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Today’s Health Upgrade
Better than pre-workout?
When you don't have time to train, do this
The weekend challenge
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Liquid Strength
Taking pre-workout or drinking coffee before a workout might help you start strong, but what you drink during your workout can help you finish even stronger.
If you’re not hydrating during training, then you’re probably leaving results behind.
Researchers examined training performance and found that you want to drink 8 to 10 ounces of liquid for every 30 minutes of training. Being dehydrated can reduce your strength and increase fatigue. But it’s even worse than you think.
When participants didn’t hydrate, they experienced more confusion, fatigue, and decreased vigor. The researchers found that your brain cells can change a little when dehydrated (don’t worry, it’s temporary). But that little bit of dehydration can make you feel more angry or depressed following your workout.
The simple fix: make sure you’re drinking water — or your beverage of choice (assuming it’s not alcohol) — in between sets to make sure you have a great workout and feel more positive.
Arnold Q&A
If calisthenics gets you to exercise and get better every day, I love it. I’m always impressed by those guys who do the most wild moves at muscle beach on the pull-up bars. But in general, I love bodyweight training. That’s why all beginners in my app start with bodyweight. I started with bodyweight. It sounds like you’ve found what works for you, so keep pumping!
Normally when someone says this to me, I ask them to open their phone and tell me how many hours it says they spent on social media. So far, 100% of the time, I’ve found people who can find a half hour, if not much more, to train every day if they trade their social media time for training.
I think a lot of people say, “I don’t have time to train,” when they mean, “I don’t prioritize training.” So many people tell me they don’t have time, then they spend 2 hours a day watching tv and an hour scrolling Instagram. They tell you they can’t wake up at 5 in the morning to train before their kids wake up because they need time to wind down at night and watch a movie before they go to sleep. That’s fine, but that’s not an issue of not having time, that’s an issue of choosing to use your time on something else.
So before you go down this one exercise path, I’d ask yourself if you seriously can’t find 30 minutes a day to exercise. Ask yourself if you really looked. And then, if you truly only have 15 minutes (which is what I think you will need to do a one-exercise workout with a warmup), my favorite total body exercises are the deadlift or the clean and press.
Instead of just one, I’ll give you three. My favorites are cookies and cream, strawberry, and rum raisin.
Weekend Challenge
This week, we’re giving you a new type of challenge. It might not look as hard as deadlifting 500 pounds, but the work it requires is no easy lift.
This challenge was inspired by Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
Part of becoming more positive is learning to invest in the things that serve you and drop the things that don’t. So this weekend, here’s what we’d like you to do:
Step 1: Make a list of 3 things that you find meaningful and take action.
If your family gives you meaning, what are you doing to spend more time with them or create a connection? If your community gives you meaning, how are you engaging with them? There are no wrong answers. But the combination of asking yourself what matters most — and engaging in behaviors that make sure you’re following through — is a clear path to adding meaning to your days.
Step 2: Find something you’re struggling with or stressed by and let it go.
The first step was about adding more good, and the second part is about removing the bad. We spend endless amounts of time and energy on things that bother us, even though they don't deeply matter to us. I want you to identify those things that are draining your energy and let them go.
If you can take these two steps, you’re likely to feel better because it's the sum of what you’re adding and what you’re subtracting. Give it a try, and let us know how it goes!
As always, thanks for reading. We all hope you have a fantastic weekend!
-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
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