“Any kind of extended solo, my left arm would just cramp up. It was frozen. I was definitely overdoing it”: George Lynch opens up about his bodybuilding days – and how it impacted his guitar playing

While many consider the '80s and '90s the golden era of classic rock, the pressures that came with the "rock star" image often meant artists needed to look as sculpted as Ancient Greek statues on stage.

For some, this led to adopting weightlifting – with guitarists like George Lynch aspiring to transform their bodies into bodybuilding physiques à la Arnold Schwarzenegger at Mr. Olympia. However, Lynch recently admitted that these rigorous workout regimes took a toll on his guitar playing.

“I think it obviously made me stronger. So I think that was beneficial to a certain extent,” he tells Ultimate Guitar.

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“But also, I was starting to get these really massive cramps in my forearms. Static cramps that wouldn't go away. And I would get them when I'd try to play anything extended. And I had to try to do different things to try to alleviate that.”

Lynch goes on to reveal that all the lifting sometimes made it impossible for him to play. “Any kind of extended solo, my left arm would just cramp up. And my hand would be like a claw. It was frozen. It was really actually kind of scary. And, yeah, not good. I was definitely overdoing it.”

The Dokken and Lynch Mob guitarist has previously shared his struggles with body image during that period, even calling bodybuilding “one of the silliest things I've ever done. I felt so anti-musical” in a 2010 interview with Revolver.

Regarding steroid use, he admitted, “You can’t get these freak bodies or even these admirable-looking physiques without doing some kind of cheating. And you pay the price for all cheating… There’s just no free ride.

“You’re gonna get some great advantages, you’re gonna feel great, you’re gonna look great, it’s gonna be awesome and then you’re gonna pay for it. It’s a Faustian bargain with the devil.”

While Lynch still believes that image is important for contemporary artists, he acknowledges that “sometimes not having an image is an image”.

“We all want to look as best we can, and we do that. But having an image is something that's either kind of innate for a person, at least you're kind of born with that sense of style. I don't think it's anything really acquirable.”

Earlier this year, Lynch teamed up with Michael Sweet on Heart & Sacrifice – the latest in the line of collaborative records under the moniker Sweet & Lynch.