I was thinking about making another video this morning, especially in the dark.

That cold – or virus I spoke about yesterday has “gone to the head”, so it’s definitely two things today – 1) light workout day and 2) too much of light isn’t good, especially artificial light (not that I have much light anyway in my cave) – I’d rather the sun outdoors, but that don’t seem to be showing up a lot either these days).

But anyway …

W in this word is not succeeded by “ealth” no matter how much you might claim it is.

Wealth is damn important, don’t get me wrong …

But on the topic of affirmation, self help etc .. .I wrote about this here, to completely understand what I’m saying here, you’ll want to read the above linked email first.

Now, lets “not take names” here for a minute, and let me give you another one of those affirmations I chanced upon, either by “luck” or not – lying around someplace (lets just put it that way) last year.

“Rahul is going to give us X amount of money from next year”.

Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess who wrote that, and of course, why she did.

It’s never enough, as I’ve explained in my book on it.

(and you’ll want to get this book NOW if you’re a real man, and done dealing with Nazi feminism in all its shapes, forms and guises. Truly a life changing book, I mean that from the bottom of my MGTOW heart).

Some people have often asked “how I happen to see these things” when obviously those responsible do all they can to hide it.

My answer?

Being at the right place at the right time without trying to although it might not seem like it , or it might.

I realize this may fly straight over some people’s heads, but it’s true.

The true magic happens long term subconsciously.

If you truly believe in the Universe, the spirit, that you’re protected – well, you will be – and doors will mysteriously open to you in all regards without you even trying.

I didnt pry about to get to know what others write – or think about me.

It’s all out there in the open – for me, at least.

As Charles Mitchell, a customer of mine once told me.

“You see things very clearly!”

That I do, my friend, and it’s a skill everyone can pick up, but back to the W word and affirmations….

Nothing wrong with wealth, money, coin, notes, mucho dinero, digital cash, or whichever form you prefer it in.

Nothing at all trust me.

I love it personally!

But to GET it, people for the most part do the absolute wrong thing.

Take the affirmation above, I could just as easily word it as (and people do this) – “I want my customers to give me MORE and more BUSINESS!”

(many a business owner)

Or, “I want X Y, and Z.. NOW!”

Or so forth.

Yet, the key thing that is forgetting in all this?

You have to do what Napoleon Hill once said in Think and Grow Rich, i.e. “courting money is like wooing a maiden”, and you employ the same techniques.

The key to all this – is another W word, often ignored…

That being WANT.

Right.

WANT.

If you’re running a biz selling groceries, for instance, and you employ the above affirmation, and they work, it’s not because the affirmations themselves work – they are BS.

Its because those things are a NEED.

What you really, my friend, need to do is to WANT – or make the other person WANT.

I Could not stop chuckling, again, of course, when I Read the above affirmation about “Rahul will give us X and Y, so forth”.

First thing you know, there isn’t any “us”.

Second, I – or anyone – am hardly someone that will do something because someone else “wants” it.

(me more so than most others, I’ve always been “Stubborn and obstinate as a mule”. Hehe).

You gotta make me WANT to do something for me to do it, period.

And thats the key to everything i.e. WANT.

Not to mention, there was no mention in the affirmation as to why I’d “want” to do this, or the benefits in it for me.

Way too many people focus on just themselves.

It don’t work that way, give and take is a cardinal rule of the Universe, my friend.

I asked you a sage question in the last email, that being, do you FEEL you can get it?

A question right next to that one should be this …

How badly do you WANT IT?

Fitness wise, if your visualizations (or these emails, for that matteR) dont make you chomp at the bit and get STRAIGHT and to action, you ain’t doing it right, my friend. 

And for many of you, that action is getting the very baseline of fitness systems out there – the very best system on bodyweight fitness out there – the most results producing system – the 0 Excuses Fitness System.

It is truly a life changing system, my friend, not just fitness.

And if you really WANT  it, if you really WANT to change your life NOW – you’ll find  a way to get it – NOW.

And your actions will PROVE to you you want it, and your results will flow – and follow – or both. It’s as simple as that, mi amigo.

Dont believe me?

