The speaker, likely Arnold Schwarzenegger, is reminiscing about his early days as a bodybuilder in Venice Beach, California. He talks about the iconic Gold's Gym, where he trained with other bodybuilding legends, and the outdoor weightlifting platform at Muscle Beach, where he would work out and get a tan. He also shares stories about his training partner, Franco, and how they would often train together, but Franco would sometimes get burned out from overtraining. Schwarzenegger recalls how he would often train with Eddie Corny, who was more hungry for training, to prepare for the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition. Throughout the conversation, Schwarzenegger expresses his admiration for Franco's physique and acknowledges him as a formidable competitor.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The speaker moved from Austria to California in 1968.
2. The speaker used to work out at Gold's Gym, which was located near Venice Beach.
3. The speaker would often go to the beach to get a tan and train outdoors.
4. The speaker and a friend named Frank built a wall around the owner's house, Bud, who owned Gold's Gym.
5. The wall was built in 1971 and it still stands today.
6. The speaker and Frank put steel rods in the wall to make it stronger.
7. Frank would sometimes put broken glass on top of the wall to prevent people from climbing over, a practice he learned from Sardinia.
8. The speaker had to take down some of the walls they built because they were against the law in California.
9. The speaker trained with a man named Sergio, who was very generous with sharing information and had a wonderful workout routine.
10. The speaker also trained with a man named Franco, who was naturally strong and had big thighs.
11. Franco would often leave the workout early because he didn't need to train as much as the speaker.
12. The speaker switched to training with a man named EDD Corny, who was more driven and hungry for training.
13. The speaker and EDD Corny trained together, especially for the leg workout, where EDD Corny would push the speaker to do more sets.
14. EDD Corny wanted to beat Franco in the Olympia competition, which motivated him to train harder.