Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• The fight against type 2 diabetes

• The memory supplement

• Can you make yourself more optimistic?

• The Pump Club Pop-Up (dates and times)

• Dead wrong

Reader Question
What Exercise Is Best For Type 2 Diabetes Prevention and Remission?

I run to manage my type 2 diabetes, and I have trouble finding time for strength training. What’s the right approach for my workout schedule?

Most advice for people with type 2 diabetes starts and ends in the same place: get your cardio in. Walk more. Add some cycling. Keep the heart rate up. That's sound advice, and it shouldn’t be ignored. But it also might not be the best approach to fight, prevent, or push type-2 diabetes into remission.

Researchers found that strength training significantly reduced blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that building muscle may matter more than most exercise guidelines acknowledge.

Scientists studied type 2 diabetics with a BMI under 25. Participants completed three sessions per week of either strength training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of both for 9 months. 

The strength training group was the only one to show a statistically significant drop in HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar). The aerobic group showed improvements, but they weren’t statistically significant.

Skeletal muscle handles roughly 80% of the glucose your body absorbs after a meal. When muscle mass is low, blood sugar control can suffer. Strength training increases lean mass relative to fat mass, and that shift is tracked with better blood sugar outcomes.

If you have type 2 diabetes, this doesn't mean quitting cardio. But if strength training keeps getting bumped from your schedule, this is a reason to reconsider what the priority should be. Other studies suggest three sessions per week — bodyweight, machines, or free weights — is a reasonable place to start.

Together With Magtein 
One Type of Magnesium Shows Up Most For Your Brain

If you're taking magnesium — and a lot of people are — you might not be paying attention to the type of magnesium in your supplements. But a new study suggests that if you want memory and cognition benefits, the form of magnesium you take might matter more than the dose.

In a six-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults who took Magtein® (magnesium L-threonate) showed significantly greater improvements in overall cognitive performance than those on placebo, with the strongest effects in working memory and episodic memory.

Researchers studied 100 healthy adults between 18 and 45 — a notably younger population than most brain-supplement studies target — and split them into two groups. One group took Magtein® daily, once in the morning, and again two hours before bed. The other received a matching placebo at the same time. And then they were given cognitive tests.

The Magtein group improved their total cognition more than the placebo group, and an exploratory analysis suggested these changes mapped to cognitive performance roughly 7.5 years younger than participants' chronological age.

The biggest advantage was seen with memory, specifically the ability to recall sequences of events and hold information in working memory. For anyone trying to protect those capacities as they age, that's a meaningful signal.

If Magtein® is something you want to try, the dose used in the study was 2 grams daily, split across two doses. We use Momentous Magtein® because of their rigorous standards for testing, safety, and quality. And they use Magtein® specifically, as other magnesium compounds cross the blood-brain barrier less efficiently, which appears to make this form distinct for cognitive outcomes.

To learn more about the science behind magnesium l-threonate and the research that suggests it improves cognitive vitality, visit magtein.com.

Mindset
Optimism Isn't a Personality Trait. It's a Practice.

Most people treat optimism the way they treat height — either you've got it, or you don't. If you tend to expect things to go wrong, you assume that's just how you're wired, and pessimism becomes the story you tell about yourself instead of a skill you haven't trained yet.

More than 30 randomized trials say that framing is worth reconsidering.

Spending just 5 minutes a day imagining your best possible future self can measurably increase optimism within two weeks — and the effect holds independent of any mood lift.

We end up saying this a lot, but Arnold was ahead of the science.

How many times have you heard him say that the most important thing is having a vision, that you should sit down and see it as clearly as a movie? Now, if he didn’t convince you, listen to the science.

Arnold’s a famous optimist, and now it all makes sense.

In the foundational study, researchers randomized participants into two groups. One spent 5 minutes daily imagining a future where everything had worked out optimally: relationships, career, health. The other imagined a typical day.

After two weeks, the "best possible self" group showed significantly higher optimism, and critically, that improvement wasn't a side effect of feeling better in the moment. The shift in optimism held after mood was statistically controlled. That finding has since been replicated across nearly 3,000 participants in multiple independent meta-analyses, with consistent effects on optimism, positive affect, and overall well-being.

Researchers believe the mechanism is expectation-shifting. Imagining a positive future in personal, specific terms appears to update your sense of what's actually possible. Not wishful thinking, but a genuine recalibration of what you see ahead.

One thing to keep in mind (like so many other things that are good for you): this works as a daily habit, not a one-time exercise. Consistency is what moves the needle.

Five minutes. Write it out or visualize. Research suggests both work equally well. Picture yourself some years from now: your health is where you want it, your relationships are strong, and the work feels meaningful. Be specific. Return to it tomorrow.

Community
Mark Your Calendars

We’re now less than a week away from something we’ve never done before. 

It’s a Pump Club pop-up, and smoothies are on us.

As an APC reader, you’ve already done the hard part: you’ve signed up and read the newsletter.

Now, show up, and you get free smoothies, coaching from Coach Jen and Coach Nic, the chance to win prizes, or ask questions to Ketch and Adam. 

In partnership with our friends at Momentous, we’ll be running a pop-up smoothie shop in Venice, CA, on April 20-22, right across from Gold’s Gym. Show up any time between 7 am and 2 pm, and your protein and Fiber+ needs are covered. 

We hope to see many of you there. You can find more details here.

Dead Wrong
The "Fat-Burning Zone" Is The Best Way To Lose Fat During Cardio

We bust myths. But sometimes, you don’t even realize when you’ve bought into something that’s not true. In “Dead Wrong,” we take the things you think are accurate and provide an updated perspective on what the latest science has found.

WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK: Lower-intensity cardio burns a higher percentage of fat for fuel, so staying in that zone — around 60–65% max heart rate — is the smart strategy for fat loss. Going harder just burns carbs.

WHAT'S ACTUALLY TRUE: The “fat-burning zone” can use a higher percentage of fat. But the percentage of fuel source is the wrong metric. What determines fat loss from exercise is the total number of calories you burn, and higher-intensity exercise burns more calories per minute. So when you’re in the fat-burning zone, you’re not necessarily burning more body fat, which is what you care about.

If you compare two forms of exercise done for 30-minutes, a harder effort produces greater total energy expenditure — and therefore greater fat loss potential — even though a larger share of that energy comes from carbohydrates.

The fat-burning zone concept came from a real metabolic phenomenon that was misapplied as a weight-loss strategy.

High-intensity exercise also increases the afterburn effect (EPOC), which is sometimes used to further justify high-intensity work. It does exist and does scale with intensity, but research shows it accounts for only 6–15% of the energy cost of the session itself, making total calories burned during exercise still the dominant variable for fat loss.

WHY IT MATTERS: When time is limited, a 30-minute moderate-to-hard effort will likely produce better fat loss outcomes than 30 minutes at an easy pace — not because of afterburn, but because you simply burn more calories in the same window.

That said, if you can sustain low-intensity cardio for significantly longer (or you have a reason to hold off on more intense exercise), total calorie output can equalize or tip back in its favor. The best intensity is the one you'll actually do consistently and can recover from.

And remember, your diet and nutrition will contribute more to fat loss and weight changes than exercise.

Is there something you worry might be dead wrong? Hit reply to this email and let us know what you want us to explore.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• The truth about DNA-based diets

• Are you worried about the wrong nutrients?

• Why your brain might be shrinking (and how to stop it)

• He thought he was having a stroke — and then everything changed

Beyond The Headline 
Does Your DNA Determine Your Diet Needs?

The pitch is compelling. Spit in a tube, mail it off, and receive a personalized diet tailored to your genetic code. No more guessing. No more advice that doesn't account for your unique biology. For a few hundred dollars, you get answers that feel scientific and specific, which is exactly why millions of people have bought in.

But behind the big promises is a reality that’s getting harder to ignore.

A new 12-month randomized controlled trial found that gene-based dietary recommendations produced the same weight and metabolic outcomes as standard nutrition counseling.

Researchers examined overweight or obese adults and split them into two groups: one received standard evidence-based weight management advice; the other received recommendations tailored to three genetic variants (FTO, UCP1, and TCF7L2) linked to body weight, caloric needs, and dietary fat metabolism. 

Both groups worked with registered dietitians for six months, then followed their plans independently for another six months.

At the end of 12 months, weight loss, BMI, waist circumference, body fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol were virtually identical between groups. 

The gene-informed group changed their eating patterns in ways aligned with their genetic profiles. Those changes just didn't produce better results.

This isn’t the first study to test DNA diets, and most studies have found similar outcomes. The likely explanation isn't that genes are irrelevant to nutrition; it's that the handful of variants tested by most commercial services represents a very small slice of an enormously complex biological picture. 

But here’s what matters: Genes might influence tendencies, but they don't override fundamentals. Consistent caloric balance (or deficit if weight loss is required), covering your nutrient needs to manage appetite (such as protein and fiber), and controlling lifestyle variables that can affect hunger help deliver results, regardless of which variant you carry.

There are many great reasons to test, and your blood can reveal nutrient deficiencies. But that is different than a DNA analysis for your diet. The science is young, and things could change. But if you’re spending extra money to personalize your diet based on your genes, you’re likely paying a premium for no additional advantage.

Together With Function 
You're Probably Worried About the Wrong Nutrients

Most people who care about their health have a supplement drawer. There's usually iron in there, maybe B12, probably zinc. The problem is that for many people, those may not be the right gaps to address.

A large-scale analysis covering more than 12,000 U.S. adults shows that about 73% of supplements are taken without clinician guidance, while only 27% are based on a doctor’s recommendation.

This suggests that many people are making long-term supplement decisions without insight into their actual nutrient status. 

The practical question isn't whether to supplement. It's whether you're supplementing for the right things. 

For example, a meta-analysis of 117 studies representing more than 45,000 participants looked at the effects of individualized nutritional assessments. The results showed significant improvements in weight management and cardiovascular risk markers, supporting the case for personalized health strategies.

That’s the issue with using population-level data and group averages as your guide: They can tell you what's true for many people, but not necessarily what's true for you.

A powerful way to learn about gaps — the ones that may actually need to be addressed — is to test. That's why we recommend Function. You get 160+ lab tests a year, including a detailed micronutrient panel that tells you where your levels stand: your vitamin D, your magnesium, your calcium, and more. Not a national average. Yours.

Results come with clinician-reviewed insights to help you understand what each number means and how you can address it. Many people who test find their numbers are largely fine, and more peace of mind is worth something on its own. 

But testing can allow you to learn about a real gap. Something worth addressing that otherwise could have stayed invisible. 

As an Arnold’s Pump Club reader, you get a $25 credit toward your first Function membership. The discount is automatically applied at checkout. No code needed.

There’s no need to blindly supplement. Testing can help uncover imbalances and gaps you might not notice, so you can make more informed, proactive decisions about your health.

Instant Health Boost
Your Brain Might Be Shrinking (And Belly Fat Might Be The Cause)

Fat loss gets sold on appearances. The six-pack. The before-and-after. Looking lean by summer. And while there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good, that framing keeps missing something the evidence keeps finding: what happens to your body when you lose fat offers much more than just how you look in the mirror.

In a 16-year study, people who lost the most belly fat — specifically the deep fat surrounding the organs — had significantly less brain shrinkage and better cognitive scores later in life.

Researchers tracked middle-aged adults after they completed one of four lifestyle intervention trials, using MRI scans to measure both deep abdominal fat (called visceral fat) and brain volume at multiple points over time. Two people could lose the same amount of weight, and the one who shed more visceral fat gained a clear advantage in brain health. And that advantage persisted for years after the original intervention ended.

The scientists suggest that losing fat is important for brain health, and that not all fat affects your cognition equally.

Subcutaneous fat — the kind you can pinch — didn't produce as big a difference as visceral fat, which is the deeper fat that wraps around your organs and behaves differently in the body. 

The researchers believe that accumulating visceral fat affects blood sugar control. And when you keep gaining fat, issues compound, and it can affect brain health. 

This was an observational follow-up study, so it shows an association, not a cause. And 86% of participants were men, which limits how broadly the findings apply right now.

At the same time, especially when combined with other studies on fat accumulation, it’s hard to ignore the signal. While you don’t need to be shredded, too much body fat increases your risk of many diseases and health problems, and that includes your brain.

Focus on dietary changes that will help promote fat loss, incorporate resistance training and general aerobic movement (even walking), prioritize sleep, and try to offset the stressors in your life (because not all stress is avoidable). 

Pump Club Success Stories 
The Wakeup Call: From Potential Stroke to 80 Pounds Down

Real People. Real Stories. Real Limits Overcome.

​​My name is Christian, and I'm about to be 43. I'm a father of 3, and about 3 weeks after my youngest daughter was born, I thought I was having a stroke. 

My left arm went numb, and I ended up in the hospital. I got lucky, and everything was ok, but at 5'6" and weighing 251 pounds, I knew something had to change. My sister sent me the Pump Club app, and I haven't looked back. 

I’ve been working out for 96 straight weeks, and I've lost 80 pounds. 

I started with bodyweight programs, barely able to do 5 knee pushups, and now I'm doing intermediate programs with only dumbbells in my basement. 

When Arnold said he didn't believe in diets and that your brain needs carbs, I naturally laughed. But that was the point where I changed my thinking. 

My A1C dropped from 6.3 to 5.3, and I still eat carbs. I feel great, I'm wearing clothes that haven't fit since high school.

Want to turn around your health? Join the app, enjoy 7 free days, and experience the difference in the positive corner of the internet.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s Corner: Monday motivation

• How to lower your cholesterol (without a complete diet overhaul)

• Start your week right: The strength booster (no supplements or caffeine needed)

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation: Forget The Finish Line

It started when I was 70.

People began asking me why I still trained.

When was I going to stop? Wasn’t I done?

I’m almost 79 now. The questions come more often, not less.

And after almost a decade of being confused about what the hell they were talking about, I finally understand what they’re really saying.

They’re not asking about me. They’re telling me something about themselves. To them, fitness isn’t for life. It’s for a goal they have right now.

A number on a scale. A summer. A wedding. And once you reach it, or give up on it, you stop.

That’s the only way they know. So when they look at me, still training every day at 78, they genuinely can’t make sense of it.

I don’t say this to criticize them. The fitness industry built that model. It sold it to them. Six-week challenges. Twelve-week transformations. Before-and-after photos.

Every product, every program, every advertisement points to a finish line. The problem is that finish lines don’t exist with our health. And the numbers prove it.

About 80 percent of people who lose weight gain it all back. Think about what that means. We’re not talking about people who gave up. We’re talking about people who did the work, who hit the number, who crossed the tape. And then lost everything they had built, because they thought it was over.

The science tells you why. A study spent years looking at how long it took to form a habit. The answer wasn’t 21 days like a lot of people say. That number is a myth. The research found the average was 66 days, and the real range ran from 18 to 254 days. For some people, a single habit takes the better part of a year to fully stick.

Meanwhile, about 50 percent of people who begin an exercise program quit within the first six months.

They’re stopping right in the middle of the window when the habit is still forming. They decide it’s not working. That they’re not cut out for it. That something is wrong with them. When what’s actually happening is they’re deep in the hard part - the part you have to push through, not escape from.

They don’t know that the real win is creating a habit that lasts for a lifetime.

A Harvard study analyzed nearly 12,000 diary entries looking for what actually drives motivation on a daily basis. What it found was that the single most powerful driver of positive emotions and motivation was making progress - even seemingly minor steps forward. Not the big breakthrough. Not the finished product. The small step forward.

I love seeing this research because it proves things I’ve learned in the real world, myself, over decades of promoting fitness.

It’s why in the Pump Club app, every weekend, I ask everyone to share their tiny wins from the last week. It’s not some foo-foo thing. I know people need the fuel of seeing progress, and if I can train them to find it before they quit, I’m doing my job.

I’ve always believed you have to learn to see the wins, and not the big ones you see on social media. The small ones, the quiet ones, the ones that don’t show up in a before-and-after photo. 

Starting your program is a win. Training when you wanted to stay in bed is a win. Getting your three workouts in is a win. Hitting your protein three days in a row is a win.

Most people walk right past these on their way to giving up.

They’ve been trained to only recognize the finished product. So when they look at their week and can’t see a transformation, they conclude that nothing is working. That’s when they quit.

So, back to the question: Why do I keep training?

Because it works. Every single day, in ways that compound over time into something most people never get to experience.

It’s why I can still ski at 78. It’s why my mind stays sharp. It’s why I recover from setbacks — surgeries, hard days, hard years — faster than I have any right to. It does everything I talk about in this newsletter and more, and the research backs all of it up.

I also believe that the day we stop working to upgrade ourselves is the day we start to become obsolete.

Imagine software that stopped upgrading. We upgrade the Pump Club app so often I can barely keep up, so I have learned about this now. If you stop the constant daily work, little problems become big problems that explode. If you stop pushing for the big upgrades that take time, customers realize you’ve given up on them, and they walk away from you.

Our body is the software. We are the customer. We have to work every day to keep things fine-tuned.

But I’ll be honest with you about something else. Something I don’t talk about as much.

I keep going because no matter what, no matter how much I ache, no matter what’s weighing on me, no matter what’s going wrong, I get a win every single day.

And I cannot tell you how valuable that win can be.

Some days, the win is a great workout. Some days, the win is that I showed up when I didn’t want to. But it’s there. Every single day, without fail, if I show up, I get at least one tally mark in the win column of my day.

That is not a small thing. That is the thing.

When people ask me why I still train at 78, that’s the real answer. Not the skiing. Not the science. The daily win. The proof, every single morning, that I am still moving forward.

I’m addicted to that daily win.

Once you understand there is no finish line, you stop losing. You stop starting over. You stop asking when it ends.

You just keep going. Week after week. Win after win.

That’s not a six-week transformation. That’s a life transformation.

That’s the Pump Club Way.

This week, at the end of each day, find one thing you did that moved you forward. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be real.

Learn to see it.

That’s how you keep going.

Together With Momentous
The Cholesterol-Lowering Intervention (Without Meds or Overhauling Your Diet)

If your last blood test came back with a note about cholesterol, your doctor probably suggested eating better, exercising more, and maybe mentioned a prescription. What often gets skipped in that conversation is how much a single, cheap dietary habit can do.

An analysis of 181 clinical trials found that adding soluble fiber to your diet consistently lowered bad cholesterol, and the more you added, the greater the improvement.

The research is one of the most thorough examinations of fiber and cholesterol. The average drop in bad cholesterol across all studies was meaningful enough for a doctor to see a difference on a follow-up lab report.

The scientists found that every 5 grams of soluble fiber added per day was linked to a drop of roughly 5-6 points in LDL. Most Americans currently get about 3-5 grams of soluble fiber daily, well below the 25-38 grams of total fiber recommended. 

And the benefit isn’t a fixed ceiling. Every additional daily serving of the right fiber helps lower cholesterol, giving you a dial to turn rather than a box to check.

The fibers that did the most work are the kind that dissolve in water and thicken into a gel in your gut. That's psyllium husk, oats, barley, beans, lentils, and pectin (the fiber in apples and citrus).

That gel helps remove cholesterol from your body. It traps bile acids in your digestive tract, and since your body uses cholesterol to make bile, it pulls cholesterol from your bloodstream to replenish the supply. The result is less cholesterol circulating in your body. People who started with elevated triglycerides — a separate blood fat your doctor tracks alongside cholesterol — also tended to see those numbers improve.

A bowl of oats in the morning, an apple as a snack, and a serving of beans at lunch gets you into the range where the evidence is clearest. 

The food-first approach works. The science says so clearly. The harder question is whether you'll hit the right dose consistently enough — across enough weeks — that your next blood test tells a meaningfully different story.

If you want a daily win like Arnold described above, that’s why we created Fiber+. To help you close the fiber gap and keep you healthy.

Psyllium husk is the foundation, with 4 grams per serving, right in the effective range tested in the trials above. That's the gel-forming fiber that traps bile acids and pulls LDL from your bloodstream. The mechanism the research describes. We didn't reinvent it. We started with it.

But here’s what we did differently: we looked at the other jobs your gut is doing while the psyllium handles cholesterol, and added the other fibers most supplements skip entirely.

Resistant starch — the ingredient almost no competitor includes — feeds the bacteria that produce butyrate, the compound your gut lining depends on to stay intact, and your cells need to process insulin effectively. Rice bran hull supports long-term gut barrier protection. 

The combination won’t just support better cholesterol, but also support a healthier microbiome, improve blood sugar, lower inflammation, and help protect against cardiovascular disease.

Three fibers. Forty calories. Unlike so many other fibers, no artificial sweeteners that are known to cause GI issues. 

As an APC reader, you get 35% off your first subscription or 14% off a one-time purchase with the code PUMPCLUB. 

The oats, the apple, and the beans still matter. Fiber+ helps you stay in the range where the evidence is clearest, even on the days when life doesn't cooperate.

Start Your Week Right 
Your Pre-Lift Ritual Isn't Superstition. It's Science.

Most of us have watched someone stalk around the platform, slam their chest, or get ammonia waved under their nose before a big lift. You might have wondered: Do the antics actually work, or is this just theater?

Now we have an evidence-based answer.

New research involving 200 competitive strength athletes found that intentional mental preparation improved performance. Maybe more relevant to you: the specific strategy used didn't matter.

Researchers had competitive powerlifters and strongmen and strongwomen complete a deadlift under two conditions: psyching up versus passive rest. To ensure accurate measurement of performance, barbell velocity was measured with a research-grade tool that eliminates the guesswork in determining output. 

When athletes chose any intentional form of mental preparation, barbell velocity increased nearly 20%. And it’s not just speed. That led to a 4% increase in predicted 1-rep max. 

The number might seem small, but this is a higher-level strength where every percentage point matters.  If someone were trying to deadlift 600 pounds, that would be the equivalent of adding nearly 25 pounds to the bar. 

