Arnold Schwarzenegger Who Bench Pressed Insane 525lbs at His Prime, Laments About His Lost Strength After 3 Heart Surgeries at 76: “This Was in Good Old Days”

Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s bodybuilding days will never leave the memory of fans. Apart from his iconic posing routine on the Mr. Olympia stage, Arnie is known for his intense weightlifting at the gym. However, the 76-year-old no more trains that heavily, and he recently confessed it in an interview.

In his late seventies, Schwarzenegger still hit the gym daily but restrains from heavy-weighted duties. The NFL YouTube channel recently shared an interview with the Terminator icon where he spilled beans on his 525lbs bench press.

Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals the sad reality

The 7x Mr. Olympia champion used to compete with his training partner and best friend Franco Columbu during the 1970s. So, intrigued about his latest bench press numbers, the host enquired, “I’m going to ask the question that everyone wants to know. What do you bench?” Unhindered by the question, Schwarzenegger replied, “Well! My best bench press was 525 but this was in the good old days.”

“Now I don’t bench that heavy anymore, you know, after all my heart surgeries and all that stuff, I train lighter but do more reps. But I still workout pretty intense,” Schwarzenegger added. “I left the heavy lifting for the young guys and women,” Arnie said with a sense of humor. However, in his bodybuilding prime, the Austrian Oak was very competitive about the weights and reps. 

The first time he tried to bench press around 500 lbs he failed. Arnie was unsuccessful for the first nine times before achieving the feat in his tenth attempt. “I remember the first time I tried to bench-press 500 pounds. It was in front of a packed house at a powerlifting championship in Munich. I failed miserably. The weight came down. I couldn’t even lift it off my chest one inch,” he once confessed. However, Schwarzenegger’s training and diet are now focused on longevity.

The Austrian Oak’s revamped training and diet regime

Born with a congenital heart condition that passes in the family, Schwarzenegger had to undergo three heart surgeries for valve replacement. Despite going under the knife multiple times, the Governator bounced back to health and vigor in no time. But his doctors advised him to watch his diet after 50 years, and now Schwarzenegger lives on 80% less meat.

When it comes to his fitness routine, Schwarzenegger still lives an active lifestyle. “My current fitness routine includes cycling every day for around 45 minutes to an hour. I follow that by working out with weights for half an hour,” he said in his seventies.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is inspiring millions to live a healthy and fit life through his fitness newsletter, Arnold Pump Club. But he preaches his community by actions instead of words. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.