The Follow-Through

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Today’s Health Upgrade

Monday motivation
The 10-minute exercise that strengthens focus and sleep
Workout of the week

Arnold’s Podcast

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Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation

This week, we’re talking about focus and follow-through.

Like a lot of my lessons, this one starts in the gym, but it applies to everything in life.

When you’ve been trying to get the world healthy and fit for as long as I have, you get to hear from millions of people about all of their challenges getting fit.

It’s not a burden; it’s an opportunity. In five decades of traveling the world on a fitness crusade, I’ve been able to hear so much that I know all the common things that hold people back.

One of the biggest barriers, without any doubt, is a lack of focus and follow-through.

I’ve seen this for years, but I believe it’s only getting worse.

People will start a fitness plan, and then a few weeks later, they read an article or see a social media post about another trend and switch their plan.

They are constantly switching to the new, shiny thing. They are not focusing and following through.

I’ve been training for 63 years. In that time, it might shock you to learn that I can count the number of programs I’ve used on one hand.

There was my early training with the weightlifting club, which focused on the basics, with bodybuilding exercises as a reward for sticking to the classic compound movements.

Then, there was my famous bodybuilding split. The Arnold Double Split was the two-a-day program that everyone knows. I still focused on the basics but split my training by body parts to hit everything as much as possible throughout the week. Chest and back. Shoulders and arms. Legs and abs. Over and over.

Then, there was my program after I retired from competing. This was really more like The Arnold Split 2.0 — I kept the same exercises and the same split. I just did a little bit less volume.

And finally, there’s the program I’ve done since my heart surgery to replace my bicuspid aortic valve in 1997. It’s the same body part split. But it’s mostly training with machines, with higher reps and less rest.

Four programs. 63 years.

This shocks people who tell me they need to change their program every 28 days in order to “optimize” their training.

Optimize what?

If you don’t stick with a program, focus on it, and follow through, how can you progress?

You need focus and follow through because progressive resistance requires it.

Progress is lifting 140 pounds this week when you lifted 135 last week. It’s doing 11 reps this week when you did 10 last week.

If you’re doing a new program with different exercises next week, how do you keep moving up?

Studies show you don’t. Lots of research has proven that fitness progress can’t happen when you don’t stick to a program.

I don’t need science to tell me that someone unable to focus on a program and follow through will struggle. I’ve got more than 6 decades of my own research.

We saw this lesson this week in the Pump app. Adam wrote an article about why we are different than other apps and make people stick to their program and follow through until it’s completed.

The comments were exactly what I’d expect. Men and women who had tried everything, but once they buckled down and we forced them to do the same things over and over, for weeks and then months — which is required in the app — they finally saw the progress they’d always been chasing.

You think that shiny new workout is what you need. But what you really need is the focus and follow-through to stick to it, do one more rep next week, one more rep the week after that, and follow through.

The focus is sticking with it. The follow-through is making sure that each week you do a little more than the week before.

This starts in the gym, but it applies to life.

Just take a second.

Imagine if, midway through painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo said, “Maybe I should change my style. Maybe I should move on to the next thing.”

Imagine Jim Cameron, three months into filming Titanic (or Terminator), deciding to switch his attention to Avatar.

Anything great you ever want to do requires focus. That applies to the gym, your vision, and your relationships.

When you can ignore the next shiny thing and stick to something for months, and then years, and then decades, you will be shocked at how far you can go. You will be amazed at how those little daily and weekly wins compound into the best version of yourself.

Trust me.

Now, let’s come back to the gym for a minute.

Follow-through applies to sticking with something even when your brain wants a distraction and finishing programs, but it also applies to every single thing you do in every workout.

I see people every day in the gym doing 2/3 reps. Every movement has a stretch and a flex, but so many people in the gym stop before they get a full stretch or a full flex.

They stop the bench press 2/3 of the way down and miss the pec stretch. They stop the chin-up 2/3 of the way and miss the back stretch. They stop the squat 2/3 and miss the leg stretch.

I stopped someone last week in the gym, who was doing 2/3 reps. And I said, I just want to help you. What I always worry about is people who do 2/3 of the movement and don’t follow through with the full exercise in the gym do the same at work, and in their relationships, and then they are confused about why they aren’t content.

They aren’t content because they’re never giving 100%. They cheat themselves, every day, and then can’t find out why they feel like they’re missing something.

They’re missing the follow-through.

Start in your next workout. Follow through. Do full movements.

Then, take that focus and follow through to the next 90 days. Don’t get distracted. Stick with it. Progress. Focus. Follow through.

I promise you will be shocked how far you move forward in the gym in 90 days of giving 100% of your focus.

And then, I hope, you’ll take what you learn and apply it to the rest of your life.

Mindset
The 10-Minute Exercise That Builds Focus

Want to improve your memory and sleep at the same time? You might want to schedule some quiet time.

A recent study suggests that practicing mindfulness significantly enhances your cognitive function and sleep quality.

The studies analyzed mindfulness techniques such as meditation and breath awareness on cognitively impaired older adults.

Mindfulness—being present and fully engaged in the moment—has been shown to reshape brain activity in ways that enhance cognitive function. Studies using brain imaging have found that mindfulness strengthens connections between the prefrontal cortex (responsible for focus, decision-making, and problem-solving) and the hippocampus (which regulates memory and learning).

When you practice mindfulness, you train your brain to resist distractions and stay engaged, and adapt to new challenges and process information more effectively.

The scientists found that a little mindfulness each day significantly improved memory, attention, and overall cognitive flexibility. Participants also reported better sleep quality, with reduced insomnia symptoms and fewer nighttime awakenings.

The researchers believe mindfulness improves cognition by reducing stress, enhancing emotional regulation, and promoting neuroplasticity—your brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections.

As for sleep, mindfulness likely helps by lowering nighttime hyper-arousal, making it easier to fall and stay asleep.

If you want to keep your mind sharp and improve sleep as you age, consider adding 10 to 20 minutes of mindfulness meditation to your daily routine. Apps, guided meditation videos, or simple breath-focused exercises could be an easy way to reap the benefits.

Instead of viewing mindfulness as a deep, complicated process, begin with something much easier that helps you remove distractions.

Mindfulness could be focusing on a simple phrase, your bodily sensations, or your thoughts. It could be 10 minutes of deep breathing, or just avoiding multi-tasking and fully engaging in whatever task you’re doing.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week

This week’s workout is a 7-exercise circuit. It hits all your big muscles, but also gives a great pump to your arms, and even hits your abs.

You’ll do all seven exercises in a row, resting 30 to 60 seconds between each exercise. So you’ll do the first exercise, rest 30 seconds, then the second exercise, rest 30 seconds, and so forth. Once you complete the seventh exercise, rest, and then return to the first exercise. You’ll do a total of 2 rounds and be done in less than 20 minutes. If you want to push yourself, you can do up to 4 total rounds.

The Workout