The 10-Minute Walk You Won't Regret

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Today’s Health Upgrade

Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation: The Long Cut 

In every gym I have ever trained in, from Graz to Venice Beach, there is an unwritten rule.

The strongest people in the room welcome the people who aren't sure they belong.

Nobody hands you this job. You earn it. The moment you have been training long enough that you don't need the extra push to show up, the job is yours.

I know some of you are thinking, I have been lifting for 20 years. I don't need a pep talk. I don't need a community.

Good. This isn't about you.

This is about somebody else who needs you.

Think back to your first day. You didn't know where anything was. You didn't know how much weight to use. You were sure everyone was watching you and wondering what you were doing there.

Most people who feel that way never come back for the second day.

The ones who do usually have one thing in common. Somebody noticed them.

Somebody said, "Good set." Somebody showed them how to adjust the bench.

Somebody just said hi.

That's it. That is the difference between a person who quits and a person who trains for the rest of their life.

Almost every single week, someone tells us in the Pump Club app that they weren't sure they belonged. They were ready to quit. Then one person took ten seconds to encourage them with a comment, and they kept going.

Ten seconds.

Do you realize how much power that is?

You may never know the name of the person you kept in the game. You may never find out that they're still training a year later because of you. It doesn't matter. You did it.

You can be the reason someone doesn't quit.

I can't think of a better use of your strength.

Now, for those of you who are just starting, or who have started and stopped more times than you can count, I want to talk to you too.

This doesn't have to be scary.

You belong as much as anyone. In the gym. Doing your bodyweight exercises next to your coach. You belong.

Every strong person you see in the gym or on the internet was once exactly where you are.

But I have to be honest with you, because nobody else will.

It is going to take a long time.

Every ad on the internet will tell you to go faster. Six weeks. Thirty days. One weird trick. They're lying. Many of you have fallen for it before, and you know how that ended.

We don't do shortcuts in the Pump Club. But we do deliver long-term results that surprise even the biggest believers.

We should have a sign on the door:

Long cuts only.

We might be the only people in fitness telling you to go slower. To learn the movement. To enjoy every rep.

And for a while, you won't enjoy it. You'll grind it out, day after day, and you won't see much.

It's a schlep. It's uncomfortable. Sometimes it really sucks.

Then one day, in three months or six months or a year, someone will ask you what you've been doing because you look great. Or you'll see a muscle in the mirror you've never seen before. Or you'll pick up a weight you never believed you could lift.

And you will say, "Schnitzel was right."

Most people quit before that moment. I don't want you to be most people.

So here is my ask for this week.

If you're new, keep showing up. The long cut works.

If you're not new, look around. Find the person who looks like they aren't sure they belong, and make damn sure they know they do.

Who will you welcome this week?

Together With Momentous
We Have Not Recommended Pre-Workout For A Reason

We’ve been writing this newsletter every day since 2023, and we’ve never recommended a pre-workout.

It’s a tough category to back. An impressive ingredient list can hide doses too small to help, and testing has found many products whose contents don’t match their labels.

In an analysis of 100 pre-workouts, products averaged about 18 ingredients, with roughly eight hidden inside proprietary blends. That means you could see an ingredient’s name without knowing whether the dose was enough to help.

A worthwhile pre-workout needs effective ingredients, the right amount (no pixie dusting), independent testing, and stimulants that fit the rest of your day (and caffeine habits).

Researchers tested 15 popular pre-workouts and found that only six disclosed their caffeine content. Among those, the actual amount ranged from 59% to 176% of the label’s claim. Nearly every product also had substantial variation within or between batches.

Caffeine deserves a different kind of scrutiny because a lower dose can be a sensible choice. 

A caffeine dose that improves performance in a study still needs to fit into your day, which means the highest caffeine in a pre-workout isn’t necessarily the best option. 

Research commonly supports 3-6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for performance. For a 170-pound person, that’s roughly 230 to 460 milligrams. But benefits can occur around 2 milligrams per kilogram, and individual responses vary. The well-studied range isn’t a minimum everyone needs to reach.

A formula also needs to account for the coffee, tea, soda, or other caffeinated drinks you consume. A 300-milligram scoop added to 200 milligrams elsewhere brings the day’s total to 500. 

The FDA cites 400 milligrams daily as an amount generally not associated with negative effects for most adults, although some people tolerate much less (and others much more).

For someone who tolerates caffeine, a product with roughly 100 to 200 milligrams per serving can be the sweet spot, depending on body size and other sources. Caffeine can make exercise feel less tiring, and using less may reduce the chance of feeling wired. 

Pre-workouts can give your workouts a boost, but most aren’t done right. If you want to give it a try, here’s our checklist:

Every ingredient has a disclosed amount. Skip proprietary blends that prevent you from evaluating the doses. You should know the exact amount of each ingredient, or it’s a hard pass.

The finished product has credible certification. NSF Certified for Sport, for example, checks label claims and screens for banned substances. Certification reduces risk; it doesn’t prove the formula improves performance.

“Third-party tested” on the label, without telling you which third party tested it, is the supplement equivalent of “Trust me, bro.” Look for NSF for Sport or Informed Sport on the label.

