Rahul Mookerjee
Technology, that ole bugbear...
Life's a trip eh.
Thats some trippy ass shit, Holmes!
aka Training Day, that movie I'll never stop watching, one that to me is a classic, albeit not spoken about a lot. (but most people know it!).
Alonzo, that whole movie - just - thats by far, to me Denzel's best movie!
I still remember we had a choice between watching "Snow Dogs" and "Training Day" when it first came out, with the girlfriend, pizza and beer galore, weekend off from work in NY - and we were discussing which one to watch first.
No prizes for guessing which one I chose (those were the "Blockbuster Video" days - anyone remember that chain? Hehe).
She wasn't too happy about it.
"You'll just fall asleep later and wont watch Snow Dogs with me!"
And I dont believe we ever did watch it. Hehe. What she said was true. It happened, next day - I dont know, we went somewhere, then work, then we had to drop the videos off - another classic case of people getting what they dont really have any plans on REALLY following through on. Believe me, if she really wanted to watch that movie, she'd have found a way. Hehe.
It was more about the romance...
Anyway, where am I going with this - ah yes, technology.
From Blockbuster video to DVD players, to computer DVD players, to ... well, Wifi, broadband dumbphones, and now back to the good ole days for many people.
Reminds me of what my Dad once said about the Middle East.
"They rode in on camels, they drive in swanky cars, they'll ride OUT on camels too".
They aint the only ones, eh. Hehe.
I just read Nasa has successfully crashed a "vending machine size spacecraft" into an asteroid the size of a football field.
To stop it from destroying the Earth (or others like it).
Which is great - as we destroy the Earth ourselves here, or as humans we seem to be doing a good job of destroying planet Earth better than any asteroid ever could - while they focus on the tech to protect us from the other threats which pale in comparison to the REAL threats facing us NOW.
Hehe.
The irony of it all ...
Anyway, fitness wise?
Technology is something I adopt - early.
I was amongst the first to pioneer digital only downloads on the website, when everyone told me to sell physical books.
dont get me wrong here.
I sell physical books too.
And for a good reason, those that buy those are the old fashioned guys - my type of guys.
But digital, well, thats the trend, I saw it coming a long time ago, so might as well jump on the bandwagon eh - and I was proved right on that as well.
I believe in giving you ALL options - so we even have hardcover on the site for most of our products.
And, although the initial download of the 0 Excuses Fitness System was over 2GB in size, since most will play it on the dumbphone, I made it dumbphone compatible and reduced file size etc to the very manageable on most broadband/4G connections 10-12 min download, if even that (that will go down in the future even more as we ramp up hardware even more behind the scenes).
I never once sold physical DVD's though, and I doubt I EVER will - despite some of my hardcore customers burning the material to THEIR own DVD's. And hey, gotta love old school there too my friend!
Some things though, I'll always be old fashioned, because old fashioned and playing the long game (right) - well, you can never go wrong in terms of those two.
And fitness wise, life wise, you'll always find me to be old school, always - no exceptions.
And that, I suppose is that.
Back soon.
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
More on the best for the best, and more on lousy life advice to be avoided (precious few do).
All the BS that goes on these days, the "you're good!" BS when you aren't, the feel good nonsense that is supposed to attract nirvana, magical results without you doing much and what "everyone" wants i.e. a pot of gold x 1000 (or a million, hehe) to themselves - it's permeating through to kids big time.
Something I often wish I could tell my wife (no point telling her much of course, or anything) is this - go easy on it when it comes to KIDS.
I wrote about this this morning.
It's one thing to brainwash yourself as an adult knowing you're doing so and being cognizant of your own failures, and refusal to CHANGE or accept what YOU Did wrong.
Evey adult has the right to make choices for himself or herself...
But kids, especially young kids?
I keep hearing my wife tell my daughter for one "You're the best!" - when she isn't.
"You're so slim!" when she's GAINED Weight over the past couple of years. (or last year, or what have you).
And so forth.
Now, dont get me wrong.
Being POSITIVE is what should be done, and NO, I am not advocating the polar opposite either - what happened to me as a kid, and what happened to the wife, and all of our generation with "way too much tough love" than was required or necessary (and we're seeing the results of all that pent up animosity now in the world TODAY are we not?) ...
But there is a limit to everything, excessive cossetting and molly codding is harmful, downright injurious to health - both mental and physical - and accomplishment of ANY NATURE, either as a kid or adult.
Saying "you're the best" when you're not even trying ... well, that leads to be being lazy and a sense of self entitlement which I unfortunately see developing in my daughter (though I do nip it in the bud often).
What I wish people would say more?
You CAN be the best.
Not "are" when you're not.
Now if you ARE the best at something, then so be it - but chances are you wont feel the need to say it then or even will say it - your results will speak for themselves in many ways.
Sure, you CAN say it at that point ...
But saying you're making a million dollars when you're broke, saying "you have it all" and "feel good vibes" when the reality is the polar opposite, all of this tends to have the opposite impact long term and a far more deleterious impact/effect than most realize.
Sometimes, tough love is exactly what is required, and I get it till this day, and would NOT have it any other way.
I've mentioned how as well! (if you have been paying attention to these here dispatches, hehe). And I'm super tough on myself personally - in all regards - till this date.
No, I'm not a perfectionist, I would not advocate you be one either, but I do things per a schedule, I have DISCIPLINE, I "get her done no matter what" and a host of other unsexy things that people ignore, but are really what "in the the trenches for YEARS" lead to you becoming the best, and staying there.
The best for the best fitness wise, as I'm proud of saying.
And the results speaketh for themselves, my friend.
Back to fitness?
Kiddie Fitness is the BEST resource - by far (again, like I keep saying, I challenge you to show me one better) - if you've got kids , and indeed these movements - most adults wont be able to do them properly starting out - especially balance wise - that need more exercise than screen time, and most these days DO.
0 Excuses Fitness, and all of our other products are by far the best when it comes to fitness for adults and other verticals.
And what I wish people would hear more, daughter included.
You CAN be the best, but you have to put in the Time, the effort, the HARD WORK, the unsexy stuff.
Ah, but how dare I.
How can I even say that, the marketers here will say, you're killing sales that way!
so be it.
I'd rather sell to those that GET IT.
And not make false promises, overpromise, underdeliver - I'd rather keep up to the 0 Excuses Fitness mantra of underpromising big time and over delivering by the same damned magnitude and then some.
Alright, enough for now. Back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
"Chubby is not fat" (now I gotta explain THIS one to an idiot)
Of all the "butt hurt" comments - this one caused another chuckle.
On Twitter, some dame asked about "why do guys like chubby girls".
We all know what she meant by that.
Bodacious.
Bootylicious.
And so forth.
Women, when they're slim they're too slim, when they're chubby they're not happy with it, and so forth. But this isn't about that, this is about my reply.
As some of you no doubt know women "claim" to love something to "hold on to".
Reality is this - friend, what women really want in that area? Isnt a large wanker or everything people talk about, it's strong arms, back and a TONED midsection with very little no fat, especially around the lower abs.
This goes for whether she "loves you or not".
But if she "loves you" (translate - if she's getting a lot of money, hehe) - she'll be more than happy to hold on to that pudge wudge around your midsection and say "more to hold on to".
Truth is, nah, it aint just about money either, sometimes ... well, with yours truly, I've had that happen a lot with girls that paid my way (not that I asked, but they insisted, how can a dude refuse when it's offered that nicely, hehe) on most things ...
But I always knew I was FAT (when I was).
Anyway, I replied in brief (NO puns) to the girl explaining all this.
Some butt hurt dude showed up saying this -
"chubby is not fat so not getting your point!!!!!!!!!!!"
Like dude, yeah, "plump" as a certain very happy Carol once referred to herself as isn't technically fat either is it?
Phat isn't either.
Gargantuan isn't technically fat either, is it - or is lard ass?
I mean, the extent to which people go to to be either politically correct, or butt hurt, or a combo there in never ceases to boggle the mind does it.
Look, if you're fat you're fat, bottom line, aint no two ways around it pally.
So says the hombre that ALWAYS delivers.
And to get your delivery of the fitness system that resolves any fat, pudge or "chub" issues you might have nigh quick, get the 0 Excuses Fitness System right NOW.
And thats that.
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
"You are fat inside"
Chinese girls have this cute, sexy way (to me, at least) of getting STRAIGHT TO THE POINT - albeit sometimes indirectly, and in my case I've always found it so cute that I find it hard to stay mad at them for any length of time.
Anyway ... my "Jie Jie", or lets say "elder sister" in China "Maria".
I'll never forget the two comments she made in 2003 when I first met her on Icq.
Remember those days? MSN messenger, ICQ ... no dumbphones, truly, as a certain "Pooja" said today, and as I've been saying all along, the 90s were the BEST days, HEADY!
She said the 90's generation was the best, which is close though.
Things were REAL back then, including a cute little photo of Maria's, pink shirt, lovely vivacious smile, long black hair (all of which still exists though she claims "I'm old now").
Before y'all jump to conclusions, we've never met in person. Hehe. Sometimes, the best relationships "flower" that way!
Not by choice, by chance.
I bought her a gift on a trip back from India (or to India, I believe) once and was going to meet her to give it to her, but she giggled and told me to mail it, which given she had a boyfriend at the time she was planning upon marrying, and did - was very smart. Girls from Fujian in China are not just gorgeous, they tend to be uber smart too.
Anyway - I'm getting side tracked.
Point of this is, she wanted to "see me", so I sent her a video of my apartment, I believe.
(at the time I was taking a video of a horribly mangled up ingrown toenail with pus oozing out of it that required not one, but TWO surgeries - first one was so so, second really worked - it hurts like a SOB - if you even touched it I'd yell, it happened during massage a lot, some of the ladies high heels would accidentally hit it, and MY! That HURT! (and finally prompted me to seek treatment for it in Hong Kong which I did successfully, never happened again, though I've had swollen ankles etc years later when I was phat) that was I was going to send to my parents to "show them") ...
Along with those two videos taken on a camcorder I got from Walmart in 2002, I think - which I finally gave away in 2021 - a school has it now, though what and how they use it, given the cassettes it uses are no longer around - I've no idea - but along with those two videos, I think I sent her a picture of myself in a T shirt or something.
Not a shirtless picture I sent a certain Cody years later, apparently that was because "she wanted to show her husband" (real reason was SHE wanted to see it. HA!) ... anyway, that's a different story, and a rather A rated one. It also spawned several books, so I guess thats good. Hehe.
But anyway Maria, the first comment was "you're fat inside!"
It did hurt my weetle feelings a bit at the time, I admit it.
This was before I had grown my thick skin, remember?
This was back when I still lifted weights, and here's the thing, the bottom line - Maria didnt mean it in a negative manner. In fact all along she was giggling about "handsome foreigner" "foreigners are big" etc, so it wasn't negative, it was just an observation, Chinglish as it were (Chinese English) ..
Then this -
"your home looks like a hotel!"
That one stunned me, that was hardly China in the 1960's where most lived in villages...
Till date I (when in china) live in that type of accomodation, though it doesnt even have elevators. Hehe. Some things never ever change!
ANd some preferences...
I dont know if Maria would still say the hotel part, but she sure as hell wouldn't say "fat inside". Hehe.
But point of this?
I was a BIG guy at that time - muscles wise.
I used to lift weights, I did pushups etc, but ask me to climb a flight of stairs, I'd be out of breath with all the smoking I did, though I managed to get two heavy ass suitcases (Mom and Dad) up to my fourth floor apartment, it taxed me - big time.
Kinda like Bruce Lee when he fought off all those attackers, yet it left him WINDED big time.
Anyway ......
Ya'll know the entire story of how I quit smoking, then Ann Lee came along months later, and my wife literally - oh I mean my LIFE, hehe - changed.
Point is this.
I did no grip work then, very little if any core work, my lower back was weak, although "looks were good" - I was 24 at the time - externally I was looking "ok" though a little big around the waist, it was nothing compared to what a lot of other people looked like, and I'd get compliments on my "large" forearms (they're anything but TODAY) all the time as well.
There was NO vascularity to them though back then ...
Point is this - real point.
If you're fat, you're fat my friend, and it'll show whether you hide it or not, whether your feelings are hurt or not.
If you're big, you're big, but if you're big and fat, then you're big and fat.
And big doesn't negate the importance of core training and a slim strong WAIST - trim waist I should say, trimmed down to BARE ESSENTIALS.
Trust me on this, core training, there are few things more important than it.
And here is a course that will train your core better than anything you've ever done - Corrugated Core (a much underrated yet SOLID course we have on this).
Combine with Gorilla Grip and the 0 Excuses Fitness System (bought in reverse order) and you're well and truly off to the races.
So am I - for now.
Back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - Question of the day, and this isn't necessarily a new one.
I roundly ignore, block, call out a certain person, he still finds ways to follow me and ... well, wants to chat, but doesnt.
It ain't just Bozo Glyn either, there are MANY like him.
There's a lesson there for all of you if you choose to learn. Hehe. Several actually, and while the person I'm referring to here is hardly a "troll" - Profit Troll will have more on this. Stay tuned, it's a book y'all WILL NOT want to miss!
Several "she's" fit this category too, the "stalker" in 2019 coming to mind, but there's plenty more, I've blocked this one girl's number - three of 'em - she signed up with a fourth one (on another list). Hehe. Some people ... (and on whats app as well). The he's meanwhile surreptitiously keep checking out what this cat has been up to.
Ah well, hehe.
The best YOU - a better you - daily!
People are often confused about how to best focus on their goals and achieve them.
Note that I'm not talking about any of the following - goal setting, visualization, the "how to achieve the goal" (i.e. the get down to brass tacks methods you need to use) - and certainly not about success, money etc.
But it's this - once you've set your sights on a goal, usually distant, and no progress seems to happen for days, months, even years occasionally despite your persistence, you find your will flagging sometimes.
Applies to life, fitness, everything.
And the advice I give everyone is what you can learn from following Amazon, and how they did things over the years (I've always done it the same way too, but I'm giving you another example).
(also why they're pretty much the only companies I'll do business with - "companies" because each of Amazon's sub companies is a world unto itself, all under the same umbrella - sheer genius - so it should be).
(and their entire founding team was the geniuses on this one, not just Bezos, though his vision and core principles are what caused it all to happen).
Anyway - what is the advice?
Two bits, really.
One, focus on making a better product - or service - regardless of everything else.
The economy might suck, or it might boom, but a better service never goes out of style, or a better product, or more value for money, or OVERDELIVERING while underpromising, all of the things we do around here basically.
And two, more importantly, or just as - other than focus on customers and not competitors (fitness wise, this means focus on YOU, not the rest of the people doing this or that, telling you this or that or their results of lack thereof) ...focus on this one thing - make a better version of YOU Daily.
If you're a writer, focus on even better writing.
If you're working out, make sure that last workout was great - and the one today is better in some regard.
Business people, sometimes it might seem you're stuck, can't move ahead, waiting for the right breaks etc?
I get it.
But, there's always something you can do, there's always some way you can improve your offering, there's always some minor tweak to some process you can make somewhere that will, whether they know it NOW or not benefit the customer down the road (and therefore you too)..
Long story short?
Life is about living a better you - daily.
Shoot for improvement in something everyday.
Never rest on thy laurels.
Its the baby steps that really get you there, applied with persistence and vision, courage and gumptions, HEART AND GUT!
And it's something you can control.
Results are something you cannot control, effort - especially when applied the right way and to improve yourself daily - IS.
Focus on what you CAN do - and control - rather than all the intangible (at the end of the day) bullshit you CANNOT, and life becomes a lot fuckin easier, a lot smoother, a lot less worry and hassle, trust me on this NOW and believe me later!
As a certain company Rolls Royce Publications's tagline goes, "from the heart".
"Dil Se", they say in hindi.
So it should be, brah.
So it should be!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - More solid motivation to be found right here, if the world is getting you down, if you're floundering, if you're looking for success but not getting it, well the road map is mapped out in Zero to Hero (Vol #2 on the way) and Gumption Galore (from a tips standpoint). Get these two great books NOW!
PS #2 - Quote of the day from Emil Coue ...
"Day by day, in every way, I'm getting better and better".
But just saying it wont do the trick.
DO what it takes to achieve it.
And thats the point of this dispatch...
The fresh or not fresh battle
An odd one, this, but more on CULTURAL differences I suppose!
(I'm an odd dude, remember, hehe. Nah, not really, a Bozo said that!)
I've noticed it in China and India (the two Asian countries I've been in and lived in the most - I suppose I could add in Vietnam and a few others, but I'd prefer to list the countries where I've really lived long term) ...
in China, food has to be so fresh that you literally kill it on the table apparently - sometimes in most grotesque fashion.
Sometimes you eat the damn animal while it's alive - not even kidding you, while that is extreme, it's common place to see seafood being gulped down barely dead in restaurants all across China, perhaps even Japan.
(not sure about Korea) ..
If it wasn't killed "right then" it wasn't fresh.
India too is the same way in many regards, while it's not so much about butchering the animal damn near on your plate, food better be cooked FRESH or else!
Then you have the West, and those in India and China used to how it is in the West (yours truly falls in both categories) ...
where you cook once, and you stuff food in the pantry, or larder, or whatever it is - or your big ass freezers you've got all over the place.
Theres always "wars" over this i.e. is it better fresh or not fresh.
The wife claims "Mom's food should be fresh" - and most likely Mom thinks she takes it to extremes i.e. the wife about the freshness part.
Yours truly doesn't claim to be an expert on this...
But yours truly can see both points of view, and where they come from, and yours truly gracefully bows out of any such arguments, and does his best never to get involved.
But to YOU on this list, I'm more than happy to discuss, rant, ramble about anything and everything - as y'all well know, hehe.
To me?
