Joseph Baena, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Son, is Also a Bodybuilder

(Photo : Instagram)
Screenshot from: Joseph Baena’s Official Instagram Account

Joseph Baena, Arnold Schwarzenegger's 22-year-old son, is making headlines for the right reasons, as he is also a bodybuilder like his dad.

In 2011, Baena was discovered to be the lovechild of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his former Guatemalan housekeeper, according to an article by Dailymail.  

In an article by Remezcla, Baena who has more than 130,000 followers on Instagram, has recently gone viral due to his hereditary skill and affinity. The Guatemalan-Austrian-American frequently posts photos of his workouts, flaunting his ripped arms and legs, as well as images of him and Schwarzenegger building muscle mass together at the Gold's Gym in Los Angeles.

In November 2019, Beana was nominated for the social media #classicchallange, where people mimicked Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding poses. After doing his dad's iconic look from the 1975 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest, Baena received comments like "Arnold 2.0 no doubt" and "Starting to look like your father." 

Baena even caught the attention of Martins Licis, the World's Strongest Man 2019, who invited him via Instagram to lift weights together, according to Men's Health.  Moreover, Page Six reported that Schwarzenegger also wants to bring him to his sponsored international sports festival, dubbed "The Arnold Classic Worldwide," that includes competitions for bodybuilding, combat and more.

Baena is not all brawn as he has a degree in business from Pepperdine University, which Schwarzenegger financially supported. Aside from that, Baena also aspires to enter Hollywood like his father and half-brother Patrick.

Although Baena maintains a happy and supportive relationship with his father, with Schwarzenegger regularly bragging about his youngest son's accomplishments, Baena's relationship with his half-siblings are reportedly not as healthy.

Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver, an NBC News correspondent, separated in 2011 after Shriver noticed the teen sharing resemblance to Schwarzenegger, and confronted his mother Mildred Baena, their housemaid about her suspicions, to which she confessed to be her lovechild with the actor. 

The news tore the family apart and since then, Baena wasn't given a chance to develop a close relationship with his brothers and sisters.

According to Page Six, Baena's siblings don't follow him on social media and he wasn't invited to his half-sister Katherine and actor Chris Pratt's wedding in 2019, but the siblings "are trying to navigate a private relationship before it's a public one."

In an interview in November with HollywoodLife, Baena refused to discuss matters about his brothers and sisters, but noted that his relationship with his father is great despite only finding out about it after many years.

"It's great. I love my dad," he said. "We hang out all the time. He is a great father. That's really all I have to say about him. We train together, we eat together. We do many things together."

Baena has already introduced his father to his girlfriend, model Nicky Dodaj, and said that Schwarzenegger is a wisecracker who also gives sound advice, including giving his best in everything he does.

"I have nothing bad to say about my father," he continued. "I love him. He is a jokester." 

The 22year old is stepping out from behind his father's shadows by developing his athletic skills, aside from his growing fanbase on social media.