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Today’s Health Upgrade
Arnold Q&A
Addicted to your phone? This trick works
Weekend challenge
Want more stories from Arnold? Listen to Arnold's Pump Club podcast. It's like the daily newsletter, but with additional narration and thoughts from Arnold. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Arnold Q&A
Today, we're sharing a few of the 98 questions Arnold received yesterday inside The Pump app (you can join the waitlist here). Enjoy!
Arnold on disappointment
Arnold on hitting the reset button
Arnold on planning for success
The Preferred Coffee of The Pump Club
Arnold starts every day with a cup of coffee (before feeding the animals). That's because it's hard to find another drink that does everything from boosting your workouts to being associated with improved longevity. And that’s why we love Four Sigmatic’s Think Coffee.
It’s everything you want from coffee — high-quality Arabica beans, great smell, incredible taste — and with the added benefits of sustained energy and mental focus without the jitters. Plus, there's a money-back guarantee if you don't feel you're getting the boost you desire. But we think you'll love it. Research suggests that lion’s mane, one of the mushrooms in Four Sigmatic Think Coffee, can help improve in cognition in as little as 7 days. We love taking care of the village, and that means extra savings. If you’re looking to pump up your coffee, click here to save $45 off the Four Sigmatic Think starter kit. That means you’ll be paying less than $1 per cup for sustained energy and mental focus.
Note form Arnold: We believe in being transparent. Sometimes you'll see ads here, like the one above. You might ask why. First, the bigger this village gets, the more it costs. Second, I want my team to make money from it. We’ll never sell out and advertise any bogus magic pills; we'll bring you the stuff that we feel can help the village and add value to your life.
Addicted to Your Phone? Read This
The average person spends approximately 4 to 5 hours on their phone…per day. It’s an addiction that feels hard to break. But a simple adjustment to your screen could do the trick.
Researchers found that shifting your phone to grayscale can make you use it much less.
We discovered this tip thanks to Michael Easter and his 2% newsletter (an Arnold Pump Club favorite). The reason it works is simple: you're removing an important part of what keeps you hooked to your phone. Bright colors are more stimulating and pleasurable, and they keep your attention. It’s why apps are designed the way they are, slot machines flash, and phones and social media suck you in like a moth to a flame. In the study, those who changed their phones to grayscale dropped their phone usage by 40 minutes per day.
In follow-up research, the findings were even more promising. The lead researcher found that those who shifted to grayscale “exhibited a significant decrease in problematic smartphone use, anxiety, and screen time.”
If you’re using an Apple device, grayscaling is a hidden feature (for obvious reasons). Here’s how to uncover it: Setting —> Accessibility —> Display & Text Size — Color Filters —> Switch to On and click Grayscale.
If you’re up for it, check out this week’s challenge.
Weekend Challenge
In the study about reducing your phone addiction, there was one small detail we left out: many people couldn’t do it. Nearly 15 percent of the participants had to cheat and switch their phones off grayscale and back to color.
When you try it, you’ll probably understand why. The experience is very different.
And that got us thinking — can you go an entire weekend with your phone on grayscale?
This weekend, we want to see if you can do it. Shift your phone to grayscale and see how your behavior changes.
We showed you above how to change an Apple phone. Adjusting an Android is a bit easier:
Open the Settings app, then tap Accessibility
Under the “Display” header, tap Text and Display
Tap Color correction and select Grayscale
Give it a try, and let us know on social what your experience is like.
Thanks again for welcoming us into your inbox. We hope you have a great weekend! -Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
