Once upon a time, action legend Arnold Schwarzenegger became world-famous with his well-toned body. Years later, he takes stock of his muscles.
From bodybuilder to actor to governor of California: Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a remarkable career. But the Austrian action star is also getting older and, at the age of 76, recently reflected on the changes to his body that helped him to fame
Action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger looks at his star body differently today
Arnold Schwarzenegger is ashamed of many a movie, but now sometimes also of his looks. At the end of 2023, the star published his book Be Useful: Seven Simple Rules for a Better Life and was a guest on the Howard Stern Show to promote it. In the interview, he spoke openly about his changed body image – and how he mourns the dwindling muscles that once set him apart:
I look in the mirror and think to myself, ‘Yeah, you suck.’ Look at that body. These pecs that used to be firm and prominent and really powerful with ridges in between: Now they’re just hanging down.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger compares himself to other people, he still sees himself as the winner of this calculation. But at the same time, he can no longer ignore the changes in his ageing body:
It’s one thing to get older and out of shape – but most people have never been in shape. They just watched their crappy body get even crappier. But if you’ve spent years being hailed for your defined uber-body, that’s something else again. If you had veins in your abs and pecs and now you can’t see them anymore
There comes a cut: you put the clock forward 50 years and you think: ‘Wow! I never thought about that when I was 30 or 40, that this would happen.’ That one day I would look at this body, which still looks better than the majority of other bodies, and say, ‘That sucks’.
Nevertheless, Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t want to let his enthusiasm and the “fire in his belly” be taken away from him, even in old age. He reveals that he only eats two meals a day and has accepted his situation instead of being angry about it.
