Workouts (68)

Wednesday, 21 February 2024 05:03

Adopt a prisoner mentality my friend.

This, my friend, applies as much to life as it does fitness. This morning I woke up. Cracked out 25 pushups (27 actually with 2 warm ups) and 6 pull-ups to start the day. 

You might say that's nothing for me. 

It isn't. 

But I make it a point to start every day (after a good dump, hehe - note - this isn't TMI so much as a reminder to be clean INTERNALLY) with some physical activity - even if it's just stretching. 

My mind is always at work. Always grinding. 

How do prisoners stay in such great shape despite a crap diet? 

We have spoken about this before. Some argue "because that's all they do, train, they don't need to worry about bills etc". 

I call BS on that. 

Perhaps Andrew Tate didn't because of his financial stature. 

But the vast majority of prisoners locked up inside - family - mounting bills - is there food on the table - a real world business noone is there to handle etc etc. 

You can bet those folks have a hell of a lot going on in their minds. Sitting in a jail cell with "nothing to take their mind off it" - you got two choices. 

Deal with it. 

Or go insane. 

Solve the problem. 

Or don't 

Simple as that. 

Focus on what you CAN control. 

I wrote about the importance of the grind yesterday and that is really the main reason behind prisoners being in such great shape - and for men, being in an environment where it's usually top dog wins all and you either fight or submit. 

Much like our ancestors. 

Neither category had fancy gyms or idiotic trainers massaging their shoulders after each rep, telling them what to eat, how to resolve so called high cholesterol, not to eat meat and all this other crap (especially the three meals a day bullcrap) we are fed - no pun - daily. 

The latter category didn't have food brought to them either. They went days without eating - all the while walking long distances through forests, uphill - carrying heavy unwieldy loads on their back - like tigers and other animals dp. They are like kings when they could, otherwise, it was a constant grind for just survival. 

But they're in far better shape physically than the vast majority of folks. They're far tougher mentally too. 

It's simple.

Stress plus the DAILY - this is important - DAILY - need to win or perish (almost like you must breathe daily) plus focusing on what you can control - and you can always drop down and do a set of pushups my friend. 

People complain and whine about being stressed out. You need to realise stress can be your friend. Our ancestors had to make it theirs and did. They did not have any other option. Simple. And the results, well - enough said? 

I am certainly not starving - or lacking for cash. 

Yet, i deliberately, right down to my Spartan living conditions put myself in situation i myself describe as - and "complain" about - as a prison. Maybe an open air one, but prison nonetheless. 

Some of my living conditions would shock you. I don't even have a functional shower. It's like a bloody pipe out of which a trickle of water comes out - maybe more if I'm lucky. Read Shantaram and his time in an Indian Jail, how they fought over the water tons of men had to use, the maggots crawling around at the bottom of the tank etc. You'll understand. No maggots in my case, but with the ex being as nasty as she is, plenty of roaches around (though not in my room). 

I could cure a lot of this. 

I just haven't because like my cold water showers I truly don't "like" in the cold of winter, it keeps me sharp. On my toes at all times. Ready to fight. T levels so jacked up it's insane. Is it any wonder I attract females without even thinking about it? Not bragging , just telling you...

No, I'm not telling you not to buy nice things, get rid of creature comforts, become a monk etc. I'd be a hypocrite if I did so. 

But you gotta , especially as a man - keep your EDGE.

You have to realise it can all be taken away from you at some point. 

What you gonna do at that point without the edge and INDEFATIGABLE drive that got you there in the first fucking place? 

Keep that edge. 

Keep fucking sharpening it like a fine knife...

That you can only do if you're not what the world calls "civilized". From Rocky 3 to Jannat 2 to scores of other movies where this shows up- this true, my friend. Tis very true. 

I know people around me get sick of hearing it. 

But you gotta be brutal in all regards as a man. Simple. Caveman like. Even what I wrote about "grab her like the BEAST you are, worship her like the Goddess she is" on you tube. Women love that from a man . They want it! 

Beast. 

Grind. 

Unpopular words I know ... 

But it's how I, the bodyweight exercise Guru and a hell of a lot more-keep improving. Staying in great shape with all my women and vices (ok, sometimes I get out of jail- hehe). Crank out all the work I do regularly. Always get my workout in. And so forth. 

As a man, you function best as a hunter. A beast. That naturally jacks your testosterone levels up and when you add the mental and physical in- my. 

You have to keep, as David Goggins says - putting yourself, looking for - stress filled situations even if you don't need to. 

Be a prisoner always looking to break free of the shackles. 

Once you do? 

Find them shackles again. Heavier ones. 

And break free again. 

That's what it's all about.

More such decidedly non guru motivational advice that really works - straight from the trenches in my books Zero to Hero and Gumption Galore. 

Links - 

https://www.0excusesfitness.com/products/zero-to-hero/

https://www.0excusesfitness.com/gumption-galore/

Fitness wise, the 0 Excuses Fitness System (https://www.0excusesfitness.com/0excusesfitnessystem/)  and Pushup Central (https://www.0excusesfitness.com/pushup-central/) are must grabs in the above regard. Pushups in jail. Nothing makes you tougher my friend. Nothing. 

Grind. 

Repeatedly..

Later. 

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee 

 

Monday, 05 June 2023 07:00

Clubs and CONDITIONING ...

Lots has been made of (for those that lift weights) how "heavy is needed to build muscle". 

How you go heavier and heavier, injuries piling up regardless, form notwithstanding - until you sit on a bench and "pump and isolate" the nth strand of the bicep and so forth - ugh. 