Get the System, DO what it says, and then tell me!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

In 2016, it was, I believe, when I messaged my wife (WeChat, I believe) about the power of visualization, and how – if done correctly – it can open doors for you that you never believed possible.

Mistake numero uno – never share these insights with those not attuned to the Universe – in reality!

Advice only works if the person in front of you is open to receiving it.

I still remember the angry, frustrated response she gave me – completely UNRELATED to what was being discussed.

Basically an angry rant of “your life is great, but mine isnt!”

And of course, blaming me for it. Is what I got in response.

Now, I didnt talk to her again about this.

But starting 2020 or so, and this isn’t just her – I’ve noticed a growing, and exponential number of people – starting to “believe” in visualization in one way, shape or form – people that would have scoffed at it earlier.

When the shoe starts to pinch, as they say!

I always laugh (secretly) when I see my wife writing out statements (or, if I “hear of it) such as …

“I surrender myself to the Universe”.

“The Lord is my protector” (she isn’t Christian)

And other such statements … in perfect cursive at that (a skill I have admittedly never mastered, hehe, and havent quite bothered to either).

Not because of “how” or what she is doing.

In and as of itself, writing things down isn’t bad at all – it’s another way to reinforce what you WANT to your subconscious mind …

But have you ever noticed two things?

One, people usually only call upon the “Universe” or “God” – “when in need”.

That is not how it works, friend.

It has to be a continual process, like anything else.

Second ,more importantly …

It’s fine to WRITE – or think until the pigs fly home to roost.

But … what are the REAL visuals you’re seeing as you write out what you are.

If you’re writing – “I’m at peace with my past”, yet, you feel ANGRY when you think about it – you’re not at peace with anything.

And so forth.

The only reason I chuckle a lot about all this is because when yours truly did tell people about it “back in the day”, the same thing happened to me i.e. they’d scoff at me.

My point in saying this?

Is that all the visualization in the world won’t work – and won’t work right – until and unless it’s backed up by the right FEELINGS.

Thats just how it is, friend.

And it’s working on changing the inner you that really counts in life, or anything else.

Exercise wise, I’ve spoken about how visualization can indeed move mountains.

You see yourself fit – repeatedly – the YOU you want to be – first.

But simply staring at a picture, albeit in your mind – won’t do a lick of good unless it’s backed up by the right feelings and of course, action.

Do you FEEL you can get there?

THAT is the most important question to ask, period.

And it’s something that will be the limiting factor in terms of visualization of any nature.

I keep telling students on my coaching calls that while “writing it down” is fine – actually, even that isn’t totally fine – most affirmations they teach you are B.S. i.e. if a person is not at peace, the best thing he/she can do is FACE the turmoil and admit it’s fucked up – not just say or write “I’m at peace” … – or while “thinking about it is fine” – the real magic happens in terms of feelings.

And looking at my results, and some of the other (not) results I’ve seen in people’s lives, well, the proof – is indeed – in the pudding!

Anyway …………….

I’ve outlined the mental for you in the 0 Excuses Fitness System, and more than the actual exercises themselves, which are important, don’t get me wrong, the 10 Commandments of Physical Success is a must read, my friend, for success at life – or anything you do, really.

Get the System now, as it WILL change your life in ways you never imagined before.

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

Because I’m accountable – because I made a COMMITTMENT.

These words kept playing in my mind this afternoon as I (finally) began my workout with bodyweight squats.

Last night, and indeed a few days prior to this, something was “not quite right” with me.

Dont get me wrong, I had great workouts, I even filmed myself doing gorilla grip work – but I dont know if it’s a new brand of chili powder (I’m a huge fan of fiery stuff, Tabasco included) that I got that “got the old digestive system a bit on the boil” as it were.

It was mostly OK for the past few days, last night, it suddenly hit – as it often does with me – when I get sick, which I RARELY ever do – I can count the number of times I got sick in the past 10 years on the fingers of ONE hand, and less – like, 3 all in all – I get REALLY sick.

The body finally has enough of the punishment I put it through. Hehe.

I suppose that  is it, anyway, I was sweating and had the chills all night long.