When researchers then compared eight different psyching-up strategies head-to-head, none outperformed the others. Screaming, self-talk, visualization, controlled breathing — statistically indistinguishable.

Interestingly, matching your personality with a pre-lift strategy could help you see a boost. 

Athletes with higher trait aggression and lower anxiety sensitivity reached for arousal-enhancing approaches: pacing, aggression cues, ammonia. Those with higher anxiety sensitivity trended toward calmer, task-focused techniques: technical self-talk, cueing, and deliberate breathing. Both groups improved. The fit just looked different.

Physiology likely explains the boost. Intentional mental preparation elevates physiological arousal — heart rate, focus, neuromuscular tension — priming your body for a maximal effort. The key is intentional. Passive rest doesn't do the same thing.

Before your heaviest set, take 60 to 90 seconds and do something deliberate. If you're naturally high-energy, lean into it — move, cue up, let the adrenaline build. If you're more anxiety-prone, try focused breathing or a technical cue you trust. 

Either way, you're not picking a ritual because it looks good. You're preparing your nervous system for what you're about to ask of it.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week 

This workout consists of just 2 exercises. You’ll do all sets of the first exercise and then move to the second exercise. Each exercise is a 10-minute set using a heavy weight to help build muscle, increase strength, and burn calories. 

The first exercise will build your legs and backside muscles. The second exercise will leave your shoulder and upper body feeling more defined with every rep. 

How To Do It

Warmup

Perform 1 set of each of the following movements. Do one movement after another, resting as little as possible.

1. Superman “W”:  8 reps

2. Inchworm: 8 reps

3. Hip raise: 12 reps

4. Lateral Lunge: 6 reps/leg

Workout

For each exercise, perform 2-3 work-up sets. The goal is to build up to a weight that you can lift for about 6-8 reps. Then, set a timer for 8 minutes. You’ll be doing 4 reps every minute on the minute. That means, you’ll do 4 reps of the first exercise, check the clock, and rest for the remainder of 60 seconds. Let’s say it takes 15 seconds to do 4 reps. You’ll rest for another 45 seconds, and then do another set of 4 reps. Keep following this one set per minute approach until 8 minutes are up (so you’ll do 8 sets). 

Then, rest for 4-5 minutes. And then repeat the same approach with the second exercise for another 8 minutes. And that’s it.

Two exercises, 16 minutes of work. One lower body movement, one upper body movement. One exhausting workout. 

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 4 reps per set (every minute on the minute for 8 minutes)

Exercise 2: Seated Dumbbell overhead press: 4 reps per set (every minute on the minute for 8 minutes)

Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Editor’s Note: We’ll never stop giving you a free Workout of the Week. Because we believe everyone should have access to exercise.

But there’s a difference between a workout and a program. 

A “Workout of the day” feels great — you sweat, you’re sore — but soreness isn’t the goal. Exhaustion doesn’t make you better. Your body adapts best when workouts build on each other with intention, not when every session stands alone.

This workout will challenge you today; but a program is what changes you over weeks, months, and years. If you need help, you can try our customized programs free for 7 days. We do the thinking, giving you access to the best coaches, and provide accountability, so you see the improvements.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• The boring diet secret that actually works

• Weekly wisdom

• The problem with the scale

Nutrition
Number You Won’t Forget 37 Percent

The Boring Diet Secret That Actually Works

Most diet advice promises that if you just find the right foods, the right plan, and the right combination, it'll finally click. What gets less attention is that the choosing itself might be the problem. 

New research suggests the mental work of deciding what to eat every day and forcing variety undermines the effort people are already making.

A 12-week study found that people who ate a more repetitive, predictable diet lost 37% more weight than those who varied their meals more frequently. And researchers believe reduced decision fatigue may be driving the difference.

Researchers tracked overweight adults for 12 weeks in a structured behavioral weight-loss program, using real-time mobile food logs and daily weigh-ins. They measured two things: how much daily calorie intake fluctuated from day to day, and how often participants ate the same foods repeatedly. 

Variety can be a good thing. However, in a food environment engineered with high-calorie options at every turn, variety creates exposure, which can make it easier to stray from the intended plan. Each new choice is another moment when willpower has to show up, and willpower is a finite resource for many people who struggle with their weight. 

A predictable rotation of go-to meals can help sidestep that problem because the decision is already made.

This isn't an argument against eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole foods. Prior research consistently supports dietary diversity within healthy food groups. 

This study examines how much daily decision-making about eating can affect consistency. And because this was an observational study of people already in a structured program, the findings show an association, not a proven cause.

The practical move is simpler than any diet plan: build a short rotation of meals you like, already know how to make, and can eat without negotiating with yourself. Four to six reliable options — breakfast, lunch, dinner — that you cycle through during the week. Not necessarily forever. Just enough to take the daily decision off the table. If you need help with a no-calorie-counting approach, try the Pump Club nutrition tracker. 

Mindset 
Weekly Wisdom

Most of us don't avoid hard things because we're lazy. We avoid them because we're smart enough to see that they're going to hurt, going to be a challenge, and for some, there’s a question about what happens if you don’t succeed.

The hard conversation will be awkward. The plateau will feel like failure. The boring middle of a program — week six, when the novelty is gone, and the results feel stalled — will test every reason you started. This is the reality of every goal. Excitement fades. Challenges are inevitable. And you’re convinced there must be another way.

So we look for a side door. A workaround. Something that gets us to the outcome without the friction.

Frost didn't write this as inspiration. He wrote it as a warning. There is no side door.

The hard conversation you're avoiding is still waiting on the other side of the detour. The plateau doesn't care that you switched programs. The discomfort you ran from last time will show up again, wearing a different outfit, asking the same question: 

Are you ready to go through me this time?

Arnold discussed this in his Monday Motivation, sharing some memorable Pump Club success stories. Roland, who couldn't do a single push-up and was furious about it. Susan, who had gained weight through grief — three times over — and still believed she could lose it again. Dan, who had surgery, dropped a hundred pounds and came out the other side with almost no muscle left.

None of them found a shortcut. Roland did push-ups on a wall until he could do them on the floor. Susan built a 16-week streak, one day at a time. Dan started from scratch and did the bodyweight, no ego.

They didn't go around. They went through.

What's worth noticing is how ordinary the "through" actually looks. It's not dramatic. It's the next rep when you don't feel like it. The conversation you start, even though you don't know how it ends. The workout you show up for, even when the scale hasn't moved in three weeks.

The through is almost always smaller than the story we've built around avoiding it.

We inflate the obstacle. We turn a hard conversation into a relationship-ending confrontation. We turn a plateau into evidence that something is broken. We turn the boring middle into proof that the program is wrong, our bodies are wrong, and the whole thing was a mistake.

The through is usually just: keep going. Not forever. Not perfectly. Just past the point where most people stop.

Turn Wisdom Into Action

Take a hard look at your goals or what you dream of accomplishing. 

Now, do the hard thing and name the thing you've been going around. And be specific to the point that it might feel awkward. 

The conversation you've been putting off for two weeks. The workout you keep modifying so it never gets uncomfortable, and you avoid the weaknesses. The diet change you know you need to make, but keep rationalizing. The career change you dream about but believe can never happen. 

Then ask yourself what really stands in the way and whether this is something you really want. 

If so, you need to make a plan and put together the small steps to build momentum. But the first step that puts you on the other side of the avoidance.

The exit is always on the far side of the thing you're dreading. Go through.

Better Questions, Better Solutions
Are You Relying Too Much On The Scale?

Old Question: Why isn't the scale moving?
Better Question: What data besides weight shows whether my behaviors are working?

Most people quit not because their approach failed, but because they're checking the wrong scoreboard and bail prematurely, not recognizing the signs of success.

The scale measures one thing: the sum of everything in your body at that exact moment. From fat to muscle, water and food, and every fluid fluctuation due to hormones, sleep, or stress. 

You can do everything right for two weeks and not watch the number change. Or one bad night of sleep can skew the scale.  

That's not failure. That's a bad signal.

Weight is a lagging indicator. Yes, it matters. And yes, it’s one way to judge and measure progress. And you don’t want to lie to yourself. 

But your behaviors are the leading indicator. And they're oftentimes already generating data you're probably ignoring.

Research on body composition tracking shows that scale weight can stagnate — or temporarily rise — even as fat mass decreases and lean mass increases. The two processes don't always show up on the same timeline, which means the most meaningful changes are often invisible to the metric most people obsessively track.

You need to learn to measure success beyond the scale: Are you getting stronger? Sleeping better? Doing a better job of controlling your hunger with good food choices? More consistent week over week? Are your clothes fitting differently? Is your energy more stable through the afternoon?

These aren't consolation prizes. They're upstream signals. The ones that predict whether you'll still be doing this in six months.

If the scale is messing with your mind, try this: For the next two weeks, track four things alongside your weight: energy, hunger, sleep quality, and one measurable performance marker. 

At the end of week two, don't just ask "Did the scale move?" 

Ask: "How many indicators improve?" If it’s three or four, be patient. Keep showing up. Give it time to work, as long as you’re being honest about your compliance. 

The goal isn't to ignore the scale. It's to stop it from being the only vote.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. Remember, you have endless opportunities to get better every day. Don’t overthink it, do something, and repeat. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel 

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Can breathwork change your brain like psychedelics?

• The stealthy reason you struggle with attention and focus

• Adam’s Corner: Write your ending (it could change your life)

On Our Radar 
Can Breathwork Change Your Brain Like Psychedelics?

If you've ever done a serious breathwork session, you know the experience is difficult to explain afterward. Depending on the method used, it either feels like relaxation or a chaotic trance. Scientists examined people’s brains during breathwork to find out why.

Researchers found that high-intensity breathwork reduced blood flow to a region of the brain comparable to what’s found in studies using psychedelics.

The study examined those with extensive experience with intense breathwork practices (such as Holotropic Breathwork and Conscious Connected Breathing). Cerebral blood flow dropped by about 42 percent during the breathwork sessions.

And it dropped in a region connected to stronger feelings of bliss and connectedness. At the same time, blood flow increased in regions associated with emotional memory.

The subjective scores were comparable to levels reported in psilocybin and LSD studies, not because the mechanisms are identical, but because brain pathways appear to overlap. 

It’s worth noting that this isn’t exactly your relaxing breathwork. It's a specific technique where you breathe in a continuous loop, with very little or no pause between the inhale and exhale, and no pause between the exhale and the next inhale. You're essentially removing the natural "rest points" your breathing normally has. That combination — speed, continuity, and duration — is what makes it distinct and drives its effects. And that’s why it typically needs to be done with a practitioner to ensure its safety. 

While the study above used an intense technique best practiced under guidance, research shows that slower, gentler breathing delivers many of the same downstream benefits (reduced stress, lower anxiety, improved mood) through a safer, more accessible route.

The most studied home-friendly version is sometimes called coherent or resonance breathing: inhale for 4-5 seconds, exhale for 4-5 seconds, and repeat continuously for 5 to 10 minutes. That rhythm lands at roughly 5-6 breaths per minute, which research consistently associates with increased heart rate variability and parasympathetic activation, the physiological signature of a calmer nervous system.

Together With LMNT 
Dehydration Hits Before You Feel Thirsty. Your Focus Pays the Price

By the time thirst hits, most people assume they've caught it early enough. Grab some water, problem solved. That assumption is worth revisiting because the research suggests the timing doesn't work the way most of us think.

A meta-analysis of 33 studies found that dehydration impairs attention more than any other cognitive skill, with effects appearing before most people notice they're thirsty.

Researchers measured various aspects of cognitive performance — attention, executive function, reaction time, motor coordination — under different levels of fluid loss. And dehydration meaningfully affected performance. 

Not drinking enough water caused the biggest disruption to attention and focus, followed by motor coordination and executive function. Reaction time, notably, was not significantly affected. The impairment also scaled with the level of dehydration. The more you needed to drink something, the greater the cognitive effects.

The study suggests that even modest dehydration may increase physiological strain and reduce your brain's ability to allocate resources toward demanding tasks. Sustained attention — the kind required for focused work, decision-making, or anything requiring more than passive engagement — appears to be the first thing to go.

What you need to remember is that your body will likely need water before you feel thirsty. The lowest-friction fix isn't about tracking ounces; it's about building a few automatic prompts into your day. A glass before coffee. One with every meal. Small moments where you can attach drinking to something that happens every day. That's the whole strategy.

There's one variable the water-timing strategy doesn't address: what you're drinking.

When dehydration precedes thirst, as the research above suggests, the simple answer is plain water. And that works great. But if there’s one thing we’ve heard from the 1.2 million readers of this newsletter: many people just don’t like drinking water. So they don’t. 

That’s why we recommend LMNT. It’s a flavored approach to help you hydrate more, without any extra sugar, artificial colors, or ingredients that give you second thoughts. 

Each stick pack contains sodium, potassium, and magnesium in ratios built on a growing body of research to help you stay hydrated. And if you sweat a lot, it will replace the electrolytes you lose during exercise. 

If water is a struggle, add LMNT to make it enjoyable and more likely that you’ll stay hydrated. If you sweat a lot or exercise for more than 1-2 hours, electrolytes can make a difference in performance and recovery. 

APC readers get a free sample pack of every flavor with their first order. Click here to claim yours. No code needed. It applies automatically at checkout.

Adam’s Corner 
The Marble

The box had been sitting in the corner of my office for years. But when I think about it, it’s much longer. 

Some version of that box has followed me through every move, every desk, every chapter for the last 30 years of my life. It’s hard to explain what’s inside it, only that it contains the kind of things you can’t throw away but also can’t justify keeping.

I was cleaning out my office when I took a look inside the box. Near the top was a folded piece of paper. Considering the mileage, it was holding up well. 

The paper was from a high school English class. The assignment was to rewrite a poem called “George Gray” by Edgar Lee Masters. In the poem, a man long dead is studying his own gravestone. The marble. 

Gray had lived cautiously. So cautiously that he missed everything.

He stood at the shore for his whole life and watched.

The assignment was to write your own version. Your own reflection on the life you’d lived. As I remember it, everyone wrote something very optimistic and hopeful.

Me? I wrote something about the life I feared I might live.

An assignment to rewrite a poem in the late 1990s changed things for Adam.

What The Marble Showed Me

High school was not good to me. Or, more precisely, I was not good to high school.

I don’t remember it as a time of being lost. I remember it as a time of being angry. Hurt. Alone. Which, looking back, feels like the same thing, wearing different clothes. 

There were things I could point to rationalize my emotions at the time.

Doctors discovered a rare autoimmune disorder that, for more than thirty years now, has given me fevers that last sixty to eighty days. I’ve spent much of my life learning to function inside a body that stops cooperating without asking permission.

That probably would’ve been enough. But during high school, I broke my back. And then a year later, I broke it again. The rehab the second time through changed me forever. 

As a result, I spent long stretches in and out of school. In pain. Trying to fit into a world that had no language for what I was carrying. 

You don’t meet many people — in high school or anywhere — who have broken their back twice and are living with a disease so rare that doctors around the world have studied it and still haven’t solved the puzzle.

So I put up walls. Only I didn’t know I was the one building them.

I blamed everything around me.
Saw every moment of being unseen as an attack.
Felt the world was conspiring against me because no one would meet me where I was. 

Every hard thing that happened became evidence for a story I was already telling myself: that life was going to be this way. That I was someone things happened — permanently, predictably — to.

And then I wrote that poem. What came out on the page wasn’t the angry kid. It was something more honest. It was the part of me that could still see clearly — that knew, even at seventeen, even beneath all the noise and the hurt — exactly what I was doing.

I was standing at the bottom of the mountain. And the only thing keeping me there was me. The poem turned on a light in a room I’d been sitting in the dark.

After I wrote it, I started writing every day. It’s a habit I’ve maintained for nearly thirty years. Not because I had some grand plan, but because what happened on the page felt like talking to the most honest version of myself. The clarity was cathartic in a way nothing else had been. I could sort through my thoughts with a kind of accountability you’d want from a best friend, except the best friend was me.

I started therapy, too. And after breaking my back twice — discovering stenosis and arthritis to round out the list — I became obsessed with the human body. I needed to understand what was still possible. 

That obsession, that refusal to let the diagnosis write my future, became the foundation of everything I’ve built since. This newsletter you read each day, the 10 books I’ve written, the years as a magazine editor, and the tens of thousands of people I’ve helped with their fitness, nutrition, and mindset. All of that work came from a place of pain and rebirth. And I’m a better person because of it all. 

The Climb Is Not A Straight Line

That shift — that marble — was not an instant fix. 

I want to be honest about that because if I skip over it, I’m doing the same thing every self-improvement story does: showing you the summit without showing you the mountain.

You don’t summit by having a realization. The realization is just the trailhead. The climbing is different. Slower. And you might make it halfway up, lose your footing, slide back down, and have to start again. That happened more than once.

But here’s what the poem gave me that nothing else had: questions I couldn’t walk away from.

What if I never realized the only thing keeping me at the bottom was me?
What if I kept waiting for the world to understand me — to finally give me the fair shot I felt I deserved?
What if I let the bad things that happened become proof that things would never go my way?

The answer was a version of my life I didn’t want.

So I kept climbing. Not gracefully. Not on any kind of schedule. But consistently enough that, over years — not weeks, not a quarter, but years — I started to become someone different.

I didn’t just evolve. I replaced the complacent, victimized version of me.

The dreamer was still in there. The bright-eyed kid who believed things could be different. But now he had something to stand on: Grit. Determination. Vision. Passion. Gratitude.

Piece by piece, the slow accumulation of evidence gave me the belief that the mountain could be climbed, because I was actually climbing it.

I kept dreaming, but I stopped holding myself back and thinking the world was against me. I started being more accountable to the version of me I was trying to become. 

I found peace in who I was, rather than wishing I were someone else. I saw my weaknesses clearly. Not as faults. But as information.

And when things didn’t go my way — the girl who had no interest, the opportunity that fell apart, the injury that kept trying to push me down — I stopped letting it define me. I started asking what I could learn from it and then kept moving.

Bad things that happen are not a punishment. They’re not proof that things will never go your way. They are just a part of life. But you have to decide that. No one can decide it for you.

That’s what the marble showed me. Not a formula. Not a timeline. Just a choice, made over and over, to take ownership of everything, including the parts of the story I didn’t love or hadn’t written yet.

The Mountain Is Always There (Waiting For You To Climb It)

I don’t know what stands in your way right now.

But for most, something inside holds you back. Fear, uncertainty, imposter syndrome, pain, a lack of support, doubt, disbelief, trauma. There are too many scenarios to cover, and they manifest in different ways.

We take things personally. We don’t feel seen. We think people don’t understand what we’re carrying. And sometimes that’s all true, and it’s real, and it’s painful. 

You’re allowed to feel that. The hurt, the frustration, the sense that you’ve been handed something unfair. 

But the safety we’re searching for, the sense of finally being understood and given a fair shot, will not arrive from outside us. No matter how long we wait for it.

Change is an inside game. We have seen it in countless inspiring and amazing stories. It takes you saying, “Enough!” and doing something about it, without looking for a finish line.

For me, it was writing that poem and seeing those words. It was pressing fast forward on my life, seeing the end, and not liking what I saw. 

But here’s what most won’t admit: I was not ready to change my life.

And it would be years before I could see and feel the difference.

But in that moment, I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t written those words. And I knew the best way to give myself a chance at a different outcome would be to change who I was.

That’s the thing about seeing your marble clearly. You can’t unsee it.

And if you lean into that pain (it will hurt) and take accountability for your life and your outcomes, that’s the moment you can start the climb.

The marble isn’t chiseled until all is said and done. So if you’re reading this, that means there’s still time. And the best news is, you’re the one holding the tools. -AB

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• FDA approved for heart health

• How to reduce your cognitive load

• Free smoothies? Yes, free smoothies

• The risk of changing your sleep on the weekends

Foods Are Super
The Food With An FDA-Recognized Heart Health Claim 

Lots of supplements get hyped. But almost nobody knows that one specific food — backed by an FDA-recognized health claim and dozens of randomized controlled trials — consistently does things to your cholesterol and blood sugar that most supplements wish they could deliver.

Multiple meta-analyses of more than 50 randomized controlled trials found that psyllium fiber significantly improves cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, and insulin resistance.

A meta-analysis of 28 RCTs found that roughly 10 grams of psyllium per day significantly reduced LDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B — a protein marker for cardiovascular risk. LDL reductions improved up to 24 percent compared to placebo. 

The evidence is sufficient for the FDA to formally recognize that consuming 7 grams or more of psyllium per day, as part of a reasonable diet, can support a claim for reduced cardiovascular disease risk.

The blood sugar story adds another layer. A separate meta-analysis of 51 randomized controlled trials found psyllium significantly reduced fasting blood glucose, HbA1c (a three-month average of blood sugar), and HOMA-IR, which measures how well your body responds to insulin. For anyone managing prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, that combination of improvements is clinically meaningful.

When psyllium hits your gut, it turns into a thick gel that acts like a net. That catches cholesterol-carrying compounds before your body can reabsorb them, forcing your liver to pull more cholesterol from your blood to compensate (this is a good thing because it helps clear and lower cholesterol). That same gel slows how quickly sugar from food enters your bloodstream, which is why blood sugar and insulin levels improve alongside cholesterol levels.

Scientists also found that adding psyllium to an existing statin regimen — rather than increasing the medication — doubled LDL reductions. For anyone who can't tolerate higher statin doses or wants to avoid the side effects that often come with them, this is a meaningful alternative worth raising with a doctor.

Psyllium is one of the few supplements that consistently deliver positive results, which is why we invested more than 2 years developing Fiber+, a more complete fiber supplement that includes psyllium. It contains three different sources of fiber, designed to give your body the extra support it needs for gut health, cardiovascular protection, and better blood sugar. Fiber+ is the first and only Arnold’s Pump Club-developed nutrition product.