Heavy weights are good, but certainly not isolation wise! 

Its GREAT if you can lift the fender off your truck for instance wthout external help. A little old lady once did just that - no kidding. 

But really - training wise, the most important muscles are the BRAIN and the HEART. As always, in life as well and last night, another one of those on the spur of the moment ideas I had to do 500 swings non stop with an Indian club right OUT Of the shower, not before (I didnt get a good workout in apparently before that!) - really hit the spot. 

The video shows me going at 70-80% of my capacity. 

I stopped at 400 reps, but I had a 1000 more left in the tank - easy. 

And while 10 kgs is anything but easy to swing for most folks - it is "medium" for me - not easy not tough - try doing it with 30 kgs. 

A weight most scoff at in the gym, yet, you do high rep workouts without stopping with these, and they make the SWEAT pour like nothing else my friend. 

Club swinging is not included in Corrugated Core - but it builds that for sure! (proof's in the pudding - no pun). 

If you want that six pack from hell, a rock hard "cast iron" midsection, muscles that ripple under the skin, a toned midsection, sides, lower back - well, there's many ways to get it, but a club is an indispensable tool in this process that should never be ignored. More importantly, you must swing it RIGHT or not at all. 

There's a lot of material out there on club swinging, some of it good, most BAD and wrong - especially the "arching the lower" back as you swing (which is OK when you begin, but shouldn't be the long term focus). 

For best results, you do these with legs as straight as possible, and keep the back neutral. The motion comes from core, grip and ... CORE! 

much like if you were do those "hoopla swings" with those rings - if you get my meaning. 

More to the point, this sort of training not only builds a ferocious grip, but it affects the BRAIN positively too. 

Thick grips on pull-up bars do as well, but you'll find it tough with these mudgars since the grip is already very thick on most of them. 

We dont make 'em as yet. 

We will in the future, but for now - some of the old time training info that Indian wrestlers had my friend, in fact MOST of it - is pure GOLD, and has never been revealed to the public - before now - and yours truly is obviously in an unique position to do so. 

Place your pre-order for Lumberjack Lodestone Fitness NOW -this course is truly the "Mecca and Medina" of old time strongman training, and the volume of info in there is just mind boggling and staggering to be honest. 

Do so NOW. 

And get back to me, so we can put you on a special pre order only list for that course!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

 

I really gotta update the categories section on this site to include a TON more than there are already, truth be told, since 2010 - thats one thing that ain't been updated on here. Hehe. These are the same categories I had when I first began... 

Maybe for a good reason 

But CORE training, grip training, all of those need to be in there 

Anyway - the term "chakki peesna" 

If your Indian, or have been to India, you've no doubt heard of it - in English, this translates to "working the grindstone" - or more accurately, the MILLstone. 

From a seated position most likely. 

Let me tell you one thing - Indian prisons are the opposite of Chinese prisons (not that I'd know, Glyn would though, heh) (so would a certain Shantaram ... though I hate to speak of Schofield in the same voice as the latter! who is a legend) ... in ONE regard, perhaps more, I dont know, but ONE regard. 

As far as I know, as far as I'm aware - Chinese prisons dont let you workout. Period. They do make you, amongst other things sit in a seated position on a bench for 15 hours straight and thats getting started, which to me would be torture enough (much like locking a dog up in a tiny room until it went stir crazy) ... 

... but exercise, no. 

At least not as far as I know, and I'm probably right on this one. 

Now, they've got their reasons for it, of course - not allowing prisoners to exercise is bad for their mental health, overall health and ... well, their SPIRIT most of all. 

And while I dont agree at all with this sort of punishment, not that I agree with what goes in most prisons I've heard of (Glyn, again, ugh) ... it is what it is for a reason, I suppose. 

Indian prisons though - opposite. 

If you've seen Rambo II - you get an idea of what they make you do even today - breaking heavy stones - CARRYING heavy stones - all stuff straight out of Lumberjack "Lodestone" Fitness ... including the axe work, actual lumberjack work and more. 

It's normal. 

And everyone I believe pretty much does SOME form of labor, those sentenced to hard penal labor do more obviously. 

But one of the exercises you'll see them doing a lot - working that grindstone. 

Or, millstone - which is the same thing, a circular stone like thing on the ground with a thick rod sticking out of it, and you grind it in a circular manner, back and forth, back and forth. 

Back in the day, during the colonial era, some of the atrocities inflicted upon the "natives" by the British included a version of this at the infamous "KaalaPani" prison (in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands). 

"Black water" - and it literally was that. Ugh! 

They'd chain a man - usually in a dehydrated and completely fatigued - and underfed to a T state - and more - to a grindstone, and they'd make him run - for hours. 

It's work an ox does, they'd make  men do it for hours a day, usually 8 - and a severe whipping awaited if the task wasn't completed up to par - grinding husks I think, to get oil out of them - truly a Nazi style punishment. 

Yes, the Nazis weren't the only ones who did those things - the Japs were guilty of it, so were the Brits... 

Anyway, point of me saying this? 

It's one of the most awesome CORE and ab exercises you can do, my friend. 

In Corrugated Core I believe I tell you how to do it - but the advanced version of this is what I really love, which I dont think (though I might be wrong) - I mentioned in Corrugated Core, which truly is a book you core fanatics must get. 

When you do this movement i.e. "working the millstone" from the JCVD split position mentioned in "Advanced, Profound Isometric and Flexibility Training" - not only will your core get the workout of it's life - but you'll also get better at the isometric while dramatially loosening a portion of the body most dont even think about - the hamstrings (and upper back too if done right). 

The split itself does it. 

But this adds "fuel to the fire" - and how!

I just got done with 100 reps along with club work, and man, my abs are truly on fire and HURTING. Hehe. 

I could do more, I'll probably do fingertip pushups now. 

But the point of me telling you this is two fold - first, to tell you if you do this exercise for at least 100 reps a day, then you'll truly have a core of steel. (even if you dont do any other "direct" core work). 

Combine with other stuff, well, you get the picture (especially if you combine it with the best darn exercise ever). 

Second thing though .. 

Doing a 100, or 250 reps of this - wont mean jack shit unless your CARDIO is up to mark, my friend - which involves a lot of factors. 

Some people are fat as hell, and they have "strong abs" beneath the phat, now if you don't focus on workouts which give you cardio along with strength benefits (the above does, but only if you do it quick as I keep recommending) - then losing the fat will be a chore my friend. 

It's not about doing 250 , or 100, or 500 reps per workout - well - it's that to a degree, but it's results that count most of all, and fat loss wise, it's the TEMPO at which you go, the TEMPO that you can maintain over a while that really gets the heart thumping and the fat flying off your frame. 

You'll see what I mean in the 0 Excuses Fitness System videos. 

Those 250 pushups and a lot more I did not plan on but did anyway - well, you'll see more than anything the SPEED at which I'm going - it aint slow for one. 

And the way I maintain form on everything I do - as YOU should too. 

Thats really the key thing ... 

And of course, doing this exercise - and other great ones mentioned in Corrugated Core is a must, of course. 

No do, no get anything. 

Same thing for being a cheapass (lots on here seem to be, especially some of the ones that have been on this list for ages, haven't done "F all" in terms of taking action - really - if that is YOU reading this my friend (IF), just unsubscribe NOW - do us both a favor, in other words) .. if you dont SPEND, you wont learn the true secrets (and no, not everything is available for free. The old axiom holds true, you get what you pay for). 

Anyway ... 

So thats that. 

BAck soon!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - If y'all are still wondering (some are) WHY - just WHY - I keep saying, and rightly so, with my background on all this minus the prison (I'll leave that to Bozo Schofield, hehe) - to bring you Lumberjack "Lodestone" Fitness- then you BE living under a rock, pun intended. Hehe. 

Monday, 29 August 2022 10:49

Freaky old timers like strength

FREAKY old time strongman style strength is right - that is what it is, and should be!

Well, so I wrote about the movie the Samaritan this morning - which I rather enjoyed, but I'm a die hard Stallone fan as you guys know. As a neutral observer, my advice would be - since I'm such a good Samaritan, hehe - to stay AWAY from the movie unless you're a die hard Sly fan like I am in which case I pretty much love every bit of his work, the infamous "Judge Dredd" included.

Anyway, movie has many gritty realistic scenes I wrote about in the last email.

But physique and combat aren't in the least bit realistic.

Or are they?

When you have a dude who can literally get shot several times and recover - when people fracture their wrists punching him in the gut (as he says "I'm built like a TANK!")  - when he crushes toasters with his bare hands, when he bends iron bars locking doors with his bare hands - and so forth - you might be inclined to think "it's all make believe".

For most people, indeed, for most modern day men it would be just that - make believe world!

But is it?

Old time strength was some thing else, pal.

People were REALLY Strong back then.

They didnt wimp out for one if they missed one meal or two - or even two days worth.

(as I just completed - a 2.5 day fast which ended YESTERDAY afternoon). (impromptu as everything Is with me).

Think about someone like the Mighty Atom who pulled airplanes by his hair - NOT an exagerration by any standard there - there are videos out there proving it.

Or, think about someone like the Great Gama, undefeated in what - 50 years? Against top class opponents from damn near everywhere, and on a "diet" of food that would stun the average human - but he was no average man - and 5000 squats and 3000 squats daily.

Lots of people say these numbers are grossly inflated, but ARE THEY?

Look at Herschel Walker who does pretty much the same thing - minus the hefty food intake!

There is literally NO limit to what the human mind and body can accomplish provided the WILL IS THERE!!

Then, lets take Arthur Saxon and his improbable feats of strength at a bodyweight of 150 lbs or so . . .

Or, Alexander zass, bending prison bars made of solid iron willy nilly!

All true tales, and all shown in the movie to an extent - minus the "old time strongman" tag - except it's there. Look at Sly throughout the movie, and you'll see that plastered all over his face, even though it's not written - and body!

Solid - "Rambo IV" style lumberjack body as Sly has become famous for in recent years as opposed to the LEAN AND MEAN look - both are great, of course, but he adopted some very intense training plus some highly unhealthy techniques for the latter, not for the former though . . . (older and wiser? Hehe).

There's always a business reason behind what Sly does, but I bet health was ONE reason too. At that point he was well estabilished if you get my drift . . . Anyway, point isn't Sly's career or even the movie (which as I said you could watch if you're a die hard Sly fan, but I should say if you're an "old time strongman" and old school in general fan as well).

The world has slowly been going old school for years in the recent past, something I've always been, something I always will be.

If you look at Sly's movies, he's as much of a visionary in that regard.

Anyway just what did the old timers do to build their freaky strength?

Lots of exercises, eating, drinking, all of it - the whole shebang - some even drank copious amounts of BEER.

Hehe.

But they all had one thing in common - they trained hard and kept it simple - and by keeping it simple, I mean they did stuff most people SCOFF at, especially the idiots that swear by pump, tone and PREEN at the JIM.

The Gama pushed against his tree to build that prodigious strength.

Thats right.

Dont believe me?

Look it up, the man said it himself.

"When an oak tree becomes easy to budge, a man is nothing!"

And so it proved, friend.

Alexander Zass built his prodigious strength by doing something I show you in Advanced, PROFOUND Isometric and Flexibility Training - a special chapter on STICK ISOMETRICS - from childhood.

And virtually all of the strongmen used some form of isometric in the first book I put out on it "Isometric and Flexibility Training".

Well, my friend, I dont know about YOU - but if I had a pulse, and I DO - I'd be RUSHING to GRAB the above two books now - and start on them right away.

Do so NOW

I'll be back!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - Dont forget Animal Kingdom Workouts - another book that will make you freakishly "animal like" super strong in a way NOTHING else can!

They're all great, my friend. They're all excellent "cardio" - the RIGHT kind (if you do 'em right). 

And I wasn't going to write about this, of course, but I saw a piece from a guy I ...well, I wont mention him, he's alright really overall, but he's been going on and on as of late about how "step ups are so much better than squats for him" and so forth, and morphing that into "they are sometimes an overall better exercise" - something which I take exception with, except I'm not reverse trolling him or anything, I'm simply going to put out my view on it as I have so many times in the past. 

Ain't I an ass for having an opinion on damn near everything and expressing it (and others learning from it on it, like this dude. Hehe). 

Well, as they say, opinions are like assholes - we all have 'em. 

Doesn't mean right or wrong, good or bad, they're just ... well, opinions, but FACTS? 

You can't debate those. 

And this guy writing the pieces he is is just plain ole sloppy and FAT with a massive gut hanging over his pants, and it shows in his reps. 

He claims to have done 500 or even 1000 Hindu squats all at once "without a break" - then "it got too boring". 

I call baloney on that - it can never get "boring or tediious" if you focus right and have the gumption to keep at it those 15 minutes (really, if you cannot focus your mind for fifteen minutes on something, you will never accomplish nothing of note). 

He claims "who the hell came up with the number 500 as a gold standard for fitness". 

Next he'll probably ask why pushups are the big dog of fitness - and why squats are the big Daddy of fitness. Hehe. 

Look, dude, clearly you've never done 500 or anything - it shows physically - if you had, you wouldn't be making these statements or asking. 

Agreed, you dont have to do 500 all the time or daily, but there is a reason certain numbers have been passed down over the ages by greats as "the gold standard", or some sort of a standard. 

Perhaps this comment stood out the most - 

but I don't need some standard to tell me how fit I 'am.

Ahem. 

OK ... 

The very fact he's saying this blares out "latent insecurity" like a loudspeaker (because he can't DO the thing, so he's claiming that golden standards aren't standards, or important ones at any rate). 

Not to mention his writing - all of it -sreams out "I need validation or else I'll wail". And that neediness likely turns off most serious readers/buyers as well. Some free advice for him if he's reading, although he likely wont take it. I can see the smoke fillied riposte "coming out of his ears" hehe.

Now, he makes some other somewhat good points, maybe he's just not getting his point across right, with the whininess overwhelming the other "good things" (sort of) he's saying. 

He keeps saying squats feel boring. 

Dude, because you aint doing 'em right. 

True, you dont do the same workout everyday. 

But that dont mean squats should feel boring, or are boring. They're something you should do daily without fail - EVERY great fitness writer, or anyone that has done the thing - yours truly - Brooks Kubik - Matt Furey - and anyone that has done the thing - has said it. 

Not this tripe about "Unless you're a fan of the exercise or want to stay in relative condition for daily life or in sports, it isn't that magnificent of an exercise. It has it's perks and I'll do reps from time to time but after doing 500 so many times, it became boring and it didn't have that spark of excitement to do that many anymore. "

Really, these statements sound STUPID. And clearly he's never DONE 500 at a go, which is fine, but to diss it without doing it, well ... 

(not to mention relative condition - or conditionING - which dude clearly has no idea about? Dude that should be "awesome conditioning" if you're talking any sort of serious squats. 

And he wouldn't know a magnificent exercise or anything if it hit him square on his phat noggin, hehe. Really, to make these sort of statements just shows...) 

All I've seen from him are brief 2 minute training videos where he trains one exercise for a bit, another for a bit, then some Tik Tok stuff, and he's done, which is GREAT - dont get me wrong, if thats what he WANTS, but it doesnt change standards or lack thereof one bit. 

Clearly conditioning wise the dude himself has no standards. 

Again, thats perfectly well and good, but that don't mean the standards don't count, or aren't there for a damn good reason. 

Sad part, so many of these so called fitness gurus or writers or promoters talk this nonsense, because the average person reading and buying from them is LAZY - period. 

And so they count on making more sales "in the short term" from these guys, and never think about long term, either for themselves or their customers (or lack thereof, in this dude's case). 

Which again is fine, to each his own. 

But with this constant rambling about how step ups are superior to squats? 

They're not, my friend. 

They're somewhat - not a lot, but somewhat - easier for phat phools to do. 

Phool? 

Thats flower in Hindi, I can see these flowers wilting as I type. Hehe. 

Nothing compares to, or replaces, or is an adequate substitute for (unless you've GENUINELY got injuries in that regard) the "legs bending up and down" motion you have in squats, either bodyweight, or HIndus, both ass to grass as it were. 

NOTHING. period. Add in the breathing, and oh my - the benefits are out of the world. 

Step ups are a sorry alternative, at least if you do them like most do, with barely any elevation. 