SOME things are fine even post expiry - for instance, if a pack of green tea (tea bag) has "expired" - I doubt it really matters so long as the damn thing is still packed and not opened.
I usually drink mine fresh and freshly sourced, of course...
but I've had that sort of thing "in a pinch" before, and it aint affected me none.
Oh, I was just classified as underweight for my height - probably am - was in 2016 in China as well, I'm down to the exact same weight NOW.
"Hey Mom" I laughed. So long as my vitals and medical tests are all ok, low resting pulse and that, all is well!
And so it IS. Hehe.
Anyway - on the other hand, food?
Again, some things are better freshly cooked, for instance, vegetables and stuff, Indian flatbreads etc - NOTHING beats freshly cooked there, or freshly cooked Chinese food and stuff - some stuff you just can't put in the microwave.
And reheat, or thaw out.
Other hand, other things - like frozen meats and stuff?
I'll thaw 'em out, cook 'em - and eat 'em - and raid the larder all damned day and night long for it!
Or, I might even put it in the microwave and eat the beef RAW, blood literally dripping from it as happened at age 20 once.
Not what I recommend, neither do I Recommend putting CD's in the microwave and ruining it "for the hell of it" - unless it's an old fucker you want to toss anyway, which we wanted to, damn that SOB was heavy - I remember lugging it backside to the dumpster!
Then again other things like toothpaste etc?
A few weeks past the expiry date wont kill ya on that either ...
I'm curiously enough despite a lot of my other stances "in the middle on this one" - while the folks that oppose either viewpoint or are for it are very vehemently on one side or the other.
So be it, hehe.
Anyway ......................
That bit of tongue wag - or chin wag - aside ?
Fitness wise, I'll tell you this, try and get your nutrients in yes, in whatever manner you want, but I'll tell you one goddamned thing, I've been telling you this all along, food ain't half as important and IS twice as addictive - as it's made out to be.
Trust me on this one.
True, Exercise is King and Nutrition is Queen, together they make a kingdom ...
But diet is one thing, you can have the best diet in the world, if you're a lazy ass and wont work out, it'll still show and you will feel it too - other hand, a not so good diet, or lack of it, or thereforth and brutal workouts done right?
Well, that shows too, pally...
And thats that.
Back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
P.S. - The Simple and Effective Diet is yours GRATIS with a purchase of the 0 Excuses Fitness System, and you'll find two of the most important secrets to losing weight FAST (and getting your hormones in order and all that jazz) in the initial few pages of the book, they're secrets, but they're right there in front of you, so obvious you might not even notice it, so look CAREFULLY.
The "fun guy" vs the "disciplinarians"
Last night, I was informed by my lovely (not, or maybe so? Hehe) wife that the daughter was off from school today.
Oh, really, I asked. (I was thinking "no-one tells me these things anyway" but I didnt tell her that).
"Yes", she went.
And then she said the school gave the kids a day off to prepare for the upcoming Math exam or something.
More drama from a pathetic excuse of a school - I wont name it, but I went to it growing up, and the farce it's descended into now, where teachers are more interested in playing games and painting their nails in class while doing "F all" in terms of teaching the students anything - giving them as many breaks as possible (these kids know next to ZERO compared to what we knew growing up) - coddling them (so they dont have to do any work i.e the teachers) - and giving them the entire term's work in one day three or four days before the exam...
Again, I'm REALLY tempted to name and shame here. But I wont, for now ...
This is one of the top schools in Delhi if you can believe that, of course, I never wanted my daughter put in there, I've been there, I know how it is, but of course the wife and parents had other thoughts, each blamed the other, I still remember the frantic email I got from Dad in 2017 or 2016, I was teaching a lovely Carol English, hehe - and she canceled her class to get printouts of some form I had to sign and send back (wife claimed parents were on her ass, Dad ie Mom claimed "it was sooooooo urgent" and being I wasn't there, well) ...
And its interesting, the very adults who bitch and moan about all this on whatsapp groups and such are the same ones that pay huge bucks to these schools, and dont dare to once complain, those that do - like me - they let me "take the fall" (while silently hoping I'll do more of the same).
People in general are just fuckin pathetic these days, gutless, spineless, I gotta say it.
Oh, I once mentioned home schooling to my wife (I remember chatting about it with Marc the African Silverback Gorilla too) - the blowback I got - boy.
The ignorance, its just not worth combating it - sometimes. Hehe. Most of the times it IS!
Anyway - so I was then told to help my daughter prepare for Math.
OK, I went.
