Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he was so eager to pursue bodybuilding success that he briefly ended up in an Austrian military jail.

The Austrian-born actor said he was 18 and serving an obligatory year with the army when he sneaked out of camp for the Junior Mr Europe contest in Germany.

Schwarzenegger said he won the contest but also earned two or three days in the brig. But he said military officials felt "uncomfortable" and released him.

Schwarzenegger, 65, is the subject of a new ESPN Films documentary, Arnold's Blueprint, which will premiere on September 26 on the ESPN website Grantland.com.

The film is the first of a series of short documentaries that will be available online.