I just did 50 on each leg in the bathroom (this particular bathroom has a very small ledge seperating the shower area from the rest of the space) while waiting for a bucket to fill. Hehe. I barely felt it - squats? I'd have felt it for sure.

But anyway - drooping wallflowers and lily livered poltroons aside - they're certainly not "better overall" than squats. 

They're a good workout, dont get me wrong. 

But NOTHING beats the squat - period. 

Ask anyone with any brains, anyone thats written any bestsellnig book on fitness, they'll tell you the same thing - in fact, it will be there in their books (Combat Conditioning, 0 Excuses Fitness, Dinosaur Bodyweight Training etc etc) and so forth. 

Now, step ups and stair climbing? 

Y'all know I'm a huge proponet of stair climbing - outdoors. 

And rock climbing too... 

Yet, rock climbing NEVER replaces pull-ups. 

And stair climbing doesnt replace squats either - with the very noteable exception of HILL training - not just sprints, but HIKING those suckers in various ways over and over again. 

Sprints are great, yes, but the "leg work" has to be there too. Along with the roadwork! 

Let me tell you nothing works the core and LEGS better than squats, or climbing hills (either on slopes, or with stairs hewn in) . 

The stair climbing machine in the gym doesnt even come close. 

There is a reason Brooks Kubik asked me if I was in the military all those years ago when I sent him that famous (by now) "Rahuls hill walking workout from China" ... 

It all comes full circle now. 

Step ups at the end of the day are easier than squats - Hindus or bodyweight. Simple fact my friend. 

True, you can claim otherwise, but claiming the sun rises in the West doesnt make it true.. 

And if I really had to choose between stair climbing and squats? In a pinch I'd choose SQUATS. 

In fact, I did squats even back in the day when all else I did was hill climbing. 

Moral of the story - dont take the easy way out, my friend. 

Rocky IV tells you there ain't no easy way out - and as the man himself seems to wanting "more rights" to the Rocky series from what I can glean from the news - this seems to be as good a time to tell you as any, that I've been saying for YEARS now - the world really WANTS back to the good ole days when men were men, women were women, hard work was hard work, excuses were excuses, not mainstream whiny garbage of "what works for me" and so forth ... 

Ok, enough of this. 

But you get the point! 

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - Get your hands on the best, most old school training program right HERE

PS #2 - 

 Training is meant to be an adventure, not a chore or something that will make you feel bored.

 If you don't feel a spark or excitement when you exercise, you're just going through the motions and it becomes typical and tedious.

Um, no sir... 

sometimes, those boring, tedious HARD yards - often times, in fact are what give you LASTING long term results like nothing else would. 

Persistence when the entire world seems against you. 

you wouldt know much about that though, which is fine. Hehe. (referring to dude here). 

Whoever gave him the idea that "it has feel like something new each time" was an idiot (though he probably thought of it himself). 

It's DOING the thing daily that gets results, friend, simple FACT... 

Anyway - those of you that love reading my words "even if you're not into fitness" - Gumption Galore! and Zero to Hero! are two great books. 

So is the Fitness Central series ... and the Fitness Pioneer series...  

More coming soon! 

OK, short answer? 

Because yours truly used to be one "par excellence" not so long ago (ok, more than 10 years ago, but I was fat at ages before that too, at ages where I was supposed to be at my prime!). 

(Some may say I am too harsh on myself and too demanding, maybe so - but I'd rather that than be content with living life as a fat blobby slob - or a slobby blob like Bozo Schofield, hehe, replete with slobber all up and down - but we wont go there!) ... (and truth be told, I WAS a phat phock at certain times - the covers of Shoulders like Boulders! and Pull-ups - from DUD to STUD within a matter of weeks! prove not just that but the facts and proven in the subsequent books that my exercises WORK and people of any SIZE - I mean SIZE - can do 'em - but being FAT will definitely be a huge, huge hindrance!). 

So, how did I do them you might ask? 

We'll get into that below. 

But first, long answer. 

Because I used to be one par excellence, can spot 'em from a mile away and I can instinctively sense by looking at them how their diet is, what sort of training they DO - not just talk about - or have done in the PAST - and so forth. 

This might sound strange to some. 

it's really not. 

Ask any class boxer to spot an untrained fighter in a room full of trained fighters, he'll do in the space of an instant. 

Ask Jason Bourne all about gut feelings, and he'll tell you - or ask me. Hehe. 

Ask me about how I make my almost always accurate predictions on things ... 

Gut feeling when backed up with reason and logic, though not necessarily in that manner, is simply RIGHT. 

And all phat phocks I've seen, regardless of where they are, where they live, where they were born etc - or color, race etc - have the following common characterestics. 

One, a terrible diet. 

I know - because I trained hard, and I ate extra hard too. Hehe. 

Sure, Eat More Weigh Less works - but not if you stuff your gullet to the point moving next day makes you burp out last night's food - if you get my drift. 

A lot of phat phocks, and no I ain't naming no-one in particular would do well to eat less - a  LOT less - and FAST more while working out more. 

And ,follow some of the tips I give you in the Simple and Effective Diet! 

Fasting isn't covered in that book, maybe in a later version - or a book of it's own. We'll see, it's a topic I have very in depth and personal knowledge of, and I'm constantly learning even at this point (you never stop learning, as I say in 0 Excuses Fitness). 

They also DRINK too much - beer in particular. 

Nothing wrong with either of the above if you choose to, but it'll make you fat - simple as that. Outraining a bad diet can be done, but if you BOMBARD your body daily with nothing but tons of bad, eventually it will cave in - simple as that. 

