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Today’s Health Upgrade
Arnold’s corner: Monday motivation
About the David bar lawsuit
Why you might not need to stretch
Workout of the week
Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation: You Don’t Have to Feel Like It
I want to tell you something that might surprise you.
There are mornings I don’t want to get out of bed.
I know. You’ve seen the photos, the videos, the decades of work. You assume people like me are just wired differently, that we wake up fired up, ready to attack the day, while you’re hitting snooze for the third time. That motivation lives in our veins the way blood does. That somewhere along the way, we cracked the code and the hard part just…stopped being hard.
That’s bullshit.
It doesn’t work that way. Not for me. Not for anyone who has been doing this long enough to tell you the truth about it.
Some mornings, the world looks black and white to me. Flat. Heavy. The bed feels like the only logical place to be. The workout feels far away and pointless. Whatever I accomplished yesterday doesn’t matter. Whatever I’m working toward feels abstract. On those mornings, I don’t look for inspiration. I don’t think about goals, legacy, or what I want to build. I don’t put on a pump-up playlist and wait for the feeling to arrive.
I talk to myself the way a coach would, except with myself, I’m not a gentle coach.
“Are you a baby, Arnold? Were you meant to sleep all day like a baby? Were you meant to be comfortable, or were you meant to be useful?”
That’s the voice. Not pretty. Not poetic. Not the kind of thing you’d put on a motivational poster.
Just the blunt, unglamorous truth that gets me moving when nothing else will. I don’t need to feel good about it. I just need to get up.
And then something happens. Usually, somewhere on the bike ride, or a few sets into the workout, the world starts to shift. Color comes back. The heaviness lifts.
My body remembers what my mind forgot: that I always feel better when I move. That this is who I am. That the only thing worse than a hard workout is the version of me who skipped it.
Movement is life. But here’s what matters: I had to start before I felt it.
The feeling wasn’t there until I moved. It didn’t lead. It followed. It always follows. But it will never, ever arrive before you begin.
Science we’ve shared here before actually backs this up. Researchers used to think motivation was the engine, that you needed to feel ready before you could build something consistent. We now know it runs the other way.
A truly ingrained habit forms not through motivation, but through consistency, through repeating actions until they become automatic. Through repetition.
Why do you think I’ve been saying “Reps, reps, reps” for all these years? Because what you repeat becomes who you are.
The motivation you feel after a great workout, after a solid week, after you’ve kept a promise to yourself? That’s the reward, not the starting gun.
And it takes longer than you think. Research shows that real habit formation typically takes two to five months, not the 21 days you’ve been sold on social media.
Which means most people quit right at the moment it’s about to click. They feel the discomfort of not wanting to go, they don’t go, and they decide the discomfort means something, that they’re not cut out for this, that other people have something they don’t.
Again: bullshit.
Those other people are not special; they are just further into the two to five months. The people you look at and think, they must just love this, they don’t always love it.
They just repeated it. Over and over again, on the Tuesday mornings when nobody was watching, and nothing felt exciting, they decided to do the reps anyway.
That decision, repeated enough times, stopped requiring a decision at all. It just became who they are. That’s not a superpower. That’s something every single one of you can build, but only if you stop waiting for a permission slip from your feelings.
Your feelings will ALWAYS lie to you. They’re never going to give you permission because they want comfort. They want the pillow.
So here’s the tough love part, and I mean it with everything I have:
If you are waiting to feel like working out, you will spend the rest of your life waiting.
Don’t get me wrong. Motivation will visit you from time to time. It’ll feel incredible when it shows up. Use it. But it is a guest, not a resident.
You cannot build a body, or a life, around a guest’s schedule. The days it doesn’t come, and there will be many, are not failures. They are actually the most important days. Because showing up when you don’t feel like it is the entire exercise. That’s the rep that counts more than any other.
In training, we know from science that the hardest reps are the ones that cause growth. It’s the same in life.
But many, many people hit those hard reps in life, on the days when they might need to really push themselves, and they think it’s a sign to hold back.
They wait for a day when they feel like it. They wait and wait and wait. They do so many repetitions of waiting that they become someone who never starts.
You don’t need to feel ready. You don’t need to feel excited. You don’t need to feel anything at all except your feet hitting the floor.
The world turns to color eventually. It always does. But you have to be willing to start in the gray.
I’ll see you in the gym.
Beyond The Headlines
The David Bar Lawsuit: What We Discovered And What the Science Says
If you saw the headlines about a class action lawsuit against David and started questioning every protein bar you've eaten, we wanted to let you know everything we’ve discovered. The story is more complicated than the coverage, and the science tells a different version than what you might be seeing online.
Based on the lab testing we’ve seen and FDA guidelines — and assuming David is accurately reporting the raw ingredients in their bars — the data shows there are 150 calories in David bars, not more, as the lawsuit suggests.
Three consumers filed suit, claiming that David Bars misrepresented the calories by 78-83% and the fat content by 368-400%. Independent testing appeared to support that claim until you look at the test they used and how it works. The lab used a standard fat-measurement method (AOAC 945.44), which estimates fat by weight rather than by chemical identity.
In other words, the test being used for the lawsuit does not reflect how the body digests food, and it doesn’t represent the rules the FDA uses to calculate calories on food labels.
David Bars contain a low-calorie fat replacer called EPG (esterified propoxylated glycerol), which mimics fat's texture and taste but provides only 0.7 calories per gram, compared to the 9 calories per gram that dietary fat delivers.
Because EPG is fat-soluble, the AOAC test pulls it out right alongside actual dietary fat, then counts all of it at 9 calories per gram. That's where the inflated numbers come from.
As the Unbiased Scientist (some of you might follow them on Instagram or listen to the podcast) said, “They should have hired a legitimate chemist.”
The lawsuit relied on the wrong testing method for a bar containing a fat replacer, which created a dramatic overestimate of calories and fat.
Here's an analogy that might help. Fiber shows up on nutrition labels, but despite being a carbohydrate — which has 4 calories per gram — your body processes fiber differently and can't fully digest it, so the FDA requires a lower calorie calculation. EPG works the same way, which is why the calorie count on labels is lower (and accurate).
Nutrition labels are supposed to reflect what your body processes, not what would happen if you torched the bar in a lab.
To fully settle the question, David will need to provide testing that can specifically distinguish EPG from dietary fat and the amount of EPG in the bar, a method that the AOAC test simply can't do.
We know we’ve recommended David, and our primary focus is to ensure the bars are what we thought they were. We’ll continue to keep you updated and provide all the information so you can stay as informed as possible. And if anything changes or is different from the data we’ve been provided, you’ll be the first to know.
Based on what we have seen so far, the evidence points to a lab error by the people suing, not a mislabeled product by David.
Start Your Week Right
Do You Actually Need a Stretching Routine? Here's What 36 Studies Say
For decades, the conventional wisdom was that strength training and flexibility were a trade-off. You want to move better? Put down the weights and go stretch. It was repeated so often that most lifters either added a dedicated stretching routine out of obligation or quietly accepted that tightness was the cost of getting stronger.
A meta-analysis of 36 studies found that resistance training, on its own, improves joint flexibility.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,500 adults across nine academic databases, looking specifically at resistance training as an isolated intervention (no stretching programs mixed in) lasting at least four weeks.
High-intensity protocols drove the biggest flexibility improvements, while low-intensity training showed a smaller, less reliable effect. Rest time between sets also mattered, with longer rest periods associated with better flexibility outcomes.
It might sound surprising, but moving a joint through its full range of motion under load — the thing that makes a deep squat or a controlled Romanian deadlift feel different from a partial rep — gradually increases your muscle's tolerance to stretch.
The tension doesn't make you tighter; done properly, it teaches the tissue to accept more length.
To be clear, the research is not arguing against stretching. You might experience benefits, feel better, or just enjoy it as part of the routine. The research suggests that lifting through the full range of motion does more for your mobility than you may have realized, and that stretching isn’t necessary to improve flexibility.
If you're already training with good form and reasonable intensity, you're likely getting a flexibility benefit as a bonus. If you want to amplify it, focus on the full range of motion with each rep rather than cutting reps short.
Fitness
Workout Of The Week
What can a short workout do for you? Researchers reviewed 16 studies and found that 30 minutes of strength training per week reduced the risk of death from all causes by 20 percent, mostly because the added resistance helped protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
This week’s workout isn’t long, but that’s by design. It’s the ultimate “short on time” program that will help you push the intensity and get in something when your schedule makes it tough to fit in a longer workout.
How to do it
This workout is built around timed sets. You’ll perform each exercise for the listed time (based on your experience level), rest, then move to the next exercise. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes, and when the time is up, the workout is over.
If you’re a beginner, do each movement for 10 seconds
If you’re intermediate, do each movement for 20 seconds
If you’re advanced, do each movement for 30 seconds
After each exercise, rest as little as possible and then continue to the next movement. Cycle through the exercises as many times as you can in 10 to 15 minutes.
Bodyweight version
Weighted version (use dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells)
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.
Better Today
Take any of these tips from today’s email and put them into action:
1. Habit Formation Usually Takes Months, Not 21 Days. Arnold Explains Why That Changes Everything
Research shows habit formation typically takes two to five months (and sometimes as long as a year) — not the 21 days that's become a social media fixture. That means most people abandon a routine right before the behavior stops requiring conscious effort. Arnold's framework sidesteps the motivation question entirely: don't look for the feeling, don't wait for it, start moving and let the feeling follow, because it reliably does, but only after you begin. The practical implication is blunt: every day you show up without wanting to is the rep that actually builds the habit, and there will be many of those days before it becomes automatic.
2. The David Bar Lawsuit Used the Wrong Lab Test To Measure Calories. Here's What the Science Shows
The class action lawsuit against David Bars relied on a standard fat-measurement method (AOAC 945.44) that extracts fat by weight rather than by metabolic identity. That caused it to count EPG (esterified propoxylated glycerol), which delivers 0.7 calories per gram, at the same 9 calories per gram as dietary fat, which is why the lawsuit claims that David bars are underestimating their calorie count. EPG works like fiber on a nutrition label: it's chemically present but metabolically distinct, and FDA labeling rules require calories to reflect what the body actually absorbs, not what a weight-based extraction test would find. Based on the lab testing APC reviewed and David's published product data, the evidence points to a methodology mismatch in the lawsuit, not a labeling error in the product — though confirming that fully requires testing that can specifically distinguish EPG from dietary fat.
3. 36 Studies Confirm: Strength Training Alone Produces Flexibility Gains
A meta-analysis of 36 studies involving 1,469 adults found that resistance training alone — without a stretching program — improved joint flexibility, with higher-intensity training delivering the greatest gains, and longer rest periods between sets associated with better flexibility outcomes. The mechanism is load-based adaptation: moving a joint through its full range of motion under resistance gradually increases the muscle's tolerance to stretch, not by creating looseness but by training the tissue to accept more length. This doesn't make stretching wrong, but it does mean that lifters already training with a full range of motion are building flexibility as a byproduct, and the priority should be range of motion per rep, not a separate mobility session.
The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards
We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.
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).
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.
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
