#01: Monday Motivation: Are you stuck?

Welcome to Arnold's Pump Club. I believe that fitness is for everyone. So I'm using the power of machines to make you healthier in about five minutes. I'm not a cybernetic organism. But I do have an important mission. We are building the positive corner of the internet. And each day I'll help you become a little better. Let's get to today's news, motivation, and advice. Here's today's Monday motivation. I keep getting a question from people in our email replies and on social media. And I want to take it on this week. People ask me what to do when they feel like they can't get out of bed. And my first thought is to say, I just gave you workouts. A story about how I had to come back from a surgery where it was a win to walk 10 steps and a system for meeting your goals. How can that not get you going? But I told you to flex your empathy muscles last week. So now it's my turn. I realize a lot of you feel stuck. And I want to reach out to you too. When you feel like you can't even get out of bed, motivation isn't enough. So let's analyze what's going on. We are going to share more studies about how people get unstuck. But in the meantime, I think that part of this is whether it is chemical or something else. You've convinced yourself you don't have any power and you don't have a reason to try anymore. Maybe you've tried a few times and you failed. And you just think you fail again no matter what. You've internalized that whatever is holding you back will always win. I think you need to show your mind and body that you are in control. To do so, you need a reason to try again. So let me help you find that reason. Even when I feel like crap and want to sleep a little, there are things that keep me going. Every morning, once the sun starts peeking through my windows, the animals are screaming to be fed. So I can't let them down. They give me a reason not to get stuck in bed. But I don't stop there. You can also close the curtains or ignore the noise. I also tell my friends to meet at 7 to start a bike ride. I can't let them down either. Do you have anyone that can help hold you accountable? It can be anyone, animals or friends. And then you need to make a commitment to meet so that you have no choice but to get out of bed. If you don't have anyone, there's still hope. If no one will hold you accountable, you're going to have to make yourself the reason. Let me be the one to tell you. You are worth it. Now, let's deal with how to show your mind during control. You can do this. I'm not asking for anything crazy. I don't want you to set insane goals. I want you to start tiny because I want zero chance of failure. I don't want your mind to be able to say, see, I told you that you couldn't do it. Because if that part of your mind wins, then I lose. And more importantly, you lose. And we don't want that right down the smallest goals. It can be, I will train for five minutes a day. I will get out of bed. I will do five squats next to my bed. Health getting out of bed feels like too much than try. I will do five toe touches in bed. I want you to write your goal on a piece of paper. Put it next to your bed with a pen and make a tally every day when you do it. No matter what happens, I want you to make that mark. Don't worry that it seems small. Right now we are just showing your mind that you can do it. Once you start to feel unstuck, we can make your goals bigger. This is physics. An object addressed wants to stay addressed. So we aren't trying to get you moving fast. We are just trying to get you moving at all. Go write that goal down. Text someone. Tell them you are making a commitment to meet them tomorrow morning at a park or the gym or on your front porch. It doesn't matter. Just create that accountability. Do that. We will keep on showing up to support and pump you up every day. Now I want to share a new study about how to end your morning grogginus. Do you wake up and want to smash your snooze button every day? If you have trouble waking up in the morning, some small adjustments could give you the jolt you've been looking for. Researchers recently assessed nearly 800 people, about 70% were twins, to determine behaviors that improved morning alertness. If you want to win your mornings and stop hitting snooze, here's your cheat sheet. People who were happier and were optimistic, exercised the day before 8 less often. About 1 to 4 times per day was the sweet spot. And 8 more carbs for breakfast. All showed better signs of morning alertness. The study didn't look at light exposure, but that's another trick that can help optimize your circadian rhythms. Do you get up with more energy and fall asleep easier at night? The carbs for breakfast might be the most surprising tip, but your body is designed to burn carbs more effectively in the morning hours. That's because your body is more insulin sensitive in the morning. I honestly didn't know too much about what that meant. But Adam, the expert who is one of the best nutrition minds and helps me with the research for the pump club, tells me it means your body can make better use of glucose without a big spike in blood sugar. In other words, your body can handle the carbs better, put them to use during exercise and smaller blood sugar spikes in the morning can help you sleep better at night and wake up more refreshed in the morning. If you do any of these tips or all of them, I expect you to start having more energy in the morning. Remember, small changes to your habits can lead to big results. Today's final piece of advice is another way to help you win your morning. First, help change your mindset. Then we offered some habits to make it easier to get up. And now I want to provide a workout. You can do the moment you step out of bed. Most of us think a workout is about being in the gym. You all know how much I love a good pump, but a little bit of movement can set you a track for a better day. Not talking about movements that require any weights. And that's why I'm sharing this routine. This quick five minute workout has many benefits. It will help turn on your brain for better functioning, get your blood flowing and improve your posture. So you feel and move better. Many of us don't have good posture. This is something I battle more as I age. Whether you're an older schnitzel like me or a little younger, I can't tell you the value of some morning movements. Today most people I see hunched at a computer, don't stand up straight or slouch while sitting on chairs or couches. Slouched position is poison for your body. You don't need to be an expert to know that. When you slouch instead of using your back and core muscles to stay in alignment, your body starts to rely more on other structures like your ligaments. This is not good news for your posture and can even increase the chance of injury and pain. But you can wake up those muscles without stepping foot in the gym. If you want to access this to anywhere for exercise circuit, be sure to subscribe to our email list. You can find the link on any of my social media pages. Every Monday we share a workout and include links to show you how to perform exercises you might not know. This particular routine consists of just one to two sets of four exercises. Those exercises are the cat camel, a kneeling thread through reach, bird dogs and bent over shoulder raises. If you don't know what those are, you can look them up or as I mentioned, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter. That's it for today. Thank you for being a part of Arnold's pump club. This village would not be possible without you. And special thanks to our editors in chief Adam Bernstein and Daniel Ketchle. Like I said, we are building the positive corner of the internet and the three of us are here to support you. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a review. us spread the word, let's lift up the world together.