You Are Not a Diagnosis: Why Menopause Doesn't Define What Your Body Can Do

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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Arnold’s Corner: Monday Motivation

• Do this during the day, sleep better at night

• A “natural way” to lower blood pressure

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner 
Monday Motivation: You Are Not a Diagnosis

I want to talk to the women today.

Men, don’t go anywhere. You’ll learn something. But this message is for the women because I want to answer one of the most common emails we receive — and it manages to give me hope, but also make me worry:

“I want to know how I do it when I am a menopausal woman.” (You can insert peri or post here, also.)

First, let me tell you why it gives me hope. Seeing so many women embracing the idea of fitness and resistance training is something I’ve fought for my whole life. 

Watch this clip of me on Johnny Carson more than 40 years ago, when I had much more beautiful hair, trying to convince women to pick up weights:

I’ve been fighting this fight for decades. For 40 years, the message has been the same: women should train. Women should be strong. Women are capable of incredible things when they step into the gym and stop listening to all the garbage about what they can’t do.

It took the world 40 years to catch up with me. Maybe that makes me stubborn, or maybe it makes me right. I think it’s both.

Now, let me tell you why it worries me.

I talk about how deciding who you want to be a lot here. Your identity is important. I don’t want you to just train, I want you to become someone who trains, someone who is strong.

So when you tell me that you are someone with menopause or perimenopause, I see you starting to define yourself as someone with limits, and that’s what I want to avoid.

Before we start, I want to acknowledge something about us men: we are not exactly known for overthinking. We just do the thing, sometimes badly, and figure it out later.

This is probably why we have shorter lifespans than women, so I’m not recommending it as a life strategy.

But there is one benefit to not overthinking: you don’t give problems more power than they deserve. And that’s exactly what I’m seeing happen to millions of women right now.

Everywhere I look, I see women describing themselves as “peri,” “meno,” or “post.” I see it in bios. I see it in introductions. I see it in the way women talk about themselves when they join the Pump Club.

“I’m perimenopausal, so I probably can’t…”

“I’m menopausal, so I’ll never be able to…”

“I’m postmenopausal, so it’s too late for me to…”

I need you to stop right there.

Menopause is real. I am not dismissing it for a second. The hot flashes, the terrible sleep, the mood changes, the belly fat that shows up uninvited and refuses to leave — I’ve heard it all from thousands of women, and I believe every word of it.

But here’s where I have a problem:

When did a phase of your biology become your identity?

When did a hormonal change become a life sentence?

When did “this is harder now” turn into “this is impossible”?

I’ll tell you when. It happened because an entire industry figured out they could make money off of your fear. They sold you special menopause workouts. Special menopause diets. Special menopause supplements. 

And with every special product, they sent you the same message: “You are broken, and you need a special fix.”

You are not broken. You don’t need a special fix.

You need the same thing every single human being needs: a vision, a plan, consistency, and people who believe in you. That’s it.

When I hear women say they can’t get strong because of menopause, I have to push back because I’ve been pushing back against these lies for longer than some of you have been alive.

But I don’t want you to listen to me. I’m Arnold. Of course I’m going to tell you to train. That’s what I do.

I want you to listen to women like you.

April is 62 years old. When she joined the Pump Club in 2023, she was coming up on 60. Menopause had wrecked her. Depression, hot flashes, terrible sleep, and a belly she didn’t recognize. She had put her faith in every lose-weight-quick scheme she could find, including a celebrity keto diet that destroyed her muscle tissue. She was at rock bottom.

On her first morning with the Pump Club, the warmup called for lunges. She couldn’t do one. She was on the gym floor crying from the pain in her knees and pelvis and the lack of mobility. She’s never told anyone that before.

But then she got really pissed off.

Day after day, she held onto a ballet barre in her photography studio and did lunges with her knee touching a yoga block. It hurt to sit. It hurt to stand. But she kept going. Four months later, she was doing full lunges and goblet squats.

Today, April is one of the few people on earth who does Bulgarian squats and actually likes it. She won a national tennis tournament. She climbed an ice cave in Iceland. She deadlifted nearly 290 pounds. She plays on teams with people 40 years younger, and as she told me: “It’s fun shaking hands at the net and they know their grandma just whooped them.”

Her body fat went from 40.9% to 29%. But here’s the thing that makes me want to scream this from the rooftops: she doesn’t care about that number anymore. She fuels for strength, not for looks. No bathroom scale dictates her life.

April didn’t let menopause define her. She let it fuel her.

Then there’s Peggy. She started lifting at 51 with zero weight. Literally zero. Bodyweight only.

When Peggy joined, she didn’t begin with hope. She was in a place where she wasn’t sure she belonged. The Pump Club was a lifeline.

