Arnold Schwarzenegger puts alcohol in his protein shakes, usually tequila or the Austrian spirit schnapps, he told Insider.
Speaking via Zoom from Toronto, Canada, while drinking a glass of schnapps, Schwarzenegger said he originally started adding alcohol to his protein shakes in the hope that it might get the protein into his bloodstream faster.
Research suggests that consuming alcohol alongside protein after exercise reduces muscle growth and recovery.
"I add a little bit of schnapps or tequila — tequila is also good," the bodybuilding legend, former politician, and actor said.
In his go-to protein shake, Schwarzenegger adds the schnapps to almond milk, cherry juice, banana, protein powder, and a whole raw, unpeeled, egg, he previously told Men's Health.
"I sometimes put in the schnapps, I sometimes put in the tequila, it just gives it a little extra flavor," he told the publication.
At 15, Schwarzenegger made his own protein shakes with milk and yeast
Schwarzenegger, 74, has been lifting weights since he was a teenager in Austria, and still works out every day.
When Schwarzenegger was 15 in the 1960s, his family bought a new type of mixer that he used to make protein shakes out of milk, yeast, skimmed milk powder, and honey.
"It would taste like shit," he said, adding he made the best protein shakes he could from what was available.
Schwarzenegger is the co-founder of sports nutrition brand Ladder which sells its products through the Vitamin Shoppe, and the company sends him more products than he can get through — even though he always has protein powder with him, he said.
Currently in Toronto filming "UTap," a live-action TV series for Netflix, Schwarzenegger has set up a protein bar in his trailer, he said.
"I'm making protein shakes now for the whole cast," he said. "My trailer becomes kind of like a bar where people come by for a protein drink."
He adds ice and schnapps, and people love how they taste, Schwarzenegger said.
"It's been really fun," he said.
