For over half a century, Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived a life defined by strength, discipline, and iron. But the man who built one of the most famous physiques in history says that even after decades of wear and tear, he wouldn’t change a thing.
In a new interview with Men’s Health, the seven-time Mr. Olympia winner and Hollywood icon opened up about the toll that decades of heavy lifting — and his action-packed movie stunts — have taken on his body. Now 77, Schwarzenegger admits he’s become, in his own words, a bit of a “mechanical man.”
“My first surgery was in 1972,” he said. “Which was just the first time I had to consider the effects a major injury could have on my joints.”
Since then, the former bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-Governor has faced shoulder and hip issues (including a hip replacement), knee and elbow pain, and multiple heart surgeries. Yet despite it all, he refuses to look back with regret.
“I would never change anything that I did. I think I figured out everything I needed to do,” Schwarzenegger said. “I don’t regret a set that I did too much… The reality is I got banged up more actually by doing stunts—jumping around and flying off things and getting trampled by horses… car accidents, all the things you have doing stunts.”
When asked whether years of heavy lifting contributed to his joint problems, Schwarzenegger didn’t hesitate.
“If you want to compete and if you want to be the best in the world, then you can forget about that ‘what is too heavy, what is too much,’” he explained. “Because you just have to take it that there could be — not that there has to be, but that there could be — some side effects of that, that you later on will have to get some of those parts replaced or operated on or fixed, in one way or the other.”
For Schwarzenegger, that risk was simply part of the price of greatness.
“So there are a lot of people who have those injuries from heavy, heavy lifting,” he said. “But I would not go back now and say I should never have squatted that much, or I would never have deadlifted that much, or anything like that.”
A Lifetime Of Strength
Born on July 30, 1947, in the small Austrian village of Thal, Schwarzenegger developed a fascination with strength from an early age. By 15, he was already lifting weights; by 20, he had left Europe behind for Los Angeles, determined to become the best bodybuilder on Earth.
He did exactly that.
Over his career, Schwarzenegger won five Mr. Universe titles and seven Mr. Olympia titles, ushering in the golden age of bodybuilding and setting a standard that generations have tried to emulate ever since. His physique — massive yet balanced, powerful yet aesthetic — redefined what it meant to be a professional bodybuilder.
Behind the trophies, his training schedule was the stuff of legend: six days a week of intense weightlifting, strict attention to nutrition, and a level of mental discipline few could match.
He made bodybuilding glamorous, global, and accessible. And as Pumping Iron and his blockbuster film career brought his name to the masses, Schwarzenegger transformed from athlete to cultural icon — the very definition of strength, determination, and reinvention.
Today, long past his competitive days, Schwarzenegger still trains regularly. His routine now includes weightlifting, cardiovascular exercise, and flexibility work — adjusted to suit his age and body.
Even as joint pain and surgeries have become part of his reality, he views them not as punishments for past decisions, but as the natural consequence of pushing human limits.
“If you want to be the best,” he said, “you just have to take it that there could be some side effects.”
That mindset — the relentless drive to improve, no matter the cost — is what made him a champion on the stage, on screen, and in politics.
And while his joints might creak a little louder these days, Schwarzenegger’s outlook remains pure iron.
“I would never change anything that I did,” he said again, summing up a lifetime of ambition, sacrifice, and grit. “I don’t regret a set that I did too much.”
Even now, with the aches and surgeries that come from a lifetime of lifting heavy, Arnold Schwarzenegger stands by every rep — the pain, the triumph, and the legacy that made him one of the most enduring icons of strength the world has ever seen.
Featured image credit: Instagram/@schwarzenegger/YouTube/RonnieColeman (screenshots)