(Not to mention, with me, if the CORE goes – everything goes i.e. my stomach)

Now, my first reaction to this was to take some paracetemol, take a day off working out, and so forth.

Nothing unusual there, you’d say

Except, yours truly has this thing about NOT taking commercial over the counter medication unless I REALLY have to.

Give me all the water, all the green tea in the world, all the great food, but I tend to stay away from medication for the most part (though that ain’t nothing against those that don’t).

I’d rather, I thought get a REAL T boost and sweat this out of my system NORMALLY and naturally as opposed to sitting on my arse, shivering away after taking Tylenol or what not.

And so, there it was.

It took me a while to decide, but decide I did.

Instead of pushups, I started with bodyweight squats and HIndus.

Just 50, I thought, then we’ll see how things go.

I did 200.

Now, the only difference was this, I mixed up Hindus and bodyweights in a number sequence I dont normally do, 70, 30, 30, 70.

Other than this, the time taken was a bit more – normally, I Rock out 200 assorted squats in about 6-6.5 minutes, give or take. Today was more like 7 or so.

But thats OK.

When I workout when I’m sick – or even a little sick – THAT is all the leeway I give myself.

Even on the hill ,I climb it SLOWLY.

But unless I’m really unable to move, I just do it anyway.

And right now, though I’m coughing like a motha, I doubt I’ll end up in the ICU. If anything, I’m warmed up and buzzing – and ready to go with isometrics, which will be a longer session to stretch the “shit” out of my system.

The nasty virus, or what not.

In Brooks Kubiks book, Dinosaur Bodyweight Training, he writes about not training if you’re really sick, and taking a few days off.

He also says “if it’s just a mild case of the sniffles”, you might feel better after a workout.

And in 0 Excuses Fitness, I emphasize that pushups and squats should be done daily, period, no matter what.

Kubik says the same thing about bodyweight squats, “do them daily, do them for the rest of your life”.

He’s right, so am I.

There is nothing wrong with taking a day off, of course, if you’re sick – dont get me wrong. Not everyone is as fanatical about workouts, but I made a commitment, I made a promise to myself, and I do not generally break promises unless the situation is REALLY fucking dire.

Accountability, if just to myself.

Anyway …………..

The other difference other than time was I guzzled more water through the workout than I normally would, because my body needs it with all the chill induced sweating.

But I’m sitting here now, warm, maybe not feeling like a zillion bucks, but definitely way, way, like 10x better than before I did it. (I took a laundry break too, for those interested).

Thats how to live life, my friend.

Fearless, unafraid, and regular heavy exercise your entire life done right.

And you cannot ignore pushups and squats, period, nothing gets the deep breathing and system cleansing going as well as these too (and sprints, hiking etc).

I’m out.

I’ll write to you from the ICU too.

Hehe.

Kidding – but most people are WAY too quick to scream Uncle rather than tough it through and feel better at the end …

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

This might sound amazing to you – i.e. ONE rep of anything having POWER, and immense, great power.

It might sound even more amazing when you know I’m not talking about super slow isometrics, or pushups done “30 second down” and the same way back up – although those are and would be a great, profound example of ONE rep kicking ass, and how.

(and strengthening your body and mind immeasurably. Try doing 10 pushups in one set the way I just described, tell me how your breathing feels after that, tell me how your arms feel, and so forth).

I’m not getting into that here though.

This morning while cranking out 100 odd pushups, something I do most mornings upon arising on auto pilot, I barely even think about it now, a thought struck me.

I went back to the time I could barely do one handstand – let alone a pushup – and pull-ups were tough for me.

I went back to the time I could barely climb that hill ONCE without collapsing, as I mentioned on the Advanced Hill Training sales page.

All my “stories” are reality, my friend. True, they sound very interesting, but much like photographs work best when REAL – same thing here.

Even my writing on the other sites, it’s all “reality mixed in with a dab of creative license”, not and never the other way around – not that theres nothing wrong with the other way around, but I just prefer keeping things real everywhere.

Anyway ………

Lots of you cannot do a single pushup in proper form without your core collapsing, or your triceps starting to quiver like jelly, sometimes at the mere thought of a pushup workout.

