Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. Every weekday, we make sense of the confusing world of wellness by analyzing the headlines, simplifying the latest research, and offering quick tips designed to make you healthier in less than 5 minutes. If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.
Today’s Health Upgrade
Number your won’t forget
Puppy power
Weekly wisdom
The pre-workout hiding in your salad
Arnold’s Podcast
Want more stories from Arnold? Every day, Arnold’s Pump Club Podcast opens with a story, perspective, and wisdom from Arnold that you won’t find in the newsletter. And, you’ll hear a recap of the day’s items. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Health
Number You Won’t Forget: 2.5X
If you want to protect your brain against cognitive decline and disorders, it might be time to renew your gym membership.
Research suggests that older adults who are quickly losing muscle are nearly 2.5 times more at risk for developing dementia.
A fascinating new study appears to have identified a connection between two seemingly separate issues in older adults: muscle loss and memory concerns. Together, they could be warning signs of future cognitive decline.
This study followed older adults who were cognitively normal. They assessed them for two key factors: muscle loss and subjective memory complaints (when you feel your memory isn't what it used to be)
After tracking participants for about 6 years, those who lost muscle were at a higher risk, as were those complaining about memory issues.
Think of it like this: Your muscles and memory concerns are like smoke detectors for your brain. When one goes off, it's concerning. When both are blaring, it's time to take action.
What makes this research particularly valuable is that it identifies risk factors that you can take action on. While some dementia risk factors, such as genetics, cannot be changed, maintaining muscle mass through resistance training and proper nutrition is something you can control.
The study reinforces what we've been saying all along: regular strength training isn't just about looking good or staying physically independent – it could be protecting your brain and longevity, too.
Together With Sundays For Dogs
Your Dog Deserves the Best
Arnold’s love for animals is no secret. From dogs to horses and even a pig named Schnelly Schwarzenegger, his home is full of beloved companions.
And just like with his own diet, Arnold believes animals deserve the best food to fuel their health, though he’s been known to sneak his pets an oatmeal cookie or two.
That’s why The Pump Club has been on a mission to find the ultimate dog food for animal lovers. After all, your pup deserves food as good as yours.
Sundays for Dogs offers the perfect combination of health and convenience. Other dog foods force you to choose. Cheap kibble? Easy, but it’s full of fillers and lacks nutrients. Fresh meals? Nutritious, but it means freezing, thawing, and cooking. Sundays does it all, with air-dried, human-grade ingredients that are shelf-stable and ready to pour.
Superior Nutrition: Sundays beats traditional kibble 39-0 in a third-party taste test, featuring recipes with short lists of meats, fruits, and veggies you’d recognize.
Easy to Serve: No fridge, no prep, no cleanup. Just scoop it into a bowl and watch your dog devour it.
Better Ingredients: Air-dried low and slow in the USA, Sundays retains maximum nutrition while delivering jerky-style pieces your dog will love.
Sundays is all about raising the bar for your best friend’s diet. This isn’t just dog food—it’s human-grade nutrition made simple.
Try the Sundays Challenge: Let your dog decide. Put Sundays next to your current food, and see which one wins. Use code PUMPCLUB to get 40% off your first order and discover the food your dog deserves.
Mindset
Weekly Wisdom
Nutrition
The Performance Boost Hidden in Your Salad
What if the real secret to improving aerobic performance was something you could add to your plate?
Recent research found that nitrate-rich vegetables can significantly improve your endurance in endurance-based activities.
Scientists analyzed 20 published systematic reviews with meta-analyses on dietary nitrate supplementation, consisting of more than 180 individual studies.
Nitrate supplementation—particularly from sources like leafy greens and beetroot juice—improved performance in time-to-exhaustion tests, reduced oxygen cost during submaximal exercise, and enhanced high-intensity endurance performance.
Researchers believe the mechanism driving the benefits is nitrate’s ability to enhance nitric oxide availability, which improves blood flow, mitochondrial efficiency, and muscle contraction, especially under oxygen-limited conditions (like during high-intensity or prolonged exercise). The nitrates help your body burn less oxygen, meaning it makes you more efficient during exercise, which helps you push harder and fight off fatigue for longer.
Approximately 300 mg to 600 mg of nitrate per day can be effective. And you don’t need fancy supplements to take advantage of these findings. Leafy greens (like arugula, Swiss chard, and spinach) and beets are all rich in natural nitrates. Just one cup of arugula contains about 250 to 300 mg of nitrates, meaning a salad could give you the power needed to keep going during your next workout.
And that’s it for this week. Thank you for being a part of the positive corner of the internet, and we hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
-Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
