Joseph Baena, the 28-year-old son of bodybuilding legend and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, earned three gold medals and a silver at his debut NPC Natural Colorado State competition in Denver.
According to sources, Baena competed across multiple categories. He took first place in the Men’s Open Bodybuilding Heavy Weight Class, the Men’s Classic Physique True Novice, and the Men’s Classic Physique Novice divisions. He rounded out the day with a runner-up finish in the Men’s Classic Physique Open Class C.
Back on Instagram, he posted a series of stage photos with a simple caption: “Mission Accomplished!”
Getting to that stage required months of focused preparation, and Joseph did not make the journey alone. In the weeks before competition day, footage surfaced of Arnold himself putting his son through posing sessions at the gym.
“Only a couple days away from my first bodybuilding show,” he posted. “We’re making chicken and rice.”
When asked whether he felt the weight of following in such famous footsteps, Joseph replied: “Well, literally we have the same shoe size.”
Despite working as both an actor and a real estate agent in industries where the Schwarzenegger name would carry considerable pull, Joseph has never pursued a name change. He addressed the subject directly on Sofia and Sistine Stallone’s “On Wax” podcast.
“I mean, I never had the Schwarzenegger name in general,” he said. “But you could easily use it, you know, especially in this acting world. I think really the thing is that I just haven’t really focused on like changing it. I’m just doing my own thing. I haven’t really thought about it that much, like, ‘Oh, I need to change my last name.’ I have a last name already, and I’m just like, I think it’s cool. I’m already doing so much and I’m already succeeding and moving forward with my goal. So I mean, that’s like the last thing on my mind right now.”
Joseph was raised by his mother, Mildred Baena, and the father-son bond took time to find its footing. On the same podcast, Joseph spoke openly about what that process looked like from his side.
“With my relationship with my dad, it took a little while for me and him to get really close,” he said. “Just like, I can joke around with him totally and talk about anything, like girls. Because I was always… I grew up with my mom, and I was just always nervous and I didn’t want him to think bad of me. Now it’s like awesome, right? I’m like so close to my dad and we joke around about everything. And he always wants to hear about the drama. That’s why I love it. He’s like, ‘Tell me everything, tell me the drama.’ I love it. ‘Tell me about the girls.'”
