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Today’s Health Upgrade

• The best time to sleep in?

• It starts with your feet

• Caffeine doesn’t affect your heart rate the way you think

• A new study on seed oils

On Our Radar 
Can A Little Extra Weekend Sleep Be Good For Your Heart? 

We’ve discussed many times the importance of a consistent sleep schedule. But that doesn’t mean the occasional Saturday sleep-in can’t have some health benefits.

If you’ve had a poor week of sleep, catching up on the weekend could have some heart benefits. 

Researchers used wrist accelerometers to measure how much people actually slept, not what they guessed, then sorted them from least to most weekend catch-up. The scientists also tracked who developed heart disease: ischemic disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke. 

Among more than 90,000 people tracked for about 14 years, those who were in a sleep deficit and caught up on sleep the most on weekends were 19% less likely to develop heart disease than those who caught up the least. 

As with many studies, the data are observational, so they show an association, not proof that sleeping in protects your heart. 

But the important part is understanding when it’s helpful to sleep in and when doing so creates inconsistent sleep. 

Our past sleep coverage found that you can't undo months of short nights with one big weekend. That's still true. 

And we’ve shared that going to bed and waking up at the same time — all 7 days per week — is better for your sleep (and overall health). That’s also still true. 

This is more about what happens when your ideal plan falls apart. This study isn't comparing well-rested people to sleep-ins. It's comparing sleep-deprived people who recover a little with those who don't. 

When you're already in the red, getting some sleep might beat getting none back. That's why the benefit disappears in people who already sleep enough. 

If you're chronically sleeping too little, you can’t undo it all by sleeping in. But if you occasionally don’t get enough rest on the weekdays, a little extra sleep on the weekend might not only feel good, but it might also help protect your heart. 

Together With NOBULL 
All Training Starts With Your Feet

You'd never run a 10K in weightlifting shoes. Everyone gets that one. And yet, the reverse trips people up because running shoes look like they belong in a gym. 

But if you’re going to lift weights, the shoes you wear matter, especially if you want to build strength, move like an athlete, and reduce your risk of injury. 

Running shoes are an impressive piece of engineering built to do one job: absorb impact and spring you forward, again and again, in a straight line. But lifting is different. 

Under a loaded bar, you don't want to sink and spring. You might not want much movement at all. You want a flat, wide, dead-still base you can drive your feet through.

The soft, tall foam that saves a runner's knees is the same foam that makes your squat feel wobbly. It compresses under load, shifts and tips, and steals the stability you're trying to build.

Research on squatting mechanics shows that when lifters trade cushioned athletic shoes for a firm, stable shoe, the whole squat changes: a more upright torso, better loading through the knee, a more controlled path out of the hole. Same lifter, same weight, different foundation.

You can solve this with a dedicated weightlifting shoe, which typically has a raised heel. But most of us aren't only squatting. We squat, then lunge, then carry, then jump, then walk out to the car. For that, you want the same firm, grounded base in one shoe that does it all.

After two years of testing every training shoe worth trying, the one we keep reaching for is the NOBULL Outwork. 

It sits low to the ground, so your foot stays close to the floor where strength lives. The sole is dense enough that it won't collapse mid-rep. The toe box is wide enough to let your foot spread and grip. And the carbon-rubber outsole has a circular tread built for control whether you're pulling, pressing, or landing a jump.

Then there's the part reviewers can't stop mentioning: it's close to indestructible. Men's Health named it their Best Trainer of 2025 and called the upper "practically bulletproof." It holds a 4.7-star average across more than 5,000 reviews.

There are two versions: the original Outwork and the Outwork Flex, which was designed for people who blend lifting and conditioning and want one shoe from warm-up to cool-down.

As a Pump Club reader, you get 35% off the original Outwork and the Outwork Flex with code APC35 at checkout.

Progress takes time. Your program, your effort, your consistency. The shoes on your feet shouldn't be the one thing working against all of it.

