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Grylls shared his French Foreign Legion sergeant's 'motivational' message alongside his pre-workout warm-up routine

Whether he’s leading expeditions in the Antarctic or traversing the Alaskan wilderness with Barack Obama, outdoorsman and survivalist Bear Grylls is one of those people who's adventures always seem to motivate you. But have you ever wondered who the people are that inspire him? In a recent Instagram post, the former SAS soldier revealed the savage words of a former army officer that he hears every time he does a pull-up.

‘I always have the voice of a French Foreign Legion sergeant ring in my ear when I’m doing pull-ups,’ Grylls wrote in the Instagram post. ‘He used to shout at us saying: “a man who can’t lift his body weight is dead weight!” Whatever it takes to motivate you, eh!’

Brutal words, but as an SAS soldier, it’s a sentiment that probably rings true. Plus, it seems to have done the trick. Pull-ups are now an ever-present component of Grylls’ workout routine, as we find out in the Instagram video as he talks us through the warm-up routine he does before every workout.

‘This is how I try and start every workout I do,’ Grylls says. ‘25 pull-ups, 50 press-ups, 75 squats, 100 sit-ups.’

While this may sound like a lot for a warm-up, it’s not something he was capable of doing overnight. ‘It’s taken me a while to get there,’ he says. ‘None of the form is perfect, but I do my best and never give up.

‘When I started a few years ago, I could do like eight [pull-ups] and now I’m at 25. I think I do 27 on this one. I’ve now started weighting it, so I put a 5kg vest on for a little bit of time. But at the moment I’m travelling, so I’m just banging them out.’