Fitness Is For Everyone

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Today’s Health Upgrade

Monday motivation
Are you hydrating enough?
Workout of the week

Arnold’s Podcast

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Arnold’s Corner: Monday Motivation

Fitness is for everyone.

I say this over and over, but I can never repeat it enough.

This weekend, when I went to the gym, a young man looked over at me a few times and I’ve been around long enough to get the hint: he wanted to talk to me.

His name was Kyle. He has Down syndrome, and he’s very proud to raise awareness about Down syndrome. He is also a bodybuilder with a big following, and he uses his platform to inspire everyone to stop accepting the limitations society tries to place on you.

I met Kyle at last year’s Arnold Classic, but that’s always a crazy weekend with 200,000 people, so this was the first time I spent time with him. I had a fantastic time training him.

Instagram post by @greenrangerkyle

He inspired me to come back to my favorite message this week: fitness is for everyone.

Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, straight, gay, man, woman, “disabled,” able-bodied — and anything in between; no matter who you are and what your situation might be, fitness is for you.

We share this message yearly at the Arnold Sports Festival (which is coming up in a week and a half, and tickets might still be left if you hustle and visit Arnoldsports.com).

When you see these lifters, whether Miles with cerebral palsy, Derick with one leg, or Kyle and Garrett with Down syndrome, you can’t help but be inspired. That’s why I love to give them the big stage.

But there’s another reason. If you saw them outside of the fitness setting, you might feel bad for them. They don’t want that. Miles wears shirts with the “dis” in “disability” crossed out.

Fitness gives each of them, and all of us, a way to overcome whatever challenges we face. It’s the great equalizer. Two hundred pounds is 200 pounds whether you live in a mansion or are struggling to put food on the table. The barbell doesn’t see your race or sexuality or gender or bank account or anything — it’s just asking to be picked up, no matter who you are.

Fitness is for everyone.

What does that mean for all of us?

Well, if you’re a gym owner or involved in the fitness industry, which I know many of our members are because we see hundreds of requests to feature your gyms and products, it means you better make fitness welcoming to everyone. You have to be inclusive. You can’t turn people away because of who they are, and you must be willing to help people with different issues find their way into the gym.

If you’re turning away people like Kyle or Miles, you can never consider yourself a success. It’s your job as a member of the fitness industry to find every way you can to make fitness available to everyone. Imagine an elementary school that said I only want to take the best students, no students learning English, no students with developmental issues, no students who are falling behind. You wouldn’t look at that school as a success. I know that it might take a little work to make your gym welcoming to everyone, and you might have some members who you fear will be uncomfortable, but it is worth it. And let me be clear: it is your job to set the tone and make the gym inclusive and open.

And for the rest of us? The weekend warriors and the daily lifters? It’s your job to be welcoming and kind at the gym and be a missionary for it when you’re outside the real world. Bring people into our fitness crusade. Lift them up — don’t put them down.

It’s our responsibility to keep the big tent of fitness open because if we don’t, how could we find this inspiration?

Because what Kyle and Miles and Derick are all really telling us is we don’t have an excuse. They aren’t moping around, so there isn’t a challenge big enough to keep us from getting off the couch and controlling the one thing we can always control: focusing on our fitness and moving forward every day.

Meeting and hanging out with these guys is better than any pre-workout you could buy. Despite what we may see as major challenges, they’re positive and moving forward.

That’s why fitness is for everyone. No matter what we face, it gives us the power to change something in our lives: our strength. And when you learn that you aren’t powerless in that one part of your life, you gain the strength to deal with the challenges outside of the gym. It feels like magic, but it’s really just work.

I’ll keep fighting to make fitness for everyone every day of my life. But I can’t lift this weight alone. I need all of you. Bring people in. Make them feel good. Lift each other up.

That’s what the Pump Club is all about. We lift ourselves up, then we lift each other up, then we lift up the world.

Stay Hydrated, My Friends

Caffeine is likely your best supplement to increase energy before a workout (Good sleep and a healthy diet are the real foundations of energy). But to stay strong throughout your workout, your best bet might be to make sure you drink enough during your workout.

Research suggests that prioritizing hydration can help fight fatigue, increase power and endurance, and potentially improve recovery.

When you’re not exercising, good old water is likely enough to provide your body with all your hydration needs. However, working out changes the equation because of how your body loses sodium through sweat.

In one study, researchers found that endurance runners finished a race 26 minutes faster when they supplemented their water with salt compared to those who didn’t.

Being dehydrated can reduce your strength and increase fatigue. And that’s not all. When dehydrated and losing too much salt, you can experience confusion, fatigue, and decreased vigor. The researchers found that your brain cells can change slightly when dehydrated (don’t worry, it’s temporary). But that little dehydration can make you feel more angry or depressed following your workout.

Researchers examined training performance and found that you want to drink 8 to 10 ounces of liquid for every 30 minutes of training. The more you sweat or train (especially if you exercise for more than 60 minutes), the more you need salt and additional electrolytes.

If you train hard and sweat a lot, our go-to drink is LMNT, which provides the electrolytes your body needs without any added sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors.

Your muscles and neurons need electrolytes — such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium. And sweating depletes your body of electrolytes, which can affect performance and recovery.

As a member of the village, you’ll get a free sample pack (8 packets) with all the flavors when you make any purchase. Just make sure you use this link, and the free product will be automatically added to your cart to thank you for being part of the positive corner of the internet. If you don’t love the product, LMNT offers a no-questions-asked refund policy, which means you’ll be satisfied.

We recommend using electrolytes during hard workouts that last longer than 60 to 90 minutes or if you typically sweat a lot.

Workout of the Week

The first rule of The Pump app: everyone starts with The Foundation. It’s a customized plan designed around Arnold's methods. Many begin with doubts…and almost everyone becomes a believer. It’s a rite of passage for building a foundation the same way as Arnold by mastering timeless exercises, developing the mindset to train hard, and building unbreakable habits.

But after graduating from The Foundation, we offer various plans — with more coming from Arnold’s vault.

Today, we’re giving a sneak peek at one training day from a program we’ve yet to release. It’s another full-body workout designed to push your body. You might think full-body programs aren’t advanced until you go through the workouts and realize they might be more challenging than anything you’ve tried.

This workout is filled with movements that will make you feel every muscle in your body. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!