The 76-year-old 'Terminator' star talks about aging and admits he doesn't like the way he looks now since his muscular physique is changing as he gets older.
- Oct 9, 2023
AceShowbiz - Arnold Schwarzenegger calls himself "damaged goods" and thinks the way he looks now "sucks." The 76-year-old bodybuilder-turned-actor is known for his muscular physique but he finds it hard to look in the mirror now because he doesn't like the way his body has changed.
"I kind of smile because every day I do look in a mirror and I say, 'Yep, you suck.' I look at this body … look at those pectoral muscles that used to be firm and perky and really powerful with a striation in there. Now they're just hanging there. I mean, what the hell is going on here?" he said on "The Howard Stern Show"
"It's one thing to see yourself get older and more and more out of shape but most of the people have never been in shape. So what does it mean getting out of shape? When you've been hailed for years as this supreme body, and you have the definition and you see the veins coming down your abs, and you see veins on top of your chest and then … you roll the clock 50 years and you're standing there and you don't see that anymore."
While the "Terminator" actor acknowledged he looks better than the "majority" of people his own age, he isn't satisfied. He said, "I never, ever thought about that when I was 30 years old or 40 years old that this [was] going to happen. It just sucks."
The former Governor of California explained things changed for him when he had heart surgery at the age of 50, leaving him feeling like "damaged goods" because of the limitations imposed on his lifestyle. He said, "That was the first time where I felt kind of vulnerable. Where all of a sudden the doctor says, 'You shouldn't lift that heavy anymore.' "
The "True Lies" actor only allows himself to have two meals every day now in a bid to keep his weight in check. He explained, "I have breakfast and dinner. I don't have lunch because the system just slows down and it just doesn't burn off the stuff that well anymore."
But despite his dissatisfaction with the signs of ageing, Arnold insisted he isn't "upset" because he knows he can't change it. He added, "The bottom line is I'm 76 years old. I'm full of energy. I'm full of enthusiasm. I'm as enthusiastic and as excited as I was when I was 30 years old. I just always see mountains in front of me to be climbed and so as long as I see those mountains I keep my enthusiasm and excitement and that fire in my belly to keep climbing and climbing and climbing."
