In 0 Excuses Fitness, my other writings and I believe (specifically) the book on PUSHUPS ... I wrotte about control.

Sorry, Mastery.

MASTERY of an exercise is something even the greats willr eadily admit to that it’s nigh on impossible to achieve!

Lets take the humble fingertip pushup, by itself an ASS kicker for most people.

Bruce Lee used to pump out hundreds of these on two fingers, and sets of 50 on the thumb all day long.

Whew.

And even HE would tell you there is ALWAYS more!

For instance, what about a legs elevated pushup done that way?

OR a handstand? Not even the pushup, just the handstand!

Or any of the other variants I teach you in Pushup Central.

Same thing for pull-ups, squats, dips, and what not 

(Dips being a great exercise I’ve addressed in Shoulders like Boulders, but I might put out a course someday specifically on dips).

(And on ONE arm workouts – Charles – yes – that is on the way!)

Now, CONTROL.

How much CONTROL do you have over your exercises is key to improvement, and the road to mastery or as close as you’ll get – and superior health, strength and fitness.

The exercises in “Isometric Training” (my latest book on it) do a fine, fine job of addressing this!

Let me tell you, if you get up into my favorite “after climb” stretch I mention in the book, you’ll feel them legs QUIVERING.

Your thighs. Back. Sides. Portions of the body you did NOT know existed, hehe.

While throwing the leg up in just that pose, when I started, I’d “bang it up there” and bang it down with a “thud” onthe cement.

This hurt, but it helped me get better.

But really.

REAL control is when you can simply “glide” that leg up effortlessly, and stay in the stretch – and getting out of it, you do so in control, and calmly and loosely!

THIS, my friend is the real key to isometric benefits (or benefits from said training) and the feel great feeling you get from STRETCHING!

No surprise I’v eincluded both in the same book!

And THIS is something most people, despite being great at pull-ups etc need to work upon. I should know – I used to be the same way!

Strong as heck, but inflexible in certain regards ...

When I do this now, I just “do it” . I dont aim for the foot to bang up there, or records.

It just glides up there!

And thats the only reason I’d advocate you to do Tai Chi etc workouts if you know how to do ‘em.

Pretty much useless for cage fights and real world fighting and we’ve covered that before, but its great for FLEXIBILITY, I WILL give you that!

And so it goes.

On another note, I just looked at an old document from school (a certificate of sorts) which claims I “inculcated good moral value and a secular outlook” amongst other interesting garbage.

The second. Yes.

First?

You be the judge, hehe.

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Pick up the book on isometric training HERE.

PS #2 – Did also get to check out my old “Taekwondo” certificate back from when I did it. Musty and dusty, but it’s there, hehe. Yours truly was at “green belt” level then (I believe thats one level above rookie, hehe). Pity I didnt continue and had no incentive to do so!

 Well, well, well.

Holy Mary as they say.

Holy Moly as came to my mind, hehe.

I realize dthat although I mentioned “lower” back in the last email, I completely forgot to mention anything at all about lower back and anything related in that email!!

Being I already sent it out, here goes in THIS email.

And I will keep the heading short lest I forget again!

So lower back, yes. And muscle memory.

We got into muscle memory in the last post, eh.

But as far as the lower back is concerned, it's a weak, weak area for MANY people - most notably the pumpers and toners at the gym, but also those that “focus mostly on pounding the pavement” - or for those for whom “the bench press is where it's at” - or thos ethat do heavy deadlifts regularly, and so forth.

That deadlift, by the way is responsible for causing more lower back pain in the gym than most other exercises my friend. Because most people just don't do it right, and even if they do, it's a completely unnatural movement the way it's taught and done.

I mean, think about it.

How often do you pick up an object with a grip like that, not to mention “conveniently” shaped like a barbell off the ground in daily life and grunt your way through for reps?

IF it were a beer barrel you were “cleaning”, I'd get it ...

But anyway, point of this.

I've made NO Secret of the fact that the bridge is the best exercise by far both lower back and core strength, and getting rid of lower back and NECK pain quick.

There is a real good reason wrestlers (real ones, not the WWE 'roid monsters) and boxers for one do these all the time, not to mention strongmen (again, real ones) of yore did 'em all the time.

Because the exercise and the way it stretches the entire body is beyond comparison, and the neck and lower back benefits immensely from the bridge and all it's variations.

