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Discipline of steel #38

1) Road to Pull-up: Stage 5.
2) Start with your environment...
3) Remember it’s the single best thing you can do today...
4) And just do it.

Read time: 3.9 minutes

Good day everyone,

If there’s one thing I hope I can do for you it is simplify the way you train forever.

People make it so complicated.

Or to be more exact, the industry made it so complicated and gave people no choice.

The traditional gym as you know it is not traditional, it is new.
It’s a 20th-century invention that was built around bodybuilding.

If you’re a bodybuilder, don’t change anything.

But if you’re not, it is time to stop using 3 machines to train the same muscle at different angles.

This is not functional. If it’s not functional, it’s not natural. And if it’s not natural, you’re just making it harder to build a nice-looking physique.

If you want to build a proportionate and fit body, you need a training regimen that’s based on natural movement.

Bodyweight training, free weights lifting, running, jumping…
It may be hard but it’s so much more simple.
And the results feel and look so much better.

Make exercise natural again.

If you need help or have a question about your training, please let me know by replying to this email and I’ll share my answer with everyone.

Now let’s start! 💪

1. Road to Pull-up: Stage 5.

We’re getting closer to our goal, and it’s time to build pure, raw strength by using one of the oldest tricks in calisthenics.

Please welcome “Negatives”.

If you’re not familiar with negatives, they are basically the reverse version of the movement you’re trying to learn or improve.

In the case of pull-ups, you’ll start with your chin over the bar and lower your body down as slowly as possible.

The slower, the more strength you gain.

You will start with 3 sets of 3 negative pull-ups as slow as you can.
If your reps can’t last more than 5 seconds, go back and practice Stage 4 a little more.

Once you can do 3 sets of 3 15-second negative pull-ups, with 1.5 minute rest in between, you’ll have completed this stage.

Click this link for the full YouTube video and instructions.

PS: save this email in a special folder, so you can easily find any stage of the Road to Pull-up series whenever you need it. 👍

2. Start with your environment…

Change your environment, a flower can’t grow on mud.

You can have all the good intentions in the world, you won’t build a healthy routine if your environment is unhealthy.
It’s just not going to work.

Becoming fit is not only about working out, it’s a whole lifestyle.
You need to eat well, sleep well, breathe well, think positive.

And for that you need rules and a surrounding that put you in the right mindset.

You need a big clean-up.
You need to “Marie Kondo” your life.

Start with your car, your house, your clothes.
They all need to be tidy and clean.
Do the same with your food, make it clean.
And with your schedule too, make it tidy.

Don’t think you can have your fitness together if the rest is a mess, that’s not how it works.

Fix your environment, then you’ll fix yourself.

3. Remember it’s the single best thing you can do today…

Working out is the best thing you’ll do for yourself today, and on most days of the year.

Because most days are ordinary.

And there are very few isolated actions or events that will benefit you as much as a single workout.

This is why it should be your priority every day that’s not your wedding, or your child's graduation, or the biggest deal of your career.

Because if it’s not that kind of day, I am certain you won’t have a better opportunity for self-growth than a good training session.

Therefore, it’s very important that you learn how to do it well, and in any place or situation so that you never have an excuse to skip it.

Learn to run when you don’t have a bike, learn to train with free weights when there’s no machine, learn bodyweight training when there’s no equipment at all etc.

Learn and be ready for every day’s best opportunity to grow.

4. And just do it.

Thinking gets in the way of your goals.

Don’t think, just do it.

“Just do it” has to be one of the best slogans ever.
Because just doing it, without questioning, reassessing, hesitating, or doubting, is very often the only way you’ll do what you have to do.

When you should train in the morning, but the weather’s bad.
When you should do 4 sets, but are tired after 3.
When you have a session at 7pm, but had a long day at work.
When you should eat well, but there’s fries on the menu.
When it’s leg day, and you still hate the press.

Don’t allow yourself to think, and just do what you have to do.

You’ve already done the thinking when you set your goals and drew a plan.
Now is the time for acting and nothing else.

You will always find a reason not to do the work…
Unless you stop looking for one.

So don’t think, and just do it.

“The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.” ― Confucius