Motivating Fitness Quotes From Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you’ve only been paying attention recently, you might be more likely to think of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California or a movie star instead of an acclaimed bodybuilder.

The Austrian’s success in politics and Hollywood was built upon his foundation of hard work and dedication as a bodybuilder. The winner of the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and the seven-time Mr. Olympia is considered one of the best bodybuilders in history.

His physique earned him the nickname of the Austrian Oak, and to this day he has an active role in weightlifting and bodybuilding. The mindset and attitude that brought him success in the gym, in Hollywood and at the state capital can be clearly seen in his fitness quotes and musings.

Some are short mantras and others you must read multiple times to grasp the true meaning, but his fitness quotes offer wisdom and guidance to those who want to get in shape and live a healthy lifestyle:

“The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.”

“The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.”

“None of my rules of success will work unless you do.”

“In this country, it doesn’t make any difference where you were born. It doesn’t make any difference who your parents were. It doesn’t make any difference if, like me, you couldn’t even speak English until you were in your twenties.”

“There are no shortcuts—everything is reps, reps, reps.”

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

“As a kid I always idolized the winning athletes. It is one thing to idolize heroes. It is quite another to visualize yourself in their place. When I saw great people, I said to myself: I can be there.”

“When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

“Stay hungry, stay healthy, be a gentleman, believe strongly in yourself and go beyond limitations.”

“What is the point of being on this Earth if you are going to be like everyone else?”

“The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.”

“Start wide, expand further, and never look back.”

“Just like in bodybuilding, failure is also a necessary experience for growth in our own lives, for if we’re never tested to our limits, how will we know how strong we really are? How will we ever grow?”

“Stop whining.”

“You can’t tell a kid that it’s time to exercise; that’s a turn-off…you have to say ‘Let’s go to the park and have some fun.’ Then you get them to do some running, play on the swings, practice on the balance beam, basically get a full workout disguised as play.”

“We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There’s really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer.”

“For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”

“What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.”

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

These fitness quotes from Schwarzenegger show that hard work and dedication can help you reach your fitness goals and more.

What fitness goal will you tackle this week?