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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Do genetics prevent muscle gain?

• The most common nutrient deficiencies

• Adam’s Corner: Meet your older self

Fitness
You're Probably Not an Exercise "Non-Responder"

Bad genetics is one of the most popular reasons people use to explain their lack of results. And while genetics definitely play a role, the science does not say your DNA is holding you back from building muscle. 

Researchers recently scanned more than 315,000 spots in people's DNA for a gene tied to muscle growth. Only one turned up.

The study highlights that true non-responders, the people who genuinely can't build muscle, are extremely rare. Most of what looks like non-response is something else.

The researchers found that if you don’t see results, the most likely issue is the program you’re following.

In one study, participants were put on a well-designed program or a poorly designed one. About 90% of people following a “good program” saw strong results, which was much higher than those following the bad program. But swap conditions, and results followed.

We’re not downplaying genetics. Twin studies suggest genes matter, with heritability estimates for exercise response somewhere around 30% to 70%. But if you look for the specific genes that will prevent you from responding to muscle, you come up nearly empty. 

A better explanation is this: everyone can build muscle at almost any age, but some people build it more easily. 

So if you're stalled or feeling hopeless, the problem isn’t you. It’s what you’re doing to change your body. 

Start with what you control: Are you actually showing up consistently? Is the weight on the bar going up over time? Are you chasing the hard reps? Do you have support and accountability? Sleep and food matter here too. 

If you’re not seeing results, your body is not fighting against you. But you might be following a workout approach that won’t help you accomplish your goals. 

Working out isn’t rocket science, but it is exercise science. And most people throw together workouts designed for exhaustion, not results. 

That's exactly what the Pump Club app is built to fix. The workouts are designed to progress, so the weight on the bar keeps moving up instead of stalling. You get the right exercises, in the right order, and you progress week over week. And the flexible schedule means you never miss a workout. 

Plus, you train with weekly support and guidance from Arnold’s hand-picked coaches, alongside a community that shows up every day.

And, when you complete entire programs, you get paid back (for up to four programs per year), including $50 back once you complete the entire “Foundation” program.

If you want to experience the difference, try a free 7-day trial.

Everyone can build muscle. The trick is finding a program that works.

Reader Question
Worried About A Nutrient Deficiency? These Are Your Best Bets

“I eat ok, but I don’t always have healthy foods. Are there any nutrients I’m probably not getting that can cause health issues?” -Denise, TN

Somewhere along the way, eating well started to feel like you needed a spreadsheet. Track enough vitamins. Fill the gaps with supplements. Hope you didn’t overlook the nutrient that quietly ruins everything.

The reality is much simpler.

Most adults aren't at risk for most vitamin deficiencies, but they consistently fall short on the same small group of nutrients. That short list includes fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and omega-3s. 

This isn’t hearsay. That list comes from national nutrition data. Federal researchers use NHANES to track what Americans eat and identify the shortages common enough to matter at a population level. 

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines singled out fiber, potassium, calcium, and vitamin D as nutrients of public-health concern. The same intake data show widespread shortfalls in magnesium and omega-3 fats.

These nutrients deserve attention because they aren’t small misses. 

More than 90 percent of adults fail to reach the recommended fiber intake, while roughly half come up short on magnesium.

To be fair, these estimates are based largely on what people report eating. So it’s not as accurate as a randomized controlled trial. However, when people report their nutrition, they tend to overestimate the good stuff they eat, so the deficiencies are likely real. But the data obviously can’t tell you whether you personally have a deficiency.

The good news is that fixing your diet doesn’t require a major overhaul. The same foods can fill many of those gaps. 

Beans, lentils, fruit, leafy greens, and potatoes provide fiber, potassium, and magnesium. Salmon and sardines supply omega-3s, along with some vitamin D. Dairy and fortified plant milks can help cover calcium and vitamin D. And nuts, seeds, oats, and other whole grains fill in several of these categories, too. 

Start by adding some of these foods to your diet. Try oats with chia and berries for breakfast. Add beans or lentils to a salad or grain bowl at lunch. Eat salmon or sardines twice per week. Work in a potato, banana, yogurt, or handful of nuts when it fits. Do that consistently, and most of the usual gaps will start closing without counting anything.

If you need them, supplements can help, but make sure you use only third-party certified brands. 

Vitamin D may make sense if your levels are low, you get little sun, or winter limits your exposure. Fiber supplements can help you reach 25 to 40 grams per day. An omega-3 supplement is useful if you rarely eat fatty fish. And Magtein has better absorption without the GI issues if you need magnesium. 

