Schwarzenegger sees working out as 'survival' mechanism; hits gym 320 days a year

Los Angeles, June 19 (IANS) Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger considers workouts to be a "survival" mechanism.

The 75-year-old actor became an award-winning bodybuilder in the years before he became a Hollywood star and explains that he still tries to work out "almost every day" because he wants to keep his physique for as long as possible, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"I bicycle down, it gives me a nice warm up, it's like a half an hour ride and then I work out for another half an hour or 45 minutes. I try to come (to the gym) every day, but by trying every day I end up doing maybe 320 days a year," he told CNN.

"It never stops. I do a combination, some days I go from one machine to the other but some days it's leg day, then it's the back, then it's shoulders then it's arms and it and it's calves. Just like the old days but with less weight, it's the same kind of draining."

"It doesn't feel the same as it did in the olden days, I have to say because now it's about survival. It's about keeping as long as I can to keep what I have."

The 'Terminator' star, who was born in Austria but moved to the US in 1968, was speaking from Gold's Gym in Venice Beach where he used to train during his heyday and explained that the establishment gave him the chance to train with the best equipment and people which led him to become an "unbeatable" heavyweight champion.

He added: "I was the first member who trained for free and was called balloon belly. They thought my stomach was too big to be champion. I was embarrassed but then I realised that I was top of the world for European standards but for American standards, it was a new standard. It gave me the ability to train with the best equipment, with the strongest people and it made the greatest bodybuilder at that time and I was unbeatable until I retired."