Together With DeleteMe 
Your Brain Is Already Running More Than You Think

Most people assume they underperform because they lack ability, motivation, or time. The more interesting explanation (and one with real scientific backing) is that you might simply run out of bandwidth.

Research suggests your cognitive performance is less about raw ability and more about how much your brain is already carrying.

Scientists call this cognitive load. Think of your working memory like RAM on a computer: finite, shared, and sensitive to how many processes are running at once. When background concerns occupy that space, less of it is available for everything else, such as focus, problem-solving, and sound decisions.

One of the clearest demonstrations of this came from a study focusing on money. Researchers gave participants hypothetical financial scenarios — some involving small costs, others large — then measured performance on unrelated reasoning and cognitive control tasks.

When lower-income participants thought through expensive financial decisions, their cognitive performance dropped sharply. The effect was so significant that researchers compared it to losing a full night of sleep.

When those same participants faced low-cost scenarios, they performed as well as their higher-income counterparts.

But the mechanism the researchers identified isn't really about money. It's about mental occupation. The financial concern was consuming bandwidth that would otherwise be used for the task at hand. Which means the same brain drain applies to anything your brain is holding without resolution: a difficult conversation you haven't had, a decision you've been avoiding, a to-do list living entirely in your head.

Cognitive load works like a tax. You don't feel it charging you, but you feel the result: slower thinking, worse choices, less patience.

The fix isn't eliminating all uncertainty. It's closing open loops that cause stress.

Writing something down, making a rough plan, or scheduling a conversation you've been putting off doesn't solve the problem. However, it gives your brain permission to stop holding it in active memory. That frees up real capacity. And that capacity shows up everywhere.

That means eliminating avoidable stressors so your body and mind can focus on what matters. And making sure you don’t have any hidden stressors that could be taking up your bandwidth.

Exposed personal information across hundreds of data broker sites is one of those silent threats, and that’s why we use DeleteMe. They do the dirty work, remove it, and keep scanning to make sure it doesn't come back. Their privacy report shows you exactly what they found, and their team of real privacy advisors handles the rest.

Identity theft and privacy threats are a real threat. And there’s a reason Wirecutter named DeleteMe the #1 data-removal service. We use it for Pump Club employees. You can learn more at joindeleteme.com/PUMPCLUB and use code PUMPCLUB for 20% off.

Less background noise. More mental bandwidth. That's one more way to protect your performance.

Community
We're Coming to Venice (And We're Bringing Free Smoothies)

Most health events ask you to show up and listen. We just want you to show up and drink.

For the first time ever, the Arnold’s Pump Club team is hosting a free week-long event. In partnership with Momentous, we're running a pop-up smoothie shop in Venice. It’s three days, no catch, no pitch. Just protein and fiber, made for you, completely free.

Be There: April 20–22 | 7am–2pm | Venice

Adam, Daniel, and Jen will be there throughout the week to talk fitness and nutrition, and there will be surprises and giveaways each day.

If you've been part of this community for three days or three years, come say hi. This is what the positive corner of the internet looks like in person.

More details coming soon in these emails.

Health
Your Weekend Sleep Habits Might Be Hurting Your Health

Sleeping in on weekends might feel like a well-earned reward. But research suggests that even modest shifts in your sleep schedule could influence your gut health and how your body responds to food.

Researchers studied "social jetlag," a measure of how much your sleep and wake times shift between workdays and weekends. 

People whose sleep shifted by 90 minutes or more between weekdays and weekends showed meaningful differences in gut bacteria, diet quality, and inflammation compared to those who kept a more consistent schedule.

The scientists found that multiple factors might be causing issues when you change up your normal schedule.

People with greater sleep schedule irregularity tended to eat less healthfully, with lower fruit and nut intake and higher consumption of sugary drinks and potatoes. They also had slightly elevated inflammatory markers.

Maybe most interestingly, the social jetlag group showed more gut bacteria linked to poorer metabolic health, and fewer of the good bacteria associated with better gut function. And these microbial differences persisted even after partially accounting for diet.

That last point is worth noting. Diet explained only a small portion of the microbiome differences — somewhere between 4 and 15 percent depending on the species — suggesting that sleep timing itself may play a direct role in shaping the gut environment, beyond just influencing what you eat.

Scientists believe your gut microbes run on their own internal clocks, synced to your broader circadian rhythm. When your sleep schedule constantly shifts, it may disrupt those microbial rhythms and the metabolic signals they help regulate.

Consistency in your sleep schedule appears to matter for your gut, even when you're otherwise getting enough sleep. Aim to keep your weekend sleep and wake times within about 90 minutes of your weekday schedule. Pairing that with morning light exposure and regular meal timing can further help anchor your body's internal clock.

Your gut doesn't know it's Saturday. It just knows when the rhythm changes.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Can garlic improve oral health?

• The preferred drink of healthy brains

• What happens when you take a week off from exercise?

On Our Radar
Is Garlic Mouthwash Actually a Thing? Here's What a New Study Found

Could the thing that gives you bad breath also be the secret to a healthier mouth?

People have used garlic as a natural remedy for centuries, which tends to make scientists skeptical and enthusiasts convinced. A new round of clinical research offers a little more clarity.

A meta-analysis of 6 clinical trials found that garlic mouthwash reduced the bacteria most responsible for tooth decay as effectively as fluoride rinses.

Researchers pooled data comparing garlic mouthwash with fluoride and the gold-standard prescription rinse (chlorhexidine) in terms of their ability to reduce the primary bacterium responsible for dental cavities. At two weeks, garlic showed a moderate advantage over fluoride. Compared to chlorhexidine, garlic showed a modest edge at one week; by two weeks, chlorhexidine pulled ahead; and by one month, there was no meaningful difference between them.

Why might garlic keep your mouth clean? Scientists believe the answer is allicin, garlic's main active compound, which has documented antimicrobial properties against multiple bacterial species.

We dug deeper, and we found reason to pump the brakes on “all-natural” garlic mouthwash. The issue isn’t whether garlic has potential oral health benefits; it’s whether the garlic you use will give you the compound you need. In the research, concentrations ranged from 0.02% to 3% — a 150-fold spread — which tells you something about how far this science still has to go before anyone can say what a clinically useful garlic rinse would look like.

Also, none of the included trials measured actual cavity rates; only bacterial counts were measured, which also limits how much we can trust the outcome.

You might be wondering if eating garlic will give you similar benefits. Chewing raw garlic releases compounds that lab studies show can kill cavity-causing bacteria, but there's no clinical evidence yet that eating garlic protects your teeth, and cooking eliminates the relevant mechanism entirely.

This is research worth watching, just not worth depending on yet.

Together With Pique
What Decades of Research on Tea Drinkers Tell Us About Brain Aging

Most conversations about preventing cognitive decline start with what to cut: alcohol, ultra-processed food, chronic stress, and poor sleep. But a growing body of research keeps pointing toward what you can add.

The list starts with exercise — both cardio and resistance training — and extends to other behaviors such as social connection, learning and education, and eating more nutrient-dense foods. When it comes to the last item, it’s not just what you eat, but also what you drink that could make a difference.

A systematic review of 35 studies found that habitual tea drinkers had 19% to 31% lower rates of cognitive disorders compared to people who drank the least tea, a consistent association that has now appeared across millions of adults and multiple decades of research.

Researchers analyzed 23 cohort studies, 12 cross-sectional studies, and 4 randomized controlled trials tracking tea consumption and cognitive outcomes. The highest tea consumers had meaningfully lower rates of cognitive disorders than the lowest consumers. The 4 randomized controlled trials that specifically measured cognitive function found a meaningful improvement in standardized test scores among tea drinkers. And a separate meta-analysis of more than 410,000 participants found similar patterns.

The vast majority of the studies are observational, meaning we can't establish cause and effect. People who drink more tea may simply have healthier habits overall, and those habits could be doing most of the work.

But the connection is very plausible. Green tea is high in EGCG, an antioxidant that may reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, two processes tied to neurodegeneration. L-theanine, an amino acid found almost exclusively in tea, appears to support neural signaling and works synergistically with caffeine to improve focus.

If you already drink tea, this research adds to a reasonable case for keeping the habit. If you don't, one to two cups a day — brewed, not bottled — is a low-effort addition worth considering. Just don't treat it as a standalone brain strategy.

If you want to make tea a consistent habit, some people don’t love the prep. Loose-leaf requires equipment. Traditional matcha requires a whisk and a ritual. And most bottled teas — the ones you reach for out of convenience — have been processed in ways that significantly reduce the EGCG content that makes tea worth drinking in the first place.

That's what led us to Pique. Pique uses a cold-brew crystallization process that preserves up to 12x more catechins than conventional brewing, which means the compounds the research above points to are actually present in meaningful amounts. 

Their teas are triple toxin-screened for heavy metals, pesticides, and mold, and they dissolve instantly in hot or cold water. No equipment. No prep. One cup in under 30 seconds.

We tried their matcha and black tea for several months. The quality held up, and the habit stuck in a way that a box of teabags rarely does.

As an APC reader, you get up to 20% off and a free starter kit on subscriptions of $100+. No code needed, and your discount applies automatically at checkout.

One to three cups a day. Low effort. The research has already made the case. This just makes it easier to act on.

Instant Health Boost 
What Actually Happens When You Take a Complete Week Off From Lifting

At some point, every lifter hits the same crossroads: you've been training hard and wonder if an extended break will help you come back stronger. New research suggests it might not hold up the way you think. 

A randomized controlled trial found that taking a full week off in the middle of a training program led to no muscle-building advantage over training straight through and actually led to smaller strength gains.

Researchers randomly assigned resistance-trained adults to two groups. Both followed a 9-week high-volume program. One group took a complete rest week at the midpoint. The other trained continuously.

At the end, ultrasound measurements found no meaningful difference in muscle size between groups. But the continuous training group came out ahead in both isometric and dynamic lower-body strength. Somewhat surprisingly, the rested group also reported slightly lower psychological readiness to train afterward, which is the opposite of what most would predict.

To be clear, this was not a planned deload. In a deload, you don’t stop training. Instead, you cut back on volume or intensity. In the study, researchers tested total rest. Dropping weight and sets by 40-50% for a week is a meaningfully different intervention than doing nothing. This study doesn't speak to that approach.

There’s no problem with taking days off. However, if you're banking on a full week off as a performance tool, the evidence isn't there to support it. Your body doesn't appear to need a complete pause to grow. Consistent training with fatigue managed throughout the week is almost certainly doing more work than any planned couch week.

The bigger issue might be your training program itself. The participants were put on a program designed to help them make progress. Not one that’s designed to cause burnout. So if rest feels that necessary, it’s worth reconsidering your current approach, and if you’d be better off trying a program design for progress, not exhaustion. 

If life forces a week away, don't panic. You can take time off, go on vacation, or thrive if you need to take a break. Muscle holds longer than you think. But if you’re using longer breaks as a deliberate strategy, the research suggests you might be better off if you keep training.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s corner: Monday motivation

• A breakfast question worth asking

• Do you know your peak productivity time? (free quiz included)

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner 
Monday Motivation: Beginning Again

This week, billions of people around the world celebrate the same idea.

Easter. Passover. Different traditions, different rituals, different texts, but underneath all of it, one shared truth that has outlasted every empire, every generation, every attempt to argue it away:

We always have a chance at a beginning again.

Darkness passes. Bondage ends. The closing of a tomb can be the opening of a story instead of the end.

You don’t have to be religious to feel the pull of that idea.

It’s the story humans have been telling ourselves since the beginning, because it keeps being true.

I’m not here to preach. I’m here to show you what it looks like in regular people’s lives.

Because this community is full of those stories. People who hit a wall, or hit the floor, or hit a number on a scale or a doctor’s chart that scared them badly enough to finally move.

People who thought hope was lost before they found a way to begin again.

Three of them wrote to us recently. 

Roland thought he knew what he was capable of. Then he tried to do a push-up.

He’d moved his family 700 miles from home — new city, new jobs, new schools, all of it hitting at once. The stress piled up. The weight came on. Then his bloodwork came back: high cholesterol, the beginning of fatty liver disease.

His doctor wanted to go straight to medicine.

“For me,” he wrote, “That was the line in the sand.”

He decided to fight back. He got on the floor. And he discovered he couldn’t do a single push-up. Not one. He had to start on the wall, pressing against it like a beginner, a full-grown adult who had probably done thousands of push-ups in his life.

“To my absolute horror, I could not do a single push up. This pissed me off.”

He used that anger. Months later, his cholesterol had normalized. The fatty liver disease had resolved. His doctor reassessed and cleared him without medication, something that doesn’t happen for everyone, and when your doctor says you need it, you take it, because that’s what doctors are for.

But Roland had given himself every possible chance, and it paid off. He started doing push-ups on the floor. Then weighted. Then lifting the bar. He benches now.

“I am without doubt a better version of myself than I was two years ago. If you are reading this and at rock bottom and think you can’t — that’s crap. If I can, you can.”

His old life looked like the final chapter. It was actually the first page of a better book.

Susan has a word for what happened to her. It’s German. Of course, it’s German. We have some of the best words.

Kummerspeck. Grief-bacon. She explained it simply: “The weight you put on due to grief and distress.” She’d poured herself into her husband as his health declined. She stopped training, stopped eating well, stopped thinking about herself at all, because he needed her and that was what mattered.

When he died, she was left with the grief and the weight that came with it. And here’s the part that broke my heart a little when I read her note: it was the third time in her life this had happened. Three times grief had taken her to that place. Three times life had handed her this particular burden.

But here’s what else she wrote: “I managed to take it off two times before. This time I know I can do it again.”

Not a plea. A promise.

She started the app in December. Built a 16-week streak. And the morning she wrote to us: “JUST this morning I pulled on a pair of pants I have not fit into in 5 years.”

Not a miracle. Just a woman who has been through enough to know that this is not where her story ends, and decided to prove it.

Dan weighed 325 pounds. He’d tried everything. He used food the way some people use alcohol, to manage stress, to cope, to get through. He tried GLP-1 medications. Nothing worked. He had gastric bypass surgery, which did work — he lost over 100 pounds — but also stripped away almost all his muscle in the process. He came out of it barely able to do 10 push-ups.

He found the newsletter. Then the app. He started at the beginning: foundation program, bodyweight, no ego. He put on 15 pounds of muscle. His body fat is 7.5%. His doctor loves it.

But the line that stayed with me, because it’s true about so much more than surgery:

“The surgery doesn’t fix you. It just gives you a chance.”

A new program doesn’t fix you. A new year doesn’t fix you. A holiday, a fresh start, a moment of inspiration, none of it fixes you. What those things do is open a door. 

“Food is now my fuel,” Dan wrote. “None of this is flashy or news. But the app works better for me than anything else I’ve ever tried.”

He walked through the door. That’s the whole thing.

Roland had a line in the sand.

Susan had a pair of pants and a German word for what she was carrying.

Dan had a door.

All three of them looked at what they had and decided it was enough to start.

This week, with renewal in the air and billions of people celebrating exactly that idea, I want to ask you one question:

What’s your line?

Because if you’re reading this and you think you’re past the point of a new beginning, you’re not. These people weren’t. The whole point of last week, across every tradition that celebrates it, is that no one is past that point.

Draw your line. Start where you are. The beginning is always right here.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Even if you’ve failed a hundred times.

Even if it’s your 10th new beginning.

Begin again.

Need Inspiration?

We promised to continue to share success stories until each and every one of you found your inspiration, and we’ve started compiling them in a searchable format. Thanks to our members. They inspire us.

Enjoy the Pump Club inspiration archive.

Together With Momentous 
The Breakfast Question Worth Asking (If Your Progress Is Stalled)

For decades, you've heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The research never quite backed that up as a universal truth, but a new study suggests there might be a narrower version of it worth paying attention to, specifically if you are already doing the fundamentals and still not seeing the muscle gains you want.

A review of 15 studies found that increasing protein intake toward breakfast was associated with greater muscle mass in the majority of studies examined. However, the total daily protein you eat in a day remains the most important variable for supporting muscle growth

Researchers screened nearly 15,000 articles to map the evidence on the relationship between breakfast protein intake and muscle growth. Among studies examining muscle mass, about 60% found that higher morning protein intake was associated with greater lean body mass. And it appeared to be especially relevant for aging adults.

The scientists believe this could be because your muscles appear to follow a daily rhythm, and the genes involved in building and breaking down muscle tissue may be more receptive at certain times of day. Morning could be a more sensitive window than evening, not just a convenient one.

If you're not hitting your daily protein target, that's the only thing to fix right now. Timing is a minor variable. But if you're consistently getting enough protein and still not making progress, looking at when that protein lands — and whether breakfast is pulling its weight — is a reasonable experiment.

If you decide to run that experiment, protein powders can help boost your breakfast. However, most protein powders are built around the label, not the contents. Fillers, gums, artificial sweeteners, and ingredient panels that can look deceivingly good. The protein number looks right. What's underneath it often doesn't hold up.

Momentous Whey Protein Isolate is built differently: no fillers, no gums, no artificial sweeteners. Just 20g of high-quality protein per serving, cold-processed to preserve its full amino acid profile.

What actually separates it is something you won’t find in 98% of supplements: every finished batch is NSF Certified for Sport®. An independent program that verifies label accuracy and screens for hundreds of banned substances. Momentous also publicly publishes Certificates of Analysis for every batch, so you're not taking their word for it. 

There’s a reason Momentous is trusted by all 32 NFL teams and 200+ college and professional sports programs. Not because of a marketing deal, but because those organizations can't afford to be wrong about what goes in their athletes' bodies.

If breakfast protein is the variable you want to test — or you struggle to hit your protein needs — supplementing with a high-quality protein powder is a simple, effective way to run that test.

APC readers get 30% off their first subscription order or 14% off a one-time purchase when you use the code PUMP CLUB. 

The science on timing is mixed. The science on quality is not.

Start Your Week Right 
The Real Science of Peak Energy (It's Not What You Think)

At some point today, your brain will be running at its biological best. Most people miss it entirely. Not because the window is short, but because they've never known when to look.

Your cognitive peak might be determined by your biology, and knowing your chronotype could be a helpful guide.

Researchers synthesized decades of research on chronotype and performance. That work, alongside a review of 65 peer-reviewed studies, centers on what scientists call the synchrony effect: the alignment between your biological chronotype and when you attempt cognitively demanding tasks.

Chronotype is just the biological label for what you already know about yourself: whether you're someone who hits the ground running in the morning or someone who doesn't find their stride until everyone else is winding down.

Early chronotypes (morning larks) feel alert shortly after waking and fade earlier in the evening. Late chronotypes (night owls) take longer to shake the morning fog but tend to feel sharpest well into the night.

Early chronotypes tend to reach their cognitive peak roughly 5 to 6 hours after waking. Late chronotypes don't arrive there until about 11 hours post-wake. Rise at 6 AM and lean early, and your peak likely lands closer to 11 AM, not 9 AM. Wake at 7 AM and trend late, and your window may not open until 6 PM.

The scientists believe that when your biological high point aligns with effortful mental work, attention, analytical reasoning, and memory all tend to perform better. 

There's also a counterintuitive finding worth knowing: creative and insight-driven tasks may do better at your off-peak hours, when slightly looser inhibitory control helps your brain make unexpected connections.

One more useful piece to keep in mind: your chronotype is not fixed. By around age 60, research suggests that 65 to 70 percent of people have shifted toward being early birds, whether or not they still identify as morning people.

Want to find out your chronotype? We recreated a free evidence-based quiz designed to help you identify your chronotype and determine if you are a morning lark or evening owl. 

Take the free peak productivity quiz.

Remember, this is not a hard-line rule. And you can change who you are. But if you want to try and time your peak productivity, you can use the hours-since-waking formula to estimate your personal window, then protect that block for your most demanding work for one week.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week 

Most people treat bodyweight training like a consolation prize. No gym? No equipment? Fine, drop and do some pushups. This week, we want to change that perception. Below are two programs — one for the lower body, one for the upper body — that can be done in under 20 minutes and will humble you if you bring the right intensity. The rules are simple: go hard on the first set of each exercise, then hold your form as fatigue sets in. No wasted reps. No coasting.

How to do it
On the first set of each exercise, take your body to failure. That is, do as many reps as possible with good form, and then stop once your form starts to break down. Rest as recommended, then do two more sets of the recommended reps. Then, move to the next exercise and repeat. 

Lower body workout

Warmup

• Bodyweight squat: 1-2 sets x 5 reps

• Bodyweight hip raise: 1-2 sets x 5 reps

• Walkout/inchworm: 1-2 sets x 5 reps

The Workout

1. Rear-foot elevated split squat: 1 set  x AMAP (as many reps as possible) + 2 sets x 8-15 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

2. Hamstring walkout: 1 set x AMAP (as many reps as possible) + 2 sets x 10-20n (60 seconds rest between sets)

3. Wall squat (hold): 1 set x max hold (stay in the bottom squat position as long as possible) + 2 sets x 30-60 seconds (60 seconds rest between sets)

4. Side Plank: 3 sets x 30 seconds (60 seconds rest between sets)

Upper body workout

Warmup

• Walkout/inchworm: 1-2 sets x 5 reps

• Pushup position plank: 1-2 sets x 20 seconds

• Bodyweight Superman W: 1-2 sets x 5-10 reps

The Workout

1. Pushups: 1 set  x AMAP (as many reps as possible) + 2 sets x 8-25 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

2. Inverted row: 1 set  x AMAP (as many reps as possible) + 2 sets x 8-25 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

3. Feet-elevated pushup: 1 set  x AMAP (as many reps as possible) + 2 sets x 8-25 reps (60 seconds rest between sets)

4. Superman: 3 sets x 10-20 reps (60 seconds rest between sets)

Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Editor’s Note: We’ll never stop giving you a free Workout of the Week. Because we believe everyone should have access to exercise.