Health 
Does Caffeine Really Make Your Heart Race?

You down a strong coffee and expect your heart to race. But if coffee is a daily habit, your body adjusts better than you’ve been told.

Across six randomized trials, scientists found that regular coffee drinkers barely experience a change in resting heart rate. 

The scientists analyzed data from people who drank 3 to 6 cups a day for 2 to 24 weeks, and the results held across all subgroups. On average, resting heart rate shifted by 0.4 beats per minute. Notice we didn’t say 4 beats per minute. That was four-tenths.

The science can help explain why normal coffee drinks don’t see a big change. 

Caffeine blocks the brain chemical that makes you feel drowsy, so you feel alert and a little wired, and it's easy to read that buzz as a pounding heart. 

However, feeling energized and focused isn't the same as a faster pulse. 

When someone who rarely has caffeine drinks a cup, it does bump their blood pressure a little, but the body responds by slowing the heart rate to balance it out, so the pulse barely moves even then.

In a study that measured both, caffeine pushed blood pressure up while heart rate actually dropped. And when you drink coffee daily, that response mostly fades because your body adapts. So the boost in heart rate you might feel when you start drinking will decrease over time.

The same is true during exercise, including for those who don’t typically consume caffeine.

In one study, people who don’t drink coffee or caffeine consumed one to three cups, and then did a bike workout. Their heart rate at moderate effort dropped 4 to 7 beats. And at full effort, everyone hits the same max. 

The one exception might be energy drinks. And that’s likely because they're not just caffeine, and oftentimes add other stimulants that can push your workout heart rate up in a way coffee doesn't.

Nutrition 
Scientists Forced Seed Oils On Participants. Here’s What Happened

You might have heard that seed oils are poisonous. The story goes that the omega-6 fat in soybean and other seed oils drives the inflammation behind heart disease.

So scientists have been testing the theory in different ways.

Recently researchers gave participants seed oils every day for a month, and there was no change in their inflammatory markers.

Each person in the study spent a month eating three foods fortified with soybean oil (high in the omega-6 fat linoleic acid), then a month eating the same foods made with palm oil, which is lower in omega-6. On the soybean oil, people took in about 30 grams (a little more than 2 tablespoons) per day.

After four weeks, none of the inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, sCD14, LBP, and oxidized LDL) increased. And a key inflammatory signal (IL-6) actually trended slightly down in the seed oil group.

But the more telling result is what happened to the markers seed-oil critics point to most. 

One big claim is that seed oils raise arachidonic acid, a fat linked to inflammation. In this study, people who ate seed oils did not see arachidonic acid levels climb — they dropped. And oxidized LDL, another supposed threat from seed oils, didn't move either.

It's easy to jump on popular theories, but eating more seed oils keeps failing to fit the fear-based narrative. Or, it’s easy to find flaws with the study. For example, this particular study was funded in part by the soybean industry. However, the sponsors had no role in its design, analysis, or the decision to publish. 

But the bigger point is that this is far from the only study to find the same thing. The biggest criticism of seed oils tends to come from mechanism studies or animal trials. But when tested in humans, the outcomes are not what you hear in the headlines. 

A larger trial in adults with abdominal obesity found that people who ate polyunsaturated fats (seed oils) instead of butter had less liver fat and no additional inflammation.

Every time we share research on seed oils, many of you write to us, suggesting that we’re recommending poison. If you don't want to eat seed oils or feel better without them, then follow the nutrition preferences that work best for you.

And we fully acknowledge that most overconsumed, unhealthy foods (like hyper-palatable ultra-processed foods and treats) contain seed oils. 

And that's likely the real issue: people need to reduce foods strongly linked to overeating, and those foods tend to include seed oils.

But when you strip away the heavy calories, added sugars, and high fat counts, seed oils — on their own in a regular diet — don't drive the fear-based outcomes you see.

This isn't about telling you what to eat. It's about sharing what studies show. And if the research changes, we'll be the first to let you know.

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