Can Creatine Lower Your Risk Of Cancer?

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

Monday motivation
Creatine and cancer
Workout of the week

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.

Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation

Today I want to talk about turning off your brain.

Because I have a theory: overthinking has killed billions of dreams. I just saw a perfect example of this, and as you know, I believe the gym is the ultimate classroom.

You might remember when I went on the 2 Bears podcast. One of the funniest members of the Pump Club, Bert, told me his big, crazy goal was to hit a 315 bench. He didn’t just make a vague goal, Bert made a bet that he would do it.

You can watch the podcast here.

I gave him some pointers, and I sent him a pump up video when I heard it was time.

Somehow, the bet became 320. Don’t ask me. Here was his lift.

Let’s start by congratulating Bert. That is serious weight, and he went beyond his goal. He’ll be at 400 in no time, and then I’m sure he’ll be training for the Arnold Strongman Classic.

Some people were surprised by the video I sent him. They thought I’d give technical pointers, not a simple pump up. Instead of telling him to row the weight toward his chest and then explode up, I told him not to think!

Let’s break down why I told him to empty his mind because I think the same advice can help the million of you who read this newsletter.

At that point, Bert had done all the thinking necessary. He made a vision — one that a lot of people thought was crazy. Once he had the vision, he did the work.

I gave him some pointers when he was preparing, but most were to train his mind, not his body, to prepare him for lifting a weight that seemed impossible.

I told him to lift 300 for one rep again and again, to teach the mind that it was happening no matter what. We had him unrack 400 pounds and just hold it, not even try to lower it, to teach his mind that he could hold a weight much higher than his goal.

But once it was time to lift, it was time to turn off the brain.

Overthinking will stop you in your tracks.

I know, I’m always telling you that you need to really take the time to let your mind wander and daydream to find your vision, so it might be confusing to hear me say I want you to turn it off.

You need to learn to become a genius when it’s time to make your vision and your plan — and a total forehead when it’s time to go after it.

Because any time you try to do something you haven’t done before, your brain fights back. You can’t blame it. It is natural.

The brain wants to keep you comfortable. It wants to avoid risk. Doing new things, doing big things, doing crazy things — that’s all very uncomfortable. There is a risk of failure.

Your mind knows that, and if you let it, it will talk you out of any vision. It will derail your plans.

I know that many of you, and even many members of the Pump app, suffer from overthinking.

Let’s just give an example.

You say, “My vision for this year is to finally get in shape.”

Your brain says, “Now hold on, what supplements do you need for that? What is the absolute perfect exercise? Is a fly better than a press for pecs? What’s the difference between a reverse lunge and a lunge because I want to make sure you do the right one? What’s the ideal diet — actually, let’s wait on the diet because first we need to focus on exercise. You can try the diet later.”

Absolutely none of that will get you in shape. Your mind just wasted a ton of time and got you absolutely nowhere.

In the time you were thinking about all of those things and researching, you could have done some squats and pushups and rows in your living room, gone for a walk, and eaten a vegetable and some protein.

You would be much closer to your vision than you are.

Instead, you let your mind take over and keep you frozen, and you make zero progress. You need to realize that’s what your mind wants. It loves to keep the status quo, even if that’s bad for you.

The person who doesn’t know anything about the perfect exercise or supplement or diet but just started doing something will beat you every single time until you learn to hit the off switch on your brain.

And don’t get me started on “trying.”

I see this every day.

People say “I’m going to try to build an exercise habit this year.”

“I’m going to try to diet once I get that habit dialed in.”

Try, try, try.

I know we have encouraged our kids to “try” for years now — and I believe that teaching kids that making the ultimate effort is important and failure is nothing to fear. But trying is just too soft for me.

It’s another trick your brain plays on you to keep you from going all out.

I need you to be honest with yourself. Look back over the past year. How many things have you promised to try? How many of them have you actually done?

Are you the type of person who is always trying and never doing?

It’s time to turn off the thinking. You know your vision. Be a forehead.

Don’t intellectualize it. Don’t research it. Don’t try it.

Do it.

On Our Radar
Can Creatine Lower Your Risk of Cancer?

Creatine is well-known for boosting muscle growth and helping cognition, but could it also protect against cancer? A new study analyzed over a decade of U.S. health data to uncover the connection.

The new study suggests that higher dietary creatine intake is linked to a lower risk of cancer in adults — with the effect getting stronger as you age.

Researchers examined data from more than 25,000 adults and analyzed participants’ dietary creatine intake—primarily from meat and fish—and compared it with cancer incidence. The results showed that individuals with the highest creatine intake had a significantly lower risk of developing cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.

Creatine reduced cancer risk for both men and women — and the effect was even stronger for men and older adults. Specifically, for every 0.09 g increase in creatine intake (that’s a relatively small amount), the cancer incidence in males decreased by 7 percent, and that jumped to 14 percent for those in their 70s and 80s

Researchers hypothesize that creatine’s role in cellular energy metabolism, oxidative stress reduction, and DNA protection could help prevent cancer.

Creatine may offer protective benefits by supporting mitochondrial function to maintain normal cell growth and prevent mutations. Creatine acts as an antioxidant, potentially neutralizing harmful free radicals that can lead to DNA damage and cancer development.

Some studies suggest creatine may help regulate immune responses, which could play a role in preventing abnormal cell growth.

Interestingly, the study only focused on creatine from dietary sources, meaning it didn’t include supplemental creatine, which is a more significant dose than what you find in food. And since the study found that the protection increased with the amount of creatine you consumed, supplemental creatine may be more protective, but we need future research to confirm.

This study suggests you may be doing more than just improving muscle strength—you could also reduce your long-term cancer risk.

If you’re looking for the highest quality creatine you can trust, we recommend Momentous Creatine. It’s third-party certified, contains no banned substances or dangerous heavy metals, and is trusted by professional athletes, Olympians, and the military. All members of the positive corner of the internet receive 20% OFF when you use the code “PUMPCLUB.”

And remember, as we’ve shared previously, many of the old concerns about creatine are untrue. Creatine does not threaten your kidneys (research shows it can keep them healthier) and doesn’t increase body fat.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week

Another week, another full-body plan to keep you fit when time is short and you need an efficient workout. This week, you’ll again be working against the clock and wishing time would slow down.

How to do it: Set a timer for 1 minute and perform the number of reps listed for the first exercise. Then, rest for the remainder of the minute. For example, if the exercise says five reps, you’ll complete them (say it takes 15 seconds) and then rest until the clock hits 60 seconds. Then, you’ll do the reps of the second exercise and rest for the remainder of the 60 seconds.

Repeat this for each exercise, and once you complete all five exercises, rest for 2 minutes, then repeat. Complete 2 to 4 rounds, meaning the workout could be as short as 12 minutes (and you’ll feel like it was much longer!)

The Workout