Second, I've noticed MOST, if not all - are "happily married" or "family men" (note this one doesnt apply to women as much as it does MEN) or what not. 

Nothing at all wrong with that either. 

Hey. 

Family is the most important - I get it!

But, I've written about this before - when you're ON your lonesome, when you have no constant nagging, familial duties and such - and not to mention, that good ole home cooking - well, it's a lot easier to simply live caveman style, train hard, and (naturally) eat less - and get into the best shape of your life!

Again, with the right exercises. 

And I should know - again. 

Dont believe me? 

Mickey: Well, Rock, let's put it this way. Three years ago, you were supernatural. You was hard and nasty. You had this cast iron jaw. But then, the worst thing happened to you that could happen to any fighter. You got civilized. Don't worry, kid. You know, presidents retire, generals retire, horses retire, Man o War retired. They put him out to stud. That's what you should've done, retire.

I ain't getting into the retirement part here. Personally, in Zero to Hero I tell you it aint all its cracked up to be, but if you're talking physcially in the ring, ole Mickey had it spot on in terms of what was going on with Rock at that time - happily married, lots of dough, no INCENTIVE - to do better!

Incentive, my friend, is a huge, huge motivator - when you dont HAVE what you want, you'll naturally work your bollocks off to GET it - period! 

I can give you plenty of more examples, but what I'm saying about is true. I've seen so many lean and mean guys get married, and then ... "happy and fat" - again, aint nothing wrong with that, happens to women too, but most strikingly in men. 

SOME men are exceptions - Brooks Kubik being one, but I doubt anyone works grip and core as hard as he does (though I'll give him close competition on grip work, hehe). 

And even he was divorced for long periods in the middle, I believe ... 

Hey, it happens - take a look at prisoners - and the shape they manage to get in despite crap diets and despite not always having access to weights and such. 

Sure, bodyweight workouts play a huge part in that. 

What also plays a huge role in it is that they dont need to worry about paying bills, going to work, writing emails or what not (unless they're Gregory David Roberts writing their books on sheets of paper first, having the gumption to continue despite a 1000 page book being torn up TWICE ..) .. 

Third, almost ALL of them eat the so called healthiest meal of the day - breakfast - and load up way more than they need to, followed by lunch, and dinner. 

Breakfast like a king, eat like a prince, dine like a pauper - that advice is good, but it was also intended for when men did a lot of physical labor, not just move from couch to computer to bed and the fridge/bathroom in between.

Most do all three like kings x 10. 

Again, FASTING. 

And tossing some of the conventional advice out of the window like I do in the Simple and Effective Diet

As for the family part, I sure wouldn't tell you to toss family. 

What I WOULD tell you though is this happily married mirage of "wife happy, family happy" that most men are content to live in - well not most, a lot are waking up these days (though only because of the state the world is in!) - is just that, a mirage. 

I've told men forever that the chances of them finding that one gem amongst the rabble is slim and next to town, and slim just left town. 

And that someday, eventually, they'll find out the truism which I keep explaining to them i.e. its all about MONEY. 

They dont listen, and claim I rant, then the same thing happens to them years later, then they learn. Ah well. Such is life! 

But fitness wise, have the family - have as many as you want, but you have to retain a bit of caveman, my friend in order to stay in super "lean and mean - hungry!" shape. 

Simple fact of life... 

So, those are three common traits - there are more, of course. 

And again, I should know. 

I was a phat phock myself! 

Fourth - I'll end with this one - a tendency to do WAY less cardio and less intense than you should, claiming "youre big, not fat". 

And so forth. 

I'll stop here. 

But that should give you plenty of reasons to chew upon as well as answer the "why" question ... for now. 

More later!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

Friday, 06 May 2022 14:53

Back to tearing it up am I ...

Did I ever stop? Lol. 

Last night, I asked the wife about a vest (sports vest) that was for some reason hanging off - well, a piece of it has been hanging off my lat area for ages. 

It's an XXL vest - which means it billows around the midsection, and is "snug" but not too tight, so I thought - around the upper body. 

Shopping for clothes can be a bitch when you're fit too! 

Heh.

But although I hadn't paid much attention to it, a small tear on the other side of the vest caught my attention. 

For a split second I thought of asking her if it could be sewn despite the hell that was likely to follow, hehe (how dare you ask me!). 

Surprisingly enough, it didnt. 

Of course, she said no. 

And of course, I'll get a new one anyway. 

But it's interesting, I'm wearing a XL vest now - and I notice another tear - this time on the left trap. 

A small tear which will no doubt increase as time passes. 

Now, normally the SHOULDERS (delts) are what used to be tight for me, not so much the traps and lats - so I bought XXL. 

But they billow around the waist, but thats fine, some do, some dont (sizes aren't standard - but when we come out with 0 Excuses Fitness T shirts, and more - which a lot of you want - believe me, I'll keep all this in mind!) - and its funny, these repeated tears around the lat and trap region for one. 

You might think I'm focusing heavily on handstand pushups and pull-ups, but compared to my 100 plus workouts before - these days, I'm on 50 - 70 normally. 

so it's not that. 

It's SQUATS and special isometrics (especially a lot of those from Volume Two I'm focusing one) 

We all know how squats kick your ass, but the latter - isometrics - is REALLY what is responsibile for the X factor here. 

Those stretches REALLY work the entire body in a way you never have before, and when you partake of the special workouts at the end of the book, let me tell you, wife or no wife, cooking or no cooking, you'll truly (if you combine it with my other fitness programs) be in the best darn shape of your life. 

