At 76, powering through four heart surgeries and countless productive days of work, Arnold Schwarzenegger has always admitted that his priority was to keep himself healthy. He does so with regular visits to the Gold’s Gym, Venice, and his bike rides across town. But since his recent pacemaker operation, workout has slowed down for the former bodybuilder. However, in his recent newsletter, he admits to being unstoppable about it.
In the segment ‘Monday Motivation’, Schwarzenegger penned a detailed account of life post-surgery and how he has been coping with it. As a self-proclaimed “machine” when it came to working out, he admitted that he was unable to actively pump up his muscles at the gym as he used to before.
However, daily movement was necessary. In various other articles from the newsletter, Schwarzenegger often stressed the importance of everyday physical activity. Even doing the bare minimum could make a significant difference if kept consistent over time. Therefore, he has opted to walk and count his steps.
He revealed how he had taken up a challenge with his training partner Lynn, to walk as many steps as possible and compare the number at the end of the day. While their competition was healthy, it also pushed them to go a few steps further every day.
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“My measurement came from ordering a cheap and simple pedometer to wear on my right wrist (you all know I’m a watch queen; I need to wear something fun on my left wrist).”
Schwarzenegger sincerely believed that everyone had room for improvement at some point in their day-to-day life. For him, he decided to adapt and improvise when he knew he couldn’t work out as much as he wanted to.
This quality of overcoming hurdles smartly was something he wished to see in his village. Therefore, he wrote down a challenge for any fitness enthusiast who came across his newsletter.
“Look at however many steps you’re getting every day right now…Now, for this week, I want you to shoot for 1,000 more steps every day.”
Small, yet consistent progressions were the answer to overcoming every health issue. Schwarzenegger even suggested setting reminders and getting friends and family along to help motivate the daily walks. After all, small tasks like these could help beat some bigger problems in the future.
Arnold Schwarzenegger once revealed how simple tasks protected against heart diseases
As someone who was born with a congenital heart issue, Schwarzenegger has seen his fair share of hospital visits and surgeries. Yet, if there was one thing he swore by that helped beat bigger diseases like this, it was his habit of daily physical activity.
In one of his older newsletters, he talked about how simple choices like taking the stairs instead of the elevator could help curb the chances of heart disease by 20%.
Even about five flights of stairs a day could make a significant difference in one’s heart health. Therefore, his recent challenge could bring about a lot more benefits than one might expect.
