Taxi Driver pull up bar workout. Circa 1976

“June 29th, I gotta get in shape now too much sitting is ruining my body, too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on it will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pull ups, there will be no more pills there will be no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body.  From now on it will be total organization, every muscle must be tight.”

Robert De Niro portrayed a mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran who drove a NYC taxi by night. This movie motivated me to install my first pull up bar. Inside De Niro’s cramped apartment he employs the most basic of movements with limited equipment, to prepare himself to do battle against the human filth and degradation he can’t ignore. His motivation is self serving, he quenches his desire for violence using society’s undesirables who prey on the weak as his targets. De Niro’s advice and routine is a simple recipe for health and fitness. His warrior mindset is bad ass. Follow all or some of De Niro’s simple format it’s still relevant 38 years on.