{"id":33632,"date":"2026-11-08T23:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T23:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=33632"},"modified":"2026-11-08T23:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T23:24:00","slug":"arnold-schwarzeneggers-son-joseph-baena-29-places-top-five-of-bodybuilding-contest-as-he-follows-in-his-fathers-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=33632","title":{"rendered":"Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Joseph Baena, 29, places top five of bodybuilding contest as he follows in his father’s footsteps"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Joseph<\/a> Baena made his official pro debut in the Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association.<\/p>\n

The amazingly buff Baena, 29, who is The Terminator star’s love child with his former housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena, placed fifth in the Classic Physique Open category at Friday’s event in El Segundo, California<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Baena shared a clip to Instagram<\/a> of him striking various poses while flexing his massive muscles as members of the audience shouted encouragement.<\/p>\n

‘First look at my posing routine from the PNBA World Cup,’ Baena wrote in the caption.<\/p>\n

Baena, who competed in his first-ever bodybuilding competition in March<\/a>, noted that the song playing on the soundtrack was The Trio from the Clint Eastwood<\/a> classic Spaghetti Western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Ennio Morricone.<\/p>\n

Followers responded enthusiastically in the comments section.<\/p>\n

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\"Arnold <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Joseph Baena made his official pro debut in the Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (Source: @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The amazingly buff Baena, 29, placed fifth in the Classic Physique Open category at Friday’s event in El Segundo, California (Source @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘You’ve been about it for a long time, you might be the rare famous son who surpasses famous dad,’ one supporter wrote.<\/p>\n

‘You rocked the stage. Excellent work brother!!! Congratulations,’ another follower exclaimed.<\/p>\n

A third person commended: ‘Great job @joebaena you stayed committed and performed flawlessly on the PNBA stage. This is only the beginning of your journey. Keep up the incredible work!’<\/p>\n

While this was Baena’s pro debut, it was his third competition.<\/p>\n

Baena made his overall competitive debut on March 28 at the NPC Natural Colorado State competition in Denver, where he won several first-place titles.<\/p>\n

On April 4, he faced off at the INBA Iron Gladiator natural bodybuilding competition in Corona, California where he won the Classic Physique Champion title and earned his pro card.<\/p>\n

Baena has the unequivocal support of his famous father, 79, who won the Mr Olympia title seven times between 1970 and 1980.<\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger’s youngest son previously revealed his dad is a huge help during training.<\/p>\n

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\"Baena <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Baena shared a clip to Instagram of him striking various poses while flexing his massive muscles as members of the audience shouted encouragement, writing: ‘First look at my posing routine from the PNBA World Cup (Source: @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Schwarzenegger’s youngest son previously revealed his dad is a huge help during training (Source: @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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‘He’s the best training partner… He makes sure that I don\u2019t slack off in the gym,’ Baena has said of The Terminator actor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Baena decided to follow in his famous father’s footsteps into bodybuilding during his college years. Above, Baena on March 29<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘He’s the best training partner. I don\u2019t know what to say. He pushes me. He makes sure that I don\u2019t slack off in the gym. When the carbs are low and the calories are low and I start getting tired, he pumps me up,’ Baena told GQ<\/a>\u00a0in an article published in April.<\/p>\n

Baena said his dad inspired him to get involved in bodybuilding while he was at college explaining: ‘My dad gave me the bodybuilding encyclopedia.<\/p>\n

‘I was flipping through that, trying to learn how to grow the biceps, and I fell in love with weightlifting.<\/p>\n

‘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.’<\/p>\n

Baena hasn’t always been in good shape and previously admitted he was dropped from his high school sports teams because he couldn’t ‘keep up’ with his peers.<\/p>\n

‘People sometimes forget that I used to be chubby in high school. I got cut from my basketball and soccer team because I couldn’t keep up with the other kids,’ he wrote in an Instagram post in July.<\/p>\n

‘Swim didn’t have tryouts thankfully and completely changed my life forever. That was my introduction to Fitness and training.’<\/p>\n

Baena has also shared how he was bullied because of his weight when he was young.<\/p>\n

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Baena faced off in two bodybuilding contests in March and April (pictured), winning several first-place titles along with his pro card (Source: @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Baena was around 11 when he discovered Schwarzenegger was his father. Above, Baena at his college graduation with mother Mildred Patricia Baena in 2019 (Source: @joebaena Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Schwarzenegger has four children with ex-wife Maria Shriver. Above, Christina, Shriver, Katherine and Christopher (Source: @katherineschwarzenegger Instagram)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘I was bullied when I was a kid, elementary, middle school, and not really in high school, but I just felt like an outsider in high school at the beginning,’ he told People<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n

‘I was really overweight from the end of elementary school into the beginning of high school. It was my closest friends that were the ones that bullied me the most and made fun of me for being overweight and all these kind of things.’<\/p>\n

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.’<\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger has four other children with ex-wife Maria Shriver.<\/p>\n

There is Katherine, 36, who is married to actor Chris Pratt; Christina, 35, a co-executive producer of the documentary Take Your Pills; Patrick, 33, an actor and model; and Christopher, 29, who tends to stay out of the public eye.<\/p>\n

The action star’s marriage to Shriver, 71, collapsed after she discovered he had fathered a child with the family’s former housekeeper.<\/p>\n

Mildred left the employment shortly before the truth became public in May 2011.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n