Arnold Schwarzenegger just celebrated his 78th birthday — and he has plans to live forever.
The bodybuilder-turned-actor is no stranger to staying fit and in his recent decades, he’s spoken out about the importance of staying healthy as he gets older. While he admits that realizing his body has aged has been tough, it pushes him to keep moving.
As for the most important aspects of taking care of your body as you age? Schwarzenegger stresses the necessity of movement, no matter how you do it.
“Do something,” Schwarzenegger shared at the CNBC CEO Council Summit. “It doesn’t matter to me if you play tennis, if you go skiing, if you play soccer, or if you lift weights … but do something.”
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“If you stop movement, then this is the first step to death. If you rest, you rust,” Schwarzenegger said, adding that he also sees an importance in not being scared to treat medical issues like hip or knee replacements.
“It is extremely important to not stop moving when you’re 50 to 60 just because of joint problems,” he shared. “Don’t let anything get in the way. Exercise, exercise, exercise.”
For Schwarzenegger, his routine includes riding his bike, swimming and lifting weights, among other many other fitness activities. He is also conscious of his diet and other daily habits — but admits that he allows himself to smoke a cigar every once in a while.
Schwarzenegger also says he’s consulted with world-renowned experts on aging to find out if anything has been created to reverse aging. While he learned that there’s no revolutionary procedures on the horizon, he says he’s decided to stick to the “the old-fashioned stuff.”
“I still work out every day, I ride my bike every day, and I make movies — show business is another part of my life,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I love everything that I do. There’s no retiring. I’m still on this side of the grass, so I’m happy. My plan is to live forever — and so far, so good!”
