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Today’s Health Upgrade
Number you won’t forget
The nutrition blind spot
Weekly wisdom
Is this supplement a health threat?
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.
Fitness
Number You Won’t Forget: 3 Minutes
Don’t confuse resting less between sets and feeling more exhausted with seeing results.
Researchers wanted to determine whether traditional "hypertrophy-style" training with short rest periods or "strength-style" training with longer rest periods produced better muscle changes. They tested this over an 8-week period with participants training three times per week using full-body workouts.
Both groups performed the same volume: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps across seven compound exercises (like bench press, back squat, and curls). The only difference? One group rested for 1 minute, while the other rested for 3 minutes
Strength gains were significantly higher in the long rest group, and they saw greater increases in muscle thickness.
Why the big difference? Depending on your programming, short rest periods can leave your muscles partially fatigued, which limits the total volume you can handle. Longer rest allows for fuller recovery, which means more intensity and weight, reps, better form, and greater total tension and overload—key drivers of growth.
This does not mean you can’t grow a lot of muscle with short rest or that you should never rest for less time. It just means it needs to be programmed correctly so you don’t build fatigue at the cost of intensity.
If your goal is muscle, stop treating rest as wasted time. It may feel less intense, but your results will be bigger and stronger. Just remember: more sweat isn’t always more progress. Quality reps over quantity fatigue wins the day.
Together With Our Place
The Nutrition Blind Spot
You probably check nutrition labels. Maybe even your water filter. But when was the last time you questioned what your cookware adds to your meals?
Research suggests that pots and pans—especially older or cheaper ones—can leach trace amounts of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, or aluminum. And it doesn’t take extreme misuse.
Researchers tested 33 cookware items for lead content and leaching potential, using an X-ray fluorescence analyzer and simulated cooking and storage conditions. Many products contained beyond safe levels and leached enough lead to exceed daily intake limits, especially for children.
The researchers stress that leaching occurs under real-world cooking conditions, meaning this isn’t just lab theory—it’s what could happen in your kitchen when you boil, fry, or simmer food. Additional research suggests that heavy metals can also leach from other materials, such as lead and cadmium from poorly glazed ceramic cookware or aluminum from pots and pans.
Again, it’s important to stress that your body can manage, filter, and fight to keep you safe. But, when possible, just like with microplastics, it’s good to limit your exposure.
That’s why we love Our Place’s Titanium Pro Cookware Set—one of the safest options for your kitchen. It’s made with pure titanium, which is 100% nontoxic and non-reactive and doesn’t leach anything into your food.
Our Place has no coating or heavy metals, and is PFAS-free. It’s 300% harder than stainless steel, meaning you can use metal utensils, cook under high heat, and even throw it in the dishwasher. Most importantly, it’s built to last, so you’ll never have to wonder if it’s time to replace it because it’s backed by a lifetime warranty.
To support your healthy eating habits, upgrade to Our Place today. APC readers get 10 percent OFF sitewide, with a 100-day risk-free trial, free shipping, and returns. Now, you can experience this game-changing cookware with zero risk. Just use the code APC at checkout. No more guessing. No more replacing. Just better cooking—for life.
Weekly Wisdom
Turn The Wisdom Into Action: What excuse are you ready to retire this weekend?
Fact or Fiction
Is This Popular Fiber A Health Threat?
I read that Metamucil is unhealthy because it contains heavy metals. Is it true? -Patty
We are living in the age of “toxins.” And while it’s true that you want to limit exposure, we’ve suddenly leaned into a lot of unnecessary fear. And a little context can go a long way towards knowing what needs to be avoided and what appears scary but is not threatening.
Metamucil contains about 0.75 micrograms of lead per serving. That may sound bad until you compare it to everyday items that are not a threat.
If you drink two liters of filtered water per day, you likely consume around 30 micrograms of lead, which is 40 times more than what’s in a serving of Metamucil.
This doesn’t mean lead is harmless. High levels of heavy metal exposure are absolutely a problem. But the presence of a substance doesn’t make it dangerous. As scientists like to say, “the dose makes the poison.”
It’s important to remember that your body, especially your liver and kidneys, is well-equipped to handle trace amounts of heavy metals. That’s why most regulatory agencies around the world consider the microdoses found in food, water, and supplements to be non-threatening and safe for healthy individuals.
And it’s not just Metamucil. Heavy metals are a part of the earth’s crust, meaning they appear in organic vegetables, fruits, grains, and even the air you breathe.
If you’re worried about accumulation, get a blood test. If you’re not showing elevated levels, there’s no need to panic or avoid helpful products like psyllium husk, which is one of the most effective and well-studied fibers for improving gut health, lowering cholesterol, and supporting regularity.
If you aim to remove every toxin from your life, you might be chasing a ghost. Instead, limit exposure from known high-risk sources (such as microwaving plastics) and prioritize products that improve your health.
You can cut it out of your diet, but Metamucil — AKA psyllium fiber — is likely doing far more good than harm. And when you consider fiber deficiency and how fiber can protect and improve overall health, it’s likely best to prioritize getting more fiber into your life.
And that’s it for this week. Thank you for being a part of the positive corner of the internet, and we hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
