'Go to California!"

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Ferrigno and his trainer father have just finished an intense session:

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:Ferrigno's Father: "Remember if you're trainin' hard, he may trainin' ... twice as hard"

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Arnold comparing the "pump" of lifting to sex:

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:Arnold "The greatest feeling you can get in a gym or the most satifying feeling you can get in the gym is the pump. Let's say you train your biceps, blood is rushing in to your muscles and that's what we call the pump. Your muscles get a really tight feeling like your skin is going to explode any minute and its really tight and its like someone is blowing air into your muscle and it just blows up and it feels different, it feels fantastic. Its as satifying to me as cumming is, you know, as in having sex with a woman and cumming. So can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like getting the feeling of cumming in the gym, I'm getting the feeling of cumming at home, I'm getting the feeling of cumming backstage when I pump up when I pose out in front of 5000 people I get the same feeling, so I am cumming day and night. Its terrific, right? So I am in heaven."'

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