Can't vouch for your clothing expenses though. Hehe. 

But, those of you that put down >$500 (a special list has the orders, this isn't going out i.e. the T shirt stuff to the regular list, but if YOU on THIS list want in, let me know) as a pre-order on the tshirts, well, your money is very well invested! 

And that, my friend is that. 

Back soon!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - For BRUTAL workouts involving pull-ups and handstand pushups, check out THIS book - and THIS book. 

(Edit - I'm writing this right after one of those workouts, albeit an easy one for me, 100 squats, 20 pull-ups, 10 handstand pushups, and isometrics. it was the night workout though, so gotta go easy ONCE! Hehe.)

(Summer's here, so remember that one book I was talking about - AQUATIC Animal Kingdom Workouts - well, covid willing, I might actually do something on that front too - stay tuned!

For now, pick up the regular land version HERE - it kicks RUMPUS - period). (and it'll kick YOUR booty too - guaranteed).

In Pull-ups - from STUD to SUPER STUD - within weeks! - I give you several exercises that will take you a long, long time to work up to; let alone start to get good at. 

These exercises much like the "swami pull-up" - which is unlike any other you've seen out there, anywhere (much like most of my stuff, if not all) - might seem nigh undoable at the start - but they're not. 

Proof is in the pudding, me doing them, so can YOU. Eventually. 

In Battletank Shoulders, while the exercises themselves are a bit easier (though not "easy" per se), the workouts might seem almost undoable, or as Charles Mitchell a long time customer once famously said "I can't see how anyone doing these workouts isn't at least 70% Gorilla!". 

He's right, and it sparked the next progression in the series - "Profound 70% GORILLA 30% Human handstands". 

All this might seem tough. 

But there's far more tough stuff out there - including, but not limited to muscle ups (people ask me all the time about these) - - advanced gymnastic movements (that make the muscle up look easy peasy) - one legged and one armed workouts - and more. 

But for the most part, although I can do one legged pushups, squats, and pull-ups, for instane, do you see me tom tomming my ability to do them?

For instance, while writing this post, I just dropped down and did 8 one arm pushups on one hand, then the other - something I haven't done since last year, I believe. 

Much like what I did yesterday, hehe - "Professor Rahul", as some saw on Instagram was forced to shave off that infamous stubble "bad man stubble" as some call it, hehe - because my electric razor gave up in the middle of shaving, and of course, we all know what happens when one side of your face is shaven, the other not even started on. LOL. 

So, I had no choice but to shave fully - which was something I believe my face last saw a razor sometime around Chinese New year 2019. Hehe. 

Maybe the hair will go too someday!

Anyway - point is this. 

Neither do I do these extreme exercises all the time - my workhorses are what I tell YOU to do. 

One arm pushups and squats may look great, the reality though is this - very few people can even do 'em - or do 'em in reps high enough for it to really make a difference, and you focus SO much on form in these that the workout part gets neglected. 

Second, they're not exactly the most "natural of things" - for the most part, you use your WHOLE body to move, not just one arm or one limb, right? 

That don't mean they're not tough, that they dont build strength, stamina and endurance. 

In Squat 101, you will see the one legged squat. 

But, it won't take up much of the book either. It'll BE there, but the other versions of the squat on two legs will take priority and precedence. 

Point also is this, I might be able to do 'em but for you, you might be at a level where you can only barely even do a pushup, for instance. 

Or getting through 50 squats might be a challenge. 

If you're at that level, or even intermediate, the last thing you need is a coach or teacher primping and preening, showing off his "muscles or ability or both" to do extreme stuff ... 

What you need even when you're an expert and advanced - is to keep focusing on the basics, my friend. 

Those basics are what I stick by still, what YOU need to stick by as well the rest of your life. The advanced stuff is great, but most of it is good as a TEST - not a regular workout, but to see the results of your hard work. 

You'll understand this the day you knock off your first one arm pushup after months of 150/day ... 

And so forth. 

Anyway, thats why (and yes, muscle-ups, advanced bridging, gymnastics, plyometrics, all very much still in the works). 

Lots to do, my friend. 

For now, for you - pick up a product right HERE. There's more than enough to choose from!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

I was out and about today for some work (well, not necessarily of my own choosing, but work regardless). 

And this entailed meeting a few people. 

As I was walking from place A to place B with one person, he introduced me to the second - and then spoke to the second. 

"You're getting a bit soft", he laughed, patting "#2" around the waist etc (Which he wasn't fat, perhaps somewhat out of shape, not a lot). 

Guy rolled up his sleeves. 

Huge arms, tattooed on the bicep. 

Showing off "large shoulders" - except the kind of shoulders that look large from the front,  but nothing "to back it up". 

i.e all chest and arms, very little back, certainly no legs... 

I made small talk. 

"Ah, so you're into fitness", I noted. "Nice arms!" 

And that broke the ice. 

"You go to the gym" I noted - while "#1" broke in with "but he's soft inside!" (again, he might have been a bit soft, I Dont  know, certainly not near as out of shape as some people I've seen, or a lot!).

"You look like you do a lot of running!" he promptly responded, looking at my legs and "in general". 

Running? 

I laughed, as I jogged up a flight of stairs. 

"Never", I said. 

But it's interesting, and more testament to the power of SQUATS my friend - daily squats. 

Not only do they burn fat off your body and improve your overall health and well being at the rate of warp - not only do they give you solid core and back (and leg) strength - unbeatable stamina - and all the rest - - they also make you LOOK athletic. 

