With two Mr. Olympia champions stepping up and putting together their own supplement lines in 2013, Jay Cutler through BPI Sports, and Dexter Jackson with Infinite Labs. One more champion has decided to join the club, with Arnold Schwarzenegger looking to make a dent in the market through Muscle Pharm. Announced yesterday in line with his 66th birthday celebration was his partnership with the mainstream giant. The seven time Mr. Olympia has confirmed that the Arnold Schwarzenegger Series will launch in stores and online in September. While the new range does appear to be somewhat exciting, we have far too many concerns for what Muscle Pharm have gotten themselves into.
The athlete’s company have changed their angle and goal in the market so many times, we have had trouble calling them ‘the athlete’s company’ on occasions. Their latest partnership with the bodybuilding icon Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be a bit confusing for most. We have nothing against either party, in fact we rank some of Muscle Pharm’s formulas rather highly. But how can you go around promoting banned substance free products, when you are producing a supplement series for someone who went on record saying he used anabolic steroids. This is not a shot at bodybuilding in any way whatsoever, we respect the sport wholeheartedly. It’s just hard to understand why a brand like Muscle Pharm would partner with the legendary Schwarzenegger for anything more than the attention.
To make it even more interesting, if you can remember the last time Muscle Pharm tried to make a separate range of supplements, it didn’t turn out so well. Their spin off Fitmiss was an unfortunate replica of the brand’s current formulas, only having about two or three products unique to the series. In regards to the Schwarzenegger line you have to wonder what they are going to put in these new releases. Assuming that Muscle Pharm already put their best efforts into their own supplements, how can they produce anything more for the same target market and not leave consumers confused wondering which one is better, Hybrid or Schwarzenegger. According to their press release the range is going to launch with eight different products, making it more than likely that there will be a number of crossovers.
We love the idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger getting involved in the industry. However it’s his partnership with Muscle Pharm that makes us a little disappointed. Maybe if the legend had done it all by himself without having to use the ex-athlete’s company, it may have been okay. But the two sides have such conflicting backgrounds and stories that they’re just a terrible match. Regardless of our initial feelings, we do look forward to seeing what Muscle Pharm have in store. We also hope that they can deliver on something worthy of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name as well as their planned September release.