But there’s a difference between a workout and a program. 

A “Workout of the day” feels great — you sweat, you’re sore — but soreness isn’t the goal. Exhaustion doesn’t make you better. Your body adapts best when workouts build on each other with intention, not when every session stands alone.

This workout will challenge you today; but a program is what changes you over weeks, months, and years. If you need help, you can try our customized programs free for 7 days. We do the thinking, giving you access to the best coaches, and provide accountability, so you see the improvements.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Together With NOBULL
Why Many of the Fittest People You Know Are Missing Half the Picture

Danielle has done this long enough that she's stopped second-guessing herself.

She wakes at 5:30 (not because she has to: she runs her own architecture firm, sets her own hours) but because that's when the streets are empty, and the air is still cold, and she can get whatever mileage she has scheduled before the city remembers itself. She's been running for eleven years. Three marathons. A half-ironman at 44. Her resting heart rate hovers around 47 beats per minute. At her last checkup, her cardiologist looked at her chart with the expression of someone about to compliment their own work.

"Whatever you're doing," he said, "keep doing it."

Danielle has no intention of changing a thing. And she has no reason to think she should.

That's the part worth paying attention to.

On the other side of the country, Marcus has a different relationship with exercise and an identical relationship with certainty.

He's been lifting weights since his sophomore year of college, going on nineteen years, long enough that the habit stopped feeling like discipline and started feeling like architecture: just the shape of his days. He is 182 pounds. Lean, strong, the kind of physique that makes other people at the gym ask what program he follows. His doctor, at his last physical, examined his muscle mass, his lipid panel, and his blood pressure, and said something Marcus has heard more than once: "Your body is doing a lot of the work for you."

Marcus doesn't do cardio. Nothing structured, nothing intentional. He's never felt like he needed to, and his doctor has never pushed him toward it.

He leaves every appointment feeling like he's figured something out.

He has. Just not everything.

Two Kinds of Fit. One Healthy Heart.

I've spent years talking to cardiologists, exercise physiologists, and coaches about what it actually takes to protect the heart: not the fitness-industry version of that question, but the clinical one. What happens inside the cardiovascular system when you train, and what doesn't happen, and why.

The answer you get, consistently, is not the one most people who exercise regularly are operating on.

Think about the debate that surrounds protein and fiber. For years, people treated them as competing priorities. High-protein advocates dismissed fiber as secondary. Plant-focused eaters sometimes undersold the protein question. The reality, which any dietitian will tell you, is that the argument itself is the mistake. You need both. They serve different systems. Optimizing one does not substitute for the other.

The same logic applies to your heart and the training you're asking it to do. More specifically, it applies to what raises your heart rate, and why that distinction matters far more than most people who exercise have ever been told.

A lot of lifters carry a quiet assumption: that if the heart rate is climbing, the cardiovascular system is getting the same work it would from a run. It's a reasonable intuition. It's also incomplete. 

And that gap between what feels true and what's actually happening inside the cardiovascular system turns out to be one of the more consequential misunderstandings in fitness.

All Cardio Isn’t Equal

There's a version of this conversation that starts with heart rate. When you’re lifting heavy, your heart rate spikes. Some people might call this their cardio. And it is, but it’s a different type of cardio than what you get from walking or running. 

Different types of activities have different needs and different reactions. It doesn’t matter if it’s having the right footwear or adjusting your nutrition. 

Heart rate is a measurement. It tells you how hard your heart is working in the moment.

What the science of cardiac adaptation is really about is not just how hard the heart works; it's what kind of work it's being asked to do, and what the heart builds in response over months and years of that demand.

Start with what happens when Marcus lifts.

The moment he takes a big breath and braces before a heavy squat, he's doing something his body figured out long before he did. That breath-hold (the same thing that happens when you're straining to open a stuck jar lid) is called the Valsalva maneuver, and it's not a quirk. It's a feature. Holding your breath and bracing your core creates a pressurized column inside your torso, like inflating a balloon in your midsection. That internal pressure becomes a rigid support system for your spine, making it far harder to collapse under a heavy load.

The trade-off is cardiovascular. All that internal pressure temporarily squeezes the large veins that carry blood back toward the heart, so less blood arrives with each beat. The heart responds the way any pump would when its supply line gets restricted: it speeds up to compensate. This is why heart rate spikes during a heavy set, even though the actual movement might last only a few seconds. 

The heart isn't building aerobic endurance. It's managing a pressure crisis, trying to keep blood flowing despite the squeeze.

Do that repeatedly over the years, and the heart adapts. Think of it like a water balloon with muscular walls. 

Resistance training keeps putting the heart in that high-pressure, restricted-supply situation, so the walls respond the same way your bicep responds to curling weight: they get denser and stronger. But the balloon itself doesn't get much bigger. The rubber just gets thicker. This is concentric hypertrophy, and it makes the heart exceptionally capable of generating force in short, intense bursts. 

And that’s a genuinely beneficial adaptation, not a consolation prize. But it’s different from your traditional aerobic exercise.

When Danielle runs for an hour, her heart faces a completely different problem. Her working muscles need a continuous, high-volume supply of oxygenated blood. There's no pressure crisis. There's a volume demand. 

The heart responds by learning to fill more completely and eject more blood with each beat. And over time, the chamber itself expands to hold that larger volume. The balloon gets bigger. This is eccentric hypertrophy, and it's why Danielle's resting heart rate sits at 47. Each beat now moves so much more blood that her heart doesn't need to beat as often to do the same work.

Two different problems. Two different solutions. 

A weightlifter's heart is like a compact, powerful engine, built for short, explosive bursts of force. An endurance athlete's heart is like a high-displacement engine with a bigger fuel tank, optimized for sustained, efficient output over long distances. 

Neither is better. They're solving different problems.

And the research suggests the healthiest cardiovascular profile comes from training both. The thick, strong walls from lifting and the expanded, efficient chambers from aerobic work don't cancel each other out. They compound.

It’s a bit of a buzzword, but there’s real value to becoming a hybrid trainer. Creating a plan that includes cardio and weights. For Arnold, that means riding his bike to and back from the gym (the cardio) and then hitting the weights (resistance training).

If You Do Aerobic Exercise, Here’s What You’re Missing

Danielle's heart is a volume machine. It's excellent at sustained, efficient output. Her stroke volume (the blood pumped per beat) is almost certainly higher than average. Her cardiac chambers have adapted to endurance. Her resting heart rate of 47 is a genuine marker of real fitness.

But there's another part of the cardiovascular equation that running, on its own, does not fully address: the health of the blood vessels themselves.

The inside of every artery is lined with a thin layer of cells called the endothelium. Think of it as the interior surface of a pipe, except unlike a pipe, it's alive, it produces compounds, and its health or dysfunction has downstream consequences for almost everything we care about when we talk about heart disease. 

When the endothelium is functioning well, it produces nitric oxide, which keeps vessels flexible, helps regulate blood pressure, and makes the environment inside your arteries hostile to the plaques that cause heart attacks. When the endothelium is damaged or dysfunctional, you are accumulating cardiovascular risk that no fitness test at your gym will detect.

Here is the part that should interest Danielle: sustained aerobic exercise is one of the most reliable stimuli we know of for maintaining and improving endothelial function. The rhythmic shear stress of blood moving continuously through vessels during sustained cardio — not intervals, not HIIT, but sustained, moderate, continuous effort — is precisely the stimulus the endothelium needs. 

A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that continuous aerobic exercise significantly improved vascular endothelial function across diverse adult populations, reducing inflammatory markers and increasing antioxidant capacity, which helps keep vessel walls healthy.

Danielle gets this. Danielle gets this better than almost anyone.

The same meta-analysis found that vascular benefits begin to diminish when training stops, and endothelial health is not a one-time achievement. It's an ongoing practice. Which is fine if you're Danielle. But it also means the adaptation is specific. The cardiovascular system is not a single dial you turn up with enough mileage. It has multiple systems. Aerobic training, however excellent, primarily speaks to one of them.

If You Resistance Train, Here’s What You’re Missing

Marcus's heart is a different kind of machine. The wall of his left ventricle is, by training, thicker and more powerful than average. His heart handles pressure well. The data on what resistance training does for the cardiovascular system has gotten substantially clearer in the last five years, and the picture is encouraging in ways the fitness conversation has been slow to absorb.

A meta-analysis found that any amount of resistance training was associated with a 15% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality compared to no resistance training. 

A separate systematic review and meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, drawing on over 370,000 participants with an average of nearly 9 years of follow-up, found that resistance training alone was associated with a 21% lower risk of all-cause mortality.

These are not small numbers. And they should, to anyone who has absorbed the fitness industry's long-running narrative that cardiovascular health means aerobic exercise, come as something of a recalibration.

But here is what the same data shows about Marcus's situation: resistance training alone does not appear to produce the vascular adaptations that aerobic exercise does. 

The heart muscle benefits. The pressure-handling capacity benefits. But endothelial health — nitric oxide production, vessel wall flexibility, and anti-inflammatory effects in the arterial interior — are not the primary targets of resistance training, and the research suggests they don't reliably improve with lifting alone.

So Marcus has a powerful heart muscle and a cardiovascular mortality risk meaningfully lower than someone who does nothing. And Marcus may have blood vessels that are not getting the sustained, rhythmic stimulus that keeps them elastic and healthy. His doctor's comment was true: "Your body is doing a lot of the work for you." It was also incomplete.

The lifter who avoids cardio is not making the same mistake as someone who never exercises. But they are leaving something on the table. Something the heart wants. Something the arteries need. Something that doesn't get built in the weight room, regardless of how high the heart rate climbs during a hard set.

The Science is Clear: It’s Not Cardio Vs. Weights

The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology meta-analysis mentioned above did something that most studies don't do cleanly: it compared mortality outcomes across training modalities, including what happens when you combine them.

Resistance training alone: 21% lower all-cause mortality.
Resistance training combined with aerobic exercise: 40% lower all-cause mortality.

Not 21% plus some marginal gain from adding cardio. Not resistance training doing the heavy lifting with aerobic as an afterthought. Forty percent — nearly double the benefit of resistance training in isolation — was the signal that emerged when both modalities were present.

The researchers were appropriately cautious about the mechanism. These are observational data, meaning they tell us what people who do both tend to experience, not what's happening causally inside each body. But the consistency of the signal matters. And the physiological explanation is coherent: resistance training and aerobic exercise produce distinct, non-overlapping cardiac adaptations, so combining them stacks benefits that otherwise remain separate.

Your heart does not want to choose. It wants both challenges. 

It has the architecture for both responses: the pressure-driven adaptation that builds a stronger muscle, the volume-driven adaptation that builds a more efficient pump, and the vascular adaptation that keeps the pipes clean.

These are not competing programs. They are complementary ones.

We want to be careful here, because the fitness internet has a tendency to take a finding like this and turn it into a threat that feels like a “you've been doing it wrong” argument. Or into another reason to feel like your current routine is insufficient.

That's not what the data is doing.

Danielle is genuinely fit. Her heart has made real adaptations that protect her. Her resting heart rate and her endothelial health are genuine assets, not performances. What the research suggests is not that she's been wrong but that there's more available to her: a different kind of cardiac protection that her miles don't automatically produce.

Marcus is genuinely strong and genuinely protected. The mortality data on resistance training are not weak. His heart muscle is stronger for what he's done. The gap is not a failure. It's an opportunity.

The American Heart Association's Scientific Statement on resistance exercise training, which examined both healthy populations and those with existing cardiovascular disease, concluded that approximately 30 to 60 minutes per week of resistance training is associated with a meaningful reduction in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease risk. And it explicitly supports resistance training alongside aerobic training for cardiovascular health, not instead of it.

Both tools. Not either/or.

The conversation we keep having in fitness (lifters versus runners, strength versus endurance, barbells versus miles) is more about identity than about physiology. The body doesn't care about the team. It adapts to what you give it. And what the evidence consistently suggests is that giving it both creates something neither training style can build on its own.

Make It Work For You

We’re aware that "do more things" is the kind of advice that sounds obvious until you try to actually structure your week around it.

The research doesn't require you to become a triathlete. The mortality benefits from aerobic exercise appear at moderate doses: 30 to 45 minutes of continuous, sustained effort at a conversational pace, two to three times per week. It doesn’t have to be intervals or sprints (it can be, if you want). Just enough sustained effort to produce the shear stress on your vessel walls that triggers the endothelial response.

If you're Danielle, the lift doesn't have to be heavy. But it has to be intense and push the boundaries of failure. Two or three sessions per week of any resistance training appear to be where much of the cardiovascular mortality benefit is concentrated. Bodyweight exercises count, too. Moderate loads count. You don't need to become Marcus to get Marcus's cardiac adaptations.

If you're Marcus, the cardio doesn't have to be miserable. A 35-minute walk at a pace where you could hold a conversation but wouldn't want to is enough to trigger the vascular adaptations that lifting alone doesn't produce. The sustained, rhythmic, moderate-intensity work is what the endothelium responds to. You can listen to a podcast. You can go with your dog. The stimulus doesn't require suffering.

This is not a burden. This is information. And information, when it doesn't come loaded with urgency, is just permission: permission to add something that costs less than you think and pays more than you'd expect.

Danielle doesn't have to stop running. She just has to pick up something heavy twice a week.

Marcus doesn't have to become a runner. He just has to sustain something moderate for 35 minutes, a few times a week, until his arteries remember what they were built to do.

The heart you're building right now is real. There's just more opportunity available.

Get Your Mind Right, And Your Feet

The hard part is being consistent with exercise and putting in the work. But don't overlook the details.

Committing to hybrid training — actually showing up for both the weights and the cardio — is the decision most people never make. You're making it. That matters.

But here's something worth considering: the shoes you train in weren't designed for both.

A flat lifting shoe keeps you stable under a barbell. A cushioned running shoe absorbs impact on the treadmill. Neither was built for the full range of what your week actually looks like. Most people pick one and quietly accept the tradeoff. Or they swap mid-session and don't think much about it.

Here's why that matters more than most people realize: running shoes are engineered for forward motion and shock absorption. That’s a single, predictable movement pattern. The gym is the opposite. You're moving laterally, explosively, and under load. Research suggests that training in the wrong footwear compromises stability, reduces force transfer, and increases injury risk. It's one of the most overlooked variables in performance. Subtle enough that most people never connect the shoe to the limitation.

A shoe built for the full training week needs to do five things well simultaneously. 

It needs enough stability to keep you balanced under a loaded barbell without feeling rigid. Enough cushioning to absorb impact during cardio without going soft underfoot when it counts. Traction that works across surfaces and directions. Breathability that holds up through high-intensity sessions without sacrificing structure. And materials durable enough to survive the actual grind — not just a few months of it.

Most shoes optimize for one or two of those. The rest is compromise.

NOBULL built the Drive 2 for people who train the way the research says to train.

It's a hybrid shoe engineered around the reality of a complete training week: strength work, cardio, circuits, and everything in between. The 4mm heel-to-toe drop gives you the flat, stable platform your lifts need. The compression-molded EVA (CMEVA) foam midsole makes it responsive, light, and comfortable. The re-engineered mesh upper stays breathable when the effort is sustained.

One shoe. Every move. No compromises. The work you're building is real. The details that support it should be too.

As an APC reader, you get the Drive 2 for just $99. Use code ARNOLD99 at checkout. But this special offer will only last for 48 hours.

Show up, put in the reps, and you’ll find yourself better than you were yesterday. 

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Number you won’t forget

• Weekly wisdom

• The hidden cost on your social calendar

Productivity
Number You Won’t Forget: 40%

Even if you deleted every social media app tomorrow, that alone might not be enough to revive your focus and productivity. Because one of the most overlooked influences on your attention isn't distraction from the outside. It's what happens inside your brain every time you ask it to do too much at once.

Researchers found that switching between tasks can cost up to 40% of your productive time. Because your brain has to do two separate things every single time you change course.

Scientists set up four controlled experiments in which participants alternated between tasks of varying complexity. Every time they switched, their performance slowed. The more complex the work, the steeper the cost. 

Add up those delays across a day of constant switching, and you've lost nearly half of your productive time before you've done anything wrong.

Your brain doesn't just "change gears." It runs two separate processes every time you shift: deciding to stop what it's doing, then reloading the rules for whatever's next. Neither is instant. Neither is free. Stack enough switches across a day, and you've handed a significant portion of your most capable hours to mental overhead you couldn't see.

One more thing the research found: knowing your next task in advance significantly reduces switching costs. Your brain can pre-load the rules before it needs them.

So next time you sit down to work, create a plan. Decide what you’ll work on first, and exactly what you’ll move to next, rather than switching between multiple projects or goals. Even shifting between work and email is a disruption. Then, protect your hardest task inside a block where nothing can interrupt the work.

Mindset
Weekly Wisdom

Most people treat self-criticism the way they treat an alarm clock: unpleasant, but necessary. You need the jolt. Without it, you'll sleep through your life.

So they run the internal monologue on loop: Not good enough. Should be further along. What's wrong with you?

And it works. Sometimes. For a little while.

Then one day it stops working, and they decide the problem is that they weren't hard enough on themselves. So they turn up the volume. More shame. More disgust. More proof of their own failure used as kindling.

What Carl Rogers understood — and what most people spend years discovering the hard way — is that, sometimes, shame or guilt isn’t the right fuel for everyone. Instead, it can be a leak.

Because if you’re always beating yourself up for what you’re not, it can be hard to see clearly what you are.

Think about what happens when you get lost driving. You pull out your phone, open the map, and nothing works until it finds you. Not where you want to go. You. Your actual location. The blinking dot that says here.

Without knowing where you are, every direction is useless. The destination doesn't matter if the map can't find its starting point.

Self-acceptance and self-awareness are the blinking dot.

It's not permission to stay where you are. It's not resignation. It's not the soft thing people assume when they confuse acceptance with approval. 

You can accept your current location and still want to be somewhere else. The two ideas don't cancel each other. One requires the other.

You cannot honestly chart a course from somewhere you refuse to acknowledge you are.

This is where people get tripped up. They think the opposite of self-criticism is self-congratulation. That letting go of shame means lying to yourself about what needs to change. It doesn't. 

Rogers wasn't saying to tell yourself, “everything is fine.” He was suggesting the importance of seeing yourself clearly, without running from what you see.

There's a difference between a doctor who looks at a wound honestly and one who tells the patient it's nothing. The honest one is more useful. More compassionate, even. Because honest assessment is the only thing that leads somewhere better.

The person who looks in the mirror — not to punish themselves, but to actually see — that person can make a plan. They know the terrain. They know the distance. They know what they're working with.

The person running from what they see just keeps running.

I've watched this play out in both directions. People so afraid to acknowledge where they were that they couldn't move. And people who — the moment they stopped fighting their starting point — found something that felt oddly like freedom.

Not because things got easier. Because the energy they'd spent on self-punishment was suddenly available for something else.

Turn Wisdom Into Action

This week, try an honest accounting. Pick one area of your life where you've been avoiding a clear look. Not to criticize it. Just to see it. Describe where you actually are as specifically as you can, the way you'd describe it to a good doctor or a trusted coach.

Then ask: If this is the starting point, what's one next step from here?

That's it. Not a quick fix. Not a miracle cure. A commitment that supports you. When we built the Pump Club app, that was a foundational principle. We won’t sell 14-day fixes. We’ll sell the real transformation process. An honest look at where you are and where you’re going.  

Now it’s your turn to do something. And that means being willing to let the map find you, so the directions can finally start working.

Because the simple truth is that you can't get somewhere better from a location you won't admit you're in.

Be The Change 
Friday Fuel

Did you show up this week? On Monday, we gave you a task. Now it’s time for us to hold you accountable and support your growth.

Click here, and let us know how it went (or how we can help).

Even if you didn’t succeed, let us know what got in the way. Remember, if you can see where you are now, you can chart a path to where you want to go.

Better Questions, Better Solutions 
The Hidden Cost of Your Social Calendar

The Old Question: Why do some social interactions drain me so much?
The Better Question: Which relationships energize me, and how can I spend more time with those people?

Most people treat social exhaustion like a personal flaw. A sign they're introverted, burned out, or antisocial. But research tells a different story. 

A long-running study tracking thousands of adults over decades found that relationship quality — not quantity — is one of the strongest predictors of health, happiness, and longevity. Some connections restore you. Others cost you.

The distinction matters more than most people realize. Another study found that high-quality interactions — ones marked by feel of genuine connection and mutual engagement — predicted positive mood and lower stress for days afterward. Low-quality interactions did the opposite. 

Think of it like nutrition. A full stomach isn't always a nourished one. You can eat 2,000 calories of food that leaves you depleted. Social life works the same way: a packed schedule isn't the same as a fulfilling one. The goal isn't fewer people; it's the right people.

The old question sends you searching for what's wrong with you. The better one sends you looking at your actual social diet and whether it reflects what genuinely feeds you.

The people who energize you most deserve more of your calendar. The ones who don't deserve gradually less. No confrontation required. Just a slow, deliberate reallocation of your most finite resource.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. Remember, you have endless opportunities to get better every day. Don’t overthink it, do something, and repeat. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel 

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• The unexpected relationship between coffee and gut health

• “Microplastics” aren’t just from plastic materials

• Beyond the headline: probiotics and blood sugar

• Adam’s Corner: Let’s Talk About Failure

On Our Radar
Your Morning Coffee Is Doing Something Scientists Didn't Expect

You already know coffee gives you energy. Maybe you've read that it's linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, better cognitive function, and a longer life. Now, a new large-scale study offered another reason coffee is associated with health benefits, and it has nothing to do with the caffeine.

In research that tested 150 foods, coffee (including decaf) had the biggest impact on the bacteria living in your gut.

Researchers analyzed gut microbiome data from more than 22,000 participants across five US and UK cohorts. Coffee drinkers had 4.5 to 8 times higher levels of a healthy bacterium (called Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus) compared to non-drinkers. When researchers directly exposed it to coffee in lab conditions, its growth increased by roughly 350%. Other foods — even fiber-rich ones known to support gut health — didn't come close.

The reason for the increase isn't what most people would guess. Decaffeinated coffee produced nearly identical results, meaning the caffeine wasn’t doing the heavy lifting. Instead, researchers believe it’s coffee's polyphenol content — specifically, chlorogenic acid and its byproduct (quinic acid) — that likely drives the gut health benefits.

So why does this bacterium matter? L. asaccharolyticus is involved in producing butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid your gut lining depends on. Butyrate helps maintain the intestinal barrier that keeps harmful substances from leaking into the bloodstream, dials down inflammation, and supports immune function. 

Think of it as structural maintenance for your digestive system. The bacterium is rare in populations that don't drink coffee and significantly more abundant in those who do, which makes the coffee connection worth paying attention to.

That said, L. asaccharolyticus is still relatively new to science, identified for the first time in 2018. The study shows coffee feeds it, not that this bacterium is definitely responsible for coffee's health benefits. That connection is plausible and actively being studied.

Together With Our Place 
Are You Unintentionally Adding Microplastics To Your Meals?

Most of us have a non-stick pan we've held onto longer than we probably should. It does the job, cleanup is easy, and a few scratches seem like a cosmetic issue. According to scientists, those scratches are doing something more than ruining the finish.

A scratched Teflon-coated pan can release thousands to millions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles, and the fix is one of the simplest swaps you can make in your kitchen.

Researchers examined microplastic and nanoplastic release from non-stick cookware using Raman imaging, a technique that scans surfaces and collects spectral data to detect particles invisible to the naked eye. They tested both new and used Teflon-coated pots and pans, simulating real cooking conditions by dragging steel spatulas and wooden turners across the surfaces, the kind of thing that happens every time you make dinner.

 A single surface crack released approximately 9,100 plastic particles. More extensive damage pushed that figure to roughly 2.3 million particles. Researchers believe the mechanical force of cooking utensils gradually dislodges fragments from the Teflon coating, and as that coating degrades over time, the rate of release accelerates.

The health implications of ingesting these particles are still understudied and not completely understood. This research tells us the particles are present in significant numbers, but it doesn't yet tell us what that means for your body over years of exposure. That question is actively being investigated.

What we can say is that replacing a visibly scratched or worn non-stick pan is a low-cost, low-effort precautionary step that can help you reduce unnecessary exposure to microplastics. You don't need to overhaul your entire kitchen. Start by looking at what you use most often. If the surface is flaking or visibly marked, it has earned its retirement.

At Arnold’s Pump Club, we tested different cookware and created a simple checklist to minimize risk:

• No forever chemicals of any type

• No coatings (which could scrape off with wear and tear)

• The ability to cook over high heat (a problem for some cookware with chemical exposure)

• Easy clean-up

The best of the bunch was Our Place’s Titanium Cookware Set. It offers nonstick cookware with zero coating, which means zero forever chemicals and a surface that doesn’t degrade. 

Instead of relying on coatings that break down, it’s made from pure titanium, ultra-hardened for lifelong durability. It combines the best of stainless steel, cast iron, and nonstick. 

We tried it out under all conditions for three months, and it held up. The best part? It’s both oven and dishwasher-safe. So it’s easy to prepare any meal, and clean-up is not a problem. 

Our Place is running its biggest sale of the season right now, up to 40% off sitewide, but only for a limited time. We love their stuff and bought the pans before asking them to become an APC partner. 

And if you're not sure it's right for your kitchen, their 100-day risk-free trial, free shipping, and free returns mean there's no downside to finding out. 

Beyond The Headline 
Are Probiotics Actually Helping Your Blood Sugar?

I recently saw an ad on Instagram suggesting probiotics will prevent diabetes. Any truth to this? -Lisa, Toronto

Most people taking a probiotic aren't sure if it's working. The research has been just vague enough to keep the hope alive, and the supplement aisle fully stocked. A new analysis clears some of that fog, though maybe not in the direction the industry would prefer.

A review of 8 controlled trials found that probiotics produced a small but consistent improvement in long-term blood sugar control in people with pre-diabetes, but had no meaningful effect on cholesterol, blood pressure, or body weight.

Researchers pooled data from trials involving people with pre-diabetes who took probiotics for 8 to 24 weeks — in capsules, powders, or fermented dairy like yogurt and kefir — using common strains you'd find on most supplement labels. The researchers primarily focused on HbA1c, a blood test that reflects your average blood sugar over the past 2 to 3 months.

Probiotic users saw a slight reduction (0.07%) in HbA1c compared to placebo. What stood out wasn't the size (it doesn’t jump off the page), but the consistency. Every single study pointed in the same direction, with no exceptions. No side effects were observed, either, which matters for something people take daily.

For context, the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program study, which focused on diet and exercise for diabetes prevention, produced reductions roughly 10 to 20 times larger than probiotics.

So probiotics do something, just not very much.

Your gut plays a role in how you process carbohydrates and respond to insulin. Certain probiotic strains appear to reduce gut inflammation and improve the response, though researchers are still working out which strains and at what doses matter most.

If you already eat yogurt or take a probiotic for gut health, there's no reason to stop; there may be a small bonus. But if pre-diabetes is your concern, the fundamentals still do the heavy lifting: more fiber, daily movement, resistance training, better sleep, and stress management. Probiotics can support the foundation. They can't replace it.

Adam’s Corner
Failure Is Misunderstood

He wants to deadlift the person he used to be.

That’s not exactly how Ben said it. But that’s what it is. Ben’s goal — the one he’s been chasing, the one he described to me in Birmingham at the Arnold Sports Festival UK — is to pull from the floor the exact number that once appeared on a scale when he stepped on it. His former body weight loaded onto a barbell.

He talked about it the way people talk about something they’ve been living with for a long time. The tone — the pain and intensity —of a man who has decided something and isn’t in a hurry to undecide it until it has been accomplished.

And he’s close. Oh so close. He can deadlift 430 pounds (195 kg). That’s real weight. Ben is strong. However, the number he’s chasing is just beyond that.

At one point, the number on the scale was 482 pounds (218.7 kg to be exact).

As Ben put it, “That’s the albatross around my neck I need to defeat utterly.”

Before you write off Ben, the amount of weight he has lost and what he has overcome would shock you.

I listened. I asked a few questions. And somewhere in our conversation, I noticed something shift in his expression. The intensity was still there. But underneath it, just barely visible, was something else.

Frustration. Pain. Maybe even some doubt. The particular kind that comes not from quitting, but from continuing. From doing everything right and still not being where you wanted to be by now.

“I keep getting close, but I have a mental block” he said.

I recognized that feeling immediately. I’ve seen it for more than 20 years of helping people overcome barriers. And over the last month, I heard it in Columbus and the UK for our live events.

Friction Isn’t What You Think

A few weeks earlier in Columbus, I’d spent time with Ryan. He had set a goal weight for the event. He fell ten pounds short. He’d lost nearly twenty pounds and hit a deadlift PR, and he couldn’t quite locate the satisfaction in either of those things because he’d arrived at the number he was supposed to hit and found it just out of reach.

There was Nicki, who had never done a pullup in her life and can now do three in a set. Still working. Still frustrated that more haven’t arrived yet.

There was Lisa, who emailed me upset because she can’t yet afford to travel to these meetups. She’s saving. She’s planning. She’s going to get there. But right now the goal is still on the other side of a gap she can’t close today.

Every one of these people is in motion. Every one of them is doing the work. And every one of them has found a way to frame what they’re doing as falling short.

I’ve been thinking about why that is. And I think it comes down to a misunderstanding so common, so deeply embedded in the way we talk about goals and effort and progress, that most of us don’t even notice it.

We’ve been taught to treat falling short as failure. It isn’t. It’s only a failure if you stop.

When you go after something that matters — something genuinely hard, the kind of goal that requires you to become someone you aren’t yet — friction is not an accident. It’s not a signal that you chose wrong or that something is broken.

It’s a signal that you care. That you’re going after something meaningful. That you believe in a future version of yourself and are willing to push toward it even when it resists. The resistance is the proof of what you’re after.

Some people feel that friction and take it as a sign to stop. I understand the logic. The mind, looking for evidence, finds the gap between where you are and where you wanted to be, and presents it as a verdict.

You tried. It didn’t work. Maybe this isn’t for you.

But friction, frustration, and struggle is not a verdict. That’s a test.

We all have experienced it in many different ways. My first book proposal was rejected. So I wrote another. Rejected. I wrote another. Rejected again. The fourth one was approved. If I’d stopped after the first rejection — or the second, or the third — that would have been failure. 

But I didn’t stop. Which means none of those rejections were failure. They were part of the process. Not “you can’t do this,” and more, “do this better, and what you want will arrive.” Steps on a path I couldn’t fully see yet.

That’s not a fitness story. That’s not a weight loss story. It’s not a deadlift story. It’s just how life works, in every domain, for everyone who has ever tried to build something that didn’t already exist.

It’s Not A Roadblock. It’s a Springboard

Here’s the part that gets missed in almost every conversation about goals and failure:

Even if you never hit the goal you set, you have still evolved as a person and are better for it. 

The journey of pushing, scratching, clawing, and showing up when you don’t want to — when others would have stopped, when no one would blame you for stopping — that journey makes you a different person than you were. A better one. That change is permanent. No one can take it back.

And if you don’t quit, that evolution continues. The person who doesn’t stop is almost impossible to stop. I genuinely believe that. Success becomes not just possible but close to inevitable, because you keep accumulating something that can’t be rushed or bought or shortcut: the knowledge of what you’re actually made of.

There’s no shame in working hard at something and falling short. It will hurt. You’ll be disappointed. But you’ll be better for it. The thing you don’t want to do is miss the success that’s already right in front of you.

Ryan lost twenty pounds. He doesn’t get to lose those twenty pounds again, or take them back, or have them not count because he wanted thirty. They’re gone. He’s different.

Nicki can do three pullups. Three things she could not do before. The version of her who couldn’t do any of them is receding.

And Ben. That wonderful man still struggles, understandably, to see what I do. 

Ben has lost an amount of weight that most people cannot fully comprehend. Ben has already dropped 196 pounds and kept it off. That is rare air. 

Ben inspires me. He has rebuilt his body across years of consistent, unglamorous work. 

The number on the bar is the last checkpoint on a journey that required more from him than most of us will ever be asked to give. 

He’s not almost there. He’s still going. Those are not the same thing.

I’m not going to tell you to stop believing in failure. That’s not how the mind works, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone. You have to make that choice on your own. 

What I hope is that you can start to see your frustration differently. That the things you believe are holding you back are often the exact experiences you need to get past the biggest hurdles in your life. 

That falling short of a goal, on the way to still pursuing it, is not the end of the story. It’s just the part where the story gets hard.

Life is fluid. As long as you keep moving, the thing you’re calling failure is really just the path — one step in a journey that isn’t over, toward a version of yourself that’s still being built.

If you don’t quit, you haven’t failed.

That’s not a consolation. That’s the whole truth. -AB

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• How your diet influences fertility

• Are you the right age for a multivitamin?

• Fact or fiction: processed foods

• The food that supports healthy blood pressure

On Our Radar 
The Diet Factor That Might Shape Your Reproductive Health

Many factors influence the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy, and new research suggests that what you eat could support the journey.

A diverse diet may be linked to better reproductive health and improved infant outcomes.

Researchers analyzed multiple studies to determine whether eating a broad range of nutrient-dense foods was associated with better health markers for fertility, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes.

The findings suggested that women with higher diet diversity scores — meaning they consumed a wider variety of nutrient-rich foods — had better reproductive health outcomes, including improved fertility markers and healthier pregnancies. Additionally, infants born to mothers with diverse diets had better birth outcomes, including healthier birth weights and lower risks of complications.

The researchers believe that consuming a variety of nutrient-dense foods helps optimize micronutrient intake, supporting hormonal balance, egg quality, and overall reproductive function. Certain vitamins and minerals — such as folate, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids — are particularly beneficial during pregnancy, and a diverse diet naturally increases the likelihood of adequate intake.

What does this mean for you? Whether you're planning for pregnancy or just aiming for better overall health, incorporating a variety of whole, nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats, may offer benefits. Instead of focusing on a single “perfect diet,” aim for balance and diversity in your meals.

Together With Momentous 
Does A Daily Multivitamin Help Protect Your Brain?

For years, the knock on multivitamins was simple: healthy people don't need them, and most of what you swallow just passes through. That might still be true for some things. But when it comes to your brain as you get older, a recent study suggests the math might be different.

A study of more than 5,000 older adults found that those who took a daily multivitamin for two to three years had noticeably better memory than those who took a placebo. The researchers estimate that taking multivitamins led to the equivalent of a brain about two years younger.

The researchers took older adults and split them into two groups. One group took a daily multivitamin. The other took a sugar pill. Nobody knew what they were getting. After two to three years, both groups completed memory and cognitive tests. The multivitamin group was consistently better at recalling specific information, such as names, events, and things they'd learned. That gap held up across multiple rounds of testing and multiple groups of participants.

The researchers believe it comes down to nutritional gaps. As we get older, our bodies absorb certain vitamins and minerals less efficiently, and most people aren't eating perfectly to begin with. 

Nutrients such as B vitamins, vitamin D, and zinc play well-known roles in how brain cells function and protect themselves. When those levels drop, cognitive function can slip. A daily multivitamin may be enough to fill in those gaps and keep things running better over time.

The benefits were real but modest. Multivitamins might help, but this isn't a cure for memory loss. And the research is most relevant to adults 60 and older, where nutritional shortfalls tend to widen.

But if you're already in that range, the math is hard to argue with. A daily multivitamin is one of the more cost-effective supplements, and it’s easy to take. 

Momentous Essential Multi is built for exactly what this research suggests: filling real nutritional gaps without megadoses, gimmicks, or fairy dust. The formula uses bioavailable forms of key nutrients (such as B vitamins, vitamin D, zinc, and magnesium), modeled on how they occur in nutrient-dense foods rather than in lab extremes.

That matters because the benefit in these studies didn’t come from one “miracle” nutrient. It came from consistently getting enough of the basics. 

Momentous makes one we trust because it’s designed to support long-term health, not short-term hype. Save 35% off your first subscription order or 14% off any non-subscription purchase with the code “PUMPCLUB.”

A multivitamin isn’t a treatment. It's a modest, consistent protective layer. The kind of thing that probably won't feel like it's working until one day it has.

Fact Or Fiction
Are Processed Foods Always Bad for You?

Every time you reach for food that comes in a bag, you might have felt a small pang of doubt. Processed. The word sits there like a warning label. Vague enough to apply to almost anything, specific enough to make you feel like you're making the wrong choice.

Here's the problem: that feeling is built on a false premise, and the science is starting to expose it.

While ultra-processed foods are associated with overeating, not all processed foods are bad. And research suggests that texture is one of the most powerful drivers of how much you eat. 

And conflating "processed" with "ultra-processed" has been steering people away from nutritious, affordable foods for the wrong reasons. Start with the language, because this is where most people get lost. Not all processed food is the same. 

Minimally processed foods — frozen vegetables, canned beans, Greek yogurt — have been modified to preserve or improve their nutritional value. 

Ultra-processed foods are a different category entirely: packaged snacks, sugary drinks, and products engineered for maximum palatability with minimal nutritional payoff. When research links "processed food" to health problems, it's almost always referring to that second group. Lumping frozen spinach in with Doritos isn't just imprecise; it pushes people away from some of the cheapest, most convenient healthy options available.

Now here's where it gets more interesting. Even within the ultra-processed category, a randomized crossover trial found that texture matters more than most people realize. Researchers fed 50 healthy adults four different meals — soft minimally processed, hard minimally processed, soft ultra-processed, and hard ultra-processed — and tracked every bite, chew, and swallow on video. And then the participants were able to eat as much as they wanted until full. 

The fewest calories came from the hard, minimally processed meal (483 calories). The most came from the soft ultra-processed meal (789 calories). That's a difference of roughly 300 calories from the same sitting. 

But here's the part worth remembering: the hard ultra-processed meal produced nearly as low an intake as the hard minimally processed one. Texture was doing more work than the processing level.

The reason comes down to pace. Harder foods require more chewing, which forces you to eat more slowly. And your body's fullness signals take roughly 15 to 20 minutes to register. When you eat faster, you outrun them every time. 

Another study confirmed the connection: participants consuming an ultra-processed diet chewed significantly fewer times per calorie and ate 813 more calories daily during that period compared to when they weren't eating ultra-processed foods.

None of this is a green light for ultra-processed foods. A 2025 meta-analysis found that higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality. The evidence against that category is real and growing. 

But the practical reframe matters: the problem isn't "processed." It's soft, hyper-palatable foods specifically engineered to make you eat faster and more than you intended.

If there’s anything to remember, it’s this: First, you don't need to avoid minimally processed foods out of a vague fear of processing. Frozen vegetables, canned beans, and plain Greek yogurt have a place in your kitchen. 

Second, when you're choosing between options (especially snack foods) default to the crunchier, denser one. 

Foods Are Super 
Good Blood Pressure? Here's What Might Help You Keep It That Way

There's a category of health advice that sounds too good to be true and often is. "Eat more dark chocolate. It's good for your heart." You've probably heard some version of this, maybe even used it to justify the extra square after dinner.

The largest and longest cocoa trial ever conducted found that supplementation did not prevent hypertension in the general population. However, for adults who already had optimal blood pressure at baseline, it was linked to a 24% lower risk of developing high blood pressure over three-plus years.

Researchers studied nearly 9,000 older adults (men and women) who started the study with healthy blood pressure. Half received 500 mg of cocoa flavanols daily (via supplement capsule, not food) for a median of 3.4 years. The other half got a placebo.

In the full group, cocoa supplementation did not significantly reduce the risk of hypertension. Among participants who entered with ideal systolic blood pressure under 120 mmHg, though, the picture shifted: a 24% risk reduction that emerged after two years and held up through rigorous statistical testing.

Researchers believe the mechanism involves epicatechin, a flavanol compound that supports the inner lining of blood vessels in producing nitric oxide, which keeps them relaxed and pressure stable. The analogy: maintaining good pipes rather than trying to clear a clog that's already formed.

While we love getting our nutrients from whole foods, the 500 mg flavanol dose is substantially higher than what you'd get from dark chocolate, so this isn't a license to eat more of it.

If your blood pressure is currently in a healthy range, that's worth protecting. Flavanol supplementation is one option to consider, especially if you're thinking about health over the next few decades rather than the next few months.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• From broken to breakthroughs

• Does your brain change on social media?

• The kidney disease study that might change how you think about protein

• How to overcome your nerves

Pump Club Success Stories
From “Broken” To Thriving

Real People. Real Stories. Real Limits Overcome. You Can Do It Too.

Arnold promised we would share stories of amazing turnarounds from The Pump Club community to help you believe that anything is possible if you’re willing to bet on yourself. This is an unedited response.

My name is Elise, I’m 63 years young (can’t be true, but it is). I’m a retired aerospace executive that ran a company and a degreed engineer. After two major surgeries, I came here pretty broken in mind and body. My core was gone instantaneously from the surgeries. 

From someone that did 300 situps with a plate, I could only barrel roll out of bed. From someone who did 2 triathlons, was a gymnast and diver, I could barely walk 100 yards after surgery and my balance was shot. I had worked myself almost literally to death. 

Sleep was an inconvenience of about 4 hours a night due to stress and jet lag. My resting heart rate was in the 80s. My cholesterol was off the charts. I had gained 20 freaking pounds. 

I was not me anymore. I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. I hurt every damn day. It was sucking out my spirit.  

MDs were telling me to adjust to a “new normal” and to “act my age” now. F- that! I just couldn’t accept that.  

I found this app, and it’s been a life changer. 

I started this about 2 years ago and have put in the reps religiously, except when sick.

I love the coaching sessions of @nicolai @jenwiderstrom and comeback stories of @adam. The success stories of @ketch and people like @peggysue @benriley  @jamesrice @emmamichaelsen @ameliefillion  @agentanita @joedillon68 @rps @supernaut77 who acknowledge and inspire me to be my best self. My numbers speak for themselves: 

• Cholesterol down 116 points without drugs

• Down 10 pounds (more to go)

• Resting heart rate 48-62 bpm 

• Running rate down from 160 to 135 bpm 

• Sleep 7 hours a night 

• I deadlifted 150 pounds in front of @arnold 🤯

BUT here is what I really got back:

• I hiked to potato chip rock, did the Narrowns in Zion, Grand Canyon rim trail, Bryce Canyon. 

• I skied again after 5 year hiatus

• I won 3rd place in a 5K and have 6 runs this year. 

• I’m going to Machu Picchu to walk the Inca Trail

• I can play the piano for 30 minutes without back pain. 

Thanks, Arnold, village, and team, mostly for giving me back my joie d’vivre. 

Want to turn around your health? Join the app, enjoy 7 free days, and experience the difference in the positive corner of the internet.

Mental Health
What Three Years of Brain Scans Revealed About Social Media

Almost every social media app is built around one behavioral mechanic: the unpredictable reward. Sometimes you check, and nothing happened. Sometimes there are 47 likes. That uncertainty is the point. It’s the same psychology that makes slot machines hard to put down. 

A three-year study wanted to know what that mechanic does to a brain that's still being built.

Kids who checked social media daily showed different brain development in regions tied to social reward and attention.