Especially, and I believe this is one reason dude said what he did - if you combine with ISOMETRICS

One of the stretches in the advanced book on isometrics - I'm working upon it daily, and every day I get looser, more limber, flexible - and my legs just "look" different. 

Loose around the groin, the kind of legs that can do snap kicks without even thinking about it. 

Not the "massive striated" thighs that can barely climb a flight of stairs without collapsing - let alone kick and such. 

Lean, muscular, stamina - that is the picture these legs project. 

That is the picture YOU should project. 

"I do mostly bodyweight" I told him. "Pushups, pull-ups and the rest" ... 

I didnt specifically mention squats, maybe I did. 

But there it is, my friend. Squats - be it bodyweight or Hindu - or otherwise - are an INDISPENSBALE part of your DAILY fitness routine - the capitalized words have been capitalized for a good reason. 

DAILY. 

I dont care what else you do, how "fit" you are or not. 

If you ain't squatting, and squatting a lot and regularly, you ain't really into fitness... 

And that, friend is that. 

Back soon!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - Learn all about squats, one whole video dedicated to just squats in the 0 Excuses Fitness System.

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 06:06

"Practice" vs "exercise" or working out.

I will still remember my Taekwondo teacher in ninth grade seeing me on the road, he was coming to class on his bike, and he flashed me a friendly smile. 

Hey.

My stretching wasn't up to the mark - especially the groin stretches which once literally made me BAWL in pain (tears included). 

"We'll get him going", my instructor laughed!

It wasn't quite the "I" position you see Jean claude Van damme strapped into between trees in the iconic movie Bloodsport, but it was getting there!

Ive always been naturally inflexible, especially in the hamstrings and groin, though a lot of that was due to my early upbringing where "sitting" was encouraged, as opposed to running about "because who can keep cleaning up after the child". 

Parents sometimes harm their kids way more in the early stages than they realize. 

Anyway, I was doing great in 7th grade, 8th grade - and indeed, though I wasn't their best fighter, I was certainly their best pushup guy!

Hehe 

"Good", he'd say, as I made sure to touch my chest to the ground on EACH of the 10 reps he made us do on pushups (along with a lot of kicks, frog jumps, a lot of the things I mention in Animal Kingdom Workouts). 

(I wasn't a bad fighter in terms of the kicks etc - but the FEAR of getting hit, I had never gotten over that mentally, and so ..) 

(Thats huge, once you get knocked out, or hit - and come back - you realize it ain't nothing and the mind moves past it). 

But anyway ........

So he asked me this. 

"Rahul, practice pe kyun nahi ate!" 

(Rahul, why don't you come to practice). 

I told him, too much studies and all the other BS reasons I was pulled out. 

He smiled. 

I never saw him again after that, they stopped the classes in the park a few years later too I believe. 

He was lean and mean though - and gave his little son HELL. 

Really instilled DISCIPLINE in him from a young age, not saying the harsh physical beatings he handed out was right or wrong (to me he overdid it, even then) - but it sure made a man of him, but that can go both ways i.e. a kid can grow up scarred too. 

But anyway ......

I often use the term practice for my workouts. 

Sure, I'm working out. I'm exercising. I'm breathing, etc - but more than "burn fat and build muscle", I'm TRAINING - the body and mind - via PRACTICE - and repetition!

Sylvester Stallone once said the following. 

"Im not the best or most talented or richest or most successful. I succeed because I keep GOING". 

This morning, I woke up to the following on a Medium piece I wrote - a lady Barbora (my own daughter's name is Barbara, so it seemed like a message!) - highlighted this part on the piece. 

"You keep going. You stop if you have to - take a few deep breaths, but you keep going!" 

I said it for exercise. 

She probably used that as inspiration for life, which I meant it to be as well. 

Now .... 

PRACTICE. 

Does indeed make perfect!

"I fear not the man who does 10,000 kicks ONCE - but I fear the man who does ONE kick 10,000 times". 

If the great Bruce Lee said it, if I keep saying it all the time, that the BORING is what gets the job done, that the fundamentals cannot and must not be ignored, then ... there must be something to it? 

No-one, when learning martial arts wants to go through the drills of stretching, inhaling, exhaling, "opening the tight muscles" out - practising the BASIC side kick, for one, and HOLDING the position - mastering CONTROL first before kicking or hitting with POWER ... 

No-one wants to get deep in the body, and spend the time required to master the tendons and other supportive musculature of the body, do they? 

"It's boring" my daughter keeps saying when I "lecture" her on practice. 

Kids these days, globally, are all the same, of course. 

But exercise, life, fitness, whatever it is - it's the drip drip drip, the PERSISTENCE - the gumption to keep going when it might long seem like a lost cause and then some - is really what does it at the end of the day. 

Take or it leave it, but its true, and thats the lesson for this one.

Back soon!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - And thats why it's called PRACTICE. Hours and hours of grueling practice under the SUN - or in freezing cold weather, or in rain ... 

The same reason my books are called MANUALS by the doers. 

The same reason, that ...

I remember a case when my Taekwondo fellow students were discussing "what if there is terrible weather". 

"Well, if its that rainy, dont come",  I said (we were training outdoors)

Another one of my fellow students turned around, looked at me, made the following comment (to the instructor). 

"Sir, if someone shows up in ALL sorts of weather, THAT is when you know they're serious!" 

I still remember him nodding in appreciation. 

There's a reason behind it. 

See if given what I said you can figure it out!

And remember, this is the vein in which I wrote 16 Inspirational Fitness Recollections, I've probably got 160 in my mind, so get this NOW, you'll never be short of motivation after ths short read!

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