Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. We’re here to make your life healthier, happier, and less stressful. At the bottom of each email, we explain our editorial process, stance on AI, and partnership standards.

If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.

Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s Corner: Monday motivation

• This could help you eat less sugar (without trying)

• Start your week right: the global happiness test

• Nobody changes alone

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation 

I have to tell you about my day yesterday, because I’m still inspired. 

I was back in Thal, at my childhood home, standing in my mother’s garden. It is the same patch of ground where I did some of my very first deadlifts, back when I was a skinny kid with enormous dreams and not much else.

And this time I was not there alone. Two hundred of our app members were there with me, and one by one, they hit personal records. It’s become one of my favorite annual traditions.

Some of them had never touched a barbell until a couple of years ago, and now they were pulling over 400 pounds. Some told me they had lost 100 pounds. Some had lost 200. One person deadlifted nearly 800 pounds!

If you had stood in that garden and listened to their stories, you would have been blown away, the same way I was.

But here is the thought I could not shake as I watched them. None of this happened overnight.

That is the part nobody wants to hear.

Everyone wants the big moment. The before and after photo. The day the scale finally moves, the day someone notices, the day you catch your reflection and barely recognize the person looking back at you. I understand it. I wanted it too.

But the big moment is a myth. There is no single day that changes you. There are a thousand small days, stacked one on top of another, and most of them felt like nothing at all while they were happening.

When I did those first deadlifts in that garden, my body did not change that afternoon. The mirror told me the exact same story the next morning. If I had been waiting for the big moment to arrive, I would have quit in the first month, like almost everyone does.

But I was not chasing a transformation. I was making a deposit.

Fitness is no different than investing. The people who win are not the ones who found a secret. They are the ones who understood that small amounts, put in consistently, grow into something enormous over time. 

There is no get-rich-quick plan that actually works, not with money and not with your body. The ones who promise you a fortune by Friday are selling you something, and the bill always comes due. The real winners get there the boring way, with steady deposits that compound.

Your workout this morning was a deposit. The walk you took instead of sitting was a deposit. The night you went to bed early instead of scrolling your phone was a deposit. None of them felt like much. That is exactly the point. They are not supposed to feel like much. They are supposed to add up.

The day you started over after falling off counts. The day you did not want to show up, but you laced up your shoes and went anyway, that one counts double because that is the deposit most people skip. The day you pushed a little harder than you had to counts too. Every one of them goes into the account. Every one of them compounds.

This is why we celebrate the small wins in the app every weekend, even the ones that seem too small to mention. Somebody finishes their first workout in two years, and they almost apologize for being proud of it. Never apologize. That is the deposit that starts the whole thing. That is the dollar that becomes the fortune.

I want to be honest with you, because I do not believe in selling you a fantasy. In the beginning, the discipline will feel like torture. 

You will not always be motivated. You will show up on willpower alone, and some days you will have to drag yourself. That is normal. Discipline is the bridge you walk across until the results start carrying you.

Because something changes once the deposits begin to compound. You feel stronger. You sleep better. Your clothes fit differently. People you have not seen in a while do a double take. And now you are not dragging yourself to the gym anymore. You want to go, because you can finally feel the interest building on everything you put in.

That is the moment fitness stops being a chore and becomes part of who you are. It is the moment those members in my mother’s garden were living, every single one of them.

But you only get there one way: you make the deposit today, even when you cannot see the return yet. Especially when you cannot see it. 

The return might be invisible right up until the day it is impossible to ignore.

So stop waiting for the big moment. What exists is this week, and the small deposits you can make in it. None of it will feel like much on its own. Trust me anyway. Trust the math. Keep making the deposits and let them compound, and one day you will look up and realize you became someone you used to only dream about. Not because of one heroic day, but because of a thousand small ones you almost did not bother to count.

So let me ask you the only question that matters this Monday.

What deposits will you make this week?

Together With Eight Sleep
The Surprising Reason You Crave Sugar

You ate well all week. Then the weekend hits, and suddenly you want everything in the pantry.

It's easy to blame your willpower. Or your social life. But the real reason might be sitting in your bedroom.

Research suggests that improving your sleep can cut how much sugar you eat — without you trying to change a thing about your diet.

And the researchers weren't even trying to change anyone's diet.

Scientists took people who slept less than 7 hours a night and gave them a few simple tips to sleep better. Cooler room. No caffeine late. Same bedtime every night. Less screen time. That's it. No diet rules. No calorie targets.

The result? Following the tips helped people spend close to an hour more in bed each night and get more actual sleep.

And without being told to, they cut about 10 grams of sugar a day from their diet, along with a shift away from fatty, sugary foods.

The study didn't dig into why that happened. But other sleep research points to a likely reason: when you're short on sleep, your body tends to crank up ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry, and turn down leptin, the one that tells you you're full. So you wake up hungrier, you crave the exact stuff you're trying to avoid, and the willpower you brought to the kitchen never stood a chance.

It was a small, short study, but the takeaway is hard to argue with. You can white-knuckle a diet for a while. But it's hard to out-discipline your own body fighting against you. Fix the sleep, and the cravings get easier to handle.

Exercise and diet get all the attention. But solving sleep might be one of the easiest healthy things you can do for your body, and it also makes the diet part easier.

 We don't believe in magic pills. Some changes just deliver undeniable results, and a better bed is your best bet. Our recommendation: the Pod by Eight Sleep.

It's a smart mattress cover that goes on your existing bed like a fitted sheet and controls the temperature of each side, anywhere from 55 to 110 degrees. You set your side, your partner sets theirs, and the old thermostat argument is over. Your body has to cool down to drop into deep sleep, and the Pod does that for you automatically.

The AI behind it, called Autopilot, learns how you sleep and adjusts on its own throughout the night. It tracks your heart rate, HRV, and sleep stages right from the cover, with nothing to wear.

It works, and we've personally been paying customers since almost the beginning.

We know it's expensive and not for everyone. But it's an investment in one of the most important parts of your health, and you get 30 days to try it at home and send it back if you don't love it. 

On average, Pod users see their sleep quality improve by 32% in the first month and get up to 34% more deep sleep. 

If you've been fighting your cravings and losing, this might be the change that finally moves the needle.

For a limited time, use the code PUMPCLUB at eightsleep.com/pumpclub for up to $500 off. 

One more thing: if you have an HSA or FSA, the Pod may qualify as a medical expense through Truemed, and qualified customers save about 30% on average. Stack that with the savings we just provided. 

Start Your Week Right
A 4-Country Study on What Actually Makes Life Feel Meaningful

Somewhere along the way, "find your purpose" turned into a high-stakes scavenger hunt, as if there's one correct answer out there and you're behind for not having found it.

A study spanning four very different countries suggests that the focus is on the wrong target. If you want to feel like you're living a more meaningful life, find purpose rooted in contribution and personal growth.

Researchers created 16 categories of what gives life purpose, ranging from family and faith to self-improvement and recognition. Then they surveyed more than 1,000 people across the four countries, asking how much each source guided their behavior and how their lives stacked up on three fronts: happiness, meaning, and psychological richness (a sense of a life full of variety and interesting experiences).

Happiness, self-sufficiency, and family ranked in the top five in every country. Religion and recognition sat in the bottom five everywhere. For a cultural psychologist used to finding sharp differences between nations, that consistency stood out.

The patterns underneath carried the real lesson. 

A sense of mattering and of serving others traveled with the most meaning. Inner peace and physical health aligned with greater happiness. Money landed last as a companion to any version of a good life.

This wasn't exactly a randomized controlled trial, so we can't assume cause and effect. And it’s possible happier people may already feel a stronger sense of purpose to begin with.

Still, the finding suggests you don't need a perfect purpose. You need a direction, a desire to help others, and a purpose tied to growth.

If you need a place to start, the easiest first move is something small and specific. Do one useful thing for one particular person this week. Make the introduction, answer the question, or fix the thing your neighbor keeps mentioning. 

Then pick something to get a little better at: not your passion or your calling, just a skill you'd like to do slightly better a month from now. A sense of mattering and steady self-improvement were among the closest companions to a meaningful, interesting life. And unlike "find your purpose," both are things you can actually start on a Monday.

Together With ASAS 
Nobody Changes Alone

Think about the last time you tried to change something hard.

Maybe you stuck with it. Maybe you didn't. Either way, most people get that moment wrong.

We treat change as if it were pure willpower. Grit your teeth, want it badly enough, push through. And when we quit, we call ourselves weak.

But that's not what the research says. And it's not what your own life says either.

People don't quit because they run out of willpower. They quit because they stop believing it's working, and because nobody's standing next to them when it gets hard.

You've felt both sides of this. The lift you hit because someone was spotting you. The plan that fell apart the week life got heavy, and you were doing it alone. Belief and support aren't the soft stuff around the edges of change. They are the change.

There's a finding in resilience research that's stuck with us for years. When kids grow up in rough circumstances and still make it out, researchers kept hunting for what those kids had in common. It wasn't money. It wasn't a perfect home. Over and over, it came down to one thing: at least one steady adult who believed in them.

One person. That's the whole hinge.

Now flip it. Right now in this country, 1.8 million young people are growing up with almost no adult support at all. Nobody spotting them. Nobody telling them they're capable before they've proven it.

