In case you missed it, this week’s Monday Morning Motivation With Mike touched on, in decent length, the benefits of ‘suffering’ in the gym.

Today, in our 2nd Hump Day Pump Day, as promised, I’m going to give y’all some examples so hopefully you can begin to implement a suffer session or two into your weekly routine!

First and foremost, do NOT overthink this.

Some quick guidelines to help give you some ideas:

1. What do you hate doing in the gym? Not necessarily because you suck at it— because for these workouts you want to be proficient at the movements— but because it's HARD. Start there.

2. What sucks every time you do it? No matter how good of shape you’re in? Start there.

3. What are some basic movements, that if done over and over and over again, and over and over and over again, make you want to quit? Start there.

This was one I did earlier this year:

Next, when determining the rounds/reps consider this:

• Start at a high number and count down. See pictures above and below for more context.

• Little to no rest in between rounds/sets. If any, have an active rest (core is a great active rest or any other completely different muscle group than what you’re smashing)

• Also, try to do something that can be measured. Best way is to time it. This way you can attempt it again and beat the previous time.

I started doing these in 2019. Little did I know, that summer I would lose my brother from another mother, Brandon Wayne Wright, and that these suffer sessions would get me through some dark ass moments. Here’s one I did a couple of months before his passing but repeated often because it suckssssss:

A couple of others to think about that you can easily do with little to no equipment:

• Wall sit plus plank. Alternate between the two. Wall sit for as long as you possibly can, then plank for as long as you possibly can. Rotate, back and forth between the two of them as many times as you can handle. And then do it a few more times! (This is an easy one for beginners)

• KB clean to press and snatches. With this one, do a clean to press then snatch (thats one rep), repeat that 9 more times for 10 total, then switch hands. Then do 8 of each with each arm, then 6, 4, 2. Nonstop, no rest until you’re done. Then repeat for another 2ish rounds after 2ish minute rest. Here’s a cool video of me crushing it.

What you didn’t know is that by doing these you’ll also become much more efficient with your other workouts, eliminating a lot of the extra wasted time just like my main man Jason Statham states above!

This last one was definitely the hardest one I’ve done which is a bold ass statement considering every last one of them is brutal. I think I’m still recovering from it:

And never forget:

You should not be able to talk during these. And when you get to that point… prepare yourself going in… you’re going to want to quit. You’re going to begin negotiating with yourself. The more times you push through, and ignore that inner quitter (we all have one!), the stronger and more resilient you make not only your body, but your mind and soul too. LFG! Much love, mi gente.

(Respond to this email after you complete your 1st suffer session!)

- Mike O’Hara

PS

If you missed Monday’s you need to go read it now so you truly understand the importance of these suffer sessions and share these with yo’ people!

Lastly, please vote below for the next day you wanna see added into the mix, and respond directly to this email with any questions along with some feedback so I can make this the best newsletter on the planet!