But supplements are gap-fillers, not the foundation. More pills won’t rescue a diet that routinely leaves out the foods carrying most of the nutrition. 

Adam’s Corner 
Meet Your Older Self

A few weeks ago, I had one of those moments when too much was going on. 

I was on a call with Rich Roll preparing for a new video series. At the same time, both of my sons were home and needed something from me. My daughter was supposed to be napping, but she was crying so loud that even when I turned the volume down on the monitor, I could still hear her. 

I knew I needed to listen to Rich, but I felt pulled in every direction.

Then Rich said something that cut through the noise and became something I knew we had to explore when we met a few weeks later.

Rich told me he’d spent most of his life competing. He was always racing, pushing, chasing the next result before he had time to feel the last one. And when he achieved the goal, he was on to the next one. 

That drive helped him accomplish more than most people ever will, but it also made stopping feel almost impossible.

Then, after more than 10 years of back issues, he finally was in too much pain and surgery took the choice away from him.

For the first time he could remember, Rich had to be still. In that forced pause, he began reconsidering how he’d been living.

I understood the reflex because I have it, too. Keep moving. Do the work. Juggle it all. Forget excuses. And never stop. 

It’s not that I’m against rest. It’s that I’m wired to hunt for the next thing. 

The hunt is good. But the problem is sometimes you need to slow yourself down because nothing is ever finished, and in non-stop hustle, you don’t know what you might miss.

Listening to Rich, I wondered if he would’ve found this part of himself if life hadn’t forced the introduction. And then I wondered the same thing about me.

We’re wired to make the most of our days, especially our youth. Carpe diem. Seize the day. 

So when we’re young, we build and take action. And it feels like the right trade. 

I don’t regret my ambition. It helped me build much of the life I love. 

I don’t regret my mistakes, my hunger, or even the moments where I invested my time and energy in the wrong things. They all made me who I am. And I wouldn’t be where I am without the failure and heartbreak. 

But as I think about getting older, I can’t stop thinking about what Rich said. 

More than ever before, he knows what deserves his attention. He’s calmer, more present, less interested in proving himself. We assume age will eventually turn us into him.

But are we all waiting for that to happen, instead of seizing that perspective?

The Person at the End

Just yesterday, I heard a quote from Tobi Lütke, the founder of Shopify, that gave me a way to think about this:

“I will meet the person I could have been at the end of my life. The work of my life is to reduce the difference between that person and me as much as possible.”

There are two ways of looking at that. It’s both a statement about the best version of yourself and the current version. 

But also the last version of yourself and the current version. 

Most of us will understand ourselves best when we have the least time left to use that knowledge. Tobi’s point, as I understand it, is to close some of that gap now.

This doesn’t require abandoning your ambition or disappearing to a mountaintop. It starts with paying attention to the life already happening while you plan the next one.

That’s the half of Arnold most people miss. Everyone sees him fighting the clock: riding his bike, training six days a week, playing chess, and taking on projects that would flatten men half his age. 

You rest, you rust.

But Arnold also protects his time. He turns down countless opportunities. He stays home and makes room for his family. For someone who has lived at his level, he is unusually present. He isn’t postponing that part of himself until the work is done.

Rich came to a similar realization. Nearly twenty years into the life that remade him, he told me he wants a different kind of discipline now. He still cares about performing, but he also wants to be present for a life moving faster than he would like. He believes presence makes him sharper because he’s no longer spending every day chasing the next result.

We treat aging as slowing down, and slowing down as something age steals from us. But I think we have it wrong.

Slow down enough, and you can find meaning in almost anything. 

Slow down more, and you see exactly what is meaningful to you. When that happens, you can spend your days wisely, and limit the moments that are meaningless.

Do that, and it becomes easier to stop worrying about how much time you have (because no one truly knows), because you know you're spending it well.

It’s my birthday next week. I’m old enough to know how fast life can rewrite itself. And young enough that I still have many moments where I lose perspective. 

In the quest to meet the older me, I’m going to try and see life through aged eyes. Not in my ambition, drive, or hunger to make the most of my days. But in the need to do everything, and instead invest in what matters. 

When time is up, I don’t want to miss the meaning and joy that were there all along. So that wherever I spend my time will almost always be time well spent.

Because that’s what I think the oldest, wisest version would tell me today. And I don’t need to wait till the end to start listening. -AB

-Adam Bornstein is the co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Arnold’s Pump Club

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 edit and review our interpretations of the research, ensuring 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 by “Together With”). 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