Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Joseph Baena is following in his dad’s well-oiled footsteps, continuing his winning streak while greasing up his body at his second bodybuilding competition.
28-year-old Baena, who the actor shares with family housekeeper Mildred Baena, took home the Classic Physique trophy at the INBA Iron Gladiator competition in Corona, California on Saturday, April 4.
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Sharing a number of photos from the competition to social media, Baena captioned the images, “Your new INBA Iron Gladiator Classic Physique Champion!”
The photos show him looking just like his famous father in the actor’s Conan the Barbarian days, right down to the sword and shield he proudly displayed while posing in his Speedo. In fact, one of the most liked comments on the post also pointed out the family resemblance, as a fan wrote, “Put this kid in the Conan Movie!”
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Of course, Arnold recently revealed a new Conan movie is in the works, so that may not be totally out of the question.
Other celebratory reactions came from his father’s Arnold Sports Festival account, which wrote, “Yes! Congratulations 💪👏”—as well as Baena’s former Dancing with the Stars partner Daniella Karagach and Jay Cutler.
Inside Baena’s Fitness Journey
Baena previously shared that, prior to bodybuilding, he was actually bullied for his weight.
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In 2022, he told PEOPLEhis close friends were “the ones that bullied me the most and made fun of me for being overweight and all these kind of things.” He added, “So, that was really a big struggle for me in finding myself and figuring out and creating that ambition to change my weight and my physique.”
In another video shared on Saturday on the INBA’s official Instagram account, Baena opened opened up about his recent physical transformation thanks to bodybuilding.
Saying his current body was a “long time” coming, Baena explained he “started swimming and lost a lot of the fat.”
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“It wasn’t until my junior year of college, so about 10 years ago, or eight years ago, that I started lifting weights and fell in love with bodybuilding, seeing the improvement, muscle gain, strength gain,” he continued, adding that he has since fallen in love with the sport and finally committed to a competition.
His first competition was actually at last month’s NPC Natural Colorado State event, where Baena placed first in the Men’s Open Bodybuilding Heavy Weight Class, Men’s Classic Physique True Novice, and Men’s Classic Physique Novice while earning silver in the Men’s Classic Physique Open Class C.
Training with Dad Arnold
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While his famous father wasn’t at either competition, Baena routinely shows off his workouts on social media—sometimes with Arnold right by his side.
In a post from March 24, right before his bodybuilding debut, he shared pictures lifting at the gym, with Schwarzenegger egging him on.
“You have to shock the muscles!” Baena captioned the photos.
As one fan put it in the comments, he’s clearly got himself the “best spotter money can buy”—without having to pay a dime.
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This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Apr 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
