Arnold Schwarzenegger has spent decades sharing insights on fitness, health, and longevity. In a recent edition of his newsletter, the bodybuilding icon turned his attention to a habit millions rely on every day: caffeine, highlighting a lesser-known way it can affect the body. 

The topic started after Schwarzenegger's newsletter recently revealed that coffee doesn't raise heart rate in regular drinkers, but one detail caught readers' attention: in occasional drinkers, caffeine still raises blood pressure slightly, with the body compensating by slowing the heart rate to balance it out. 

In his daily newsletter, 'Arnold's Pump Club,' the former bodybuilder tackled the follow-up question of whether coffee affects blood pressure. 

"When you take caffeine, it can raise blood pressure. But whether it regulates is partly influenced by whether you drink it consistently." Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in his newsletter. 

He further pointed to a study in which researchers put healthy adults through a double-blind design, gradually building their daily caffeine intake up to 600 mg (about six cups of coffee) before giving them a 250 mg dose and measuring blood pressure.

The results split cleanly down the middle: half showed no blood pressure response after regular daily use, while the other half kept reacting to every dose, even after a week of heavy intake. 

He further explained, pointing to the statistics on just how modest the actual effect is. 

"So does caffeine raise your blood pressure? Maybe a little. With a normal coffee habit (2-4 cups per day), research suggests it might raise it by a few points. However, larger studies of daily coffee drinkers don't find higher rates of high blood pressure."

The bigger issue, Schwarzenegger noted, is that tolerance and no tolerance feel the same. For most people, a normal coffee habit is likely fine, but anyone managing high blood pressure should get it checked rather than assume caffeine isn't a factor. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger weighs in on whether you really need to run for cardio 

Schwarzenegger has addressed the ongoing belief that running is the only real way to build cardiovascular fitness. The former bodybuilder tackled the topic in his newsletter, pointing to research on how the heart responds to different types of exercise. 

He addressed the issue in the aforementioned newsletter after highlighting a review of 45 studies in which participants performed resistance training in a circuit format, moving quickly between exercises with minimal rest. 

"Their VO2max, one of the best measures of aerobic fitness, improved by 6 percent on average. As an added bonus, participants lost fat and built muscle at the same time." 

He brought the conversation back to the original question, offering a clearer way to think about it. 

"This isn't 'strength replaces cardio.' It's 'these exercises count as cardio when you push them hard.'" 

Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't dismiss running, noting that steady aerobic work still edges out lifting for pure VO2max. But he points to kettlebells, fan bikes, and rowing as legitimate substitutes, with roughly 75 minutes of higher-intensity exercise per week being the real target.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco