Pump yourself up

I made it almost 40 years on this fine earth without breaking any bones. It wasn’t like I lived in a bubble, either. I had a few acres of woods behind my house, and my friends and I would clamber all over fallen trees, climb fairly sturdy ones and walk across questionably frozen creeks. I survived six years of football and never missed a game.

However, my luck ran out last summer. Due to a confluence of circumstances too mundane (and embarrassing) to recount here, I crashed my bike. When I hit the concrete with a crunch, I felt a new level of pain. Like Han Solo, I had a bad feeling about it. Sure enough, X-rays revealed I broke a bone in my elbow.

After a few months of being in a cast, then a sling, I was still unable to use my arm normally, let alone exercise. When I started physical therapy, I felt discouraged by how much my body had atrophied from disuse. That was about when I found an unlikely source of inspiration: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The Pump Daily” newsletter.

I can see you rolling your eyes already. Believe me, I know the last thing anyone needs is another email newsletter. I say this as a purveyor of several fine email newsletters. If you haven’t had the pleasure, you really should go to www.nurserymag.com/subscribe and sign up for our thrice-weekly dose of industry news.

So why did I knowingly add yet another email to my overflowing inbox? Well, it’s Arnold. I grew up watching his movies. Sure, I loved Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, I even dabbled in Jackie Chan, but Arnold was the undisputed king of the 80’s action movie. The former Mr. Universe, Terminator and Governor of California is 75 now and recovering from open-heart surgery. His daily newsletter focuses on wellness and fighting the incessant negativity that runs rampant on the Internet. He has two editors, naturally, but the content’s voice seems very authentically Arnold. It’s relentlessly positive, full of motivational thoughts and ideas on how to quiet your negative inner voice, overcome challenges and reach your goals. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/PumpDaily.

His biggest theme is to implement a routine and stick to it. Like he says, “One rep is just one rep. But that one rep done over and over can become hundreds of reps. Those hundreds of reps add up to a lot of progress.” If you’ve been reading this column for a few months, you know I’m a believer in the power of small changes adding up to big results.

If you’re in the mood for a long read, check out Arnold’s profile in April issue of The Atlantic.

How do you set up a routine that works for you? What are some ways you motivate yourself to do the tasks you really hate doing? Send me your tips at mmcclellan@gie.net. And while you’re at it, tell me your favorite Arnold movie. There are so many good answers to this one, but the correct choice is Commando.