Researchers tracked children over three years using annual brain imaging sessions. Starting at ages 12 to 13, students reported how often they checked Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and then were divided into habitual checkers (at least once daily) and non-habitual checkers. Each year, researchers scanned their brains as the kids anticipated social feedback from peers, measuring activity in regions that govern emotional processing, motivation, and cognitive control.

Habitual checkers showed lower neural sensitivity in the brain's social reward regions. Over three years, that sensitivity increased while non-habitual checkers moved in the opposite direction. The trajectories diverged.

The researchers aren’t completely sure why this happens. It could reflect conditioning: brains becoming more reactive to social feedback, hungrier for the signal. Or it could be an adaptation to a noisier social environment. The lead researcher noted the increased sensitivity "may promote future compulsive social media use," but also "could reflect a possible adaptive behavior."

For parents, this doesn't require banning everything. It's about disrupting the checking loop.

And, it might be a sign that it’s a good idea to delay access to social media until at least 14 years of age. 

If your child is on social media, and even for yourself, it’s likely helpful to build phone-free windows into the day: meals, mornings, and the hour before bed. If phones are present, change the environment: notifications off, face down, out of the bedroom at night.

Health
The Kidney Disease Study That Might Change The Way People Think About Protein

Most people who've heard "go easy on protein, it stresses your kidneys" never stopped to ask where that idea came from. The answer matters a lot.

The warning was based on research in people with advanced kidney failure. It's been applied, ever since, to nearly everyone else. But new research might even suggest that the recommendation could be outdated. 

A study following more than 8,500 older adults for up to 10 years found that higher protein intake was associated with significantly lower risk of death, including in people with early-stage kidney disease.

Researchers pooled data from three national cohorts of people with chronic kidney disease (stages 1-3). Contrary to the long-standing myth, eating 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, versus 0.8 g/kg, was associated with a 27% lower mortality risk over the decade. 

For adults without kidney disease, each 0.2 g/kg increase in protein intake is associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of premature death.

Both plant and animal protein showed protective associations. Plant sources appeared slightly more protective in the kidney disease group, likely because of the fiber, minerals, and lower acid load that accompany them. The lesson isn't to abandon one for the other. It's to make sure both are consistently on your plate.

The reason isn't complicated. Protein maintains muscle. Muscle maintains everything else: immune function, metabolic resilience, and the capacity to recover when illness arrives. When older adults under-eat protein out of caution, they lose muscle faster, become frail sooner, and face a narrower margin when health challenges become real.

And to be clear: muscle is built by resistance training first and foremost. And then protein supports the process.

One important exception: this study excluded people with advanced kidney disease (stages 4–5), who still require individualized guidance from their medical team and might require lower protein intake. 

For everyone else, if some version of the kidney warning has been quietly sitting in the back of your head, the evidence says the cost of eating too little protein is almost certainly greater than the risk. Most adults need 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. Getting toward the higher end of that range, especially as you age, is now looking like one of the most defensible choices you can make.

Instant Health Boost 
How Elite Athletes Can Help You Manage Nervousness More Effectively

Before a big presentation, a tough conversation, or any moment where something matters, most people try to talk themselves out of the nerves. But that might be the wrong goal entirely.

Elite athletes don't experience less pre-competition anxiety than their less experienced peers. They interpret the same physical symptoms as helpful rather than harmful, and that reframing is a learnable skill.

Researchers tested elite athletes to understand how they manage anxiety. Many people believe that anxiety is something you need to eliminate. But the research discovered something else entirely. 

Elite athletes and non-athletes reported similar anxiety. The gap wasn't in how much they felt; it was entirely in what they believed those feelings meant. 

Elite athletes were significantly more likely to label a racing heart, tight chest, and heightened mental alertness as signs they were ready. Non-elite swimmers, feeling the exact same sensations, were more likely to read them as signs that something was wrong.

The scientists believe it comes down to perceived control. When athletes feel their anxiety symptoms are within their influence, they tend to see them as useful. When they feel helpless against the sensations, the same physiological state becomes a threat. Same body chemistry, completely different story.

And before you tell yourself, "Well, elite athletes are wired differently," subsequent research found that imagery, goal-setting, and self-talk can actually shift how people interpret their anxiety. 

So the next time nerves show up before something you care about, try interpreting the anxiety as a sign of readiness. That's not forced positivity. It's a skill three decades of research says you can build.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s Corner: Monday motivation

• The most overlooked nutrient for metabolic health

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation:  The Most Powerful Word Nobody Wants to Use

People ask me all the time what the secret is.

To the physique. To the career. To staying motivated decades after most people would have quit.

I always give them the same answer, and they always look a little disappointed.

No.

Not a program. Not a supplement. Not some morning routine. 

The “secret” is the word no.

Said clearly, said often, and said without apology.

In the last month, I’ve turned down dinners with billionaires, big Hollywood parties where everyone wants to be seen, and awards shows.

I said no to all of them. Without losing sleep.

And I want to explain why, because the reason isn’t what most people think.

It starts with vision.

I have talked about this before, and I will keep talking about it because most people still haven’t done it. 

You need a vision. Not a goal. Not a mood board. A real, specific, non-negotiable picture of who you are becoming and what you are building.

When I was a kid in Thal, Austria, I didn’t just want to be big. I wanted to be the greatest bodybuilder in the world, move to America, make millions of dollars, and become a movie star.

That’s not a vague wish. That’s a vision.

I could see it. I could feel it. It wasn’t a fantasy; it was a destination I was already moving toward in my mind before I had any evidence it was possible.

And here’s what having a clear vision does that nothing else can: it turns every decision into an easy one.

Not easy like comfortable. Easy like obvious.

We’ve talked about this one before, but it’s worth revisiting because people forget it when they need it most.

When I was retiring from competitive bodybuilding, Jack LaLanne, the godfather of fitness, a man I respected enormously and idolized for how he promoted fitness, offered me $200,000 to run his gym chain. Promotional tours. Advertisements. A lot of money for a young Austrian immigrant who hadn’t yet proven himself in Hollywood.

Most people, even successful people, would have said yes. The upside was obvious. The money was insane for that time. And the alternative…betting everything on becoming a leading man in movies, when no one with my accent and my background had done it…was far from guaranteed, to say the least.

I said no. With respect, but without hesitation, without regret.

Because I had a vision, and that vision was being a movie star. “My goal is to be a leading man,” I told myself. “To be another Clint Eastwood, another Charles Bronson. I want to make a million dollars a movie.”

That vision made the no simple. 

As I wrote in Be Useful, knowing my vision made saying no very easy. I was comfortable turning down that money and the different kind of fame the job would bring. I was calm. Because I had just sidestepped something that was an amazing opportunity, and also a giant distraction.

That’s the key word. Distraction.

Everything that pulls you from your vision is a distraction. And every distraction is an easy no.

This is my focus principle, and it has governed every chapter of my career.

During Olympia prep, I trained while other guys went out. Those nights might have been very fun, but they pulled me from my vision. During my Hollywood years, I turned down roles that would have paid well but positioned me as a character actor instead of a leading man. Easy no, that path wasn’t my vision.

During my time as governor, I said no to the business deals, the side ventures, the opportunities that would have made me richer but made me less effective in the job I’d committed to.

None of those nos were painful. When you know where you’re going, you stop mourning the detours you don’t take.

The parties I skip now, the dinners with billionaires I decline. It is the same principle, different chapter. My vision today is my health, my family, my work to protect the planet, and promoting fitness. A late night in a room full of fascinating people is wonderful. It is also, for me, a distraction. So it’s a no. Fast, clean, no explanation required.

Most people have it backwards.

They think discipline is about forcing yourself to do hard things. White-knuckling it. Grinding through resistance.

That’s not discipline. That’s just suffering without a destination.

Real discipline is clarity. When you know your vision, and I mean truly know it, not as a vague hope but as a specific destination you can see, the hard choices stop feeling hard.

The question isn’t, “Can I say no to this?” The question is, “Does this serve my vision?” If yes, you do it. If no, you don’t.

The fear of missing out disappears because you aren’t missing out on anything that matters.

Think about it this way: every yes you say is also a no in disguise. When you say yes to the thing that pulls you sideways, you are saying no to the thing you claim to care most about. You are making that trade whether you acknowledge it or not.

You only have so much time.

The people who seem to have unlimited discipline aren’t grinding harder. They’ve made fewer decisions by the time it matters because they said no early, automatically, based on a vision that was clear before the opportunity ever appeared.

So here’s the real work.

Before you can say no effectively, you have to know what you’re saying yes to.

What is your vision? Not your New Year’s resolution. Not your current mood. Your actual vision. The specific picture of the person you are building. What does that person do every day? What do they protect?

Get that clear. Write it down. Make it real enough that you can feel it.

Because once you have it, the nos take care of themselves. The invitation that would cost you your morning training. The commitment that chips away at your evening with your kids. The opportunity that sounds exciting, but points in the wrong direction. You stop needing willpower to refuse them.

You just see them for what they are: distractions from a destination you’ve already chosen.

Say yes to your vision. Say no to everything else.

That’s not sacrifice. That’s selection. And it is the closest thing to a secret I have ever found.

Be The Spark:  You probably thought of someone when reading this who struggles to say no. Sometimes, all it takes is reaching out, sharing today’s APC with a short message, and letting them know you were thinking of them. That’s what it means to have the strength to lift up the world. Just help one person who could use the advice.

Start Your Week Right
The Nutrient Associated With Up to 39% Lower Death Risk

Out of all the foods that are celebrated for their benefits, the one that is ignored the most could be the key to dramatically cutting your risk of early death.

Scientists found that getting just 20-25 grams of fiber per day was linked to a 20% lower risk of dying from any cause and a 39% lower risk of dying from heart disease.

Researchers followed nearly 11,000 adults with metabolic syndrome for about 9 years. They measured their fiber intake, adjusted for lifestyle and medical factors, and tracked deaths using the National Death Index.

The results weren’t subtle. People eating more than 17.5 grams of fiber per day had significantly lower mortality (20% lower overall) and nearly 40% lower mortality from cardiovascular disease, compared to those eating less than 11 grams. That means you don’t need to hit the official recommendation of 25 to 38 grams to start experiencing health benefits.

While it’s often overlooked, fiber is tied to many health benefits. Soluble fiber helps lower LDL cholesterol, reduces inflammation, and improves blood sugar; fiber-rich foods tend to support a healthier gut microbiome; and eating more fiber usually means eating fewer ultra-processed foods that strain metabolic health. All of these matter even more when you already have metabolic risk factors.

If you want to see how much fiber you’re getting, take this Fiber Quiz and determine your fiber gap. 

Then, to close the gap, you don’t need a diet overhaul. Instead, focus on adding 5 to 10 grams of fiber to what you’re already eating. If you need a place to start, Fiber+ is our easy button. 

But to build your foundation, find ways to sneak in more fiber-loaded options into any meal or snack. That means prioritizing: a cup of berries (4g), a tablespoon of chia or flax (3-5g), half a cup of beans or lentils (7-8g), or a serving of oats (4g). Any of these foods moves you toward the 25-gram minimum target. Increase gradually to avoid GI discomfort, mix your sources (fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts), and track your intake for a week to learn your baseline.

Small steps add up, and in this case, they could add years.

Fitness 
Workout Of The Week 

Three exercises. Three days. Three different rep ranges. And that's the whole point.

This full-body program uses the same core movements each session but shifts the rep range to teach you how to push near failure at different weights. For each working set, the goal is to pick a weight that lets you hit the rep range without 1-2 reps of complete failure. 

Before your working sets, complete 2-4 progressive warm-up sets on each exercise. How many depends on how heavy you're going. Let the rep range guide your load: the lower the reps, the heavier the weight. The movements are also flexible, assuming you use an appropriate alternative. For example, a back squat or rear-foot elevated split squat works anywhere a front squat is listed.

Day 1

1. Front squat: 2 sets x 5 reps

2. Bent-over row: 2 sets x 5 reps

3. Overhead press: 2 sets x 5 reps

4. Romanian deadlift 2 sets x 5 reps

Day 2

1. Bent-over row: 3 x 12 

2. Romanian deadlift: 3 x 12

3. Front squat: 3 x 12

4. Overhead press: 3 x 12 

Day 3

1. Overhead press: 3 x 8-10

2. Romanian deadlift: 3 x 8-10

3. Front squat: 3 x 8-10

4. Bent-over row: 3 x 8-10 

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

Editor’s Note: We’ll never stop giving you a free Workout of the Week. Because we believe everyone should have access to exercise.

But there’s a difference between a workout and a program. 

A “Workout of the day” feels great — you sweat, you’re sore — but soreness isn’t the goal. Exhaustion doesn’t make you better. Your body adapts best when workouts build on each other with intention, not when every session stands alone.

This workout will challenge you today, but a program is what changes you over weeks, months, and years. If you need help, you can try our customized programs free for 7 days. We do the thinking, giving you access to the best coaches, and provide accountability, so you see the improvements.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• The longevity trait you’re probably forgetting

• Weekly wisdom

• You’ll never think of tea time the same way

• Feel stuck with your progress? This can help.

Longevity
Number You Won’t Forget: 6-7X

Do you train for muscle power? Here’s why you should. 

You might think being strong is the best way to protect your health as you age. But new research suggests that how fast you can move with strength is even more important than how much you can lift.

People with low muscle power face roughly 6 to 7 times the risk of early death compared to those with the highest power levels, even after accounting for age, body composition, and chronic disease history.

Scientists tracked nearly 4,000 adults for more than 10 years to determine whether muscle strength or muscle power predicted better longevity. They measured power using an explosive upper-body rowing movement adjusted for body weight, and strength using a handgrip test.

When researchers sorted participants into groups based on their relative muscle power, those in the lowest-performing group had roughly 6 times the risk of death among men and 7 times the risk among women compared to those with the highest power levels. Muscle strength, by contrast, did not reach statistical significance as a predictor of mortality after full adjustment for other health factors.

This matters because muscle power declines faster with age than strength does, and it's what you rely on every time you react quickly, stabilize yourself, or move dynamically. Having adequate power can help you avoid falls, recover your balance, and move with more confidence, which translates into a lower risk of injuries and chronic diseases.

The reminder: You can't just be strong, you need to be fast and powerful.

To improve muscle power, you don't need to train like an Olympic athlete, and you don’t have to focus on maximum weights either (that’s more related to strength). But you do need to move with intent and speed: think explosive squats, presses, and rows; medicine ball throws; kettlebell swings; or speed push-ups. 

Research suggests that lighter loads (think 30–40% of your max effort) moved with the intention of moving as fast as possible can be as effective, or even better, for developing power than heavy, slow lifting. What matters most is the intent. Even if your actual movement speed is limited, trying to move explosively still trains your neuromuscular system to produce force more quickly.

If you want to age well, you have to move like you mean it.

Mindset 
Weekly Wisdom

You snap at someone you love. You eat the thing you said you wouldn't. You check your phone the moment you wake up — again — and wonder why the morning already feels like it's happening to you.

It doesn't feel like a choice. It feels like gravity.

That's the trap of reactivity. Not that we're weak or undisciplined. But that we've collapsed the distance between what happens and what we do next. 

Stimulus arrives. Response fires. No pause. No deliberation. Just the feeling, afterward, that someone else was driving.

Frankl wasn't writing about willpower. He was writing about freedom: the last freedom, he argued, that no external force can take. He knew this firsthand.

As a psychiatrist imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, he watched everything he loved stripped away. What he found, in the wreckage, was that the one thing no one could confiscate was the sliver of space between what was done to him and how he chose to meet it.

Most of us will never face what he faced. But the principle holds at every scale: at the dinner table, in traffic, in the middle of an argument, in front of the refrigerator at 10 PM.

The space is always there. We've just stopped noticing it.

Here's what makes reactivity so seductive: it feels efficient. The emotion arrives, and the behavior follows. An autopilot that saves you from the friction of deciding. But that efficiency has a cost. 

You lose authorship of your own life, one small reaction at a time.

The person who can't stop stress eating isn't weak. They've built a zero-gap reflex: stress appears, food appears. The person who always escalates in conflict isn't cruel. They've trained themselves to close the space before anything else can enter it.

What Frankl is offering isn't just a lesson in stoicism. It's a design principle. If you want different outcomes, you don't need more motivation. You need more space.

We've seen this play out in coaching more times than we can count. Someone convinced they have no self-control. Turns out they have plenty, but they've just never given it room to operate. One breath. One step away from the kitchen. One text drafted but not sent. That's the whole practice. Not erasing the stimulus. Not suppressing the feeling. Just inserting a gap.

Turn wisdom into action

Pick one pattern where you feel like you're always reacting: a food trigger, a person, a situation that reliably derails you. When it shows up, don't try to respond differently yet. Just pause for five seconds first. Not to think. Not to strategize. Just to create the space. That's it. You're not fighting the feeling. You're making room for a choice to exist.

Frankl's insight survived conditions most of us can't imagine. What makes it remarkable isn't its complexity. It's how small and meaningfully effective it is.

Together With Pique
Your Tea Habit Might Be Protecting Your Heart in More Ways Than One

Coffee gets all the research attention. But if your morning (or afternoon, or evening) belongs to tea, a new study of more than 188,000 people suggests you've been collecting health benefits that rarely make headlines.

Drinking up to 3 cups of tea per day was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic conditions simultaneously, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, according to a 12-year prospective study.

Researchers followed healthy adults and tracked who developed "cardiometabolic multi-morbidity,” which was the presence of at least two of the following conditions: type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, or stroke. 

Tea showed a protective association, with benefits increasing up to three cups of tea per day, and then leveling off. To be clear, this is observational data, and it’s good to remember that association is not causation.

Two things in tea appear to be doing the work. The first is polyphenols, which are the compounds that give tea its color and slightly bitter edge. Think of them as internal housekeepers: they reduce oxidative stress, which is essentially the cellular wear-and-tear that accumulates over time and contributes to arterial damage and metabolic dysfunction. 

Tea is one of the richest dietary sources of these compounds, and the research suggests that the combination of different polyphenols working together produces a stronger protective effect than any single one would alone.

The second mechanism involves caffeine, and here's where tea gets an honest asterisk. Caffeine appears to block a protein in the liver that would otherwise break down LDL receptors, the very receptors responsible for pulling "bad" cholesterol out of your bloodstream. Fewer functional receptors mean more LDL circulating, and more receptors mean better clearance. 

Caffeine helps keep those receptors active. The catch: a cup of tea tends not to contain as much caffeine as coffee, which is why you also see impressive results with coffee. Tea's benefits likely lean more on the polyphenol side of the equation than on the caffeine side.

If you already drink tea, 2-3 cups daily appears to be the range worth maintaining. If you've been looking for the lowest-barrier health habit possible, a cup at lunch or dinner is a simple addition. 

That's why we recommend Pique tea, which offers both Pu'er green tea and matcha, both of which have higher catechin levels. Their Cold Brew Crystallization process — which cold-brews organic tea leaves for up to 8 hours, then removes the water through low-temperature dehydration and preserves up to 12x the catechins and antioxidants compared to conventional tea. That way, you get a more concentrated dose, like what’s used in the research, but in a form you can actually enjoy every morning.

Every batch is triple-screened for heavy metals and harmful microbes. And because it dissolves instantly in hot or cold water, hitting 2-4 cups a day actually becomes something you do, not something you intend to do.

As an APC reader, you get up to 20% off and a free starter kit on subscriptions of $100+. No code needed, and your discount applies automatically at checkout.

Better Questions, Better Solutions
You Think You're Stuck. But Here’s Why You're Not.

Old Question: Why does it feel like I'm not improving?
Better Question: What skill or behavior do I now take for granted that I couldn't do a year ago?

Progress doesn't disappear. It hides inside everything you've stopped noticing.

This is the cruel math of getting better at something: the moment a skill becomes automatic, it stops feeling like an achievement. Your brain files it under "normal" and immediately starts measuring you against the next frontier. 

What used to be hard becomes invisible. What remains is only the gap.

Psychologists call this adaptation: the brain's tendency to recalibrate what's baseline after any significant change. It's useful for survival. It's terrible for motivation.

The real problem isn't a lack of progress. It's that progress is erased by familiarity the moment it arrives.

Research on goal pursuit supports this. When people focus only on what's left to accomplish, they underestimate how far they've come, leading to reduced effort, lower satisfaction, and a creeping sense that nothing is working. But when the same people were prompted to reflect on their past progress before setting new goals, motivation and follow-through both increased significantly.

The finish line blinds us to the distance already covered.

But looking back is only half of it. Researchers, after analyzing thousands of daily work diaries, found that the single biggest driver of motivation wasn't reaching a milestone — it was the feeling of moving forward, no matter how small. 

The brain doesn't wait for outcomes to register progress. Completing a behavior triggers a neurological signal that reinforces the habit. The outcome — the weight lost, the PR hit, the goal achieved — is just confirmation of work the brain already logged.

Which means there are two ways to fight progress amnesia. 

One is looking backward and recognizing what's now automatic. The other is tracking forward and recording behavioral wins before outcomes arrive to validate them. 

Not "did I lose two pounds this week?" but "did I show up?" Those are different questions with very different emotional effects. One leaves you at the mercy of a number. The other puts you in charge of the only thing you actually control.

This weekend, write down three things you do automatically now that required real effort twelve months ago. Not goals. Behaviors. Maybe you sleep seven hours most nights. Maybe you don't skip the gym when you're tired. Maybe you eat protein at breakfast without thinking about it. Then, starting tomorrow, track one behavior daily. Not the outcome it's building toward, just whether you did the thing.

Those aren't small things. Those were once hard things. They just stopped feeling that way, which means they worked.

Progress doesn't always feel like acceleration. Sometimes it feels like standing still while the ground beneath you rises. One question. One reframe. One thing to try.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. Remember, you have endless opportunities to get better every day. Don’t overthink it, do something, and repeat. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel 

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Cardio that burns fat and maintains muscle?

• Time to check your cookware receipts

• A hidden reason why you keep getting hurt

• Adam’s Corner: Forgetting, calorie counting, and the science of change

On Our Radar 
Your Cardio Burns Fat. But Does It Keep Your Muscle?

Most people treat cardio like a simple math problem: more movement, more calories burned, better outcome. And for a lot of goals, that logic mostly holds. But new research on older adults points to a wrinkle worth knowing: what you burn and what you keep might depend heavily on how hard you're working.

A preliminary study found that both high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity cardio reduced fat mass, but only HIIT preserved lean muscle, while moderate-intensity cardio led to modest muscle losses alongside the fat.

Researchers randomly place healthy adults into one of three 6-month treadmill programs: low-intensity training, moderate-intensity continuous training, or high-intensity interval training. All sessions ran for 45 minutes, three times per week, under close supervision. The HIIT protocol alternated hard intervals at 85% to 95% of max heart rate with short active recovery periods. Adherence was exceptional, with nearly 100% of participants completing the study across all groups.

Both HIIT and moderate-intensity cardio improved visceral fat, the deeper abdominal fat tied to metabolic risk. But only the HIIT group maintained lean muscle mass. 

The moderate-intensity group shed modest amounts of muscle alongside the fat. Low-intensity training results were harder to interpret cleanly.

The scientists believe high-intensity work places greater metabolic stress on muscle, sending a stronger signal to preserve it during a fat-loss response, essentially telling the body to burn fat rather than eat muscle tissue. Moderate cardio may not generate enough of that signal to trigger the same protection.

The study wasn't statistically powered to confirm these differences. In other words, it’s a meaningful signal but far from a settled verdict.

If you're already doing steady-state cardio, nothing here suggests stopping. It’s good for many reasons, including heart health and overall fitness. If fat loss feels stalled, or you’re worried about losing muscle mass, you could swap out one or two slower cardio sessions for interval work that alternates between harder and easier efforts for 20 to 30 minutes. 

The older you get, the more muscle preservation matters. That doesn’t mean you have to sprint like you were 20. But it does mean you have to bring more intensity (relative to your ability) because it’s one lever you control.

Together With Our Place 
Where Did You Buy Your Cookware? It Matters More Than You Might Think

Most people who switched to "healthier" cookware made that decision based on material: ceramic instead of Teflon, non-stick instead of aluminum. That instinct is reasonable. But a growing body of peer-reviewed research suggests the more important variable isn't what your pan is made of. It's where it came from.

A peer-reviewed study found that aluminum and brass cookware sold on Amazon, Etsy, and eBay contained high lead levels that readily migrated into acidic foods, while stainless steel from the same marketplaces tested significantly lower.

Researchers analyzed 51 pieces of cookware purchased from U.S. online marketplaces between 2021 and 2023. Using a precise method for detecting trace metals, they found that imported aluminum and brass cookware leached substantial amounts of lead into acidic solutions designed to simulate real cooking conditions. Stainless steel purchased from those same sellers consistently performed better. 

A separate market screening of more than 5,000 consumer products across 25 countries found lead concentrations ranging from 100 to 10,000 parts per million in aluminum cookware, concentrations the FDA later cited when it issued an import alert after investigators linked imported aluminum pots to elevated blood lead levels in children.

The risk is a mix of material meets food science. Acidic foods — think tomatoes, citrus, vinegar — can accelerate metal release from reactive surfaces. Aluminum and brass are reactive metals, and at low pH, that reaction speeds up meaningfully. Other materials don’t have the same reaction. Titanium, for example, acts like a shield, preventing reactions with food, even at low pH. And ceramic is non-reactive (like glass), so it doesn’t react with acidic foods.

A few practical adjustments can help keep you safe. Avoid cheap, unbranded aluminum or brass cookware from online marketplaces. When cooking anything acidic, favor titanium, ceramic, or stainless steel. And if your non-stick pan shows visible scratches or wear, replace it. A compromised coating can expose the base metal underneath.

The brand that checks every box on that list is Our Place. We've been fans of their cookware for a while because they approach the category the way this research demands: direct-to-consumer sourcing (not an unbranded import from an online marketplace), transparent materials, and a product line built around non-reactive surfaces the science points toward. When a million people make the switch to the same brand, that's not marketing. That's a signal worth paying attention to.

Our personal favorite is the Our Place Titanium Cookware Set. It’s nonstick cookware with zero coating, which means zero forever chemicals and a surface that doesn’t degrade. Instead of relying on coatings that break down, it’s made from pure titanium, ultra-hardened for lifelong durability. It combines the best of stainless steel, cast iron, and nonstick. 

Our Place is running its biggest sale of the season right now, up to 40% off sitewide through April 12th. We love their stuff and bought the pans before asking them to become an APC partner. 

And if you're not sure it's right for your kitchen, their 100-day risk-free trial, free shipping, and free returns mean there's no downside to finding out. 

Your cookware is a daily decision. Make it once, make it well.

Fitness
The Running Risk That Has Nothing to Do With Your Mileage

Most runners who get hurt immediately audit the same suspects: too many miles, not enough rest days, worn-out shoes. Those things matter. But new research points to a risk factor that most training plans never think to address.

A study of recreational runners found that those with consistently poor sleep — shorter duration, lower quality, and more frequent sleep problems — were associated with significantly higher injury rates than runners who slept well.

Researchers sorted recreational runners into four sleep profiles, such as Steady Sleepers (average duration, above-average quality) and Poor Sleepers (shorter sleep, lower quality, more problems throughout). After controlling for age, gender, BMI, and running experience, the researchers compared injury rates across each profile.

Poor Sleepers had a 68% probability of reporting at least one injury in the prior year, compared to 55% for Steady Sleepers. 

For context, 60% of all runners in the study reported at least one injury over the prior year, a reminder that injury risk in recreational running starts high.

The study wasn’t exactly perfect. It was survey-based, cross-sectional data, which means it can't confirm whether poor sleep contributes to injury or whether injury disrupts sleep. Both are plausible. What gives the findings more weight is a prior meta-analysis showing that chronic sleep shortage was associated with roughly a 58% higher injury rate, a figure that closely aligns with this study's results.

Nearly 4 in 10 runners in this study fell into the Poor Sleeper category, a larger group than you might expect. Improving sleep isn't complicated on paper: a consistent bedtime, limiting afternoon caffeine, and actually protecting 7 to 9 hours instead of treating them as negotiable. 

If you're logging miles but regularly shortchanging your sleep, that may be the most important variable in your training you haven't fixed yet.

Adam’s Corner
What If You Forgot Everything You Know About Health?

He said it the way he says most things. Directly, without ceremony, as if it were obvious.

“I never did any of these things.”

I was talking with Arnold about health trends. The ones that cycle through every few years, wearing new names. Arnold has seen enough of them to know which ones disappear and which ones stick. So I asked him: after sixty years of training, what has actually lasted?

He gave me the answer, and I realized I already knew it.

The basics. It’s always the basics that work best.

And yet.

Look Into This Light

There’s a thought experiment I’ve been sitting with. Imagine someone wipes your memory clean — full Neuralyzer, Men in Black style — and you have to rediscover everything you know about health from scratch.

How long before you figure out that fruits and vegetables are good for you? That too much fast food has consequences? That exercise is the foundation of health? That sleep is non-negotiable? That stress, left unmanaged, quietly destroys you? That the people in your life matter more than almost anything you can put in a pill?

I’d guess most of us could reconstruct that list in under a week. Maybe less.

So why are we so far from that list in practice?

Part of the equation is the struggle to do what we know is good for us. 

But something else is happening, too. 

We have more health information available to us than any generation in history. More science, more nutrition apps, more fitness platforms, more supplements, more protocols, more content about longevity than anyone who came before us.

And yet, by some measures, we are not the healthiest generation in history. And depending on what we’re judging, not by a wide margin.

The gap between what we emphasize and what gets results appears to be growing. And I’m starting to think the “knowledge” itself is part of the problem.

Any time I open social media, I see a new video that twists science so far from reality, yet sounds so convincing. Just this morning, I saw a video suggesting that going from 10 pushups to 50 would not build strength and muscle. 

I want to scratch my head, but it’s the norm. The video went into detail about actin and myosin. Things that most people won’t understand enough to question. Because it sounds smart, it’s hard to challenge, and many accept it as fact. 

So we add that “truth” to what we know and stop progressing pushups the same way. And that’s just one piece of the broken puzzle. That seemingly harmless piece of information affects your behavior and prompts you to search for more nuggets like it. 

The curse of information is that we’ve confused knowing more with doing better.

It’s part of the reason we write these emails every day. To simplify the noise. To help you focus on what matters. To bring to light the simple daily changes you can make, rather than stressing overcomplicated messages.

The science is starting to confirm what most people quietly sense. 

When we’re given too many choices, too much complication, too much nuance, we’re less likely to act on any of them and less satisfied when we do. 

When a health plan contains too many decisions — which supplement? which protocol? which meal timing window? — every micro-choice draws from the same limited cognitive well. You deplete that resource before you ever get to execution.

I don’t care about sounding smart. I care about helping you live better. 

And when people pursue too many health goals simultaneously, they don’t just fall short. Research shows they experience measurable declines in well-being and adherence. The goals fight each other. Nothing wins.

This is the part we don’t want to say out loud: complexity is its own form of quitting. It just disguises itself as effort.

It’s why Pump Club app members are shocked when they join. 

Our approach is different. Almost to the point that people say, 

“Are you kidding me? This is what you want me to do? Eat carbs? Train three times per week? Not count calories? I’ve been doing this for 20 years, that won’t work.”

We ask them to try. To trust. To finish the foundation and be consistent. Because they have everything to gain. And if it doesn’t work, then leave. But we know something. 

The basics are ignored. And they work. So when people give it a try, responses are the same. 

How are my results so impressive? And why wasn’t I doing this sooner?

The Man Who Never Counted a Calorie

Think about what Arnold actually did. Not just what he said. What he did for sixty years.

He trained hard and consistently. He ate enough protein. He consumed more when he wanted to gain and less when he was cutting. He slept. He had a vision and chased it with everything he had. 

Some people will mention the steroids. And Arnold has stated clearly that he doesn’t recommend it to others because of the potential risks. 

But in a sport where everyone uses them, there’s a reason Arnold built the greatest physique in bodybuilding history and has maintained his health for decades. 

He worked his way there, with a simplicity that would bore most people scrolling their fitness apps today.

No calorie counting. No time-under-tension calculations. No 17-step optimization protocols. Arnold has been pushing movement, intensity, recovery, healthy diet, and human connection for 50 years. 

Now, that doesn’t mean nothing else matters. But there’s a difference between refinements that help and refinements that replace the thing itself.

When you spend more time reading about whether you should do 3 sets of 8 or 4 sets of 6 than you spend actually lifting, you’ve already made the wrong choice.

When you’re debating the merits of a detox cleanse versus a cold plunge for dopamine, but you never go outside, listen to good music, or call your friends, you’re missing out on the free, painless dopamine. 

If you are spending hundreds of dollars on supplements but can’t remember when you last drank some water and went to bed at midnight, you’re focusing on the wrong fix.

When someone asks me whether they should try keto, carb cycling, or fasting, and then mentions that they don’t prioritize protein and fiber, rarely cook meals, and “take the weekends off” to eat and drink more than usual, I want to hand them a Neuralyzer and start over.

This is why we think carefully about what we talk about in this newsletter.

We focus on what the evidence actually shows, and it shows that you almost certainly have bigger fish to fry.

We talk about protein because it’s foundational. But we won’t overthink or overstress the type of protein you need to eat, because science says there are benefits to plant-based and animal-based sources. We won’t stress the timing, because how much protein you eat in a day matters far more than when you eat it. And we won’t create a false equivalency between powders and whole foods. Both have a place, but we only recommend supplements to supplement your diet. 

We talk about fiber because most people get half of what they need, and it has downstream effects on everything. From heart health to diabetes risk, gut health to cancer prevention, fiber is one of those “magic pill” foods that people ignore because — well — it’s fiber. So eat your berries, oatmeal, whole grains, nuts, beans, lentils, seeds, avocado, or even popcorn. And if those are still a struggle, we created Fiber+ because we all need to hit our fiber minimums, and a little support is never a bad thing when you’re building a helpful habit.

We’ll talk about sleep, stress, and getting bloodwork done so you know what’s actually happening in your body, not what you’re guessing at.

These aren’t exciting. They don’t trend. They don’t have dramatic before-and-afters attached to them. They just work.

The honest, uncomfortable truth: most people don’t need more information or complicated nuance. They need fewer decisions and more action.

They need a short list they’ll actually follow, not a comprehensive plan they’ll abandon when times get chaotic (which they always do). They need the next small win, not the optimal framework. 

Because what the research on long-term adherence keeps showing is an undeniable truth: consistency doesn’t come from sophistication. It comes from early success with something simple.

That first win builds belief. Belief builds habit. Habit builds everything else.

You can’t optimize your way into starting. You have to start your way into the behaviors that matter and are optimal for you.

The trendiest protocol in the world doesn’t work if you quit it in three weeks. The most basic protocol works great if you do it for three years.

Arnold knew this. He still does. Sixty years later, the principles that built the greatest physique in bodybuilding history haven’t changed. Sleep. Train hard. Eat enough of the right things. Recover. Repeat.

The trends came and went. The basics stayed.

So before you search for the next thing to add, try asking what you need to forget that has filled your mind with nonsense and complication.

Not because simplicity is giving up. But because simplicity is the mechanism that actually creates change.

The basics aren’t where you start before you get sophisticated. They’re where the sophisticated people quietly live. -AB

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Can you eat your way to healthier skin?

• Beyond the headline: The fish oil study everyone is misinterpreting

• How “weak ties” can lead to stronger health

On Our Radar
The Foods That Support Healthier Skin (And Why Collagen Received An Asterisk)

You've probably spent more time thinking about what you put on your skin than what you put in your body. The skincare industry is built on that habit. But a growing body of research keeps pointing in a different direction.

A meta-analysis of 61 studies (all on humans) found that specific categories of whole foods — particularly those rich in polyphenols and healthy fats — were consistently associated with a more youthful appearance, including improvements in skin hydration, wrinkle appearance, and elasticity, and barrier strength.

Researchers pooled data across six dietary categories and multiple skin outcomes, using statistical methods designed to assess whether positive results were legitimate or merely the product of selective publication. 

The foods that cleared that bar were polyphenol sources like green tea, cocoa, berries, and citrus extracts. All showed significant associations with better hydration, fewer visible wrinkles, and improved skin barrier function. 

Omega-rich fats from fatty fish, flaxseed, avocado, and evening primrose showed meaningful effects on wrinkle appearance and elasticity. 

Carotenoid-dense foods — tomatoes, leafy greens, mangoes — were associated with reduced skin redness, a marker of UV-related damage. And probiotic foods were connected meaningfully to hydration, which fits the emerging picture of the gut and skin as a linked system.

The mechanisms aren't fully settled, but the leading theories make intuitive sense. Polyphenols appear to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation that accelerate tissue breakdown. Healthy fats contribute to the lipid layer that keeps moisture in and irritants out. Carotenoids may absorb and neutralize UV-related damage at the cellular level. 

Most of the included studies were short-term, predominantly conducted in women, and the research cannot confirm cause and effect; it can only establish association.

It’s also worth noting that the food most often associated with healthy skin — collagen — had the most compromised evidence in the entire review, with statistical testing flagging significant publication bias. That’s not to say collagen definitely doesn’t work, but that the data is not as solid as the other foods reviewed.

If you want to eat for healthier skin, the foods with the best evidence also happen to be worth eating for a dozen other reasons. That's rarely a coincidence.

Beyond The Headline
The Fish Oil Study Everyone Is Sharing Deserves a Second Look

A supplement that improves your stress, anxiety, depression, sleep, and memory. All at once? And all in three months? 

That's the kind of finding that travels fast. It's also the kind that warrants a slower read.

Omega-3s have real, credible evidence supporting their benefits for mood and mental health. We’ve shared about it before, and we see it’s one of the few supplements that can offer a reliable benefit, assuming you’re using a good source of fish oil (more on that in a moment).

But the most recent study making headlines has enough problems that its headline numbers should be treated with caution, not confidence.

Researchers tested 64 Saudi Arabian adults with elevated psychological distress. Subjects were randomly assigned to either 750mg of omega-3 daily (500mg EPA, 250mg DHA) or a placebo for three months. 

The omega-3 group improved across all measured outcomes — stress, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and everyday memory — which is why the study is making headlines. It’s also why we had to look deeper.

Across all five measures, the subjects achieved statistical significance. Seeing that, with just 64 people across so many different domains is a bit unusual. 

Real interventions rarely move that many independent outcomes simultaneously at that confidence level. This is something you notice if you read enough studies, and — not to brag — we read thousands every year. And, as we’ve mentioned before, we sometimes make errors in our interpretation, too. But these results caught our attention. 

It raises legitimate questions about whether the findings reflect a true effect or a combination of chance and analytical choices made after the data was collected.

So we looked deeper, and there were other red flags. For example, the placebo wasn’t exactly a placebo. The placebo was corn oil, which is high in omega-6 fatty acids that compete with omega-3s at a metabolic level. That may have actively disadvantaged the control group and inflated the apparent benefit. Omega-6s are not inherently bad, but they can still affect the outcome when compared with the experimental group.

Also, there was no blood testing to confirm participants were actually absorbing the supplement. And all five outcomes relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, with no objective measures for sleep or memory.

The population adds another wrinkle. Participants were recruited in a region with historically low omega-3 consumption, meaning they were likely deficient before the trial began. If the effects were real, they may reflect what happens when a deficiency gets corrected, not what a typical reader would experience from adding a capsule to an already-decent diet.

A separate 2024 meta-analysis of 23 trials found that roughly 1 gram of EPA+DHA daily was linked to a moderate reduction in anxiety symptoms. A separate analysis across 19 trials found similar connections to mood. That’s because omega-3s play a role in brain cell function and may influence how neurotransmitters like serotonin operate.

If you experience regular stress, mild low mood, or disrupted sleep, especially if omega-3 seafood isn't a consistent part of your diet. About 1 to 2 grams of EPA+DHA daily is a reasonable, low-risk addition supported by real evidence. But remember: a lot of fish oil is of very low quality and may be rancid. You need a third-party certified supplement. Here is our fish oil of choice.

So while fish oil might help if you’re deficient, we don’t recommend taking the latest headlines at face value. Fish oil can do real things if your blood levels are low. It just can't do everything, and part of being informed is knowing the difference.

Social Health
Why A Random Gym Nod Might Boost Your Health

You probably don't think of a head nod as a health behavior. But a growing body of research says those small, familiar exchanges — with the gym regular on the next bench, the barista who knows your order, the neighbor you wave to — carry real weight.

People report greater happiness and a stronger sense of belonging on days when they interact with more acquaintances than usual, and the effect is independent of their close relationships.

Psychologists tracked daily social interactions and found that "weak ties" — people you recognize but don't know well — independently predicted well-being. A follow-up study found that even minimal interactions, like greeting someone or saying thanks, were associated with greater life satisfaction, and the evidence pointed toward the interactions causing the boost, not just to happy people being more social.

The reason these micro-interactions matter is surprisingly physical. Scientists suggest that brief positive exchanges signal environmental safety, which lowers your baseline stress response. They also distribute your social needs among more people rather than loading everything onto one or two relationships.

Every nod at the gym, every "good morning" on your walk, every quick chat at pickup make a difference to you and others. When you can, be more intentional with these interactions. Use someone's name if you know it. Ask one question beyond the transaction. Research consistently shows people respond more warmly than you'd expect, and you'll feel better than you predicted.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Do bands really build muscle?

• Let’s talk about your drinking history

• Why your brain loves game night

Fitness
Can You Build Muscle With Resistance Bands?

When we surveyed our readers about why they don’t exercise as much as they feel they should, we got many answers. But two, in particular, stand out: I’m too old, and I don’t have access to weights. 

A new study suggests that neither of those barriers should stop you.

A 16-week study found that resistance band training improved muscle mass, upper-body strength, and body composition in untrained adults over 50. And, adding a small daily dose of creatine amplified those results further.

Researchers recruited untrained adults aged 50 and older and split them into three groups: one took 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily, another took 3 grams, and a third took a placebo. All three groups followed the same high-repetition resistance band protocol for 16 weeks. 

The training itself was effective across the board. Whether or not they took creatine, everyone following the resistance band program saw results. 

But the creatine groups showed additional improvements that the placebo group didn't: 3 grams per day increased upper-body strength and reduced subcutaneous fat, and 5 grams further improved overall muscle mass and muscle mass in the lower body.

Creatine speeds up energy production in muscle cells, which lets you sustain higher effort during training. Over 16 weeks, that edge accumulates. Creatine also supports muscle protein synthesis through pathways that become less efficient with age, which is precisely when you need the extra push.

The bigger picture is that regardless of age or equipment, your muscles will respond if you challenge them. 

If you're over 50 and not training, resistance bands are a legitimate place to start. They're inexpensive, joint-friendly, and effective enough to drive real adaptation when used consistently. Here are our favorite bands, ranging from very light to heavy. 

Health
Your Drinking History Matters More Than You Think

Most health coverage on alcohol focuses on what you're drinking right now. But some health conditions take decades to develop, which means the question most research has been asking might be the wrong one.

A 20-year study of nearly 90,000 adults found that heavy, sustained drinking over a lifetime was linked to significantly higher colorectal cancer risk.

Researchers used data to reconstruct drinking histories across four life stages beginning at age 18. Most prior research captured only current intake. This design captured the cumulative picture. 

Among current drinkers averaging 14 or more drinks per week over their lifetime, colorectal cancer risk was 25% higher than in very light drinkers. People who drank heavily and consistently throughout adulthood had 91% higher risk than consistent light drinkers. Rectal cancer showed the sharpest signal, with heavy lifetime drinkers facing nearly double the risk.

Researchers believe long-term alcohol exposure appears to disrupt DNA repair and folate metabolism in the colon and rectum. Because colorectal cancer develops slowly, often over 10 to 20 years from the first cellular changes to a diagnosable tumor, the slow accumulation is why a lifetime lens tells a different story than a single snapshot in time.

But here’s the hopeful part: Former drinkers showed no elevated cancer risk and had meaningfully lower odds of developing non-advanced adenomas, the benign polyps that can, over the years, become cancerous. In other words, your past influences your future, but your body also responds to change.

The study was based on observational data, so it identifies an association rather than a cause. And the elevated risk was concentrated in heavy, sustained drinking over decades. Occasional and moderate consumption wasn't meaningfully linked to increased risk in this dataset.

If you've carried a long history of heavy drinking, this research isn't a verdict. It's a reason to act. Cutting back, quitting, or simply getting a colorectal screening conversation on the calendar, any of those moves puts you on the right side of what the data is showing. Your body is still paying attention to what you do next.

Instant Health Boost 
Why Your Brain Loves Game Night

There might be a fun reason why some older people are mentally sharper than those half their age. It’s not just genetics. How you spend you entertain yourself without technology could influence the aging process.

A 20-year study found that people who regularly played board games showed significantly slower cognitive decline and a 15% lower risk of developing depression compared to non-players.

Researchers from one of the world's longest-running population-based aging studies tracked older adults over two decades. At the start of the study, roughly one in three participants reported playing board games at least once a week. That included card games, chess, and other group games. Over 20 years, researchers tracked changes in cognitive function and rates of depression and dementia.

Board game players showed measurably slower decline on standard cognitive tests throughout the study period. They were also significantly less likely to develop depression, and that finding held even after accounting for baseline health differences between the groups.

The researchers point to two overlapping reasons: cognitive engagement keeps the brain actively problem-solving and pattern-recognizing, while the social component of most board games builds the kind of connection that protects against depression. When both are present simultaneously, the effect appears to compound. Think of it like cross-training: you're working multiple systems at once.

That said, the players were also somewhat healthier at the start of the study, which makes it hard to separate the habit from the person. 

The prescription here is almost unreasonably easy: find a game, find some people, and play regularly. Just a reason to get together that your brain benefits from.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s Corner: Monday motivation

• Redefine your limits

• How to bounce back faster from your workouts

• Why your brain likes to wait till Monday (And why you should ignore it)

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner 
Monday Motivation: You Can

We got thousands of responses when we asked all of you for feedback on the newsletter.

I want to start by giving you credit.

99.2% of your emails were positive. That’s unheard of. We really are the positive corner of the internet.

We are going to begin answering your biggest questions, but I wanted to start right away with the most common response I saw.

What’s the training plan for ME to get stronger?

What’s the diet for ME to lose fat?

After this, the writer would tell us their challenges that are different from everyone else.

They’re a woman. They’re a 72-year-old man. They’re in menopause. They’re in college. They’re busy. They’re fighting depression. They’re parents.

I need you to know something.

It’s not your program or your diet you have to change. It’s your mind.

You have convinced yourself that you are the only person who could possibly have these challenges holding you back from your goals, and that’s just not true.

I know it because I’ve seen it over and over.

There was not a single email we received that listed issues holding them back I haven’t seen someone else overcome.

I’ve seen women in menopause get stronger and lose weight.

I’ve seen busy moms and busy dads get stronger and lose weight.

I’ve seen people in their 70s and 80s get stronger and lose weight.

I’ve seen people battling clinical depression get stronger and lose weight.

I’ve seen people dealing with chronic pain who were told to stop training, get stronger, and lose weight.

I’ve seen college students get stronger and lose weight.

Hell, I’ve seen people fighting cancer, people living with cerebral palsy, people dealing with autoimmune diseases, people with arthritis, people with hips and knees replaced…

You get the idea. I’ve seen almost every kind of person get stronger and lose weight.

There is a program for you. There is a diet for you.

You have to stop treating yourself like a rare, valuable artifact you keep in a safe and start doing it.

Let yourself out of the safe. Start with simple goals

Find 30 minutes, three days a week, to train with resistance from your body at home or with weights in a gym.

Increase your protein intake. The vast majority of people don’t eat enough protein.

Increase your fiber intake. 95% of people don’t eat enough fiber.

Here’s how: your new rule is every meal has to have both. Greek yogurt and berries. Sourdough and eggs. Salad with chicken, fish, or tofu. Vegetables and lean protein for dinner with lentils. Supplement if you’re still short. 

You’re going to find out quickly that this rule either makes snacking impossible or makes it really healthy. Those chips? No protein or fiber. Candy? No protein or fiber. Wine? Better get some high-protein cheese and berries to go with it.

Get outside for a walk or some non-training movement every day.

These aren’t complicated. They don’t require a perfect diet or an hour a day. They just require you to start.

I promise you that no matter what your challenges are, if you train 3 days a week, eat protein and fiber at every meal, and walk, you will make progress.

I know it because I have seen it over and over.

There is no story you can tell me that I haven’t heard in 6 decades of promoting fitness.

Your story isn’t rare. That’s the good news. People just like you are succeeding right now.

Here’s our commitment to you:

We will continue to share studies about all of these demographics to help you see that science shows your success is possible.

We will also share more stories. At least once a week. Until you find yourself in one of them.

Part of the magic of the Pump Club app is that I hear these stories every week.

The busy mom who found her strength. The 73-year-old man lifting new PRs. The menopausal woman who rediscovered herself. The man with cerebral palsy using training to make life easier. The student who transformed himself and saw it leak into his whole life.

That’s why I wanted it to be a village, not just a workout you do every day. That’s the magic.

When you want to complain about your arthritis keeping you from training, there’s a comment from someone else with arthritis getting their workouts in by swapping an exercise.

So we’ll share studies, but we will also share success stories. Until you realize it’s possible for you.

That’s our commitment to you. But you won’t change unless you make your own commitment to yourself.

Here’s what I want from you, for the entire week:

• Fiber and protein at EVERY meal.

• Resistance training three days a week, 30 minutes minimum.

• Movement like walking outside daily, even for 10 minutes.

That’s all. We will have a reminder every day.

It’s time to redefine yourself by what you can do, instead of by what you think you can’t do.

Pump Club Success Stories
Redefine Your Limits

Real People. Real Stories. Real Limits Overcome.

“I’m 64 years old and have been a fan of Arnold since I was a teenager. I was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with a pancreatic tumor in spring 2024. I had the full Whipple procedure that June, followed by complications that kept me in the hospital at Mayo for 3 months. After 13 surgeries and 34 interventional radiology procedures, last spring I was able to say “I’m cured” — really, cured!” I weighed 205 pounds going into the surgery and 135 pounds when I came home in the fall 2024.

I’ve worked hard this past 10 months to get my strength back and up to 160. I was able to start the Pump Club in January. I still have an 8” long incisional hernia and have to be very careful with abdominal exercises, squats, deadlifts, etc. But I can do most of the weight training exercises. The Pump Club has been a game-changer for me.

You also need to hear how important and impactful the “positive corner of the internet” is to people like me. This world today is full of strife and division. Given what I’ve been through, I’m seeking positivity, motivation, goals, and advice. You give all that and more in a highly credible and positive reinforcing environment.” -Phil

Together With Momentous 
Creatine Speeds Up Recovery. Just Not the Way You Expect.

Ask most people why they take creatine, and they'll say the same things: more muscle, more strength, better performance. When the recovery angle comes up, some people assume it either does nothing or takes the edge off post-workout soreness. The research has a different story.

A randomized controlled trial found that four weeks of creatine supplementation accelerated recovery after intense training, restoring strength and reducing swelling more quickly, but had no significant effect on how sore participants actually felt.

Researchers assigned 20 healthy participants either 3 grams of creatine monohydrate daily or a placebo for 28 days, then had both groups perform a standardized eccentric exercise protocol designed to produce measurable muscle damage. Recovery was tracked across strength output, range of motion, arm swelling, muscle stiffness, subjective fatigue, and soreness.

The creatine group bounced back faster in functional categories. Strength returned more quickly, with measurable differences at 48, 96, and 168 hours post-exercise. Swelling was lower from 48 hours onward. Muscle stiffness resolved faster in the later recovery window. 

But soreness didn't differ significantly between groups at any time point. Neither did a structural biomarker measuring muscle fiber breakdown, indicating that the muscles sustained similar damage regardless of supplementation.

Scientists believe the results could result from creatine's role in energy metabolism and anti-inflammatory signaling. More available phosphocreatine means your muscles’ repair machinery can work more efficiently, accelerating how quickly your body is ready to push hard again.

In other words, you won’t necessarily feel the difference, but creatine can help you get back to training capacity sooner. For someone training multiple days a week or pushing the intensity, that's a meaningful difference.

Participants experienced recovery benefits with as little as 3 grams of creatine monohydrate. As we’ve previously shared, if you’re going to use creatine, make sure you select a third-party certified brand. In an analysis of 175 creatine brands, 88% used a form of creatine with limited or no evidence of effectiveness or safety. 

That’s why we recommend Momentous Creatine. Not only is Momentous NSF Certified and Informed Sport Certified, but it also uses Creapure Creatine, which meets the strictest lab standards to ensure all creatine is at least 99.9% pure. 

If you want to try Momentous Creatine, all APC readers receive 35% OFF their first purchase subscription, or 14% off a one-time purchase. Just use the code “PUMPCLUB” to receive your discount. 

Mindset
Your Brain Has a Good Reason to Wait Until Monday. Don't Listen to It.

Today is Monday. A fresh start. A chance to capture momentum and make things happen this week.

But, at some point, you might make a deal with yourself. The workout gets pushed, the eating goes sideways, and somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice says: just reset on Monday. 

It feels rational. Almost strategic. The problem is it's a trap, and understanding why your brain does it is the fastest way to stop falling for it.

Research suggests the "fresh start" impulse is a real psychological phenomenon, but the lesson isn't to wait for one. It's that you can create one anytime.

Wharton researchers analyzed three datasets of gym records, focusing on 400 days of real gym attendance and 66,000 goal commitments from 43,000 people. The same pattern emerged across all three. 

People initiate goals at the start of new time periods: Mondays, the first of the month, and after a birthday. Bigger landmarks produced bigger spikes, with each day of the week declining in motivational pull as it moved further from Monday.

When a new time period begins, the brain treats past setbacks as belonging to a previous chapter. That psychological distance lowers the barrier to starting, so your failures feel like someone else's. It's not a weakness. It's how human cognition actually works.

Here's what the researchers didn't find: evidence that waiting for a landmark produces better outcomes. 

The spike is in initiation, not results. And that means giving yourself a reason to start is all that it takes. That means, every week and every day, you can decide that something is a beginning.

So don't wait for Monday. The same mental shift that makes Monday feel different is available at any time. The next time you feel like stalling and waiting, create a moment and a reason to start and keep going. That's the action the science supports.

Fitness 
Workout Of The Week 

The word is spreading about the effectiveness of full-body workouts. 

Ever since we shared the study showing that full-body workouts lead to more fat loss and less soreness, we’ve seen a significant increase in app members choosing (and sticking with) full-body plans and achieving better results. 

But many have asked: Does it work for bodyweight training too? 

This bodyweight workout will give you a sense of how well a bodyweight plan can challenge your body. This sample workout includes three blocks, each combining two or three exercises you’ll complete with little rest while alternating between movements that challenge different body parts. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have targeted every muscle for an incredible full-body blast.

Block 1: 8 minutes

Set a timer for 8 minutes. Perform the first exercise, then the second, and finally the third. Rest only as needed, and continue alternating between the exercises until the time is up. 

• Squats: 10-12 reps

• Plank: 30 seconds

• Hip raise: 10-15 reps

Block 2: 6 minutes

Set a timer for 6 minutes. Perform the first exercise, then the second. Rest only as needed, and continue alternating between the exercises until the time is up. 

• Alternating lunges: 8-12 reps per leg

• Pushups:10-20 reps

Block 3: 8 minutes

Set a timer for 8 minutes. Perform the first exercise, then the second, and finally the third. Rest only as needed, and continue alternating between the exercises until the time is up. 

• Inverted row: 10 reps

• Hamstring walkout: 8-10 reps

• Bodyweight triceps extension: 8-12 reps

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

Editor’s Note: We’ll never stop giving you a free Workout of the Week. Because we believe everyone should have access to exercise.

But there’s a difference between a workout and a program. 

A “Workout of the day” feels great — you sweat, you’re sore — but soreness isn’t the goal. Exhaustion doesn’t make you better. Your body adapts best when workouts build on each other with intention, not when every session stands alone.

This workout will challenge you today; but a program is what changes you over weeks, months, and years. If you need help, you can try our customized programs free for 7 days. We do the thinking, giving you access to the best coaches, and provide accountability, so you see the improvements.

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell

Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Number you won’t forget

• When good nutrition intentions take a surprising turn

• Weekly wisdom

• How early struggles can lead to more success

Health 
Number You Won’t Forget: 6 Minutes

Want to Improve Neuroplasticity? Fire up your heart rate.

Brain health advice is not a competition. More sleep. Manage your stress. Eat your vegetables. None of that is wrong, and they should all be priorities. 

But, if you talk to biohackers, they might tell you to prioritize everything from fasting to probiotics. However, the real king of better cognition is something much more basic. 

Researchers found that 6 minutes of high-intensity exercise produced a 4- to 5-fold greater increase in a key brain-protective protein than 90 minutes of light activity.

Researchers put physically active adults through three separate conditions: a 20-hour fast, 90 minutes of easy cycling, and 6 minutes of hard intervals (six 1-minute efforts with recovery between each). They measured circulating levels of BDNF — a protein that supports neuroplasticity and neuron survival — before and after each condition. 

Light cycling raised BDNF modestly. Fasting did not move the needle. And the hard intervals pushed BDNF levels the most, and it wasn’t close. Researchers believe circulating levels reflect brain activity, but cognitive outcomes weren't tested here.

Intense exercise drives a sharp spike in blood lactate, which researchers believe signals the brain to ramp up BDNF production. Fasting did raise ketones — another brain fuel — significantly, but ketones didn't produce the same response. Intensity, not fuel availability, appears to be the driver.

If you want to give your brain a short- and long-term boost, you don't need to spend a long time in the gym. But you do need to push hard, to the point that holding a conversation might feel incredibly challenging. Don’t worry about comparing your intensity to someone else. Scale it to where you are right now, and build from there.

Just six minutes. Go get a pump.

Together With Function 
Can A Healthy Habit Go Too Far?

A recent blood test helped me realize that even good behaviors can sometimes lead to unintended bad outcomes. Over the last few years, I started eating more fish, which helped improve my LDL and triglyceride levels. 

Unknowingly, the addition of more fish had an unintended consequence. During a recent blood test, my mercury levels came back surprisingly elevated — not dangerously, but enough to require a change in my diet. 

Fish are an excellent source of protein, healthy fats, and other key nutrients. And it’s linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. But quantity and quality are important. Eat too much of certain kinds, and you could unknowingly increase levels of a toxic compound: mercury.

In a 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 studies across more than 34,000 participants in 17 countries, researchers found that elevated mercury exposure was associated with a 68% higher relative risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. In other studies, mercury has been linked to elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological damage.

The issue isn’t going cold turkey. It’s recognizing that methylmercury, the form found in fish, has a half-life of about 40-90 days in the body. 

Fish at the top of the food chain — including shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and bigeye tuna— carry higher concentrations of mercury due to bioaccumulation from their regular food sources. Smaller fish like sardines, anchovies, and Atlantic mackerel sit near the bottom of that chain and carry a fraction of the load.

When I traced it back in my own diet, the culprit wasn't anything exotic. It was likely tuna, usually from sushi, which I eat each week.

The fix isn't cutting fish. It's swapping species. Consider eating wild salmon, sardines, anchovies, herring, and trout as good sources of omega-3 fatty acids with a dramatically lower mercury burden. If you eat moderate-mercury fish like albacore or mahi-mahi, keeping it to about one serving per week (per FDA/EPA guidance) can help with your body’s natural clearance time. Third-party-tested fish oil or algal oil can also provide a source of omega-3s with less risk of accumulation.

The good news is that dietary methylmercury responds to behavior change. Because mercury is cleared from the body over weeks to months, avoiding high‑mercury fish can lead to measurable declines in blood levels over time. No detox protocol required.

The only reason I caught my high mercury levels was because I tested for them.

My regular annual exam didn't include mercury testing. I felt fine. No symptoms. 

Function was the difference. Members get access to  160+ lab tests, including heavy metals that most routine physicals skip. Every member receives detailed Clinician Notes interpreting results in context, so you can learn what each number means and potential next steps.

Many people test and find their numbers look good. That's worth knowing, too. But sometimes you may catch something you were unknowingly doing to yourself, something simple and fixable.

If you’re like us, you don’t want to schedule a doctor visit every time you want to know if your health habits are translating into meaningful changes. And Function makes it easier to keep an eye on what matters, understand where you can improve, and work with your physician when needed. 

Pump Club readers get a $25 credit toward their first year of Function membership, automatically applied at checkout. No code needed. 

Don’t just assume you’re healthy because you feel healthy. Keep an eye on your blood, because awareness matters.

Mindset 
Weekly Wisdom

You stepped on the scale Monday morning, and the number was higher than last week. Maybe you missed all your workouts. Maybe you ate in ways you said you wouldn't because the stress of everything just landed all at once. Or maybe, you just had terrible sleep, ate a little more sodium and drank a little less water, and had yet to go to the bathroom. 

Whatever the reason, you're standing in your bathroom doing the math about what kind of person that makes you.

And it’s not worth figuring out that calculation. 

There's a move the mind makes where it takes a single data point — like one day on the scale — and builds a verdict out of it. I weighed more, so I'm backsliding. I skipped the gym, so I'm lazy. I had a rough week, so this is who I am now. 

This is where the quote should help you navigate the days of judgment. 

The weather rolls in, and we forget we're the sky.

Pema Chödrön wasn't writing about fitness when she said this. But she might as well have been. What she understood is that we are not our conditions. We're the thing that holds them. The temporary passing through the permanent.

A bad weigh-in is weather. A stressful week is weather. A season where everything fell apart? Still weather. It moves through. The sky doesn't stop being the sky just because a storm shows up.

The problem isn't that we feel those things. Feeling them is honest. 

The problem is obsessing over them. Deciding that what's happening right now is evidence of something fixed about who we are. 

That's when a missed Monday becomes a failed month. That's when one rough patch becomes a story about your limits.

Arnold has talked about this: the difference between being knocked down and being knocked out. Everyone gets knocked down. What separates people isn't whether the storm comes. It's whether they remember the storm isn't them.

Turn Wisdom Into Action

The next time something goes sideways — the workout skipped, the food choice regretted, the stressful spiral — write down exactly what happened. Just the facts. Not the verdict.

"I didn't sleep well and skipped the gym on Tuesday."

Not: "I'm someone who always quits."

Facts are weather. Verdicts are identity. The work is learning to tell them apart.

You're allowed to note the storm. You're not allowed to become it. Because the sky doesn't hold grudges against the weather. It just keeps being sky.

Better Questions, Better Solutions 
Why Struggling First Makes You Learn (And Succeed) Faster

Old question: "Am I ready to start?" 
New question: "What will starting teach me?"

Most people treat mistakes as something to minimize: a sign you jumped in too soon, moved too fast, skipped a step. 

A more logical approach is “learn it right, then do it.” Watch the tutorial. Study the form. Understand the program completely before starting. The instinct makes sense. Why fumble through something when you could learn it right the first time?

But that instinct might be costing you.

Research suggests that struggling before you're taught isn't a detour; it's the more direct path to lasting skill.

A meta-analysis of 53 studies involving more than 12,000 participants found that people who attempted a problem before receiving instruction learned more deeply than those who were taught first and then practiced. Not a little more. Researchers found that the approach could be nearly twice as efficient as standard instruction, and that when people failed productively during the initial attempt, outcomes were up to three times better than in traditional learning.

The researchers call it "Productive Failure."

The mechanism is counterintuitive: when you attempt something without knowing the answer, you activate your existing knowledge, expose what's missing, and create mental gaps that instruction can actually fill. 

You're not just learning what to do. You're learning why it matters, and that understanding transfers. The people who struggled first didn't fall behind on basic execution. They got better at applying what they learned in new situations.

While it’s common to “wait until you’re ready,” when you struggle, your brain maps what it doesn't know. Instruction lands differently — more completely — when you've already experienced exactly where it would have helped most.

For anyone building a fitness habit, coming back after a layoff, or chasing any new or big goal, this reframes everything. The first awkward attempt isn't wasted time. It's neurological groundwork.

The next time you're learning something new, don’t wait. Take action. Attempt it before you feel completely ready. Do it imperfectly. Notice what you learn and what questions you have. Then seek the instruction. You'll absorb it differently because your brain now has a specific gap it wants filled, not just information arriving with nowhere to land.

The goal isn't to make random mistakes. It's to make your mistakes; the ones that tell you exactly what you need to learn next. And then take the step to get help, fill the gaps, and improve. 

Failure or frustration isn’t wasted effort. It’s how your brain gets ready to win.

And that’s it for this week. Thanks for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. Remember, you have endless opportunities to get better every day. Don’t overthink, do something, and repeat. Have a fantastic weekend!

-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel 

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Not for the primary content, but it is used in two ways. The main items are original content written by the APC team. The summaries at the end are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows us to keep the APC emails free. We first test products, and then reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell