Arnold Schwarzenegger Warns Against Creating a ‘Generation of Wimps’

Arnold Schwarzenegger is worried that the world is fostering a generation of weaklings who will be afraid to try hard and struggle. 

The action star and former politician sat down for an interview on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show — where he was promoting his new book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life — and he shared his thoughts on how important it is for people to embrace challenges, as well as emotional and physical discomfort.

There’s no shortcut, you have to put the work in… The human mind can only grow through resistance,” Schwarzenegger said. “You can only strengthen your character, become a really strong person, if you have resistance, if you fail, if you get up again.”

“The more you struggle, the further you’re going to go and the stronger you’re going to get. That’s just the way the world works,” the Terminator star added. “Anyone who tries to baby themselves and pamper themselves, and try to protect themselves… it’s over. You’re never gonna get there.”

The 76-year-old bodybuilder said that he feels people need to “be able to struggle” to succeed.

“You have to be able to accept pain, misery and discomfort, all the things that you don’t like. Because the more you experience the things you really don’t like, the more you can go and the tougher you get and the more you can handle,” he shared. “It’s that simple.”

“So many young kids these days shy away from that, but you have to be attracted to that,” Schwarzenegger added.

Looking back at the foundation of the nation, the actor said he felt the country was built by ballsy women and men that went out there at 5 in the morning and went out there and struggled and fought and they worked their butts off.”

“That’s what made this country great!” he said. “Let’s continue this way. Don’t start creating a generation of wimps and weak people… Let’s not over-baby people. Let’s go and teach kids to be tough, to do sports, to study and struggle and go through these kind of painful moments sometimes.”

ET spoke with Schwarzenegger back in May, and the action hero opened up about how his love for exercise was something ingrained in him as a kid, and how getting up early every morning to hit the gym is just a way of life.

“You know, I don’t consider myself disciplined, because something that I’ve done since I was a little kid was workout in the morning,” he shared. “I remember when my father said, ‘You cannot have breakfast first, you have to earn it. You have to do 200 sit-ups and push-ups.’ So that’s how I grew up.”

“So now, this is [what I do]. I’m now addicted to working out every day,” he explained. “If I do a film, or like when I was doing FUBAR, we were working out when we were night-shooting, we were working out at three in the morning sometimes, and at five in the morning, or at nine in the morning. So it really doesn’t matter. I just have to get my one-hour workout in and then some bike riding to kind of like get some cardiovascular training.”

The actor added that working out isn’t something reserved for actors getting fit for films or athletes gearing up for games.

“It just makes you feel good, no matter what you do,” he shared. “If you do a TV series, if you do a movie, if you write a book, if you go and do a speech. Whatever you do, you need to feel fit and full of energy.”

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