Bruce Lee changed the world of Hollywood action films with his presence, power, and passion for the arts. As an aspiring actor, he dreamt of working on international projects that would showcase the beauty and grace of Chinese martial arts. Despite his endeavors, there was one thing that hampered his progress, and that was his small physique.
Lee soon realized that he had to make sacrifices and attain a body frame as shredded as Terminator’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is also known as the icon of bodybuilding.
Bruce Lee Achieved His Shredded Physique The Natural Way
Author Mathew Polly discussed Bruce Lee’s journey to carving his frame and the rigorous process the actor went through that made him comparable to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the biography Bruce Lee: A Life, Polly wrote how Lee’s co-actor Van Williams described him in 1966’s The Green Hornet:
“…a little pudgy and had a little baby fat on him when I first met him.”
Lee worked hard to achieve a leaner physique in The Green Hornet, which later paid off after showing up with a body that “looked like it was sculpted out of marble” in the 1972 movie, Way of the Dragon.
The actor’s extreme figure transformation was peppered with speculations that he used steroids to quicken the result, but Lee’s exercise and diet plans had always been known to his family and friends.
He usually consumed high-protein shakes, ice water, powdered milk, chocolate ice cream, bananas, vegetable oil, peanut flour, eggs, and even eggshells. Other interesting food choices for Lee included ginseng, queen bee honey, and raw hamburger beef paired with smoothies. The actor even told his colleagues he consumed cow blood, but never any mention of steroids.
The surprising fact about this controversy is that anabolic steroids would make someone gain weight, but Lee never went more than 145 pounds. Polly remarked in this biography:
“He was shredded, not pumped like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Lee focused on shedding the subcutaneous body fat down to almost zero through intense physical workouts similar to a bodybuilder’s routine.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Used Steroids In His Early Career
Arnold Schwarzenegger may be the face of bodybuilding, but the Commando star has admitted to using steroids during his prime years, which he does not recommend to fellow bodybuilders. In a recent interview with Men’s Health, he revealed:
“One hundred milligrams a week, and then three Dianabol a day, so that was 15 milligrams a day.”
Schwarzenegger confessed he used steroids under the supervision of a doctor and that he never abused them. At the time, it was a normal part of the sport until it was tagged illegal in 1990 under The Anabolic Steroid Control Act.
The actor pointed out how different the sport has become as compared to his glory days:
“Bodybuilding always, always was considered a safe sport. But now it’s not. Now people are dying—they’re dying because of overdoses of drugs, and they don’t know what the f—k they’re doing.”
Bruce Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger had different ways of achieving the desired physique they needed for their careers, and because they had different frames and tolerance, they only worked with what they thought was best for their bodies.
Sources: Bruce Lee: A Life, Men’s Health
