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Today’s Health Upgrade
Fact or fiction
How to age-proof your sleep
A growing health concern?
Arnold’s Podcast
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Fact or Fiction
Are Heavy Weights Bad For Your Tendons?
Yesterday, we shared that training with heavier weights can be the key to better longevity and health.
That led to many questions, most notably: Aren’t heavy weights bad for your joints and ligaments?
While it might surprise you, multiple studies found that your tendons adapt best to heavier loading, which means pushing close to your maximum strength can improve joint and tendon health.
Scientists analyzed 27 studies, focusing on how heavier loads affect stiffness (the ability of a tendon to resist stretching), tendon elasticity, and the size of the tendon. Across the board, all types of resistance training led to significant improvements.
But here’s where it gets interesting: heavier resistance (higher intensity) led to significantly greater improvements.
In other words, it wasn’t just moving weight, but how much weight you moved that drove change.
To be clear, “heavy resistance training” is usually defined as greater than 80 percent of your 1-rep maximum. It doesn’t mean trying to push to failure on every set or using a weight you can only lift one time. That’s just ego lifting.
But it does mean that if you want to prevent injury, build stronger tendons, and future-proof your joints, lifting heavier is key, especially as you age.
The real risk to your tendons is trying to lift a weight you can’t handle or doing so with poor form. Over time, using heavier loads can strengthen the connective tissue that keeps you active and pain-free for years to come.
Together With Eight Sleep
How To Age-Proof Your Sleep
Have you ever noticed that your sleep isn’t quite the same as it used to be? As you age, your sleep quality often worsens, which is a primary reason why aging can be so challenging for your body and brain.
Research suggests that with each passing decade, you spend fewer hours sleeping, are more likely to wake up in the evening, and get less deep, quality, and REM sleep.
When sleep is disrupted, it can trigger many of the other troubles associated with aging. For example, aging reduces deep or “slow wave” sleep, which means a key function that keeps your brain young and preserves cognitive processing and memory is disrupted. It’s one reason why your brain starts to fade with time.
On average, research suggests you lose about two to five percent of deep sleep every decade after your 20s. And then, once you hit your sixties, deep sleep can decrease by as much as 50 percent. But sleep loss is not inevitable.
Research suggests that two behaviors can help prevent sleep decline.
To offset the age-related decline in sleep, focus on increasing your body temperature through exercise and cooling down during sleep.
Research suggests that the more you exercise, the more your body compensates by spending extra time in slow-wave sleep.
In addition to exercise, new research suggests that chilling your body during sleep can help you fall asleep more easily and enjoy higher-quality rest throughout the night.
In fact, those who slept on a temperature-controlled mattress spent more time in slow-wave sleep, fell asleep quicker, and experienced better overall recovery (as measured by HRV).
If you’re looking to improve your rest, studies found that 60 minutes of vigorous exercise was all that was needed to upgrade slow-wave sleep. Any exercise can work as long as you push the intensity.
For mattresses, one option stands above the rest. Eight Sleep earned our respect because it’s clinically proven to help you fall asleep faster, sleep longer, have fewer sleep disturbances, and have more energy the next day.
As members of the positive corner of the internet, use the code “PUMPCLUB” to save up to $350 OFF the Pod 4 by Eight Sleep, including a risk-free 30-day trial. We are paying customers and, to us, it’s one of the best health investments you can make.
On Our Radar
Are Men On The Verge Of A Health Crisis?
You might think sperm count only matters when trying to start a family. But science is showing it may be one of the most overlooked biomarkers of a man’s overall health.
Sperm counts have dropped by over 50 percent worldwide in the last 45 years, and the decline is accelerating.
In one of the most comprehensive meta-analyses to date, researchers examined 223 studies across 53 countries, analyzing nearly 50 years of data from 1973 to 2018. This updated analysis builds on a 2017 study that previously demonstrated a decline in sperm counts in North America, Europe, and Australia. The new research confirmed those trends—and, for the first time, found similar decreases in South and Central America, Asia, and Africa.
The scientists found that sperm concentration is rapidly dropping, and that the decline has accelerated over the last 25 years, with the rate of sperm concentration loss more than doubling per year post-2000 compared to earlier decades.
The study didn’t aim to explain the why, but the researchers—and other experts—point to a mix of factors: exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, lifestyle choices like poor diet, and chronic stress. Sperm production is also susceptible to environmental toxins, pesticides, and even plastic-related chemicals like phthalates and BPA.
And here’s the bigger picture: Lower sperm counts aren’t just about fertility. Multiple studies show that men with poor semen quality are at greater risk for testicular cancer, cardiovascular disease, and even earlier death.
In other words, sperm count might be a window into how well your body is functioning.
But there’s good news: Sperm regenerates roughly every 75 days. That means if harmful exposures are removed and lifestyle changes are made, men have the opportunity to improve their sperm quality—and potentially their overall health—in just a few months.
If you're looking to protect your health (and possibly your future family), it’s not complicated, but you do have to prioritize the foundations of health, including:
Avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol.
Eating more whole foods and fiber, and cutting back on processed foods.
Reducing exposure to pesticides and plastics, especially from food containers and personal care products.
Managing chronic stress
Prioritizing sleep and exercise.
This isn't just about fertility—it's about giving men a better shot at living longer, healthier lives.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
