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!

Something I've never quite understood, pally - or bro, as the case might be.

This whole mania about "am I training bodyweight only" or do I lift "weights".

For some reason, a lot of folks approach training as a "either this or that scenario".

A lot of folks also might be surprised - VERY surprised - to hear that I once lifted weights - in a manner I constantly call out NOW - and I still lift weights - in a manner I highly advocate. NOW, and will forever!

What do I mean?

Well, simply this, friend, as I sit here sweating after WEIGHTED squats, first off, I never said weights are inherently bad.

I'm a huge fan of old timer style training - old school STRONGMAN - real strongman style training, and a lot of that involved weights ALONG with bodyweight, both in equal proportion.

What I AM against is the modern day boobybuilding nonsense, the pump and tone, the constant and silly insistence on the bench being the only "real" indicator of strength, the utterly useless lat pulldown machine, and other pretty much useless ab devices, treadmills etc that are all designed to slim one thing - your wallet, not your midsection.

Not to mention, a lot of that shit is just plain ole unhealthy - dont believe me? Just look at the way you FEEL after doing a lot of those routines, my friend.

Still dont believe me, well, take it from the horse's mouth, a PRO bodybuilder and what he had to say on the Shoulders like Boulders! pages - and he aint the only one by far pally.

THAT sort of thing is what I am very vehemently against.

THAT sort of thing is what I Call out, and will continue to, unfortunately, with the marketing being shoved down your throats all the time on it, THAT is what most people think when they hear weight lifting.

But there's far more to it.

The farmer's walk for one, is a superlative exercise I recommend in Gorilla Grip - and I should have in Corrugated Core as well, as it builds the grip and core like nothing else if done right (in a manner nothing else will).

It involves lifting up heavy objects, preferably thick handled and unweildy, and walking with them for as long as you can. A few sets of that, or this sort of thing here - https://0excusesfitness.com/2021/12/29/weighted-pull-ups-or-not/ (this one had the great Brooks Kubik's approval too when I told him, you know if he approved it, it's damn good!) ... will FRY you beyond belief, my friend.

And done enough times it will fry all fat off your midsection, build a cast iron grip, build traps like a grizzly's, and lumps of muscle all over your body.

Pure weight!

Then, the routines I tell you about in Lumberjack Lodestone Fitness - if you can go fifteen minutes or more with some of those routines - well, you're a stud already.

Trust me, those of you that can squat elephants will be sweating buckets doing some of the routines I advocate with 40 kgs ... those clubs will do that to you,so will maces and kettlebells which are mentioned in the course, my longest as of yet, and thats saying something!

This one will truly be a BEHEMOTH, a bonafide MONSTER!

And even your own weight - is that not "weight" ?

Handstand pushups will make a man out of you, as will pull-ups ...

My point is just this, that there is no "one way" to train.

And if you have to lift, by all means do so - but do so like the old time strongmen did.

Lift heavy ass stones, beer kegs, stuff like that builds IMMENSE and real strength and conditions you beyond belief too if done  RIGHT.

All to be included in Lumberjack Lodestone Fitness ...

And thats the lesson for now, no one way to do things in this regard!

Have at.

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

It struck me as I was going to turn off the computer that what people need more than anything else these days?

STRESS - relief.

Unfortunately people get it from all the wrong source - tobacco, liqor, and other illicit substances (though to be honest tobacco is probably worse than most of those "illicit" substances anyway).

People unfortunately as you can tell from whats going choose all the WRONG ways (and usually wrong people) to "vent on" i.e. "if I can vent on him or her, then I WILL!".

And a lot of people say nothing, yet just "stew" internally.

None of this is good, the reasons are all obvious (and it ain't getting any better anytime soon either - lets face it if you have not already).

Instead of all that, why not focus on "five minutes ahead I'm going to be feeling AWESOME!"

I was going to title this 5 stress busting workouts.

But truth is, there are so many - both mental and physical.

Here's a mental trick I often use - go back in your mind's eye to a PLEASANT memory - go into your mind and SEE what you want "now" (not how much money you want now, as I know thats what people will reply to) - shut off everything else - and simply focus on that imagery, and the feelings that flow forth.

It's called visualization. I talk about it in 0 Excuses Fitness, Zero to HERO! and MANY other books, and it really, really works my friend - even if you just use it for stress relief.

Then of course, you have the meditation techniques mentally.

But hold on, a lot of you here aren't interested in that either (which is fine - physical exercise is often what works best anyway!).

And I aint going to sit here and paint pictures of luxury holidays or excess spending or what not when the source of all the stress is "less money" which it seems to be for a lot of people these days.

Nah, what I'm telling you ABOVE and below costs nothing compared to what you're getting in terms of benefits, my friend.

So here it is -

In no particular order -

100 Hindu squats (or bodyweight squats) for one.

It's simple. Anytime you feel overly stressed, just drop down and start doing 'em - period.

You dont need to worry about rep counts either - all you need to keep in mind is keep it BRISK.

Finish 50 without stopping, you'll see what I mean, finish 100, you'll be BUZZING!

Or, get into a handstand and hold it for a minute at least. The blood flow to your head and neck for one will make you feel a HELL Of a lot better - not to mention this movement often puts you in the mood for tougher exercises and workouts.

Third, ISOMETRICS! STRETCHING!

ANY of the great movements in Isometric and Flexibility Training - or perhaps Advanced PROFOUND Isometric and Flexibility Training will get the trick done provided you devote a few minutes to it per day - when you're super stressed, you'll literally FEEL the stress MELTING AWAY my friend.

Then the bear crawl, a pick me up like nothing else, and it usually for most people doesn't take more than 30 seconds to work its magic.

Thats four physical exercises, two mental, key thing?

None of it need take you the entire day.

None of it, barring the initial investment in the books costs any money to do - hell, you can do the entire workouts at HOME, so where's your EXCUSE, my friend?

It's sure a lot better than "stewing internally", and worrying about factors you cannot control like economy and so forth, it'll also get you in great shape if you do enough of it.

And you'll be feeling like a billion bucks QUICKLY so you can get on with the rest of your day which is the goal here, not turning into Mr Muscle or anything of that nature my friend (and you can use these throughout the day too!).

And thats the idea for now.

Back soon!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - These exercises are but a few amongst the great ones I promote that will literally make stress whoosh away like air from a balloon, literally. You'll be feeling HAPPY and light and limber after just a dose or two. Try some NOW.

(and thats another great visualization right there!).

Well, so a great question came in a month or so ago, with all that has been going on, it completely slipped through the cracks - as I review my emails, I find it again!

He's basically asking a very basic question on training with Indian clubs - the "joris" as they call 'em in India (the "gada" is the mace, which is a close cousin to the club, yet, I prefer the clubs over the mace, but you should do both - more on that in the upcoming book Lumberjack "Lodestone" Fitness!). (which has been SO delayed. Hehe).

Basically what his question boils down to "will it reduce fat" - and "how many reps".

Now, with clubs two things - and I've said this before -

Most people need to do LESS when they begin - NOT MORE!

Let me repeat that - I do not necessarily mean lesser amount of REPS, but the WEIGHT, my friend.

I dont care how much you curl at the gym or what your bench is, these clubs will make men out boys, and humble the strongest of strongmen if used RIGHT.

You focus on FORM - more than anything else, and you dont just do that when you start, you continue to keep that focus as you build up.

For most guys, even "strong people" (and gals too, by the way, yes, like with pull-ups - girls are often better at these than guys! - at least the lighter weights) . . . a weight of FIVE kilograms, approx 10 lbs or so is more than plenty to begin with, and you might even need less than that - ideally, I'd start you off with like 7-8 lbs on each side.

Second, these give you superb, supreme cardio in a way most other exercises cannot.

You might not think so, you might not think "simply swinging a club around will help me burn fat".

But that is where focus and reps come in, bro.

Most people wimp out at 20 reps per arm.

If you use the 10 kg, which is too heavy for most people, trust me (to do right) - and do a 100 reps on each side, clockwise, counter clockwise, believe me, you'll not only feel that heart thudding - but you'll feel a tightness across your entire core (not just abs) like NEVER before.

Those CRISS CROSS abs I talk so much about in the book "Pull-ups - from STUD to SUPER STUD within a matter of WEEKS!" - well this is yet another way to get 'em!

Yours truly trains with 20 kgs in each hand, but I've been doing it a long, long time my friend, and I STILL use the 10 kgs and 8kgs on occasion - or more than occasionally.

And remember one thing - or two.

While a set of these clubs is more than enough to give you the workout of your life - legs included - end of the day, this isn't pure bodyweight training we're talking about, and bodyweight ALWAYS reigns supreme.

If you think you're going to skip the pull-ups "because these work the upper back big time" - you're wrong.

Do BOTH - and you'll find your pull-up performance increases dramatically as you get better at these (for those of you weak at pull-ups to start with).

Not to mention, if you're looking to lose fat around the core, with a sensible diet and some isometrics, this is the way to go.

And once you get to the level of doing pull-ups five at a time or more, slow and easy with THICK GRIPS like I do, well write back to me - and let me know, and I'll share it with the world. Thats something, doing pull-ups in high reps with those thick grips especially if you're doing heavy clubs too.

Last, and back to reps.

Dont "get bored" or wimp out on the number of reps.

Like with Hindu squats and pushups, THESE were done in high reps, often for stretches of half an hour or more by the Indian wrestlers of yore, and still ARE.

There is a reason the high reps are there.

And you'll see as you keep progressing . . . why the Gama for one valued these tools so highly.

Alright, enough for now - oh, one more thing. BIG changes coming to THIS site, we're going to be completely revamping it and bringing the layout more in line with the other site.

Ive been working the tech aspect of it for days now, almost done there.

Thats it, eh . . .

Back soon!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee