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Today’s Health Upgrade

• Monday motivation

• The best part of waking up

• Workout of the week

Arnold’s Corner: Monday Motivation

I am flying back from the UK, and I loved seeing all of my fans there. I have to tell you, I was blown away. When I walked out on the stage of Royal Albert Hall and saw almost 5,000 of you, it took my breath away.

My publisher said it was the first time an author sold that place out, with everyone there buying a book. I love the support for Be Useful, but it was a perfect reminder that I can never call myself self-made. At Royal Albert Hall, and the night before at the sold-out Palladium, I told the audience to imagine me sitting on stage with no one there to listen. The events were made by the fans — not by me.

Something I said at one of my events seemed to be a big hit.

I was asked about the difficulties of finding your vision in this day and age, and you guys have heard me say, over and over, that you have to put the machine down. But I said something else, and afterward, a few people came up to me and said it clicked, so I had to share it with all of you.

When you’re looking at your iPhone, whether it’s social media, email, or news, you’re reading someone else’s story. And that’s time you could be spending dreaming up and writing your own story.

I usually finish each week with a challenge. This week, I am starting with one.

Get off your machine. For an hour a day at first. Eventually, I want you to try for a day a week, too.

When you spend too much time on your machine, you’re costing yourself more than you will ever know.

Your head is down, and you only read other people’s stories. You’re never going to find yourself there. You need to lift your head up and start on your own story. You need to look inside yourself, not at your screen.

I know that this will be uncomfortable at first. A lot of you grew up with these phones in your hands and don’t know any other way. You feel anxious when you have nothing to do because you never learned the joy of having nothing to do.

You call it boredom. I call it time to daydream.

Instead of daydreaming and letting your mind wander and discover, many of you grew up filling your mind with other people’s ideas.

I was lucky. My parents didn’t have a telephone or a television when I grew up. All I had were my dreams. And I used my time daydreaming to discover who I wanted to be. My teachers, who used to throw chalk at my head when I was staring out the window dreaming, might tell you that I let my mind wander too much.

I’d tell you that you can never let your mind wander enough. People call it “getting lost in your thoughts.” I think it’s the opposite. When you take the time to sit alone with your thoughts, you can find who you want to be; not who your parents want you to be, not who your friends want you to be, and definitely not who some shyster on Instagram or TikTok wants you to be.

All of you are getting pushed and pulled in a million directions. You’re choosing to give up control of your mind every time you open up social media to see what the influencers you follow are saying.

You may think those accounts you follow that tell you what to think and how to live your life help you.

And in the short term, they probably make things easier for you. It’s more comfortable to have someone else tell you what to think and who you are than it is to spend time alone, really deciding who you want to be.

But in the long term, it’s going to hurt. If you keep running from the discomfort of sitting with your own thoughts, you’ll spend your whole life having your brain filled up by others, and you won’t be able to think for yourself.

Embrace the discomfort right now for the growth you’ll have in the future. Lock up that phone for one hour a day and just walk or sit with your thoughts. You don’t need TikTok, or Instagram, or podcasts every hour of your day. Let your brain entertain itself.

It’s going to be hard at first. But if you keep going every single day, just like a muscle adapts to lifting weights, your mind will adapt. It will get used to thinking for itself. It will learn to daydream.

You’ll be ready to write your own story. That’s where you’ll find yourself.

The Best Part of Waking Up

What does your morning beverage say about your health? More than you might think.

Research suggests that people who drink coffee and tea have a 32 percent lower risk of stroke, a 26 percent lower risk of dementia, and a 27 percent lower risk of poststroke dementia.

The study analyzed data from 500,000 participants between 40 and 69. Participants were followed for nearly eight years, and the researchers collected information about their coffee and tea habits.

The researchers suggest that the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds found in these beverages could be responsible for the observed benefits. Additionally, coffee and tea contain compounds that improve blood flow and brain function, which may also contribute to the reduced risk of stroke and dementia.

The study did not measure cause and effect, so we can’t say that drinking the beverages is guaranteed protection. But this adds to many other studies that suggest these beverages have protective health benefits.

So how much should you drink? The scientists found that benefits start with as little as 1 to 2 cups per day. Interestingly, they saw the most significant health protection in those who drank 2 to 3 cups of coffee and 2 to 3 cups of tea. You have to assess your tolerance to caffeine before drinking that much, but if you grab an extra cup, it might have added benefits.

Look Good, Feel Good

Last week, we released three new limited-edition shirts. One shirt (the middle option below) is almost completely sold out, and the other two have little inventory remaining. Grab your shirt today!

Workout of the Week

If you want the upper body pump of your life, then you’ll love this new plan from Cory Gregory (who you can follow @coryg). He calls this the “Gallon Water Arm and Shoulder Pump Circuit.” That’s because you can do the entire workout using jugs of water.

If you don’t have any home equipment, buy two quarts or two gallon jugs of water. These will be your weights. Of course, if you have dumbbells, you can use those too. Then, it’s time you get a pump.

The workout consists of supersets, which are pairings of two exercises. You’ll do the first exercise, followed by the second exercise, rest as little as possible, and then repeat those two exercises again. You’ll do this for the number of sets listed and then move to the next superset. Then, you’ll repeat the same process before moving to the next pair. For this workout, you’ll complete three total supersets, each consisting of 3 to 5 sets. Try and move as quickly as possible, and see if you can finish all the sets in less than 20 minutes.

Superset #1

• Biceps Curls: 20 reps

• Triceps Rollbacks or Triceps extensions: 20 reps

Perform 3-5 sets

Superset #2

• Hammer Curls: 20 reps

• Triceps Kickbacks: 20 reps

Perform 3-5 sets

Superset #3

• Arnold Press: 20 reps

• Lateral raises: 20 reps

Perform 3-5 sets

Once done with the supersets, finish the workout with a “walk and learn.” Walk for 15 minutes while listening to a new audiobook (it’s a great chance to listen to Be Useful).

Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell