Amidst all the new fangled machines, latest treadmills (equipped with a space to rest your coffee mug, no less), heart monitors, fancy sweatshirts, and what not, we have all but forgotten that there was a time when people trained WITHOUT all these gadgets - and still made fantastic gains. 

I mean, look at folks like Jack Lalanne (someone I greatly admire) and what they've achieved. Lalanne emphasized sticking to the basics, eating a proper diet, and regular, hard training - and that was pretty much the secret to his amazing success. Sure, he may have lifted weights at some point, but thats fine as well; nowhere does it say that lifting weights won't help you in your fitness pursuits. 

Yes, that might sound strange coming from me - the bodyweight exercise maniac - but remember that everyone has their own way of doing things. Lalanne was BIG on bodyweight exercises - but if doing something else also helped him, hey, thats perfectly fine by me.

Anyway, back on topic - all the fancy equipment we see floating around the gyms these days is practically worthless in terms of getting real gains. I mean, think about it - a treadmill with a place to put one's COFFEE mug of all things? Someone's actually gong to be sipping coffee while training and call that real training?? More to the point, if that someone has enough time to drink coffee during training, is he really training?? I don't think so.

What most people need (and what most gym owners need to do, but never will) is to drop all this airy-fairy stuff, and get back to the BASICS. First off, you don't even need anything other than your bodyweight to get in a fantastic workout, and believe me, that type of workout is way more than the average Joe in the gym can handle.

And equipment? Well, believe it or not - a rusty swing set out in the park, an old set of parallel bars that folks mostly use to hang their jackets on, a jump rope, and some rusty, creaking monkey bars are really all the equipment I need, and will need for the forseeable future. And you don't even need to purchase a gym membership for any of that. Go to your local park, and you'll likely find all these pieces of equipment lying about virtually untouched.

Now, I realize that some of you gym goers may think I'm talking through my hat here. I mean how does a thick rusty iron bar compare to the shiny, heavy weights in the gym? Parallel bars? What possible good could they do?

Well, my friend, the answer is that these types of things will do way more for you than the fancy machines or weights ever will.

Take for instance the parallel bars - a training tool that I VERY HIGHLY regard - but which is barely used by most folks (other than gymnasts). The average person is unable to do ONE bodyweight dip on these; so he ends up using the
"chest press" machine or whatever it's called.  Do a set of 25 pushups, and a set of 10 dips on a parallel bar set up - and then tell me if that gets you sweating more than running for 10 minutes on the treadmill.

And thats but one example - the list goes on and on. I could give you many more, and Fast and Furious Fitness contains many routines that require little or no equipment, and will have the average gym goes collapse in a puddle of sweat within minutes. But for now, lets just say that going back to the basics will give YOUR health and fitness a much needed shot in the arm.

Give this a thought, and let me know what you think.

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: There ain't much point spending $40 and upwards a month on gym memberships when you can get better for LESS. In addition, the "true" cost of a gym membership ends up being far more than the monthly fee you pay - google this if you don't believe me. Don't fall into this trap! Instead, pull that credit card out right NOW, and grab your copy of Fast and Furious Fitness for just $24.99 (with NO hidden costs whatsoever). It's the best decision you can make your health and fitness - so hurry!