Arnold Schwarzenegger started his newsletter in January of this year to spread awareness about fitness. The dismal health and fitness-related stats worried the 75-year-old bodybuilding icon. Hence, to help people take a holistic approach toward fitness, diet, body image, and more, Arnie launched Arnold’s Pump Club. Shortly after the launch, Schwarzenegger returned to Reddit, where he took fan questions. He then began publishing selected questions and his answers in Arnold’s Pump Club.

In the latest edition of his newsletter, Arnold Schwarzenegger highlighted an unconventional yet fitness-related question one fan asked. Although the user didn’t say if they were a parent, they asked an important question about getting kids involved in fitness. The father of five drew from his experience to find a nuanced answer.

You can’t force a kid to do anything

In the Q & A with Arnold section of his newsletter, the 75-year-old highlighted a question by Reddit user Fire 7707. “What’s your advice for parents on helping their children to enjoy fitness from an early age?” asked the user. The seven-time Mr. Olympia wrote what he often writes about various aspects of parenting:?“don’t force it.”

Instead, Arnie wrote about exposing kids to fitness.?“I always had my kids in the gym with me. Sometimes they would sit between my legs while I did cable rows,”?wrote the bodybuilding legend. Schwarzenegger gave his kids a point of view of how it felt to exercise. He wanted his kids to see?“it was fun.” However, he never made them work out after his set.

“I never said, ‘Now you have to train.’ I think that can backfire,” stated Schwarzenegger. The father of five also wrote in his newsletter that all kids go through “phases where they don?t want to do what their parents do.”?However, since Schwarzenegger introduced them to fitness instead of forcing it upon them, all his kids?“have fitness in their lives.”?In fact, Joseph Baena shares in his father’s passion for bodybuilding. The Governator used a similar method to introduce bodybuilding into his son’s life.

Arnold Schwarzenegger practices what he preaches

In 2022, Jo Baena appeared on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk podcast and discussed he fell in love with bodybuilding relatively recently. The young actor said his initial goal was to lose the weight he had gained while studying abroad. He had picked up a bad habit and wanted to become fit again. However, that was when Arnie gave Baena a copy of his book.

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The book in question is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding. Baena revealed the book inspired him to not just lose weight but build a strong and aesthetic physique. Since then, the 25-year-old has adopted many of his Mr. Olympia-winning father’s training methods.

What did you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s advice regarding kids and fitness? Let us know in the comments.

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