Just an example, and a true one as evidenced by some of the coaching calls I’ve had on this.

But, a lot of you have GOOD intentions.

A lot of you wake up – and are enthusiastic, and eager to get going – lets do FIFTY pushups today, you say!

Yay.

You can barely do one, then when you GET down to them, guess what, as I said in a video earlier on New Year’s Resolutions, goal setting and such … it all flies out the window (the enthusiasm).

This isn’t so much about starting small and setting doable goals – its about this – GETTING started.

The journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.

One single step.

Do ONE pushup – and get damn good at that.

HOLD the pushup position till your arms don’t quiver (in fact, this is a great challenge for even advanced pushup fanatics when done for long periods of time).

Really work the isometric that I’ve explained in Isometric and Flexibility Training.

After a few days of doin just ONE pushup, in fact, truth be told, people have improved in a workout or two! – you’ll be amazed to note you upgrade to 2 – and more – automatically – without the headaches and hassle that you’d have if you tried to muscle it through the other way.

You upgrade naturally, yes.

You use TOOLS to help you along the way, YES.

But the most important thing is this – you GET RID OF THE IDEA in your mind that it’s “just one”.

Or “just five”.

If all you can do is 5 pushups, then do 5, get damn good at those first.

In every which way.

You’ll soon be up to 50 – without even noticing it.

The power that flows from that ONE Single step taken daily, GETTING Started – I cannot overemphasize it …

Anyway – lots of you are pushups fanatics.

And to get to high reps in pushups, or super shape by doing the best exercise ever and the oldest i.e. pushups … or, simply to learn about various sorts of pushups you’ve never imagined could be possible that will blast your upper body and core like nothing else, and your legs too – well, get Pushup Central NOW.

And, along with that, be sure to pick up the 0 Excuses Fitness System – and Gorilla Grip too – they all go together – don’t put the cart before the horse, or the horses before the cart, or whatever it is.

You get the point.

Back soon!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

I have spoken about the benefits of doing something daily – be it life – business – visualization – practice – training – or “simplito” what we call … EXERCISE!

The more I keep hearing about “Rest days” from people that started today, gave it a good shot, then the next few days are too tired to “do anything” – the more I want to bang my head against the wall.

Thats not how to go about it, friend.

Animals in the wild don’t rest the day after they make a huge kill, for which big cats often sprint at speeds upto 60km/hr, not to mention dragging prey over miles of rough, sometimes uphill terrain etc – hiding it – and so forth.

The monkey doesn’t say “I swung myself all day, so I’m taking a break and sitting my ass on the branch today and NOT moving”.

Put it another way, WATER which eventually wears down anything and everything provided there is enough of it, doesn’t do so by doing it every so often.

No .

It hits the rock, barrier, levee, whatever it is – DAILY.

Drop by drop, you don’t even notice it – it wins.

Same thing for business, bank accounts etc. You do something daily. You put something into the account daily, even if it’s only a dime sometimes.

Back in the day, when I first started climbing Qi Feng mountain in China after being introduced to it by the glorious Miss Lee, it was strictly a “do it on the weekend” thing.

Saturdays would be devoted to the hill, sometimes Sundays too.

I’d be SORE when I went into work Mondays, especially when I pulled all nighters on the weekend with the wild parties and such.

But I’d also be feeling GREAT.

Those were the days I had IBS, constipation, and a host of other digestive issues that are “the norm” for most folks out there.

During the week, it would be back to again – doing nothing, or perhaps a few weights here and there.

Amazingly, despite how GOOD I felt after climbing the hill – after that heart pounding, ball busting workout – I never thought of doing it daily!

Until Ann Lee once looked at me reproachfully in the eye after I made some statement about “I wish I could do it daily, but I gotta work!”

She stared at me.

“You CAN!”

And that changed it all.

I’d climb it religiously every night after that (after work) – which was when I got to know of a certain Brooks Kubik – and he then sent out the famous email of “Rahul’s hill walking workout from China” to his email list.

And my health improved beyond bounds – I barely knew what IBS was after I started on this regimen.

My weight dropped dramatically too – my pants were damn near starting to slide off, so much so I sometimes double tied a large belt around my waist!

