"I Can't Believe This Happened To Me"

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Today’s Health Upgrade

Monday motivation
Are you falling for these myths?
Workout of the week

Arnold’s Podcast

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Editor’s Note

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Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation

There is an epidemic of a brain disease right now. People from every generation and every walk of life are susceptible to it, and it is ruining their lives so slowly that they barely even notice.

The disease is a victim mindset, and if it’s worked its way into your brain, we need to get it out as fast as possible so that you can get back to living your life.

We could debate the cause — it could be very easily be influenced by social media — but I’m more interested in the cure.

No matter who you are, you probably catch yourself falling into this mindset from time to time.

These are the symptoms:

You say,
“I can’t believe this happened to me.”
You complain.
You look for someone to blame.
You lean toward the most negative explanation for everything.

I know it happens to everyone from time to time, because it even happens to me. The key is that you cannot let it infect you and take over your mind. You have to be on the defensive.

When it happens to me, if someone is late for a meeting or I’m stuck in traffic or I end up in a smaller seat on a commercial flight than I expected for a 12 hours because of a booking mistake, I immediately tell myself: “Stop it Arnold, you’re being a brat. Make the most of it!”

This is where my rule about not complaining if I can’t do something to solve the problem comes in.

Sometimes, there are solutions. When the Mr. Olympia prize was $1,000 when I won my sixth Mr. Olympia in 1975 — the same amount that Larry Scott won in 1965 — I retired from bodybuilding and pitched the IFBB on letting me run the next Mr. Olympia. I immediately raised the prize to $5,000. Then $10,000 and on and on. This year, we’ve raised the champion’s prize for the Arnold Classic to $750,000.

In the golden era of bodybuilding, it was very common to hear everyone in Gold’s Gym complain about the prizes. That didn’t change anything. It just made the bodybuilders bitter.

Being bitter doesn’t help anyone. It hurts you. You end up walking around, thinking you have no control over anything, and you spiral into an increasingly victim mentality.

Now, there are also shitty situations where there is absolutely nothing you can do.

In those cases, you have to train your mind. This is where “Don’t be a brat, make the most of it” becomes important.

People love to say, “You won’t believe what happened to me.”

I don’t believe in this. It makes you passive. Things are always happening to you, instead of you being in control of how you respond.

Try: “You won’t believe what happened. And here’s what I did.”

Because we need to be honest: you do not control many things. But you do always control how you respond. You can respond with whining, or you can respond by making the most of a bad situation.

When I was on that 12-hour flight and couldn’t believe how small the seat was, after I had my stern talk with myself, I sat down and started a conversation with the woman next to me. We both loved horses, and she showed me photos of hers. She was an economics professor. I ended up learning on that flight instead of stewing in negativity, and when I landed, instead of being pissed off and starting my trip on a bad note, I was happy.

You always have a move. If you train yourself to accept instead of complain, and make the most out of situations instead of pretending to be the victim, I promise you that you will lead a happier life.

There are other ways you can protect yourself against the victim mindset.

Training helps. I’m seeing it every day in the Pump. People tell me that their bodies have changed since they started training, of course, but the biggest surprise to them is that their minds have undergone a similar transformation.

That’s because they found their control.

Before, they complained about their joints hurting. Now, they did something and live a life with less pain.

Before, they felt powerless about their high blood pressure or their pre-diabetes. Now, they realize they had power, as their doctors ask them what they changed to take control.

Before, they thought of themselves as weak. Now, they see that each week they get stronger.

The gym is the ultimate classroom for learning to terminate the victim mind.

However, even if you train, you must remain vigilant about this every day.

You don’t need to take responsibility for every crap situation, but you do need to take responsibility for how you react.

Do you whine and complain? Or do you make the most of it?

Only one of those options will lead to a happy life.

As my hero Teddy Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Together With Momentous
Creatine Is Everywhere, But So Are The Myths

You can’t go a week without some new study breaking about creatine. From Alzheimer’s prevention to offsetting the effects of a bad night of sleep, it’s been a good couple of years for creatine. Yet, many people still won’t touch it.

Creatine has never been more popular—or more misunderstood.

Do you need creatine? No.
But if you are avoiding it because of fear, you’ve been misled.

Creatine doesn’t cause bloating, kidney damage, or fat gain. It helps you become stronger, leaner, and healthier.

Because we get hundreds of questions every month about creatine, let’s break down a few of the biggest myths:

“Creatine makes you gain water weight.”
Not in the way you think. Creatine pulls water into your muscle cells, not under your skin. That’s a sign of better hydration and healthier muscles. In a meta-analysis of 12 studies, individuals taking creatine experienced increased muscle mass and a reduction in their body fat percentage.

“It causes bloating.”
The opposite is true. Creatine supports muscle fullness, not puffiness. It also reduces cramping, dehydration, and muscle strain, especially in hot weather. And don’t buy into the idea that you need a special form of creatine. Research on creatine primarily focuses on creatine monohydrate. You can pay a premium for other sources (like creatine HCL) that are backed by fancy marketing, not published studies.

“It’s bad for your kidneys.”
There’s no evidence that creatine harms kidney function in people with healthy kidneys. Thousands of studies confirm its safety and effectiveness.

If you want to try creatine, please use a trusted, research-backed form of it. That’s why we recommend Momentous Creatine. It’s NSF Certified, Informed Sport Certified, and made with 99.9% pure Creapure®, the gold standard trusted by elite athletes, teams, and health professionals.

When researchers analyzed 175 other creatine brands, they found that 88% used a form of creatine with limited or no evidence of effectiveness or safety.

As a member of the positive corner of the internet, you get up to 35% OFF any Momentous subscription with the code “PUMPCLUB.”

Most supplements are unsubstantiated hype. Creatine is one of the few that isn’t, and it’s a health upgrade that can help you in many small ways that matter.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week

We often chase intensity, but sometimes the smartest training is the kind you can’t fake. Self-limiting exercises expose your weaknesses and force you to engage your breath, posture, and coordination. They eliminate your ability to zone out—and that’s what makes them powerful.

While a treadmill might let you escape, these movements keep you honest.

How To Do It

You’ll perform a four-exercise circuit. Do one exercise after another. Once you do all four exercises, that’s one round. Perform three total rounds. Move with intention and great form. Rest 30 to 45 seconds between movements and 90 to 120 seconds between rounds.