Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a pacemaker fitted

Speaking on his 'Arnold's Pump Club' podcast, he revealed: "Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker...

"First of all, I want you to know I'm doing great! I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda...

"I want to thank my whole team at the Cleveland Clinic. All of the doctors and nurses took amazing care of me and made the surgery as painless as possible."

The 'Terminator' star was aware he was going to need the operation eventually, and had been having regular monitoring.

He said: "They advised me that it was time to go through with this because some scar tissue from my previous surgery had made my heartbeat irregular.

"It had been like that for a few years, so I stayed in touch with my medical team and visited in person at least once a year to get a full check-up and see how my heart was doing...

"I checked in [with the doctors] all of the time, sharing heart rate information from home. We knew the heartbeat was irregular, and my fantastic team watched it like a hawk.

"They told me they would let me know when it was time for a pacemaker. I went in for my normal checkup at the beginning of March on my way to the Arnold Sports Festival, and they did a full series of tests."

Arnold was "struggling" before the operation but now he's looking forward to getting back to work.

He said: "That's one thing you learn about an irregular heartbeat: all that extra work your heart does wears you out.

"Man, if I can be honest with you, I struggled with those 16-hour days at the Arnold Sports Festival US at the beginning of March and in the UK last week, visiting as many sports as possible and walking through those crowds of hundreds of thousands of fitness fanatics.

"The same day I talked to my friend, one of my doctors called to tell me that after looking at all of my results and data and knowing I had six weeks until it was time to film 'FUBAR' Season 2, it was time to go for it. The doctors told me they want many more seasons of FUBAR, and this was the best way!

"I told them I'd stop in Cleveland on my way home from the UK, and we'd do it. Monday, I went under and got my new machine part installed.

Like I said, by Friday, I was out doing my normal environmental work, and nobody knew anything.

"I can't do my serious training in the gym for a while, but I will be 100% ready for 'FUBAR' next month!"

The former Governor of California is grateful to have had the options to have surgery as he knows he'd be dead without "medical innovation".

He said: "That's life with a genetic heart issue. You won't hear me complaining.

"My mother and her mother's bicuspid valves killed them. I'm still here because of medical innovation and being very diligent about staying in touch with my doctors and listening to them."