It’s really that daily training that gives results, my friend.

A few years later I didnt have the hill, but I kept myself in superb shape anyway – by sprinting subway stairs and doing pushups 7 days a week (the former 5 days a week, morning and evening).

And so forth.

It has always been DAILY training that has kept me in best shape my friend – that has got me RESULTS – gotten the job done.

Same thing for YOU.

Too tired?

Well, do SOMETHING. Maybe you do 25 pushups instead of 100, maybe you walk a long distance instead of run, anything.

But you do SOMETHING, if that is a small something, thats fine too!

The key is, keep doing, doing, doing until you wear down the resistance and GET to where you want to be …

Anyway – for the hill stories, and how I trained on the hill – Advanced Hill Training is an absolute must grab, friend.

Along with that, check out the new and updated rewards page as well.

I’ll be back!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

This afternoon, I filmed myself doing a basic Gorilla grip movement – yet, despite it being basic, most adults – even FIT AND Strong adults, even those that can bench and deadlift Manhattan – even those with Corrugated cores in many cases; are UNABLE TO DO.

This builds grip strength like nothing you’ve ever imagined, my friend – if you wonder where most of the unnatural pull in my grip comes from, it is THIS exercise I credit mostly for it – along with fingertip pushups.

It’s the same exercise that apes, gorillas and perhaps monkeys too – do from BIRTH without even thinking about it.

Mostly apes and gorillas do it – and it’s basically something that will turn your upper body into the equivalent of Tarzan – with or without Jane.

I should have named this post Tarzan like workout – or perhaps, Da Xing Xing workouts, as they say in China when they see me doing it!

But anyway – it is – basically monkey bar work.

I spoke about how a guy yesterday tried it, literally fell off the bar grabbing his shoulder in agony on the FIRST rep.

Monkey work is deadly tough – and serious, my friend, and will make men out of boys grip and trap wise, but it will also give you inhuman strength throughout the shoulder and sides.

And entire upper body …

You may never and likely never will be as strong as a gorilla or ape.

But you CAN develop ferocious, CRUSHING power in the wrists, forearms and fingers like I speak abut in Gorilla Grip … and Gorilla Grip (ADVANCED!) – and Gorilla Grip (TIPS!)

(and more to come).

Now, where am I heading up to with all this.

Well, nowhere except the latest video on our Youtube channel deals with this.

Go and see me doing monkey bar work like it should be done – this is expanding upon the “short” I took a few years back.

And on another note …

We are on TWITCH too now!

It’s an Amazon company, I dont know what took me so long to sign up given my general trust and love of everything Amazon (they’re just so professional) – but remember, folks – follow us there too – like, subscribe,the whole shebang!

Twitch allows live streaming, which is a huge plus as I can live stream what I am doing for yall.

Which in some cases is just me walking around the “hood” as you can tell. Hehe.

But follow us, you’ll catch some interesting glimpses of daily life – and perhaps some fitness related stuff too on our channel there!

Once we get to a certain number of likes etc on there, I’ll be able to upload videos etc there too instead of just live stream, so do follow, subscribe etc!

And thats that for now. Enjoy!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

Since we’re past the “holiday phase”, I thought this would be a great time to update the rewards page, something many of you love, for January this year.

The rewards page for the site has been updated, and it’s a great time to check it out NOW -there are some great offers going on, most notably the “Add to wallet” offer that I’ve extended from last month – mostly due to convenience, but also the great CASHBACK you get.

Then, the “club it together” (apt, the way I say that, given the courses involved!) offer for Battletank Shoulders, and Animal Kingdom Workouts, two of our most brutal ever…

There’s much more – go here to check it out – –

REWARDS! (0excusesfitness.com)

This afternoon, I had another guy training next to me in the park – if you can even call it training.

(I’m not even going to get into the multitude of idiots and bozos out there that preen up and down public parks making silly comments on “why you do pull-ups” and “are you getting in better shape by working out daily” – and “the gym muscles vs bodyweight, bodyweight ROCKS! (but they never do it)” – “lookie lous that claim they do pushups daily, a sum total of 10, and sometimes not even that” and so forth).

