How To Stay Motivated To Work Out According To Arnold Schwarzenegger | Men's Health Magazine Australia

How To Stay Motivated To Work Out According To Arnold Schwarzenegger

Though some actors are renowned for their physical transformations, bulking up or shrinking down as their role requires, post-production paints a different picture entirely. When the necessity to be the physical embodiment of a certain character fades, actors are only human, and often their motivation drains away just as quickly, leaving them relaxing on beaches and sunny islands around the world as their fitness routines are shelved until the next ambitious film project. The same can’t be said for Arnold Schwarzenegger however, an actor who has not only built his career on a dedication to maintaining his fitness and gym-honed physique, but has inspired generations of fans to get into the gym, too. 

When it comes to waning motivation, it might appear that Schwarzenegger is super-human in his focus, but believe it or not the actor does experience the occasional setback. In his latest newsletter, Schwarzenegger recognised Miles Taylor, a 26-year-old strength athlete with Cerebral Palsy who has crushed every stereotype surrounding fitness. When Schwarzenegger finds his motivation to work out waning, it’s athletes like Taylor that he looks towards for inspiration. 

“You don’t have to deadlift twice your bodyweight to get started, just start moving more,” said Schwarzenegger. “Just a week ago on reddit, I saw a post of one of the adaptive athletes at the Arnold Sports Festival doing stone lifting with one arm! He had to change the technique, but he did it!”

“And for all the gym owners and fitness professionals out there, it is so important that you find ways for everyone to be able to succeed,” Schwarzenegger continued. “Make your gyms accessible, and be inclusive. Fitness is for everyone. Give everyone a place to train and compete.”

Schwarzenegger has enjoyed a successful career and managed to hone a passion for fitness in his youth. This dedication has sustained throughout his lifetime and, reflecting on this, Schwarzenegger expressed how he maintained this drive in his 20s by drawing on inspiration from his detractors. “When people think your vision is too much, that’s a sign that you are not he right track. Once you have the vision, it takes reps, reps, reps. You have to do the work. And you might have a job right now to make ends meet while you chase your vision.”

But it’s not just the negative comments that fuelled Schwarzenegger, he also had a team of friends and colleagues supporting him along the way. “I always say I’m not a self made man,” he wrote in the newsletter, “and if I didn’t have my friends like Franco Columbu or Sly Stallone to push me to be the best version of myself, then you would not be reading this newsletter right now, and I would be yodeling in Austria.”

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