Arnold Schwarzenegger on how he deals with aging and body image issues

When you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger, you think of supreme confidence. Naturally, one doesn’t become arguably the greatest bodybuilder of all time, one of the most well-known action stars in Hollywood, and the 38th governor of California without a fair amount of self-assurance. However, even Arnold has his bad days, which he recently admitted during a recent interview on “The Howard Stern Show.”

“I kind of smile because every day I do look in a mirror and I say, ‘Yep, you suck,’” Arnold admitted to Stern.

“I look at this body … look at those pectoral muscles that used to be firm and perky and really powerful with a striation in there. Now they’re just hanging there. I mean, what the hell is going on here?”

While everyone succumbs to Father Time eventually, even seven time Mr. Olympia winners, Arnold says he still feels disappointed that he has to compare the body he has now to what he had in his prime.

“It’s one thing to see yourself get older and more and more out of shape but most of the people have never been in shape,” Arnold continued. “So what does it mean getting out of shape?

“When you’ve been hailed for years as this supreme body, and you have the definition and you see the veins coming down your abs, and you see veins on top of your chest and then … you roll the clock 50 years and you’re standing there and you don’t see that anymore,” Schwarzenegger added.

Arnold admits that when he was in his 30s and 40s he never thought about the aging process and thinking about his body image.

“I never, ever thought about that when I was 30 years old or 40 years old that this [was] going to happen,” he continued. “It just sucks.”

Arnold also admitted that one unfortunate circumstance which made him began to think about his own mortality was after he had open heart surgery at age 50, after which he felt like “damaged goods” for the first time in his life.

“That was the first time where I felt kind of vulnerable,” the 76-year-old confessed. “Where all of a sudden the doctor says, ‘You shouldn’t lift that heavy anymore.’”

Despite the fact that Arnold is mortal like everyone else and isn’t in the same shape he was in his 30s, he’s not “upset” about the march of time and its effects. And he’s still “full of energy” nonetheless.

“The bottom line is I’m 76 years old,” he said. “I’m full of energy. I’m full of enthusiasm. I’m as enthusiastic and as excited as I was when I was 30 years old.”

Arnold added, “I just always see mountains in front of me to be climbed and so as long as I see those mountains I keep my enthusiasm and excitement and that fire in my belly to keep climbing and climbing and climbing.”