(Seems the scamdemic has only increased the number of fools and pretentious, parading buffoons globally).

Anyway, this guy was secretly watching me out of the corner of his eye.

I was doing monkey bar work, and isometric stretches for the legs (this was after a brief roadwork session).

I was mixing it up with pushups and Hindu squats, and the occasional set of 5 pull-ups thrown in – and LOTS of hanging leg raises.

I wrote about the last one yesterday.

So, dude saw me doing pushups.

Then he gets down on the floor to do ’em (the grass).

Dude’s way of shape ,too much drinking and living the “soft life” it would seem – you can literally see his man tits flop about, the sides jiggle and so forth.

He got into an inverted V position.

Then flattened his back a bit – but spread his legs wide out.

Then, from that position he did a pushup – except he bounced down 30 percent of the way, and then up, and then down again for 4 reps – during which you could hear him literally across the park wheezing like an old defunct train.

Guess it’s good he was breathing that deeply, but the pushup itself, man.

And again.

You don’t do pushups with legs spread, my friend, unless you’re doing regular Hindu pushups. For regular pushups, you might want to vary the spacing of the hands, but they should always be STRAIGHT under you (not at an angle which most people keep ’em) and the feet should be TOGETHER to work the lower abs properly.

Then, my pet peeve.

What on earth people do half reps for, I dont know.

I’d rather someone does ONE full rep than 10 pushups with half reps and half baked excuses about “my shoulder hurts” or other crap.

If the shoulder hurts, do isometrics, or lose weight (excess around the midsection makes EVERYTHING harder on the arms) – or warm up more – stretch – but whatever it is, don’t compromise on form – never do it.

When you go all the way down and then back up is when you activate your chest fibers FULLY and optimally, period. I dont know where this jerky up and down style of pushups originated or when it came ‘into vogue’ – but it’s B.S. , period, and it won’t do a thing for your fitness.

Might well end up  injuring you more.

The same thing for squats, so many people do ’em, but I’ve yet to see most people get “ass to grass” on the squat.

Unless you’re going all the way down, you are NOT activating the lower back and glutes fully – period.

And thus, a far less effective workout, not to mention loads more stress on the quads and knees.

Same thing for pull-ups, people do them halfway up and then back down, claiming “they can do it with 100 lbs attached”.

I just saw a video of the above, and dont get me wrong, it’s great guy can at least pull a bit with that much attached to him, but I wonder how many reps he can do (video ended at two) – and those two were done only like a quarter of the way up.

I’d rather ONE good rep with that weight attached, slow and easy up – chin above the bar, pause, and then down…

As for dude above – he tried to do the monkey bars, one at a time, the easy stuff (i was doing them two at a time) – but the first rung he tried, he grabbed his shoulder – and FELL down, after which I never saw him try again.

Folks, these half reps do NOT work – period.

Unless you’re aiming for full reps, and plan on building strength up by half reps, in which case I’m all for it, but even then, there are better ways, but this one works.

But otherwise, half reps are SLOPPY – don’t do ’em, period.

And in life or anything – give it ALL you’ve got – and not HALF of what you’ve got. And even when you think you’re giving it all you have got, you’re usually at only 40% of your capacity.

Remember this!

And, that’s that for this one.

Oh, and get the 0 Excuses Fitness System if you have not already. Lots of you are “clicking in” but have “forgot” to complete the purchase (the software tracks all this) so go ahead and do what you should have done months ago NOW.

Get AFTER it – today!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Gotta wonder how people think doing a sum total of 10 pushups daily for MONTHS, and never progressing beyond that will get them fit. The things people think of!

We all have our favorite exercise, my friend – or favorite(s).

And we all have that one exercise that whether it’s our favorite or not – we make sure to get damn good at it, because we know our entire fitness regime depends upon working hard, very hard at that one exercise – also the rest, dont get me wrong – but especially that one.

It could be hill climbs for me back in the day – a super, butt kicking workout like NONE Other. You truly need to do very little else if you religiously hike hills for hours a day, and swim in the evenings!

Or it could be pushups in the 0 Excuses Fitness System.

