Always the prankster, Arnold Schwarzenegger debated joking around with his fitness community for April Fools until he realized something odd. In his recent newsletter article on the ‘Arnold’s Pump Club,’ he talked about a surge in certain types of content that didn’t necessarily fall under fitness advice. Rather, they preached ‘wellness’ and carried tasks that promised shortcuts to optimized health.
He revealed how he was grateful for the Pump App, and its segment for fans to ask questions. He realized how fitness enthusiasts struggled to differentiate between useful advice, versus nonsense through these Q&A sessions. Therefore, he skipped going forth with his prank. Instead, he listed the “advice” given on the wellness side of social media that almost sounded outrageous.
Some of the tips that Schwarzenegger came across included eating raw bull testicles, refraining from consuming coffee until one was completely awake, tanning one’s an*s, and many more. He even guaranteed that all of these were legitimate advice online with no ounce of truth to them.
Instead of adopting a traditional approach, these “hacks” sell the idea of a shortcut. A process like hormone regulation could take significant amounts of time and effort. However, wellness influencers guaranteeing the same on eating bull testicles is a whack to think of.
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“One thing I know holding you back is that so many gurus and influencers share conflicting information, and you get into the weeds and end up frozen with analysis paralysis.”
Alternatively, people might consider such advice for a moment if they’re served the same information from multiple channels. And unlike certain appalling tips, some hold a grain of truth. The catch is that it only works at the last level of your traditional routine, as a booster or an add-on practice.
“The basics are simple, but they aren’t easy. That’s why people end up going down 3 or 4 or 50 dead-end shortcuts before they commit to what we know works.”
Simplistic practices like consistent exercises, lots of veggies and fruits in one’s diet, inculcating resistance training, and ample hydration should be sufficient. The results may be slow, but Schwarzenegger guarantees it will sustain over a long time. Shortcuts like the ones mentioned above tend to psych fitness enthusiasts into chasing a goal with short-term results.
Arnold Schwarzenegger had previously warned fitness enthusiasts against toxic wellness
His recent article wasn’t the first time he talked about shady tips in the name of wellness being circulated. Schwarzenegger had previously also talked about the subject in an older newsletter segment. Toxic wellness could often come in the form of misinformation, controversial statements, or hot takes that tend to receive a lot of interaction online.
The algorithm boosts any content that viewers interact with a lot. So, watching and liking misinformation online could only snowball into more such content. Schwarzenegger was worried about this because research stated that if an individual was exposed to new information, they tend to interact with it more. However, he has a strong fitness community with the Pump Club and wastes no time debunking such content.