And being lower back pain is not just “endemic” to most people, but a “pandemic” of sorts I thought I'd say it. Bridging is a course unto itself, but for now, the variations I teach you in 0 Excuses Fitness (from rank beginner no less) are enough to focus upon (and indeed if yiou do it right, it's all you need your entire LIFE).

And handstand pushups are anothe rgreat one for the lower back, though you wouldn't think so would you?

Just like you wouldn't think or believe it's a super, super GRIP exercise until you actually do them and feel them forearms BURNING (and we're not even getting into fingertip handstand pushups, or one handed ones. Hoo boyyyyy!).

And why are handstand pushups so effective at not just building up the entire core and lower back but BANISHING back pain forever?

Well, think about it.

Most niggles and pains are due to weak ligaments and tendons (connective tissues too) - - NOT so much the muscles.

One of the main reasons Hindu squats are so damned effective and a great workout is that they focus on the inside, not the show thigh muscles. They build up the tendons and ligaments from the inside out from whence on the sky, my friend, is literally the limit.

It don't work quite as well the other way around!

Same thing for handstand pushups. In fact just HOLDING yourself in that position, and hell, even getting into it for you overweight folks will noot only get you huffing and puffing nigh quick, but will build overall strength like NOTHING else can.

Not to mention the balance required works the heck out of the tendons etc as well.

Second (or third), another reason for lower back pain is too much fat on the lower abs.

Or “digestive issues”.

Or, “the infamous “bloat”” and let me tell yo uone thing right now.

When you're in an upside down position, all of this and then some disappears QUICK.

Even if you just work on the position for a few seconds.

Thats all it takes for the magic to start working.

And your stomach muscles naturally pull that flabby belly in, and the INTERNAL stomach muscles naturally contract and you'll feel a stretch-cum-contraction all across the lower back in a horizontal manner.

Like someone was “strengthening” the muscle as you did it, literally!

And I felt it today.

Last, but not least, any good core exercise means an AWESOME lower back exercise.

Goes true for leg raises. Holds true for the “vacum” I explain in Corrugated Core. And any other similar exercise.

And that, my friend is that for now. Give these a whirl, and I promise you'll never “go back”!

Best,

Rahul mookerjee

PS – Here is where you can learn how to do handstand pushups the RIGHT way – the way that gets results – real RESULTS – Shoulders like Boulders.

I know, I know. You guys are gonna call me out on this one . . . not so much because what I’m saying is not true/accurate, but because I’ve said it before.

And as I sit here (and indeed this morning when I woke up at the “bright ole hour of 1130 AM”) thinking about myself doing Bourne sprints on hot China afternoons AFTER a great workout and hill climb, most of the time in a deserted park with no-one to bother me . . . I had a thought (while making my puh-er cha).

“Cha” being Chinese for “tea” . . . . (and yes, my hatred and dislike of the CCP doesn’t equate to the same feelings for the country or it’s people!).

Anyway . . . I remember that park often.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have made the life changes I did in 2018 when I left China for a short while (but returned a few months later anyway).

Didn’t do Bourne sprints for whatever reason upon the return though . . .

. . . but I miss that time. Those workouts. That nostalgia. And that was the time I started my second and by now famous website www.0excusesfitness.com .  .  .

Started to and met some of the greatest people I ever will through my list and website . . .

Revamped books and courses. Drank a bit of beer while I was at it. Hammered out TONS and TONS (20,000 plus words on some days) of writing for my other projects, stuff I’m still selling to THIS date . . .

Now, the feeling I was having while making my tea (or the thought I mentioned up there?)

Well, I’m exhausted.

Rightly so.

And I was wondering about an upcoming workout today, and “if I should do it”.

Actually, not “if”. It was more along the lines of “you’ll feel great afterwards!”

And I’ll get her done, but the thought was this.

“Remember, Rahul! Pull-ups make you feel great. They make you feel nigh on INVINCIBLE!!”

And that they do my friend. That they do.

And that’s how my hill climbs made me feel.

Invincible, after the workout.

That sheer feeling of CONFIDENCE you get after a solid workout which cannot be replaced by ANYTHING else.

Move aside tech world, emails, gadgets and gizmos.

It’s the SIMPLE stuff that works, and as the world goes increasingly bonkers, and global conflict unfortunately looks more of a possibility than ever before, it’s all the more reason to train the way yours truly does (or the 0 Excuses Faithful for that matter).

It’s all the more reason to have that aura of “invincibility” around you.

You never know what might happen.

