“Might Want to Buy…Dumbbells”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals the Ultimate ‘Medicine for Your Aching Body’

Of all aspects of fitness, two key areas that enthusiasts usually focus on are flexibility and mobility. Arnold Schwarzenegger has often spoken about the importance of staying flexible and sufficiently mobile, even in old age. But how does one enhance these two aspects of fitness while training?

In his recent newsletter, Schwarzenegger provided some helpful tips to help get the joints moving smoothly. The key to staying flexible lies in resistant training. Therefore, the former bodybuilder recommended some forms of resistance training in order to improve flexibility.

“If you want to improve your mobility and move better, you might want to buy some dumbbells.”

Unfortunately, the myth behind resistance training is that it leads to the overdevelopment of muscles. And while Schwarzenegger debunked this misconception, he also noted how it encourages moving weights through the end ranges of motion.

Instead of focusing on increasing the weight added to every exercise, the Austrian Oak recommends exploring the same weight with a full range of motion. Simply put, this makes one better at movement by forcing all parts of the muscles to work on a single weight.

“Resistance training forces your muscles, tendons, and ligaments to all work together to move a weight. Add it all up, and a little strength training is medicine for your aching body and can reduce the likelihood of injury and pain.”

Being a 76-year-old veteran who champions fitness and nutrition over everything, Schwarzenegger is a living testament to the fact that age is no bar in such cases. Resistance training does not have an age limit and can help enhance flexibility at all ages. But is that all resistance training has to offer?

Arnold Schwarzenegger claims resistance training is a go-to solution to reduce mortality risk

Apart from improving flexibility and mobility, resistance or strength training carries many other benefits. One of them, shockingly, is reducing the risk of mortality among fitness enthusiasts.

Cutting down harmful habits must be followed by adding those that are beneficial for one’s health. Taking the example of how smokers’ and non-smokers’ lifespans vary, those who opted for strength training saw a 40% decrease in mortality risk. However, Schwarzenegger assured that one needn’t practice it every day. Resistance training once or twice a week can provide jaw-dropping results, and the former bodybuilder swears by it.