Four-time Men’s Physique Olympia Jeremy Buendia is giving his take on the controversial comments made by Arnold Schwarzenegger about Men’s Physique. On March 21, 2025, he explained why it wasn’t fair to the division and touched on how he made seven figures throughout his career.
During the 2025 Arnold Classic broadcast, Schwarzenegger criticized Men’s Physique competitors for wearing long board shorts, going as far as to describe them as ‘bogus.’ This ruffled some feathers, including the Men’s Physique Arnold Classic champion Ali Bilal, who also took issue with the prize money.
Bilal found the statement disrespectful and has decided to boycott the Arnold Classic contest for the rest of his career. Given Buendia’s status as the most successful Men’s Physique Olympia to emerge from the sport, he discussed if Schwarzenegger was out of line and touched on the money he’s made throughout his career.
Jeremy Buendia Talks Money in Men’s Physique and Arnold Schwarzenegger Controversy: ‘I Don’t Think It’s Fair’
In a recent YouTube video, Buendia explained why he doesn’t think it’s fair Schwarzenegger made those comments. He adds that Men’s Physique competitors still don’t get the respect they deserve.
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“I think the biggest reason why the Men’s Physique guys are upset is because we’ve been there a long time now. It’s not like this is a brand new division, we’ve worked our way up, we’ve gotten better.
And we still get mocked, we still don’t get the respect that the other guys are getting and I don’t think it’s fair when we are a part of this organization.”
Buendia pointed to the growth of the sport thanks to Men’s Physique, which is even more popular in countries outside of the US.
“We are, at the amateur level, bringing in a ton of revenue. There’s more Men’s Physique competitors than any other division and I think that holds a lot of weight for what this sport has grown into in the last 10 years. When I was competing as a bodybuilder, we didn’t have those numbers. The shows were a lot smaller. Ultimately, as a brand, it’s elevated this whole organization vastly worldwide.”
“We got guys in India, guys in Asian countries that don’t have the genetics necessarily to be an Open bodybuilder, we’re built for this division. That’s opened up the doors and opened up a huge revenue stream for a lot of people not just NPC, but promoters everywhere across the world to be successful.”
While he always found Men’s Physique posing boring, Buendia wasn’t entirely sure adding more poses would fix the problem.
“I mean I’ve always said Men’s Physique posing is boring,” he shared. “When it first started it was just straight front and back, no transitions, nothing.”
“As people starting emulating it [Superman pose], I remember the first few Olympias I was getting criticized for not standing straight on, ‘Jeremy is bending the rules, if he stands straight on he can’t beat us.’ Then immediately the year after I retired, it became the new mandatory pose.”
He believes additional poses in the category would blur the lines with other divisions like Classic Physique.
“It’s tough [to add poses to Men’s Physique] because then you start blurring the lines,” he adds.
Buendia shared that he managed to make seven figures a few times throughout his career. He stresses that he accomplished this through branding and marketing, not competing.
“I’ve cleared seven figures a few times in my career annually. That’s something I feel these guys aren’t aware of. They have the capabilities of doing that but it’s not going to be done on stage. It’s going to be done on what you’re doing to market and brand yourself.”
“These supplement companies nowadays, they don’t care what you place. That’s why you see these influencers that don’t even compete, making the deals and making the money.”
Buendia isn’t the only bodybuilder to give his opinion of Schwarzenegger’s commentary. Phil Heath, seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, also chimed in. Overall, he didn’t have a problem with Schwarzenegger and specified that prize money for each division is based on metrics decided by individual promotions.
Men’s Physique is one of the most popular bodybuilding categories, especially in the amateur ranks. Buendia believes the division has been critical to the success of the IFBB Pro League, and hopes to see it continue to thrive in the future.
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