I was the one who suggested (against all family advice) that she learn Spanish - and NOT French or any other second language (and hey - practical purposes, Spanish is spoken widely in tons of places, you need good English yes, but Spanish is a close very practical second!)
Anyway, this young senorita - or Princesspa (if you were to go Italian, hehe) -doesnt quite like it when Dad asks her to do anything meaningful, workouts included.
To be expected, given the Nazi feminist conditioning being drilled into her you'd say since day one, but it's more than that my friend.
The bottom line is this - she views Dad as the "fun guy" - and the two women (mom and Granny - in fact she's even got names for the two of them, hehe) as the "disciplinarians".
They try and change this (the two ladies).
But it doesnt work much like a lot of what they try to do ultimately doesnt work ... illogical behavior never results in anyting but more "illogic" .
Anyway, I gave up dealing with that mess a long time ago.
In my own fun way I deliver more results than all the "yelling" in the world would.
And when it's time to do something, I inject that tone of seriousness into things, and the daughter knows it - which is what counts.
Not for me what I had growing up i.e. a Dad I was "scared" of (though I didnt need to be) - ditto for Mom (I still remember the scene at the age of 2 where I was literally "gheraoed" into a corner and yelled at or something for throwing up in the swimming pool post lunch or something).
Dont get me wrong, tough love is good, but like all things, it needs to be done in MODERATION - even my mother once privately admitted that "with you you're the first kid, we made mistakes yes".
She'll never admit it NOW, of course. Heh.
But thats perfectly fine, I dont mind at all.
Anyway, this mistake riddled "fun" guy that supposedly knows nothing (interesting how my wife told me last night "teach her the Spanish you know" - I was going to say I know a lot more than the damn teacher who bailed from the school and these idiots never replaced her, but there would be no point, would there??) about anything?
My wife seems to have forgotten her own words. Hehe.
And I made it easier, of course, by never talking about what I do know which is a substantial bit.
Discipline?
Hell, a guy that literally has an alarm clock in his head, a guy that HAS to get things done NOW - a guy that woke up despite hating mornings for years at 530 AM in the morning to hike hills, a guy that bangs out squats and pullups and more without fail, keeps on improving - and thats just the business and life part...
I'd say I know a thing or two about discipline.
But I dont enforce it on those where there would be no point. Waste of freaking time and energy ...
Anyway - point of all this?
This fun guy can get you in the best shape of your life - in a fun way you never imagined possible. It might be many things, ardous, tortorous, you might feel like yelling at me (I know a lot of you DO, hehe) - and more - but one thing I'll guarantee - it'll be fun, fresh and interesting.
Go HERE To learn more about it.
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
Ottoman oil wrestling, and more...
Wrestling, that ONE sport I'd recommend to everyone - even if you're just interested in sports for physical fitness - if you're aspiring to be a strongman or ironman - and certainly if you plan on getting into advanced martial arts, or any martial art like ji jitsu, even boxing, what not - wrestling serves as a base, a proper base - for everything, and conditions you like few other activities will).
No prizes for guessing which exercises the ancient Indian wrestlers used - HA!
India, that land of wrestlers, ancient India produced the Gama, probably and likely the greatest of them all - there was a LOT that was solid about ancient India, pity it's the exact opposite these days.
But India isn't the only land "traditionally" known for wrestling prowress and super wrestlers - real wrestlers, not the muscle bound WWE guys (although back in the day some of the WWE guys like the Taker for one had REAL martial arts and fighting background!) ...
Turkey. Think Turkish Wrestling.
Greece/Italy - Greco Roman, anyone?
Bulgaria.
Russia.
And closer to home, think "farmer" Martin Burns in the good ole US of A who followed most of the same training methods and techniques as a lot of the other people from the countries mentioned above.
Anyway - the one thing most people will nod their heads at (people in the know that is) - and a secret I did NOT put in either Gorilla Grip - or Gorilla Grip Advanced - a secret that will take your grip strength to new levels even if you're a stud at doing pulll-ups with thick grips and so forth?
Even if you can close grippers and swing heavy ass clubs in sets of 100 without stopping?
Is this - make the damn thing HARDER to grip.
Oil the thing.
No pun.
I just tried gripping a bottle with the pinch grip that way - it was full of water, believe me, if you grip ANYTHING - with oil slathered all over it, it becomes that much harder to grip.
In the past, when people asked me to exercise that famous grip of mine to open hard to open jars, wedged doors etc, I'd ask if I could do it later if I had lotion on my hands. (again, no pun please. Gotta treat those calluses SOMETIME, lotion didnt really do it, but I've got dry skin naturally, that is all there is to it).
These days - NO.