That's the gap After-School All-Stars works to close. It's the organization Arnold built. The model is simple: give a kid a safe place after the last bell, feed them, put a caring adult in front of them, then let them try, fail, and try again until belief starts to build.

And it builds. You can watch it in the numbers. When kids walk in, only 27% expect a good future. By year's end, it's 61%. Those who believe they can finish something hard climbs from 31% to 63%. Same kids. One year of belief and support, on repeat.

That's the psychology of change at work on the people who need it most. Today, you can be the adult in the corner for thousands of them at once.

When you give to After School All Stars, you’re not just supporting a great cause. You’re directly supporting children by giving them the power of belief. 

And to reward you for that gift, we have bonuses for contributors.

When you give $50 or more, you get a free month of the Pump Club app (the invite will land in your inbox the next day). 

And the single largest gift donation receives a Maui Nui 'Ohana Reserve Box plus their venison sticks, roughly 8 pounds of the cleanest, most protein-dense food on the planet, worth over $350. 

Best of all, 91 cents of every dollar goes straight to the kids.

You already know change is hard. You also know it's a lot less hard with someone in your corner. Be that for a kid who doesn't have one yet.

Together With Rogue
Workout of The Week: The Engine Builders

Last week was about your ceiling. Your VO2 max is the top of your engine. The most your body can do when you red-line it. And it turns out to be one of the best predictors of how long you'll live.

This week is about everything underneath that ceiling.

Your VO2 max sets the roof. Your threshold — the hardest pace you can actually hold without falling apart — sets how much time you get to spend up near it. It's the difference between hitting a number once and being able to repeat it. It's what carries you through a brutal final set, a long hike, or two flights of stairs with the groceries without your legs filing a complaint.

Push the ceiling and raise the floor under it, and the whole system climbs.

These efforts are longer and steadier than last week's all-out intervals.

The discipline is maintaining the same pace across all rounds. Don't fly out of the gate and die. Pick one or two each week, hold your line, and let the rest of your training stay easy.

The Tempo Erg

An erg (Echo Bike, rower, or ski erg) is the cleanest way to hold a hard, steady output. Very little technique to break down as you tire, so you can keep pushing honestly.

Warmup: 5-10 minutes easy
The Workout: 

• Push for 3 minutes at approximately 70% of your max HR

• Go for another 3 minutes at an easy.

• Repeat 3 times

Lock in a pace on the first interval that you can still hit on the third. If interval three is slower than interval one, you went out too hard.

Pump Club preferred equipment: Rogue Echo Bike · Echo Rower · Echo SkiErg

The Clean & Press Ladder

One kettlebell, no hiding. The press determines the weight you select. And then you pile up the reps.

Warmup:
Goblet squats 2 sets x 10 reps
Kettlebell swings 2 sets x 10 reps
Overhead press: 2 sets x 5 reps 

The Workout: 

• 6 kettlebell clean & press (3 per side) every minute for 12 minutes.

• Set a timer for 12 minutes. Perform 3 reps per side, and then rest the remainder of the minute. So if it takes 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds, and then repeat.

• Perform until the time is up.  

Pump Club preferred equipment: Rogue Kettlebell

Sandbag Carry Medley

The bag is awkward on purpose. Picking it up, getting it to your shoulder, and walking with it quickly spike your heart rate.

Warmup: 
Bodyweight squats 3 x 10 reps
Inchworm 3 sets x 8 reps
Sandbag deadlift: 3 sets x 3 reps

Workout: 

• Carry the sandbag for 2 minutes, alternating between shouldering the bag and bear hugs.

• Deadlift the bag and toss it on one shoulder. Walk for 30 seconds.

• Then, hold it in a bear hug for another 30 seconds.

• Shift it to the other shoulder for an additional 30 seconds.

• Then, bear hug for another 30 seconds.

• Rest for 3 minutes.

• Repeat for a total of 3 to 5 rounds. 

Pump Club preferred equipment: Rogue sandbags

Barbell Complex II

The bar never leaves your hands, so your heart rate goes for the ride of its life. Leave the ego at the door. The whole complex is capped by your weakest link: the push press. Load it for that, not for your deadlift.

The Workout: 

• Barbell Romanian deadlift x 6 reps

• Barbell Bent-over row x 6 reps

• Hang power clean x 6 reps

• Front-rack reverse lunge x 3 reps per leg

• Push press x 6 reps

• Rest for 3 minutes.

• Repeat for 3 to 5 rounds.

If your press fails before the round is over, drop the weight and use that when you start the next round. 

Pump Club preferred equipment: The Official Arnold's Pump Club Ohio Bar · Weight plates

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

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 review our interpretations of the research and ensure 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.

—

Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell