Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. Every weekday, we make sense of the confusing world of wellness by analyzing the headlines, simplifying the latest research, and offering quick tips designed to make you healthier in less than 5 minutes. If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.
Today’s Health Upgrade
Number you won’t forget
How to test if you need electrolytes
Weekend challenge
Weekend boosts
Arnold’s Podcast
Want more stories from Arnold? Every day, Arnold’s Pump Club Podcast opens with a story, perspective, and wisdom from Arnold that you won’t find in the newsletter. And, you’ll hear a recap of the day’s items. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Fitness
Number You Won’t Forget: 15 Minutes
If you’re stuck sitting at work, here’s a reason to feel your job doesn’t have to harm your health.
Research suggests that a minimum of 15 minutes of physical activity per day helps offset the increased risk of sitting for long periods at work.
A recent analysis of more than 480,000 people tracked health outcomes over nearly 13 years and found that those who sit most of the day at work have a 34 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who don’t.
However, that increased risk was significantly offset by doing at least 15 minutes of additional exercise per day, with benefits and health protection increasing as activity levels reached 150 minutes per week.
If you have a sedentary job, the key isn’t just moving at work but adding in little bursts of exercise, such as bodyweight exercises, running stairs, over even active hobbies such as gardening. Doing up to 30 additional minutes could also reduce your risk of all-cause mortality.
Nutrition
How To Test If You Need Electrolytes
Sometimes, water is all your body needs. But your preferred form of exercise — and the amount you sweat — will determine if you need a little something extra.
Research suggests hydrating with electrolytes before or after your workout could boost performance, reduce fatigue, and improve recovery. And you might be under-fueling more than you think.
Despite the popularity of pre-workout drinks and coffee, one study suggests at least 50 percent of people begin their workouts dehydrated. But even if you don’t caffeinate, the more you sweat, the more it can decrease your performance.
During intense, prolonged, or working out in the heat (like right now during summer months), most people lose approximately 1.5 to two liters of water per hour (and some can sweat more). Studies have found that for each percentage loss in water, you’ll see increasing drops in performance. The more sodium you lose, the more it affects how your muscles contract, fatigue, endurance, and recovery. And research suggests that a little bit of sodium can go a long way toward reducing or preventing muscle cramps.
But how do you know if you need water or more electrolytes? Here’s an 8-point test. If you check any of these, adding more sodium to your pre-, during, or post-workout drink might be helpful.
Your workout is at least 60 minutes. (If it goes beyond 90 minutes, you’ll almost certainly benefit from electrolytes)
You’re exercising in high heat.
You sweat a lot, leaving shirts soaked after workouts.
Your sweat tastes very salty or stings when it gets in your eyes.
You notice sweat stains (white, grainy outlines) on your skin or clothing.
You’re prone to muscle cramps during exercise.
You crave salty foods after exercise.
You get a head rush or feel light-headed if you stand up quickly after exercise.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with any of these signs. But, they are indicators that you are losing more salt and need to replenish.
If you train hard and sweat a lot, our go-to drink is LMNT, which provides the electrolytes your body needs without any added sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors.
Your muscles and neurons need electrolytes, such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Sweating depletes your body's electrolytes, which can affect performance and recovery.
As a member of the village, you’ll get a free sample pack (8 packets) with all the flavors when you make any purchase. Just make sure you use this link, and the free product will be automatically added to your cart to thank you for being part of the positive corner of the internet.
If you don’t love the product, LMNT offers a no-questions-asked refund policy, which means you’ll be satisfied. We recommend using electrolytes before or after your hard workouts that last longer than an hour to ensure you’re hydrated before and refueled after.
Weekend Challenge
The Strength To Lift Up The Next Generation
Those of you with kids have been asking for something you can do to spread our message of positivity and activity to the young people in your life — and for good reason. According to the CDC, only 1 in 4 children get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day.
When we see a problem, we need to be useful rather than waiting for someone else to fix it. So, we’ve decided to start a new monthly challenge called Growing Strong. With a little help from After-School All-Stars (ASAS), the nonprofit Arnold started more than 30 years ago, we will give you the tools to ensure the next generation is filled with healthy, positive people.
At ASAS, mentors have found that programs like sports, yoga, and dance boost physical fitness and enhance mental health, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression among students. Additionally, physically active students tend to have better grades, school attendance, cognitive performance, and classroom behaviors. Simply put, it sets up kids with positive habits that translate to a happier, healthier future.
If you’re a parent, here’s your challenge this weekend: make a plan with your kids to include some additional activity in your time together. Whether it's a walk, bike ride, or a dance party, the focus should be on having fun and being encouraging.
Need a place to start? Try these short at-home workouts from Marathon Kids, a program partner of After-School All-Stars. And then let us know what you did.
If you want to support free after-school enrichment programs, please consider making a gift to After-School All-Stars, which helps connect students with the mentors and resources they need to succeed, in school and beyond. Together, we all have the strength to lift up the world!
Pump Club Recommendations
Weekend Boosts
💪What We’re Reading: How We Evolved To Eat
An ancestral diet is much less “carnivore” than what many influencers will have you believe.
“Fossils of the earliest known hominins indicate that they walked upright on two legs but still spent a lot of time in trees. They don’t appear to have made stone tools and probably subsisted on a diet similar to that of chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest living relatives—which is to say mostly fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, flowers and leaves, along with insects and the occasional small mammal.”
💪What We’re Listening To: The Single Most Important Blood Test To Know Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease (The Proof)
This is an excellent exploration from several top experts about APoB and why it matters so much for your health.
💪The Latest Science Suggests: Make Protein Practical
Whether you like eating smaller or larger meals, the latest research suggests that eating more protein does not go to waste. A recent study found that even when you eat 100 grams of protein in a meal, your body is still digesting and absorbing the protein 12 hours later.
And that’s it for this week. Thank you all for being a part of the positive corner of the internet. Here’s wishing you all a fantastic weekend!
-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
