Joseph Baena is following in his father’s footsteps with a new impressive achievement. The son of Arnold Schwarzenegger placed fifth in a professional natural bodybuilding competition on Nov. 7. He competed in the Classic Physique Open category at the INBA PNBA Pro/Am World Cup in El Segundo, Calif., and took to Instagram to confirm it was his “pro debut” in the Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA). He also shared two videos, including one of him from the event.
In the event video, Baena, 29, can be seen posing and showing off his muscular physique while on stage at the competition. “First look at my posing routine from the PNBA World Cup 🏆,” he captioned the post.
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In another video, Baena talked about the competition and gave a shout out to Schwarzenegger, who won many bodybuilding competitions in the past.
“This was my pro debut in the INBA/PNBA — well, my PNBA debut — and it was for Classic Physique Open, and I placed in the top 5,” he said. “So I’m extremely proud of myself.”
“Like my father always says, ‘There’s no such thing as a self-made man,'” he added while mentioning his supporters, including his family, friends and girlfriend.
Baena’s latest bodybuilding competition was his third-ever competition show, and he said he “came in looking so much better” than an April event he competed in. It “was a very emotional day,” he said.
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He also shared that he “felt good” during the competition and achieved the goal he set out for before explaining that he still has some work to do. “I know what I need to do to improve. I know what it takes to get better now,” he said while mentioning that the other competitors had “better conditioning” than him this time around.
“With bodybuilding it is really a solo sport and it all comes down to your own discipline and your own dedication to your craft,” he concluded before sharing that he is also “very grateful” for his online supporters.
Before Baena’s latest competition posts, he opened up to GQ about having Schwarzenegger as a father and how the actor has helped him with his interest in bodybuilding.
“My dad gave me the bodybuilding encyclopedia,” Baena said in the April 2026 interview. “I was flipping through that, trying to learn how to grow the biceps, and I fell in love with weightlifting. I fell in love with eating healthy. I fell in love with learning about the body and how it reacts to training, and I became very passionate about it.”
This story was originally published by Parade on Nov 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