For some, it could be the back bridge. Matt Furey, author of Combat Conditioning regards the back bridge as being the “King” of the Royal Court i.e. pushups, squats and bridging.

For some, it could be the overhead press.

But what was the great Bruce Lee’s “to go exercise” the king of it all?

You might be surprised to hear the answer.

It wasn’t pushups – which he did thousands of daily – it wasn’t isometrics – which he did – it wasn’t training modeled on the Gama from India (which he LOVED) – it wasn’t martial arts “Wing Chun” per se either.

It was … Brace yourself.

Running.

That is right.

What is sometimes known as the “holy screed” for boxers of all age groups, weights, and abilities i.e. roadwork – something I myself did pretty religiously back in 2018, and have picked up again these days.

And it isn’t just those “slow, long distance runs”.

I dont just hate those – I find them boring as heck for one – I regard them as being completely counter intuitive and NOT suitable for the fitness goals I currently have (running a marathon ain’t one of them).

Back in the day, when I wrote Advanced Hill Training, you’ll see I teach how you to WALK correctly – and run properly – in the opening parts of the book.

It was written based upon what I learnt, and truth be told, for those of you into martial arts, you’ll know that even the slightest movement – lets say shifting your weight from the ball of one foot to the other – or lifting your leg up – or the way you pivot – is all done very differently from what and how the average Joe might do it.

And back to roadwork – Lee did lots of it.

This afternoon, I did roadwork for almost an hour.

I mixed in slow runs – SPRINTS (another favorite of mine) – some uphill jogs on a sloping surface – reverse bipedal training – and more – during my workout today (this was before the grip/core work I wrote to you about).

Lee would often do things like this.

He’d religiously run 4 miles three times a week, and he’d mix it up too – and remember, this was in addition to his legendary fitness regime which “never stopped”.

Lee had a dumbbell lying around at home which he lifted all the time, even while “resting”!

I get it.

Haha.

When getting good at pull-ups, I’d be doing them all day long too, one main workout, but tons throughout the day too “mini blasts”.

ANyway – there’s many great things you can learn from Bruce Lee, my friend, perhaps the best of which is his willingless to denounce and discard those parts of tradition which “did not work” or were not necessary.

After that legendary last studio fight with a challenger and some friends, Lee kicked his ass, yes – but he was SO winded after the fight he took a long, hard look at not just his conditioning, but fighting style too.

That was when he decided to ditch the “constraints” of Wing Chun, and develop his own style.

But years prior to that, Lee often spoke out against the “rigidity in training methods” of many martial arts teachers.

He was a huge, huge proponent of not following tradition but doing – what works – for YOU.

Amen!

Achievers throughout the age know there is no one set formula to succeed, you do what works best for you.

Anyway, pushups being another thing. Those fingertip pushups that contributed to his incredible grip strength, the striking power – the ferocious kicks – all of it came from a strong, lithe , very well conditioned core – we all know about that, of course!

Anyway ……………

Back to roadwork – and running.

Boxers and wrestlers have been doing it for centuries, before modern day gyms etc took over, but still today, you’ll see serious boxers out for runs in the AM most likely regardless of what else they do.

I’m not saying you cannot get fit without running – or roadwork – but I’m saying you are never well and truly “well rounded” WITHOUT it.

It’s an integral part of any real fitness trainee’s toolkit, and it should be a part of yours too, along with the other three basic movements I teach you in Advanced Hill Training.

Thats it for this one.

Back soon!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

P S- And flexbility is WAY underrated, friend, as is isometrics, and one leads up to and feeds on the other.

To kick your opponent in the head with enough force to knock him out – hold the stance – and kick AGAIN – that takes some serious muscle control, breath work and fitness…

And if you’re serious about your fitness, even if fighting is the last thing on your mind – you owe it to yourself to pick up one of my best books on the topic “Isometric and Flexibility Training“.

Get this NOW.

This morning – and afternoon, I got through a great outdoors workout in the park.

I did – focused on, primarily, I should say (along with plenty of leg work) – something I deem so important that I think entire workouts should be devoted to just it, and I say as much in 0 Excuses Fitness and probably all my other books in some way, shape or form.

