70 yr old ex-Brigadier does pull-ups

Dear Reader,

Over the last week or so, I’ve been breaking up my workout into TWO parts – or should I say two locations.

While I initially chose ONE park as my workout location (and so I should – it has plenty of thick bars – – perfect for building a rugged, strong grip as I describe in Gorilla Grip) – I then changed my mind and broke up my workout into two stages – essentially finishing off in park #2.

Why?

Well, park #2 has thicker dipping bars for one – and these are located at exactly the right width i.e. shoulder width apart.

Park #1 has ’em too, but the bars are located a tad bit further from each other than they should be.

I believe I wrote about this in a previous post. Dipping bars should not be any wider than average shoulder width, as doing ’em that way causes immense strain on the shoulder joints – especially if you’re overweight.

Anyway, as I was a completing a sprint en route to the park, I noticed an elderly looking gentleman out on his daily run.

I’ve seen this gentleman before out and about in park #2 – and truth be told, though I could tell he was of advanced age, he doesn’t really look like. In fact he could easily pass for being “over 40” as opposed to his actual age which is a lot more … but we’ll get to that soon enough.

So I was doing dips. Nice ‘n’ easy, slow and in proper form, sets of 10.

The gentleman was watching me from a distance, and after I was done (or between sets I should say) he jumped on to the bars, and did ’em as well.

And though the vast majority of folks I’ve seen doing dips make a parody out of ’em, THIS gentleman sure didn’t.

He was doing ’em the RIGHT way – and though I could tell he was literally STRAINING to do ’em correctly, he still did ’em – except for one small thing, and I just had to point it out.

“You’re going way too down in the bottom portion of the movement”, I noted. “Don’t stretch all the way down. Go all the way up, but not down – that’ll kill the shoulders quicker than anything!”.

The gentleman looked at me.

“Oh? Really? But I’ve been doing ’em this way all my life …”

“Oh. Doesn’t it hurt your shoulders?”

“Not really. Just my elbow, and I’ve had an injury there so … ”

Anyway, there’s a tip right there for you dipping maniacs out there – do NOT stretch all the way to the bottom position of the dip.

Do so all you want with the pushup and it’s variations – in fact, that is what you SHOULD be doing with pushups, but NOT dips.

Anyhow, there was something about this gentleman, and looking at him, I suddenly “knew”.

“You’re ex Military, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am! I used to be in the Air Forces Defense”, he replied with a smile.

“I knew it!”

And I shook hands with him, and talked a bit more before heading off to do pull-ups – – something this gentleman was doing as well.

Again, he was doing ’em spot on – all the way down, and he was TRYING to go all the way  up. A welcome change from the way most people masticate pull-ups – but then again, he’s ex Military.

He’s been doing ’em all his life – and he KNOWS the right way to do ’em – and he does it!

“You must be over 40”, I noted. “Or 50…” I ventured cautiously.

He laughed at me.

“I’m almost 70!”

“Jesus! You’re in good shape! Most people your age, and especially around here  …” I tapered off, but we both knew what I meant.

And I meant every word, my friend. EVERY word.

So that’s today’s story. If a man approaching the age of 70 can do it – and hit it hard and regular daily – where is YOUR excuse?

If a guy like this can TRY – TRY his best daily – to get that chin over the bar – for multiple reps – well – where is YOUR excuse?

Hmm … I hear crickets chirping …

Without further ado, then, my friend, get started on your fitness journey TODAY.

The 0 Excuses Fitness system contains ALL the instructions you’ll need for a lifetime, and leaves you with no chance to make excuses.

Sprint on over here, and get started today, my friend. It truly is one of the very the best investments you’ll ever make!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

P.S. – Turns out this gentleman lives but a couple of houses away from where I am currently. He’s the guy that has a board stating “Brigadier … (retd)” on his front gate.  Well, fancy THAT eh. I’ll keep y’all posted on further conversations on this front!

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