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The Catch: Find the Answer, Win The Prize

Knowledge pays off. We want to reward those who learned something new from today’s APC. View this like a scavenger hunt. Read the questions below, submit the correct answer here, and we’ll randomly select 10 correct answers (not the first 10 people to answer correctly) with a $25 reward to use on any Momentous product.

Today’s Question: One item below names the single biggest modifiable risk factor for dementia worldwide, and it's tied with something most people think of as purely a heart problem. According to a major 2024 global health report, untreated hearing loss ties with one other specific condition as the top contributor to preventable dementia cases. What is that other condition? 

Submit your answer here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Number you won’t forget

• Weekly wisdom

• A new study looked at how protein affects your organs

 Number You Won’t Forget 7%

The Dementia Risk Factor You're Probably Ignoring

When you think about protecting your brain as you age, you think about exercise, sleep, blood pressure, and maybe Sudoku. You don't think about the volume on your earbuds. But maybe you should.

Untreated hearing loss is tied for the largest modifiable contributor to dementia worldwide, and unlike most brain-health risks, a major share of it is preventable through everyday habits.

The 2024 Commission on dementia prevention concluded that 45% of cases globally are potentially preventable through 14 modifiable risk factors. Untreated hearing loss accounted for roughly 7%, tied with high LDL cholesterol for the top spot, and the evidence has strengthened since the Commission's 2020 report.

What sets hearing loss apart isn't just the number. It's how often it goes unnoticed and untreated.

Most people don't think of their hearing as a brain-health issue, which makes small daily habits unusually high-leverage here. (One caveat: that 7% is a population-level estimate. It means a world without untreated hearing loss might see 7% fewer dementia cases overall, not that hearing drives 7% of any one person's risk.)

Per the American Academy of Family Physicians, noise-induced damage is "virtually 100% preventable" but nearly impossible to reverse once done.

About 1 in 4 American adults under 70 already shows signs, with roughly half of cases tied to concerts, headphones, power tools, and other everyday sources.

The CDC's playbook is short:

• Turn it down. Keep headphones below about 60% of max and take breaks after an hour. If someone an arm's length away can hear what's in your ears, it's too loud.

• Walk away. Distance from loud speakers cuts sound energy fast.

• Carry earplugs. Foam ones cost a few dollars, attenuate 20–30 decibels, and only help if you actually wear them.

• Get a baseline. A hearing test in your 40s or 50s catches gradual changes early.

If hearing loss has already started, the ACHIEVE trial found that hearing aids cut the rate of cognitive decline nearly in half over three years in higher-risk older adults.

The earplugs in your pocket today may be doing more for your future self than you think.

Daniel’s Corner
Weekly Wisdom

From Ketch: We got so many replies to yesterday’s Adam’s Corner about my injury that I wanted to chime in.

First of all, thank you for your concerns, your well-wishes, and your own stories of injury.

Now, the real reason I asked Adam to give me some space today to respond: I’m worried some of you missed the message.

The message we hoped everyone would walk away with was simple. Sometimes, we take a step back to move forward; but as long as we don’t quit, we never lose.

A lot of people got a different message. That this was a loss. That I found my limit, and I should consider that a win. That, as I turn 42, I might have finally outgrown my crazy goals. That I needed sympathy.

I felt a touch awkward about all of the condolences, because in the wild world we live in, there are a lot of things worth your sympathy, and I frankly don’t think my deadlift is one of them.

But there is a bigger reason I didn’t need any condolences. 

We give condolences in response to grief. When there is loss. When people die. 

Let me be really, really clear: this dream isn’t dead. I didn’t find my limit. I won’t be stopping the crazy yearly goals. 500 will go up, almost certainly this year. When it does, it will just become another stepping stone, because my real goal is to match my 600-pound trap bar deadlift from last year’s challenge on a barbell. Once I get there, that goal will transform from a finish line to a stepping stone just like all of the others.

I didn’t lose, and I’m not grieving, even though I’ll admit to total shock when Coach Nic told me the program to bulletproof my back is going to be 10 weeks long.

After a few minutes of annoyance, I realized this is the same program he used to rebuild his back when he was ready to quit before World’s Strongest Man, the program that brought him to a 700-pound axle deadlift. 

I’ll be honest, this program doesn’t look fun…unless you’re into holding an empty barbell one inch off the ground for 60 seconds and doing a whole bunch of really, really slow movements under load.

It is also a great opportunity. The program was written by Tom Hibbert, Nic’s coach, who has coached 40 world records. After we saw how Tom helped our Pump Club members in the UK last month, we told him we wanted to find a way to bring his genius, strength training mind into the Pump Club.

Did we think it would come when I hurt my back so badly picking up our son that my wife had to help me get dressed to go to the doctor? 

No, but sometimes opportunities find us when we least expect them. We just have to train ourselves to see them.

It is also a chance to lead by example. When we say there is no finish line in fitness, we mean it. Even when it means a goal won’t happen when we planned. Even when it means 10 weeks of missing the gripping and ripping that I love.

When I took on this challenge of switching from the trap bar to the barbell, I knew it would be a hit to my ego. I failed that 470 at the end of two programs in a row, and it became my white whale. 

The best thing I’ve learned from lifting all of these years is that when we do it right, there will always be a new white whale to hunt.

Now, for 10 weeks, my white whale is whatever weakness lies in those few inches of the range of motion that live between the trap bar handles and the barbell. We are going to attack it relentlessly.

I want to reframe Adam’s message for all of you. This is not a step back at all. It’s just a different kind of step forward.

All of us will always have some kind of weakness, but with every weakness, we also have a choice. 

Do we fight it, or do we let the weakness live inside of us, defining us? I’ll always choose to fight, and I hope you will, too.

Just to put all of the condolences to bed: I would 100% do it all over again.

I will do it all over again. Just a little bit stronger.

Health
The Protein-Organ Theory Just Got Tested. It Failed.

For years, a theory has created a lot of fear about eating protein. And, if true, it was worthy of concern.

A 2019 paper argued that protein consumed beyond what your muscles can use might be redirected to organ growth, and the idea has since spread through nutrition forums and gym conversations as a reason to "be careful." A new study finally tested it beyond the theoretical.

Scientists found that eating more than 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight daily, over twice the standard recommendation, was not linked to enlarged internal organs in drug-free bodybuilders.

Researchers compared three groups of young adults: bodybuilders using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), natural bodybuilders who don't, and recreationally active participants who served as a control. 

The scientists used imaging to measure the sizes of the heart, liver, intestines, and kidneys. Both bodybuilder groups consumed similar amounts of protein, well above 2.5 g/kg/day, while controls averaged around 1.4 g/kg/day. 

As you would expect, the enhanced bodybuilders had the most muscle mass, and natural bodybuilders had more than controls. 

But here’s the important part: organ enlargement showed up in only one group — the drug users. Natural bodybuilders' organs looked nearly identical to those of the recreationally active controls, despite eating roughly twice as much protein.

The pattern is the point. Same protein, different drug status, different organ outcomes. That dissociation means high protein intake on its own doesn't appear to be driving the change. The far more likely driver is the drug protocols common in elite bodybuilding, which typically combine growth hormone, insulin, and anabolic steroids. The "bubble gut" you've seen on stage is more plausibly a pharmaceutical signature than a dietary one.

That said, while it seems open-and-shut, the study is observational, so we can’t assume causality. But for the vast majority of people eating high protein without a syringe in the picture, this is one more piece of evidence that the protein panic (at least up to about 2.5 g/kg) keeps failing every test it gets.

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.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell