The old man I met in China – part THREE
- ... still going STRONG!

Dear Reader,

Quite a few of you wrote back to yesterday’s email about “the old man I met in China” – which was to be expected, of course.

That topic is BY FAR one of the most popular topics on the old blog – and THIS one (the other one being “my Hill Workout from China” – which has since made its way to LinkedIn, HubSpot, and only “the Universe” knows where else, hehe).

Do a bit of a Google on it and I’m sure you’ll find it – – but for now- -it’s time to continue with the tale of the old man – part III – and no, much like part two – I have NOT written about this before.

As China (and indeed the rest of the world) reels from the lockdowns and general chaos brought up by the bally Coronavirus, it’s a great time to remember that we’re all HUMAN – regardless of race, creed, color or religion.

No, I am NOT running for the office of “most politically correct candidate” – but hey – what I said is nigh true. Think about it for a minute, and I’m sure you’ll agree!

So as my “association” with the old man grew (and remember, this dude speaks no English and I speak VERY LIMITED Mandarin Chinese) – I kept seeing him daily on the HILL.

And as my own fitness levels leapfrogged – and as I got more into fitness as a full time thing (remember, I first started all this way back in 2011, took a lot of breaks in between as y’all know, et al) – – I started to literally “waltz” up the hill which had once kicked me in the can.

The SAME hill that Ann Lee waltzed up, giggling at me as I took forever to “wheeze” up – had now become EASY for me – and I was addicted to it as well as a workout. I have no idea where Ms. Lee is these days or what she is doing – but I bet she’d be astounded, hehe.

One small word from her is all it took to get me climbing daily …

“No excuses! You CAN do it every night!”

Is it any surprise that site tagline is …. ah, but back to the story!

So I started to climb that hill in the mornings shortly therafter.

Mike Tyson style if I might say so – only me – and my cellphone blasting out oldies – and believe me, while I don’t generally listen to a lot of music while I train – if you’re doing it in freezing cold weather at 530 AM on a deserted hill with no lights (yes, you read that right -I needed my cellphone “torch” to help me keep going until dawn) – it helps!

As Tyson famously said, the reason he did it – – and woke up at the ungodly hour of 430 A.M. for his roadwork is because no-one else did it and it gave him an edge.

I’d often climb that hill in the EVENING too. Make that six to seven slogs up the hill per day PLUS pushups, pull-ups, and what not.

Then I switched back to a late afternoon workout for a period, and I met the old man again.

He was literally amazed at the transformation that had taken place (remember, this was the 0 Excuses phase i.e. when I started going full time with this, and hadn’t even hiked in a while, but missed it so much that I got back into it).

As I was doing a workout from “Eat More – Weigh Less” out there on the hill – – I saw him – – and instantly recognized him. He looked the same, of course – cast iron shoulders, rock solid midsection, and the same barefoot walk up (at that point down) the hill.

He pointed at my stomach instantly.

“Hao li Hai!” he said, amazed at the change. While I wasn’t overly fat when I first met him, I certainly wasn’t in the sort of shape as I was then – and he was delighted to see it.

Often times, I’d be climbing the hill when he was doing his bit – him once, and me for the third time.

“San pha!” he’d notice approvingly (note – I’m not sure if the Pinyin I used there is correct – but the general meaning is “three climbs!” – or “crawls”, if translated literally).

Often times, he’d admonish me for taking the steps two at a time – and while I agreed with him in terms of it perhaps not being the best “overall” way to climb – it has his benefits – but so does one step at a time.

That prompted me to do a post on exactly that a few years back .

In the middle of this period, I’d often do 0 Excuses workouts at the top of the hill during my “insane” periods (when I worked out between the hours of 10-1 in the morning – during summer at that – not recommended for the average fitness trainee – I’ll give you that!).

Then I switched back to afternoon workouts.

Often times, I’d be in the middle of my pushup workouts, and I’d “feel” something.

I’d feel someone looking at me – approvingly. Now remember – crowds gathered every time I trained that style, but this was different in a way – and rightfully so.

He’d be egging me on from behind – something I do NOT like at all when working out (y’all know this!) – but with him, I’d just do more reps. Haha.

Great guy, and he’s still in the sort of shape I was in when I first met him.

This email also brings to mind a recent conversation we had about handstands – and handstand pushups – but being I’m “way over length” for THIS email – – I’ll save that for another time!

And that, my friend, is that for today. If you enjoy motivational fitness tales such as this – be sure and pick up a copy of the REVOLUTIONARY Eat More – Weigh Less fitness program – – you’ll literally be transported back into “my world” as you read (and observe what I’m doing!).

Well, my friend, that is it for now. I’ll be back later!

Best,

Rahul

P.S. – And to all those who asked, my apologies again for the break in posting last year. No excuses I know … but we’re back at it NOW, and I don’t see us slowing down anytime soon. Ahoy!

P.S #2 – By the way, if you’re not on the one System that will get you in even better shape than hiking tough hills multiple times a day – then you NEED to be, my friend. Here is where you can get your paws on the System – – https://0excusesfitness.com/0excusesfitnessystem/

 

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