I welcome the challenge!
In ancient Turkey, Rome, India etc - they knew a thing or two about grip training.
Try wrestling - hard enough as it is, and builds an explosive grip without any direct grip work.
Then try doing that when your opponent has OIL slathered all over his body - and do it all day long in competitions.
Trust me, picking people up and throwing them or simply grabbing them that way is a whole different beast than if there was no oil on their bodies.
For those saying "too simple" - well - TRY IT.
Or, try the other secret tip I give you in Gorilla Grip - ADVANCED! which involves a simple edible so simple you'd never think it could strengthen the grip, but it does.
Or try another "so simple" technique I give you in Gorilla Grip - to be done for a minimum of 100 reps per day, something so easy even couch potatoes will pooh pooh.
Well, I've got this to say - and so did Brooks Kubik in Dinosaur BodyWeight Training - -- TRY IT!
And then get back to me.
Anyway.
Thats the reason they oiled their bodies did the old time wrestlers - NOT the reason why most idiots at modern day gyms do it i.e. to preen, pose and pump away like the fools they're training like are...
Certainly wasn't bodybuilding focus either, take a look at their bodies, just raw solid STRENGTH, power and conditioning like no other.
And you TOO can get that way if you follow my lead, and DO what I tell you to in the 0 Excuses fitness System without making RETARDED, ridiculous excuses about price, "no time", too busy or other BS people love to whine about (and it's all BS).
Whether you will or not is of course up to you.
And YOU alone.
I'm out - back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - While you COULD do it, I dont recommend trying this method with heavy weights, especially NOT if you're swinging dem clubs, maces, kettlebells and so forth.
Disclaimer - I've done it.
But I'm advanced, not everyone is!
And even I dont do it all the time, that damn thing can seriously injure you if you dont do it right, but focus right, you'll see why grip training is really the most important thing after breathing, or close to it - next to it. Hehe. The way it makes you FEEL, utterly superhuman!
Why I often put soap in my hair, that lovely HAIR, hehe.
"You've got the hair, boi" !
So said Tyrone Eric Milalkuwhat Blanks, him of the "floor humper pushups". hehe when we were discussing my prowress at a certain area despite being unfit as PHOCK during my college days, and his lack thereof (well, relatively speaking, he still did pretty good with the black girls, I'll give him that, for some reason he kept calling me the rainbow pimp though!).
(that link up there says spiderman pushups, but that wasnt what he was refering to - more on that in Pushup Central. If you are truly interested in Eric's description (his nick name) - then go HERE).??
Anyway, this isn't to tell you about my hair, or the bald spot at the top of my head most dont notice (not because I try and hide it, its just the way it is).
My wife tried "in vain" to get rid of it.
All those nights spent working on Dongguan Expat with Major General Michael no doubt contributed to it.
"You know, Rahul, I've got this bald spot on the top of my head which is getting BIGGER with every passing minute", I remember him saying - before I finally got the key to fixing why Google Ads would not display on PhpNuke.
Hehe.
Those - them - were the DAYS!
Now, I am not saying this because "I'm an odd dude" either.
That was some fool who didnt obey rules in my group, got kicked out, then bitched up and down about it.
It isn't to tell you about my prowress in bed.
It isn't to tell you what to do and what NOT TO DO beauty or hair wise. I'll leave that expertise up to the Metrosexual Bozos like Glyn Schofield and apparently a sizeable proportion of so called men out there...
IT ant my area of expertise. It never will be. I dont WANT it to be either, so go ahead and put raw egg yolk in your hair if you want (supposed to be good for it, hehe) - or rub your face up and down with banana peels as the wife does (that one caught me by surprise. Supposed to be some sort of facial, yet that skin doesn't clear up no matter what, could it be fitness related - ah wait. How dare I go there!).
(actually, a LOT OF problems, including skin are related to fitness, specifically, CORE FITNESS - get that core in shape, you might be surprised to find out it ain't just mouth ulcers and digestive issues that go away - your skin, your breathing, ALL of it improves if done right. More on this in Corrugated Core (if you can spot it!)).
I do it well ... two reasons, one, like Nicholas Cage in "The Rock" - "almost blew the house up when I was 11" (not really, hehe) - I love to experiment.
It ain't got nothing to do with money either, I'll often use shampoo for laundry detergent, the hair dryer to dry a pair of stubborn johns - and so forth - I'll often use things not so called meant for "this purpose" for that - end of the day, its like food, all "mixes in your stomach" as the wife loves to say, no need to get too fancy - same thing with soap. Hehe.
Its just a simple memory.