Her first lunges were wobbly. She once asked Ketch and Adam if they could create a video showing how to load a barbell, because she had never done it. And they did.

She set a vision for herself: a picture of Linda Hamilton in Dark Fate on her phone.

She knew it would take years, if ever, to get there. But she pictured how she would feel after a year of working out versus a year of not working out. Both visions were her fuel.

Recently, in one hour of training, Peggy moved over 15,000 pounds. From zero. In about 650 days.

She told me: “My mind — my being — believes that it is as strong as my body. I do more, attempt more, go more places, with minimal fear or anxiety because my nervous system finally feels strong.”

Peggy didn’t need a menopause program. She needed a barbell and people who believed in her.

And they’re not the only ones.

Dawn is 56. Menopause made all her old fitness rules stop working. Today she sleeps better, feels stronger, and trusts her body again.

Rachel is 46. Illness and surgery left her unable to squat or lunge. Today she’s rebuilding, one workout at a time.

Helen is 52. Long COVID stripped away her strength and her identity. Strength training became her anchor and gave her a comeback — and inspired her husband to start lifting with her.

Cathie is 76. Her words: “My muscles remember how to lift. It’s never too late to be strong.”

Nancy is 73. She’s dropped clothing sizes, gained strength, and keeps showing up every day.

Look at this list. Look at these women.

Not a single one of them needed permission from their hormones to get strong.

Not a single one needed a special program designed around a diagnosis.

Every single one needed the same thing: a plan, consistency, and the refusal to let biology write their story for them.

Here is what I want all of you to hear — men and women, but especially the women who have been told their best years are behind them:

You are not a diagnosis. You are not a label. You are not “peri” or “meno” or “post.”

You are a human being who is capable of extraordinary things, and the only thing standing between you and the strongest version of yourself is the decision to start and the commitment to not stop.

It might be harder than it was at 25. So what? April was crying on a gym floor at 59. Today she’s climbing ice caves.

Don’t let a word define you. Don’t let an industry limit you. Don’t let your biology write your story.

You write your story. You choose who you get to be.

These women did. If you don’t believe me, believe them.

This week, I want every woman reading this to do one thing: stop identifying yourself by a phase and start identifying yourself by what you’re going to do next.

And then go do it.

This week, we’ll share research every day to show you what’s possible.

All you have to do is embrace your strength.

Start Your Week Right
Does Lifting Weights Help You Sleep?

If you're tossing and turning at night, sleepless nights can turn into desperation looking for something, anything to help you sleep better. And while there are many ways to improve rest (we’ve shared countless tips in these newseltters), researchers found that the type of workout you perform might be the missing piece of your sleep routine.

A review of 86 studies and more than 7,000 people found that resistance training is one of the most effective (and under-appreciated) ways to improve your sleep quality.

Scientists analyzed 86 randomized controlled trials and compared how different forms of exercise — resistance training, aerobic exercise, mind-body practices, and combined approaches — affected sleep quality.

All forms of exercise improved sleep quality compared to doing nothing. But resistance training stood out as a the most reliable, effective option. And one large randomized controlled trial found that people who lifted weights for 12 months slept approximately 40 minutes more per night compared to a non-exercise control group. 

The researchers believe strength training reduces anxiety and depression (both major sleep disruptors), improves body temperature regulation, and creates positive shifts in hormones like growth hormone and cortisol that influence your sleep-wake cycle.

If you lift weights two to three times per week, you're investing in better sleep. And if you've been relying solely on cardio or melatonin, adding a couple of resistance training sessions might do more for your rest than another supplement. And you don't need a complicated program. A well-designed full-body routine using standard gym equipment or bodyweight movements is enough to deliver benefits.

Health
Could More Sunlight Help Lower Your Blood Pressure?

When you think about heart health, sunscreen probably doesn't come to mind. 

But research suggests that getting some sunshine might be one of the simplest ways to support healthy blood pressure.

In a study of nearly 24,000 women, researchers assessed sun exposure habits, including whether participants sunbathed in summer, vacationed in sunny destinations, or used tanning beds. Several years later, researchers checked prescription records to see who had been prescribed blood pressure medication.

Women who reported the least sun exposure had 41 percent higher odds of needing hypertension medication compared to those who got the most sun. Women with moderate sun exposure had 15 percent higher odds.

Other factors that raised hypertension risk included low physical activity, chronic stress, and lack of higher education. But sun exposure remained associated with lower risk, even after accounting for those variables.

Because this was an observational study, it cannot prove that sunlight directly lowers blood pressure. However, separate experimental research offers a possible explanation: ultraviolet light can trigger the release of nitric oxide from stores in the skin, which helps blood vessels relax. Sun exposure also supports your body's production of vitamin D, which plays a role in cardiovascular health. Together, these mechanisms could help explain why previous studies have linked higher sun exposure with reduced cardiovascular mortality.

The study does have limitations worth noting. Sun exposure was self-reported at a single point in time, and hypertension was measured indirectly through medication records rather than clinical readings.

Still, the pattern is consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting that too little sunlight may not be great for your heart.

If you spend most of your day indoors, consider walking outside during daylight hours or sitting near a sunny window. When you are in the sun for extended periods, use sunscreen to protect your skin. And if you're concerned about your levels, ask your doctor to check your vitamin D or get convenient access to a test that can give you better clarity about your health status.

Fitness
Workout Of The Week 

Editor’s Note: We’ll never stop giving you a free Workout of the Week. Because we believe everyone should have access to exercise.

But there’s a difference between a workout and a program. 

A “Workout of the day” feels great — you sweat, you’re sore — but soreness isn’t the goal. Exhaustion doesn’t make you better. Your body adapts best when workouts build on one another intentionally, not when each session stands alone.

This workout will challenge you today, but a program is what changes you over weeks, months, and years. If you need help, you can try our customized programs free for 7 days. We do the thinking, give you access to the best coaches, and provide accountability so you see results.

When you’re short on time, some workout methods can help you squeeze in more intensity and volume in less time. 

Myo-reps were created by Norwegian strength coach Borge Fagerli in the mid-2000s, which can turn a moderate weight into something that feels incredibly heavy. We’ve shared this style of workout before, and it’s now back by popular demand. 

Here's how it works:

For exercises labeled “myo-reps” (see below), start with an "activation" set of 10-20 reps with lighter weights. Take this set almost to failure (but leave a rep or two in the tank because you’re going to need them), and then put the weight down.

Take 3-5 deep breaths, then grab the same weight, do 3-5 controlled reps, and put the weight down. Repeat this process. Take another 3 to 5 breaths, then perform 3 to 5 reps. Do this until you can no longer hit at least 3 reps. 

Here's how it looks (remember, just 3 to 5 big breaths separate each set). Normally, the weight would feel light. But in this case, because rest is limited, you'll create fatigue and overload with a lighter weight if you maximize your intensity): 

Set 1: 15 reps
Set 2: 4 reps
Set 3: 4 reps
Set 4: 4 reps
Set 5: 2 reps

Here's how to bring it to life in a workout.

The Workout

Work up to a weight you can lift 6-8 times on the first exercise. Perform all sets of the movement, resting as prescribed. Then, repeat the same with the second exercise. Exercises 3 and 4 are myo-reps. You’ll complete the activation set, then follow with 3-5 reps, and rest once you can’t complete at least 3 reps. That’s one set, and then you’ll repeat for a second time before moving to the second (and final) myo-reps exercise.

Exercise 1: Squat variation (like goblet squat, barbell back squat, or leg press): 3 sets x 6-8 reps (rest 2-3 minutes between sets)

Exercise 2: Row variation (barbell or dumbbell): 3 sets x 6-8 reps (rest 2-3 minutes between sets)

Exercise 3 (myo reps): Dumbbell lunges x 2 sets
(first set 1 x 15-20 reps and then 3-5 reps per set until you can’t do 3 reps; that’s 1 set, and then repeat)

Rest 2-3 minutes between sets

Exercise 4 (myo reps): Dumbbell overhead press x 2 sets
(first set 1 x 15-20 reps and then 3-5 reps per set until you can’t do 3 reps; that’s 1 set, and then repeat)

Give it a try, and start your week strong!

The Positive Corner of The Internet
About Arnold’s Pump Club Editorial Standards

We do things a bit differently here, starting with transparency.

1. The Content: All APC emails are researched, written, and fact-checked by the APC editors (see bottom of the email), with written contributions from Arnold (noted with “Arnold’s Corner”). Links take you to original studies (not second-hand sources).

2. Does AI play a role? Yes, in two places. Everything above is original content written by the APC team. The summaries below are AI-generated based on the human-written content above. We also use an AI tool to review our interpretations of the research and ensure scientific accuracy. We don’t assume AI is right, but we use technology to hold ourselves accountable.

3. Yes, we have partners (all clearly noted). Why? Because it allows these emails to remain free. We reach out to potential partners who offer ways to help you improve every day. The bar is set high, and to date, we have turned down millions in ad deals. (Example: we will not partner with any non-certified supplements or those without evidence in human trials). If we won’t buy the product, we won’t recommend it to you. And if there’s no evidence it works, then there’s no place for it here.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell