NBA fans of any generation are aware of the dominance that the late great Wilt Chamberlain had during his time in the NBA. From averaging 50.4 points per game in a season to scoring 100 points in a game, to playing 48.5 minutes per game in a season. Wilt the Stilt seemingly could do it all.
- Wilt Showcases His Strength On The Set Of Conan The Destroyer
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One of the main reasons Wilt could dominate like no other was because of his freakish athletic ability. Wilt was faster than his competition, he could jump higher than the other players, and he was a lot stronger than anyone he had ever faced.
So, when Wilt was cast to star alongside former 7x Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt set out to prove he was the stronger of the two.
Wilt Showcases His Strength On The Set Of Conan The Destroyer
When you look at Wilt Chamberlain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, you’ll see two completely different people. Wilt is from Philadelphia, and he honed his skills in the game of basketball. Schwarzenegger, on the other hand, is from Austria, and he became a bodybuilding champion, movie star, and even the Governor of California.
What these two had in common was an incredible amount of strength. You don’t become a bodybuilding champion unless you are extremely strong and take care of your body. That’s what Schwarzenegger did, and he was the best in his prime.
The way Wilt dominated the competition and the stats he put up were unheard of, still to this day. Wilt wouldn’t have been able to achieve these unreal stats if he wasn’t as strong and athletic as he was, which led to him becoming arguably the best player of his era.
So, when Wilt Chamberlain joined the cast of the 1984 movie Conan the Destroyer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt wanted to show the bodybuilding champion how strong he really was. While on the set of a movie, Schwarzenegger would routinely challenge his co-stars to work out with him, and this time, he met a willing opponent.
Wilt, who was never one to shy away from showing his talents, was ready to show not only Schwarzenegger but another legendary strong man on the set how strong he was. Another costar in the movie was the former wrestling great, André René Roussimoff.
André René Roussimoff, better known by his wrestling name, André the Giant, was exactly that: a giant. He stood 7’4” and weighed around 520 lbs. André the Giant suffered from gigantism, which caused his enormous size, but there was no doubting his strength.
Wilt was in good company when it came to some of the strongest people who’ve ever lived, and Wilt lived to be the best. Now, Wilt didn’t walk onto the movie set blindfolded. In fact, he met and workout with Schwarzenegger in the past, as Schwarzenegger once recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles Times:
“I was working out at the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica and there was Wilt Chamberlain playing volleyball,” Schwarzenegger said. “He was a fantastic volleyball player, but that’s also where he would go to pick up his girls. He was a funny guy and we had a great relationship.
“I would go watch him play when he was on the Lakers and we would work out together at Gold’s Gym. He was the only basketball player in those days I saw working out with weights. He did triceps extensions with 180 pounds, which blew us all away. He was so strong. Our relationship extended into making ‘Conan the Destroyer,’ where we worked out every day on set.”
As you can see, Wilt and Schwarzenegger already knew each other, and they were friends as well. The two had already worked out together, with Wilt blowing Schwarzenegger and the other gym members’ minds with the amount of weight he was using for his triceps extension workouts.
On the set of Conan the Destroyer, Wilt would again showcase his strength while working out with Schwarzenegger. It has been reported that Wilt was bench pressing 500 pounds while working on the set. What makes this even more impressive is the fact Wilt was 48 years old in 1984.
In his prime bodybuilding days, Schwarzenegger’s best bench press was 525 pounds. This is an impressive amount of weight to bench press, but Wilt has claimed in numerous interviews that in his prime, he was benching 600 pounds.
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These claims have never been backed up, as we have no footage of Wilt bench pressing 600 pounds. We do, however, have an eyewitness of Wilt performing an incredible feat of strength on the set of Conan the Destroyer.
While shooting the movie, Wilt, along with André the Giant, would show Schwarzenegger how little he truly was compared to them.
“He [Wilt] lifted me up with one hard like nothing,” Schwarzenegger said.
“I remember Andre the Giant and Wilt Chamberlain — we both went out to dinner several times in Mexico City when we did a movie down there — and both of them were joking about who could pick me up and make me look lighter and like a little fly. They were so powerful it was ridiculous.”
Wilt Chamberlain and Andre the Giant holding up Arnold Schwarzenegger pic.twitter.com/OohLbhVOHL
— Some Old Photos (@SomeOldPhotos) May 3, 2014
Wilt Chamberlain truly was a myth of a man. From his incredible basketball play to his claim about the number of women he’s been with, to the strength he possessed, Wilt Chamberlain was truly one of a kind. Many people claim Wilt’s incredible stories are exaggerated, but if the greatest bodybuilder is calling Wilt strong, then you know it must be true.