When I was a little boy, I went swimming with my grandad in a big ole lake, and thats mentioned in 16 Inspirational Fitness Recollections as part of the rest, I believe.
And I remember him washing his hair out with soap as we showered post lake (and post pool - we did both - 430 AM morning calls!).
Gotta give it to him - 70 plus, waking up every damn morning, working till 10 ...
Gotta give it to me too- but hey, whose counting the gotta gives. Hehe.
Anyway - point of this?
Isn't the hair, or my grandfather's memories (really, I just do it sometimes, nothing to do with him or the memory, just seems to make sense for me) - is this.
EXPERIMENT.
Your workouts were not meant to be staid and boring.
No, that aint an excuse to be lazy and lethargic and skip out on high rep squats saying "they're boring".
You follow certain guidelines - the base lines laid out in 0 Excuses Fitness, there is NO GETTING AROUND the fact that fundamentals MUST NOT BE IGNORED!
But you experiment, my friend.
Thats why I give you such a wide variety of workouts in all my books - truth be told, if you use your brain, you could come up with an even wider variety of workouts tailored to YOU - if you really try, and want to.
It's EASY, once you get into the spirit - or hang of things. Thangs. Hehe.
Lots of memories pumpin in post shower - TMI?
Nah, I dont think so.
I'm out.
Back soon!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - The girls never seemed to mind the bald spot, hehe. So much for Dad droning on about "I'm sure they'll find you cute without the hair"!
Ah, the hair, something everyone so called close to me has tried me to get to shed - unsuccessfully at the very end.
So it BE.
Can't stop a man from doing what a man wants to, ultimately, why some people would want to beats me, but hey.
And thats the bottom line cuz... I said so, hehe (nah, cuz - is - IS!).
Take the lower body OUT of it
My brother,
And, fellow - or dame, hehe - fitness fanatic - -
What I'm about to say might come across as highly contradictory in two regards, one - to build brute upper body strength, there's many good ways - but none of what I normally talk about involves isolation (never) - and certainly never taking the LEGS away.
If you've noticed, and everyone on my list has for sho - training legs and back hard and heavy is really what builds upper body strength, not simply training the upper body, doing endless sets of bench presses, curls, lat pulldowns and so forth which build fake strength if at all (for the most part - the last exercise being the biggest culprit - that strength neither lasts, nor is it practically useful in many or any ways).
Test yourself on pull-ups and the lat pulldown, chances are excellent if you've got half a brain you'll figure it out on your own, anyway, but now?
What I'm here to tell you?
To build brute upper body strength?
Sometimes, just sometimes, you take the lower body - OUT OF IT - and away - unless it's for balance mostly, and sometimes not even that
My forearms are singing and ZINGING right now, my friend.
I did a fairly long lumberjack workout, lots of club swinging in all directions.
What you might find strange is this - towards the end of it, I sat my ass down, put on some movie or the other - and continued.
What do I mean?
Well, bruce Lee for one had this habit of constantly swinging a dumbbell around at home, no matter what he was doing, every so often he'd lift it, and it wasn't "especially" heavy either.
Its the reps that build that real functional strength, I've said this forever, Lee knew it, of course.
It's NOT one time lifts - thats the lazy man's way out a lot of times - not always, but look at truly fit people, chances are they do lot more other than powerlifting, if they even do that at all.
Anyway, Lee would often swing his club around at all odd hours.
Me, I was sitting there trying not to bash a 10 kg club against the ole puter. Hehe.
And let me tell you, its one thing bringing the hips and waist into club and all lumberjack work and workouts - you should do that - I've said that in Lumberjack Lodestone Fitness amongst other gems you wont want to miss.
But sometimes, you take the lower body out of it, and believe me, you're not isolating - you're still working the entire upper body as a whole.
And it works GREAT as a finisher.
So do pull-ups throughout the workout! MY!
And of course, the classic example of taking the legs away is one of the most brutally effective exercises out there, sometimes most gym goers cannot begin to do, and run away from - and something even less common than pull-ups.
The almighty handstand pushup, and that one exercise should explain the entire post to you!
And thats the message for now.
Read, apply, and train - HARD!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
PS - My courses dont just give you info NO-ONE else will, I give you the REAL deal, the secrets the gyms and other so called fitness gurus love to keep from you to fatten their own wallets, and keep you - not thy wallet - FAT.
Nah.
I give it to you straight, not only that - in a manner you must listen to, and cannot miss - and in a brutally frank manner that just flat out WORKS.
And if you haven't gotten the courses above as yet, do so NOW, you simply MUST. Can't miss!