I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love the “Bourne series” – the book more than the movie(s) - - a lot, lot more!
I’m a huge Robert Ludlum fan, but while most movie adaptations of books fall woefully short of (my) standards (Jurassic Park being one prime example), the Bourne series didn’t.
At least, not in my own opinion . . .
Especially not the first three installments.
The Bourne Identity.
The Bourne Supremacy.
The Bourne Ultimatum.
They messed up a bit with the Legacy (#4) in my opinion, but despite it’s somewhat lukewarm box office response, Jason Bourne (2016) was a great, great movie, and Damon kicked ass.
And HE is the reason (the main reason) I love those movies.
I don’t know why, but Matt Damon makes the perfect “spy”, especially considering the functionally fit physique he has in the movie.
You see him hanging off ledges and doing fingertip crawl downs (spiderman!) down walls of embassies in the first movie.
You see him ALL out sprinting in the second (and doing pull-ups in the first).
And more . . .
And my personal favorite movie in the series is #2.
I watched it again last night, and much as I wrote about in 2018, I cannot get enough of the sprint sequence right at the start, which most people “miss”.
Bourne is showing running in Goa India. A fast run to begin with which (along with the right visuals and music) quickly builds up to a semi-sprint, then a sprint, and then the CRESECNDO – an all out sprint, arms pumping furiously, legs flying . . . with the music to boot.
And it brought back memories
Of me in 2018! When I did exactly those workouts in the park after my climb . . .
. . . ‘twas afternoon (or early evening) workouts then.
And you’d see me climbing the hill ONCE (after I did my pushups and pull-ups I believe) and AFTER the animal like movements.
I’d start off with a run, and finish off with several sprints, and I still remember the FEELING, the sheer feeling of exhilaration I got while doing ‘em, a feeling even HILL sprints (these were land sprints) cannot and will not give you (NOTHING compares to an all out land sprint in terms of duration, for one!).
Don’t get me wrong.
Hill sprints are fabulous, and that’s why I’ve got Advanced Hill Training out there, but flat land sprints allow you to really amp things up and really build up them hamstrings as well (so do hill sprints though).
Anyway . . .
This afternoon, I went out for a pull-up workout.
50 pull-ups, 50 pushups, and 50 dips.
And it was Damon inspired.
That physique he’s got in the movie came from THREE Things (and remember, this dude LOVES to eat, so he sure did make sacrficies for the movie!).
Pullups. At one point “Bourne” was doing them in sets of 30!
Heavy bag work (a lot of it. And it shows in the shoulders!).
And probably other stuff too, but most of all, that CHISELED, ripped physique you see?
LOTS and LOTS Of . . . running . . .
. . . on mountains! For hours a day.
Bourne hated it (by his own admission). But he did it, with his trainer, and the results are there for all to see.
And while I never hated my squats or sprints, or anything, I never did them for “hours!”. I DID climb hills for hours, but I DID want to quit on occasion, but I never did – and the results are there for all to see!
And I’m feeling great, and on top of the world, and wanted to tell you about it!
Now that I have, it’s adios. See y’all around!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS – Here is where you can pick up a book on pull-ups that will get you cranking them out effortlessly - - https://0excusesfitness.com/pull-ups-from-dud-to-stud-within-a-matter-of-weeks/
PS #2 – I wrote about “moonlight sprints” before too, and those are great too! Anyway, to get to Bourne level at pull-ups, here are the exercises that will get ya there - https://0excusesfitness.com/pull-ups-stud-to-super-stud-within-weeks/