Is Your Hunger Switch Broken?

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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Monday motivation

• A different approach to pre-workout

• Is your hunger switch broken?

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner 
The Greatest Motivation Of All

This week, your motivation won’t come from me.

I want you to be motivated by people that might remind you of yourself.

My birthday gift from members of the Pump Club app was the greatest: they shared their success stories.

I wanted to share some so that you could see your goals are possible, no matter what they are.

Listen, I know what you're thinking: “Testimonials, Arnold?”

But these aren't just feel-good stories. These are blueprints. Each one contains a strategy, a mindset shift, or a breakthrough moment that could be exactly what you need to hear today.

Remember, my life changed and my vision became clear when I read about Reg Park in a magazine when I was 15. Reg was a bodybuilding champion who went into movies. He gave me the blueprint.

Someone here has gone through your challenges. They’ve fought for the goal you think is impossible — and made it a reality. They have your blueprint waiting for you. Don't rob yourself of that insight by scrolling past.

If you’ve ever doubted yourself or been held back by a past failure, it’s time to stop looking back and start looking forward.

The Scale Error That Transformed A Life

From Strong, To Much Stronger

Down 53 Pounds, Pre-diabetes Gone

From “Skinny” To Brand New Body

“I Was Killing Myself Every Day”

Support That Won’t Let You Give Up

The Road Back From Drinking, Depression, And Financial Issues

And if those testimonials don’t do it for you, I just got this video from Peggy, one of our first Iron Ticket members who trained with me and the team in LA.

I love this because she started with bodyweight workouts and built herself up so much that she started competing. I love it even more because her first attempt with this weight, she failed the lift. And then she tried again and succeeded — and she won first place! Peggy is a real life example of all of the lessons I try to teach our members.

If you want to join the village, you can still take advantage of my birthday sale.

Together With LMNT
The Most Underrated Pre-Workout Drink

Yes, caffeine can give your workout a boost. But if your workouts are lagging, there might be a simpler fix you need to make that could make a surprisingly big difference. 

Research suggests hydrating before or after your workout can improve performance, reduce fatigue, and speed up recovery — and adding electrolytes can help more when you’re depleted. 

It’s not just that your workouts deplete your body; you likely underestimate how little you drink before hitting the gym. 

Research suggests up to 50 percent of people might start their workouts slightly dehydrated. 

That matters because even a 1 percent drop in hydration can lead to a noticeable decrease in performance. 

Add sweat and a long workout to the mix, and you’re setting yourself up for more fatigue and reduced results. While ingredients like caffeine improve performance, drinking pre-workout provides additional hydration to support better workouts. 

And if you sweat a lot, hydration becomes even more important. Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium are key for your muscles and neurons to fire correctly. When you sweat, your body loses these critical nutrients—and water alone won’t replace them. 

If you don’t drink much water or perform longer workouts, LMNT can give your workout the boost you want. LMNT replenishes the electrolytes you lose when you sweat without any added sugar, artificial ingredients, or unnecessary colors. It’s simple, effective, and built for performance.

As an APC reader, you can grab a free 8-packet sample pack (all flavors!) with any purchase through this link. If you’re not satisfied, their no-questions-asked refund policy has you covered.

If you’re hydrating well, we recommend using electrolytes before or after your hard workouts that last longer than an hour.

Nutrition
Is Your Hunger Switch Broken?

You probably know that exercise helps you stay lean. But what happens when you don’t move enough? Turns out, it’s not just about burning fewer calories—it’s about throwing off your body’s ability to regulate hunger and fat storage.

Low physical activity levels may lead to increased fat gain — and not for the reason you think. 

While most people think the biggest benefit of exercise is burning more calories, this new study found that inactivity appears to disrupt your ability to control your hunger.

In this year-long study, researchers tracked more than 400 healthy adults across a wide range of body sizes and activity levels. Participants wore activity trackers and regularly completed assessments of food intake and body composition to see how physical activity influenced energy balance over time.

At the end of the year, participants with the lowest physical activity levels gained more fat mass—even though their overall calorie intake wasn’t higher. That wasn’t the most surprising part.

The researchers believe that inactivity disrupts the normal feedback loop that helps match energy intake to energy needs. 

In other words, the less you move, the less accurate your hunger cues become. The researchers estimated that about 7,000 steps per day can help your body manage caloric intake.

More specifically, those in the lowest activity group showed the biggest mismatch between how much energy they consumed and how much they actually needed—leading to unintended fat gain. Conversely, the most active individuals maintained a tighter balance between calories in and calories out.

The study suggests physical activity plays a hidden role in regulating appetite and preventing overeating, even when you're not consciously trying to restrict calories.

Even low-intensity daily activity, like walking or taking the stairs, may help keep your internal “calorie calculator” working properly, which means your appetite works as intended, and you’re less likely to overeat.

Fitness 
Workout Of The Week

This workout captures a classic training mindset: push hard, embrace the pump, and finish with pride. Inspired by Golden Era training, this circuit blends upper-lower supersets with a focused finisher to help you build arms no one will ignore, with a favorite Arnold training technique.

How To Do It

The workout consists of four superset. Complete the first exercise, and resting as little as possible, complete the second exercise. Then, rest 2 minutes, and complete the superset. Once you complete 3 sets of both exercises, rest 3 minutes, and move to the next superset pair. Repeat until all supersets are done. Then, finish with the “Stripping Method.

Superset 1: 3 sets
1A. Dumbbell Goblet Squat: 12 reps
1B. Dumbbell Bench Press: 12 reps

Superset 2: 3 sets
2A. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row: 12 reps
2B. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 8 reps

Superset 3: 3 sets
3A. Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 10 reps
3B. Reverse Lunges: 8 reps per leg

Finisher: Biceps Stripping Method

Select a weight you can curl for 8-10 reps. Perform as many reps as you can. Then, immediately lower the weight by 5 pounds, and do as many reps as you can. Then, lower by another 5 pounds. Keep lowering the weight until you can’t do a rep (those lighter weights will feel incredibly heavy). It’s not a method you should do often, but it’s a fun method to shock the muscle and challenge you mentally to push through fatigue.

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell