Ouuuu... Burpees

 Let's start with a Youtube video. Hope you don't enter a video-binging fest after watching it. 

"You throw a bucket of water on a rock, nothing happens. But you let a drop of water fall on a rock every day, and it makes a hole in the rock. Do you want a rock with a hole in it?" Nice line, Chase (the chap from the video). 

It's been lockdown, fearmongering, along with the vaccine arms race for some time now, and the gyms aren't exactly the best place to be. Yaaay. For someone who's regular to lifting and sweating out, that's quite a bummer. Do you relate? However, there's a bit of a trick here. We as a people have taken to advertisements and marketing rather well. You see, the whole six-pack abbing, whey-protein-chugging, bicep-flexing 'bro' has become commonplace for a reason. It's visually appealing. Functional efficacy... well, that's a different topic. 

Coming back to the point about marketing, the fitness industry has successfully tricked most of us with its barrage of 'weight-loss' tips, videos, hacks, health bars, and fat-incinerating concoctions. Which is why, every 1st of January, we waltz to our fancy, brightly lit, air-conditioned health clubs and fork over a fistful of cash for a brand new membership. Then, we forget about the membership till some 360-and-a-few days. Aha, now you do relate!

Confession time. I wrote the first three paragraphs around the time when we all truly came to grasps with the whole pandemic situation (read July-August 2020). Annnnd... then I forgot about it. In fact, in hindsight, I'm glad that I did. We're near New Year 2020, so it's been a good 5-6 months that I've been training on my own, at home, with zero equipment, and I'm probably in the best shape of my life. Yup, that happened, that too at a time when men in India are putting on weight, supposedly. 

I could end this blog in the next two words. Tabata. Burpees. But, of course, I won't, although ideally, I should. I should, because getting and staying in shape is truly simple, and almost free. Okay, not free. The food isn't free, you probably want to get a jump rope and a yoga mat if you don't own one already. But, the food isn't some fancy-arse 200-bucks-a-meal expensive. Simple, plain ingredients, whole foods, grains, seeds, lentils, eggs, ghee, you get the drift? If you're an India, you can be phenomenally fit on a diet of good-old dal chawal. In fact, that's probably the simplest meal you need to get and stay fit. Some eggs and nuts may help, but simple food is the answer. no whey, protein mud, or pill-popping required. 

About 'Tabata' and 'burpees'... they work like magic. Throw in sessions of jump-roping, squats, lunges, push-ups and pull-ups if you can for variety. I know, pull-ups are a bitch. Plus, you have to figure out the drilling to mount the pull-up bar. Painful, yessir. But stick around. The pull-ups can wait. Get a Tabata timer on your smartphone. Free. Free. Free. Bodyweight... Free. Free. Free. 10 burpees per minute. The whole hog, dropping down into the push-up, getting up with the jump-squat. 10 rounds. Gradually build speed. Trim down the rest time. In about a month or maybe two, you'll be down to 100+ burpees in about 6-7 minutes. It's brutal, you'll hate yourself every day, and sweat a river every day. But you'll see stuff happening in the mirror that will leave you astounded. 

I say this with a lot of confidence because it's been five months since I started. The workout takes about 10 minutes, I die and get resurrected everyday, and because of the sweating, I bathe every day. It's an absolute win-win. 10 burpees per minute, 10 rounds. Everyday. Amp up the intensity from there. You'll thank yourself later, and save a ton of bucks. No fad, only fact. a