You never know (literally these days) what is around the corner.

And you better be ready for ANYTHING, my friend.

It’s a pity the CCP has to go down the route that they are, but every so often humans in general make a mess of the planet and Nature herself in all her infinite wisdom settles it all.

And who are we, as mere mortals to question it?

Happened during the World Wars, and it’ll probably happen in some way shape or form NOW as well. Very soon.

And as I sign off on this email, the last thing I want to say is this my friend.

Keep the good memories in mind.

Keep those fires BURNING!

Oh YES, the good times will come again.

Oh YES, they will. If you keep them memories in mind and keep the fires burning, one day, some day you’ll be back at the place where you had your BEST times (wherever that might be for you) and that hope – desire – a burning FLAME within you for SOMETHING that MATTERS – truly matters – is what keeps us going from day to day.

Live for nothing, or die for something.

As simple as that, my friend.

Always keep that HOPE alive!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – I get nostalgic every time I think about my Bourne sprint times, and the old man I met in China (who I no longer do due to different workout times etc) . . .

PS #2 – And of course, that’s why I shared it with you. Feel free to write back and share what makes YOU that way, and remember – ain’t nothing wrong with us “tough guys” shedding a tear or two every so often. IT’s what makes us ALL human!

PPS – Go HERE to check out the book on pull-ups.

I’ve written a lot on this one before, of course . . .

. . . but as I “saw” (or so it seems, at any rate)  my daughter gorging on cornflakes of all things in the middle of the afternoon, no less, I was struck with the idea to write this.

Now I don’t know if she was actually eating them, but she did have a bowl in her hand – minus the milk of course, hehe. If there is one thing my daughter won’t drink it’s milk (unless it’s with loads of gooey, icky, chocolate syrup on it. Eww!!!).

And so since she apparently was, and then she asked me about “should I take this with me to workout Dad (as a snack)”, I am writing to you about it too!

Now, you’re well versed with my opinion on the first two options in the question, of course (or ardent readers of this newsletter probably are, at any rate).

I’ve made no secret of the FACT that it’s far, far better to work out on an empty stomach than on a FULL stomach, or semi full.

Despite what the so called experts say, my best results have come from following a “diet” entirely opposite that of what the “experts” seemingly recommend.

And NOT by eating the meal they consider the most important of the day either . . .

Now, you’ll have to dive into the Simple and Effective Diet (and especially the intro, oh, and by the way, the manual is yours FREE with a purchase of the 0 Excuses Fitness System!) to find out more about this.

But suffice it to say that as far as eating AFTER a workout goes, YES, often times I’ll eat well after a workout.

Not “stuff” myself, although I do that on occasion, but usually, I have a good meal, and that’s that.

Usually an hour or so after working out.

And usually NOT before 530 in the evening, if that makes sense!

Hey. IT works for me, it works for my students, and it works AMAZINGLY and blindingly fast does this “strange” technique of doing things if you only let it! ?

And often times, I’ll eat HOURS after my workout. Not just an hour. Hours.

Often times I’ll stay on an empty stomach the entire day, and have some of my BEST damned workouts that way!

But as for the million dollar question, fueling DURING a workout?

Well, I’d say NO to it personally, even during extreme “ironman” like workouts.

But my goals of working out are different from the average Joe’ of course!

If your goals entail (as many people’s do!) preening and posing in front of the mirrors at the gym, by all means sip latte and “snack” on some rubbish the so called experts advocate. Go for it.

If your goals are “to lose a bit of weight”, but nothing spectacular, go for it.

If your goals are “the usual workout”, and “you feel hungry during your workout”, then if you really must, go for it.

But I’d only personally do it in case the workout was really extreme, and not even probably in that case.

And as for million dollar question #2.

Will it hurt my results?

In most cases, I’d say yes.

But if you’re going through extreme 100 pull-up and 100 handstand pushup workouts, or if you’re going through workouts where you climb steep hills in the middle of the day in blazing heat - - and 5 times per workout at that followed by a 100 pushups and 50 pull-ups, then it might help.

And probably won’t hurt your results any either way.

The key is though, if you’re keeping it that extreme!

And even in that case, I’d say probably NOT.

And as for what I told my daughter, and what she apparently did? Well, you’ll have to wait a bit for that one! ?

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – The 0 Excuses Fitness System is FULL of (choc-a-BLOC full of) golden nuggets of wisdom such as THIS. Pick up your copy right HERE.