The 30-Second Pre-Exercise Protocol That Unlocks Hidden Strength

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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Monday motivation

• How to instantly increase your strength (no supplements, pills, or powders needed)

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner 
Monday Motivation 

Last week, I challenged you to train your connection muscle — to stop lifting alone and rediscover the power of being around other people.

You didn’t just listen. You showed up.

This weekend, The Pump Club partnered with our friends at GORUCK to take over the beach where I trained fifty years ago: Muscle Beach.

It was a simple idea: start with a ruck, finish with a lift.

People signed up for 5K, 10K, and even 12 miles along the sand.

By the time they hit the platform, the sun was high, the shoulders were tired, and the energy was unstoppable.

Then the magic happened.

Over 100 people rucked down the beach together, some of them going too fast to make connections and some of them having conversations with new friends.

More than fifty people hit personal records that day.
One guy pulled over 600 pounds.
One woman lifted more than 400 pounds.
But every single PR mattered.

Whether it was 135 or 600, it meant someone went further than they ever had before, and everyone around them helped them get there.

When I saw it, it brought me right back to the 1970s, to Gold’s Gym in Venice and Muscle Beach, when we were all chasing our dreams and pushing each other to our limits.

That same electricity was there.

That same feeling that you’re part of something bigger than yourself.

You could see it in the way people shouted encouragement to complete strangers. You could feel it when someone missed a lift and the crowd rallied to help them try again.

That’s what community is. That’s what The Pump Club is about.

We always say this app and this newsletter is about training for life. It’s about lifting your mood, your energy, your spirit, not just weights. And this weekend, you proved that when we come together, we get stronger in every sense of the word.

Our motto, Lift Up the World, is not just a good t-shirt slogan. It’s real.

The truth is, you can get fit alone. You can even get strong alone.

But it’s almost impossible to build lasting strength without others.

When you train with a crew, or even just in the same space as others, something changes.

You find a little more effort.

You take one more rep.

You believe a little more in yourself.

That’s why I still train in public gyms, even though I have a beautiful home setup.

It’s not about the equipment, it’s about the people. Even in my seventies, I make new friends at the gym. They’ve shown me the best bagel shops, we talk about training, about life, about what’s next.

That’s connection. That’s living.

This weekend reminded me that we are building more than muscles.
We are building a movement.

When fifty people hit PRs, that’s not just a fitness story. That’s a story of shared strength.

Of courage. Of showing up when it would have been easier to stay home. Of cheering for someone else’s win as much as your own.

That’s what I want for all of you.

This week, I want you to keep it going.

You don’t need a beach or a Pump Club/GoRuck event. You just need to show up — for yourself and for someone else.

If you train with a partner, push them a little harder this week. If you see someone new or alone at your gym, say hello. If your friend is struggling to stay consistent, invite them to train with you.

And when someone hits a personal record — no matter what it is — celebrate it like it’s yours. Because when one of us wins, we all win.

That’s the secret of real strength: it multiplies when you share it.

Last week was about building connection. This week is about proving what connection can do.

The people who rucked and lifted at Muscle Beach didn’t just move more weight; they reminded all of us that it’s always easier when someone’s beside you.

So this week’s challenge is simple:

Show up for someone.
Be part of their reps.
Be part of their PR.

You never know whose life you might change or how much stronger you’ll become in the process.

You can do it.

The Pump Club App 
Looking For Support, Accountability, and Positivity?

Looking for a place to connect? All Pump Club App members get access to all the meetups, customized workouts and nutrition, weekly live coaching calls, the habits builder, unlimited access to Arnold AI, special discounts, and the chance to train with Arnold. 

Use the code APC for 20% OFF, and try the app free for one week to experience the difference of the positive corner of the internet.

Start Your Week Right 
The 30-Second Mental Trick That Increases Your Maximum Strength By 5% 

Ever notice how elite lifters go quiet, stare straight ahead, and seem to enter another world before a heavy attempt? That ritual isn’t superstition, it’s science.

A new review of 27 studies found that the right mental prep before a lift can unlock up to 5% more strength.

Researchers analyzed over 1,000 participants, comparing different mental strategies performed immediately before lifting. About two-thirds of the studies showed measurable strength gains with very few downsides. 

The most effective method — nearly a 100 percent success rate — requires you to think about the effect of the lift (“drive the floor away”) rather than your body (“squeeze your glutes”). This approach improved performance in every trial.

Alternatively, motivational self-talk with short, positive phrases like “You’ve got this” boosted confidence and performance nearly 90 percent of the time. 

Imagining your exercise in vivid detail, such as feeling the bar, the tension, and imagining a successful lift helped activate the same brain regions used during the movement, but wasn’t as consistently successful.

But not all methods worked. Emotional imagery, like trying to “get angry,” didn’t increase strength and, in a few instances, led to a slight drop in performance. 

The right 30 seconds of mental prep before an exercise can help ensure every set is your strongest yet.

Fitness 
Workout Of The Week 

Sometimes the strongest people aren’t the ones who grind the hardest, but the ones who show up consistently, practice the basics, and understand how to push just hard enough to get better, but not so hard that you’re fatigued for the next workout. 

This workout helps accomplish that goal. You’ll work in a lower-rep range to maximize strength, get enough volume to build muscle, but not so many reps or sets that you're overly fatigued.

How to do it

The workout consists of five exercises. You’ll do two sets of each movement. Perform each as a straight set. That means, do one set, rest, and then do the second set. Once you’ve done both sets of an exercise, move to the next. Because you’ll be doing lower reps, perform a few work-up sets, where you gradually increase the weight to prepare for the working sets. Depending on your strength level, you’ll do 2 to 5 work-up sets, with fewer reps (3 to 5 per work-up set).

1. Barbell or Trap Bar Deadlift: 2 sets x 5 reps (rest 3 minutes between sets)

2. Dumbbell or Barbell Overhead Press: 2 sets x 5 reps (rest 3 minutes between sets)

3. Front Squat or Goblet Squat: 2 sets x 5 reps (rest 3 minutes between sets)

4. Chest-supported row: 2 sets x 5 reps (rest 3 minutes between sets)

5. Suitcase Carry – 30 seconds per side x 2 rounds

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell