“I Had to Use a Walker”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Struggled to Find a Way Back to His Old Self After Going Through Open Heart Surgery in 2018

For the last 50 years, whenever there has been a mention of bodybuilding, the name Arnold Schwarzenegger has always come up. Registering his first Mr. Olympia win in 1970, Arnold quickly climbed the ranks to become the best in the business.

His physical attributes, combined with 7 Mr. Olympia titles, made him one of the greatest bodybuilders in the sport’s history. Even today, at 75, Arnold keeps himself fit, works out, and follows a strict diet. Schwarzenegger has indeed been a physical specimen throughout his life.

But one should never think fitness came easily to him. Schwarzenegger has gone through major trials in his life. Some incidents even took a toll on his physical health. During an interview, Arnold once recalled one such instance where he had to restart from the beginning as a 71-year-old.

Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled the surgery that sent him back to square one

Whenever one is about to undertake something big, people often say the first step is the hardest to take. But when one has to take the same first step in the latter part of their life, things get a lot tougher.

Legendary bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger had to go through something similar back in 2018. The legend went through open-heart surgery and had to re-train his system from zero.

Recalling his post-surgery struggle, Arnold urged people to stay fit and healthy. Addressing the same, he said, “I can already hear you saying, ‘Easy for you to say, Arnold. Fitness has always been your life, and you have always been in top shape.'”

But Schwarzenegger shined the light on how he had to struggle to find a way back to healthy living. He said, “I had to work my way back from the bottom this year, and I learned a lot along the way.”

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Arnold continued, “After I underwent open-heart surgery this spring, I had to use a walker. I had to do breathing exercises five times a day to retrain my lungs. I was frustrated and angry, and in my worst moments, I couldn’t see the way back to my old self.”

But sure enough, Arnie came back stronger than before. And just three months after the surgery, he was on the sets ready to film the latest iteration of the ‘Terminator’ series.

The little things counted the most for Schwarzenegger during his recovery

Many of us would think of making huge efforts to retain or gain a certain physique. But for Arnold, it was the smaller movements that mattered more. After his surgery, Arnold did not immediately aim at getting six-pack abs or bench pressing with a heavyweight. He only wanted to get healthy.

During the same interview, Schwarzenegger detailed the importance of setting smaller goals. “I just kept walking, I kept breathing, I kept trying,” Arnold said. He was lucky and had a huge team around to support him the entire way.

Once Arnold was fit enough to go to the gym, he did not go straight to weight training. His walks transitioned to bike rides. Schwarzenegger only aimed at getting better every single day to get himself to a healthier place.

Schwarzenegger could fight through one of the worst phases of his life physically by staying strong mentally. It was a simple mantra of setting and achieving small goals every day. “If you and your training partner walked 5,000 steps yesterday, walk 5,001 today. If you ate one vegetable yesterday, eat two tomorrow.”

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