That being, GRIP – and CORE work!

It is virtually impossible to work both “separately” if you’re doing it right.

True, you could use grippers and stuff for the grip, and those are tough – dont get me wrong (especially some of the higher level ones), but I’m talking full body workouts, workouts benefiting the entire body as always.

I did two oft ignored exercises – oldies, but goodies.

One being the hanging leg raise, and two being – well, what I consider, and have said in Corrugated Core – to be the “basic version of the leg raise”.

The hanging leg raise is essentially done on a pull-up bar – preferably a THICK one, my friend – and while you hang on, you raise the legs – STRAIGHT – ramrod straight, toes pointed ahead – until your lower body is at right angles to your upper.

Most people find even getting into this position too tough, let alone ADVANCING IN it – and believe me, again, like I talk about in the advanced exercises section of Corrugated Core, I could write an entire book on this fantastic, superlative exercise and still have more to say about it.

So the beginner’s version, “knees to chest” i.e. the advanced version of the knees to chest I describe standing up in the “beginnner’s section”.

Hang on, bring your knees up to your chest – or as close as you can.

Once you can get there, and it might take a while, HOLD. Flex.

Add in bicycling movements to it …

These two were what I focused on this afternoon, along with more grip work – and indeed, you cannot go wrong if you devote some workouts to just grip and core like I did.

In fact you SHOULD devote time to such workouts – period.

Now, I’ll be putting out more videos on how to do these two great exercises, since form is often MANGLED on them.

(I would have today, but there was no-one around – another cold, blustery day).

(I did, however, for a minute manage to chat with a good friend wearing Armani shirts, and I asked him if his shirts were all tailored, since they “hide” his paunch really well.

“Not all” he laughed. “Ive got a huge gut!”

I laughed back, and said my observation was mainly his clothes (it was) – and not gut, and that it wasn’t criticism.

Criticism is better than praise, Rahul!

He laughed back “especially when coming from good friends!”

He’s right.

I agree. Like Emerson said, “I’d rather have honest criticism than “honeyed words of praise” spoken about me: . . . for then I know I’m on the right path.

And in that spirit, yours truly loves all the feedback he’s been getting as of late – keep it coming – so long as its honest, and GENUINE – criticism or praise, so long as either or both are logically warranted – is not just most welcome, it is much appreciated, I enjoy it!)

Anyway.

I cannot stress how important form is for the leg raise.

All too often people mangle it by swinging the legs up to do it. I cannot tell you how much that annoys me!

Even if it were not to annoy me, it won’t benefit you – the exercise – if you do it that way.

You should be using your CORE – and feeling everything “scrunch from the inside out” as you do these.

Same thing for the timed hold, and advanced variations,and you should be feeling it most in your GRIP, shoulders and lats.

Yes, my friend.

Isolation never works.

And when you’re really trying to hit a muscle group, say the abs, you’re often and usually better off hitting it indirectly.

Want a six pack – hit the legs and back HARD.

Want massive quads – well, when doing so called quad work, bring the entire body into it.

Thats one thing people get wrong about Hindu squats for one, one of the best exercises out there.

If you feel your legs fail, or to be the limiting factor ie your quads, you’re doing it wrong.

True, quads are involved and you’ll feel it – but you should feel it far more in the traps, upper body and entire CORE for one.

Bringing the arms back in the ROWING motion I explain in 0 Excuses Fitness, that is key, most people miss it “for the higher reps”.

Once you nail that, you’re on your way to higher reps easy peasy, without it, never.

Anyway ………………

These are all great exercises, but when doing the core work above, remember it will give you a core of steel, it WILL Make your heart thump like there is no tomorrow, but for max effect, mix in heavy LEG work too, period.

They both go together.

And if you cannot go outside due to weather or what not – well, do sit ups.

Or, any of the variants found in Corrugated Core.

Great alternative, and another old timer workout.

Just stay away from the bally crunch, one of the most godawful movements ever invented.

Right up there with the lat pulldown.

Alright, my friend.

Thats it for now.

Get Corrugated Core NOW if you have not already.

I’ll see you around.

BEst,

Rahul Mookerjee