Woke up early this morning, and jumped straight into a Fast and Furious exercise routine that I'd been planning to do. It wasn't a core-specific routine, but an hour or so later, I'm feeling "wobbly" in the abdominal region - as if my stomach muscles had been pulverized by a few thousand bricks - some of you likely know the sort of feeling I'm referring to!

Anyway, jumped straight into a tough "warm up" routine that would have the average person flat on his/her back within no time - this so called "warm up" consisted of jumping jacks, a standing version of the "knees to chest" I teach in Fast and Furious Fitness, and another sort of similar exercise that I don't teach in the book - but plan on incorporating in future versions. And no, they weren't the usual namby pamby sets of 10 - more like sets of 70-100 a piece, done FAST.

Fast and Furious Fitness: -  http://rahulmookerjee.com/index.php/articles/83-fast-and-furious-fitness-the-book

Got through that little whirlwind routine in 10 minutes, was interrupted by the phone buzzing. I normally keep my phone switched off during my workout

- but my wife had gone to the doctor this morning, so today was an exception.

So that was the brief interruption - no problemo. Got straight back into another routine which involved (yet) another version of the knees to chest movement, lying leg raises and 50 pushups.

I did the following pushups today: Regular pushups, table pushups, extended arm pushups, finger tip pushups and of course my favorite: handstand pushups. Knocked about 60 of these in 10 minutes or so. Some of these exercises might sound somewhat cryptic to the average Joe (or Jane) - but not if your a Fast and Furious Fitness convert.

Then it was off to the park to finish things off with 30 pull-ups, a few dips, and timed holds - and now, my forearms aren't the only part of my body that is "tingling" and singing a tune to me, hehe, my abdominal region is pretty much doing the same thing.

Now, you might wonder what on earth got my abs shaking like an earthquake hit 'em - and you'd be within your rights to do so - and you'd be equally justified in to think I'm flat out nuts if I said "pushups and other basic stuff got the job done".

Huh?

Plain ole pushups for the core?

Those "sissifed" movements like jumping jacks? And exercise while lying down on your back? Nah, the weight machines, crunch boards and pec decks are what is required!

And this is what most people would think - but remember, and just to make ONE point out of many that I couldn't be bothered to get into right now - jumping jacks and pushups are BOTH done by the US military - and the jumping jacks I did take things a step further. Now, I don't know about you - but if some of the toughest folks in the world do these exercises, how much would the average gym goer, bloated by years of protein shakes and unnecessary amounts of food (and in some cases, steriods) benefit?

I bet the answer to that is A LOT - and the same holds true for you, my friend.

You don't need a ton of yoga (though yoga's great) to work your core to the "bone".

You don't need expensive equipment sold on late night TV to get a great core workout.

You don't need a fancy gym, and you most certainly don't need any trainers telling you that crunches are the best core exercise, bar none.

Nah - some simple exercises are all you need - and I teach you most of these in Fast and Furious Fitness. And if you haven't yet done so, get yer mitts on this baby - and watch your core literally turn into STEEL within the matter of a few workouts.

Well, my friend, that's it for today. Tips APLENTY in today's email - see if you can find 'em!

Best Regards,

Rahul