Arnold Schwarzenegger says he learned to shoot a gun blindfolded for 'The Terminator'

• Arnold Schwarzenegger said he learned to shoot a gun blindfolded for "The Terminator."
• The actor also said he trained himself not to blink while firing a gun.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's new book "Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life" is part memoir, part self-help guide for those who want to better themselves in everyday life.

In the book, the legendary star explains how his drive to succeed helped him become a successful bodybuilder, as well as one of the most iconic actors of the 1980s and 1990s.

Schwarzenegger also details some of the hardest things he's had to do for his roles — including biting a dead vulture while filming "Conan the Barbarian."

"On 'Twins,' it was dance and improv lessons," he writes.

But the Austrian star is perhaps best known for playing the titular killing machine in James Cameron's "The Terminator," a role he reprised in four further films, including 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate."

To prepare for the first movie, Schwarzenegger recalls some of the intensive training he undertook for the role.

"On 'The Terminator,' it was becoming a machine: blindfolding myself until I could do every gun stunt with my eyes closed, and shooting so many rounds at the range that I no longer blinked when my gun fired," he writes.

Schwarzenegger's commitment to his stoic performance continued on "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

The 76-year-old star writes: "On 'Terminator 2,' it was practicing the shotgun cocking flip so many times my knuckles bled for what amounted to two seconds of screen time. I didn't complain."

Appearing on Rich Roll's podcast to promote "Be Useful" last week, Schwarzenegger indicated that he was as tough and disciplined in raising his children as he was on movie sets.

"Overall, there was discipline in the house," Schwarzenegger recalled. "You don't turn out that light? I will unscrew those light bulbs and you will be going into that dark room at the age of 3, and you'll be scared. So you better start learning to turn off those lights."

"You have someone else make your bed?" he continued. "Okay, I'm gonna take the mattress and throw it down the balcony, and then you carry it upstairs and you make your own bed again."

Schwarzenegger went on to say that he once threw one of his daughter's shoes into the fireplace.

"Or when I burned their shoes. When my daughter left her shoes three times in front of the fireplace," he said. "I said, 'The third time it goes in the fire,' and the third time it did go in the fire right in front of her, and she was crying the whole night."