The ingredients are backed by science. The number of legal performance-enhancing ingredients is shockingly low. Caffeine leads the way. Creatine has a place. Citrulline and betaine for muscle endurance and strength. And ingredients like Alpha-GPC and tyrosine for focus. 

Watch out for pixie-dusting. Other ingredients work, like beta-alanine, but it’s a perfect example of deception. Most beta-alanine is under-dosed, with the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggesting you need 4-6 grams per day, based on studies. Most products have 1.6 to 3.2 grams, so you’re getting a good ingredient, but not enough to make a difference. 

Over the years, more than 2 dozen pre-workout brands have approached us, and we’ve rejected each. Big claims, no scientific backing. 

The first and only one we’ve approved is Momentous Pre-Workout. They spent 3 years formulating the product, and — to their credit — they consulted us for feedback and made adjustments to support the science. (For the record: Pump Club makes no money from the direct sale of its pre-workout product.)

Beta-alanine was in the original formula, and then it didn’t make the cut because they wanted each ingredient to hit the right way. 

They took the same approach for each piece of the puzzle. Another great example is citrulline, which can help add a few reps, strength and power, and improve endurance if you take it daily. But you need at least 6 grams, and most miss the mark. Momentous hit the spot. 

With 150 mg of caffeine, you get enough to reduce the perception of fatigue without overloading your system if you enjoy caffeine at other points in the day.

If you want a pre-workout that helps you train hard, fight fatigue, and do it without getting so wired you crash, Momentous Pre-Workout checks all the boxes. As an APC reader, use the code “PumpClub” to get 35% off a subscription or 14% off your first-time order. 

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A Note From Ketch: I’m a little bit of a pre-workout aficionado, going back to the days of Jack3D and N.O.Explode, so I was pretty stoked that Jeff let me test this as it shook out. I can say it works, because it powered my last two PRs, and I love having a pre-workout that isn’t a caffeine bomb.

Sure, those wild pre-workouts of the 00s or the ones with names like “Apocalyptic Death Blend” and 300 milligrams of caffeine will have a place in many of our lifting history books.

I can tell you, it is nice to have a pre-workout that doesn’t make you want to tear your skin off or give you shaky hands. It’s even better that it works with calm focus.

Start Your Week Right 
The Case For The After Dinner Walk

A post-dinner walk is easy advice to follow in the summer. But when it’s already dark and finding your gloves takes longer than the walk, it needs a few adjustments.

The habit is worth keeping. Walking shortly after eating can reduce the rise in blood sugar, and even a 10-minute walk can help.

As you digest a meal, carbohydrates break down into sugar that enters your bloodstream. Insulin helps move that sugar into your muscles. Walking gives your muscles another way to take it up and use it for fuel, which helps explain why moving soon after eating can make a difference.

A review of eight trials found that exercise after eating reduced the blood sugar rise compared with sitting. Exercise before the meal didn’t clearly reduce the rise. Starting sooner after eating generally worked better than waiting.

In another study, adults with type 2 diabetes tried two walking plans for two weeks each: 30 minutes whenever it suited them, or 10 minutes after each main meal.

Both plans called for the same amount of walking. But the after-meal plan reduced blood sugar rises by 12% overall and by 22% after dinner. For most people, dinner is the biggest, most carb-heavy meal of the day, and it’s followed by the most sitting.

If your blood sugar is normal, a rise after eating is normal, too. Most people worry about every fluctuation, and seeing it change after you eat doesn't mean something is wrong or that you can’t eat certain foods.

In other words, a blood sugar spike after you eat isn’t a reason to abandon certain foods. It’s often a sign that your body is working. The real issue is if blood sugar stays elevated and doesn’t return after a few hours.

And that’s part of the magic of movement. The walk after a meal helps your body work even better.

The clearest reason to try this habit is to add regular movement. How much you move throughout the week still matters more than perfect timing.

For people with elevated blood sugar, especially type 2 diabetes, this is one of the easiest, best-supported habits you can add.

Try walking for 10 minutes soon after dinner, ideally within 5 to 15 minutes. If it’s cold, bundle up. When going outside is impractical, walk around your home or use a treadmill. Laps around the kitchen count. Keep the after-dinner conversation going while you walk.

Fitness
Workout of the Week

A note for Pump Club app members: every week, we get questions about the workouts you see here and those in your program. These are generic workouts designed with many of the principles and methods you see in the app. But a one-off workout is not the same as a customized program. Your app programs are designed for your goals, workout experience, and schedule. These programs are free for everyone, as part of Arnold’s crusade to make fitness accessible for all. 

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An EMOM (every minute on the minute) workout puts a clock on your rest, keeps the session efficient, boosts your cardio, and still helps you build strength.

This workout rotates through a variety of different movement patterns (push, pull, hinge, squat, and carry) to challenge your whole body. Each movement also gets five minutes of recovery before you see it again, so even though your heart rate will be up, your muscles will be fresh. That means you can keep the reps lower to maximize your strength. 

How to do it

Start each movement at the top of the minute. Complete all reps, then rest for the remaining time. If the reps take 30 seconds, rest the remaining 30 seconds before moving to the next exercise. 

Perform all 5 exercises in this fashion and rest 1 minute. That’s one round. Repeat for 3-5 rounds total. 

Rest for 1 minute, 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.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell