The Phantom of the Opera fitness routine

What made the Phantom of the Opera such a scary guy? His disfigurement was quite creepy. But, nothing like his speed, strength, and killing intent. Created in 1910 by police reporter Gaston Leroux, the ghost was inspired when he reported on a corpse found underneath an opera house.

The Ghost wasn’t just another creepy guy with a bad disposition. He was strong and agile and knew how to use weapons, ropes, poisons and explosives. He could climb the rafters of the opera house, like a monkey, and elude capture too. In close combat, it was equally dangerous. At one point, while playing the violin for her protégé, Christine, her young suitor, Rauol, shows up and tries to make some demands on her. At that moment, with a single blow, the Ghost knocks out the young man, but spares his life. (Note: never interrupt the Ghost while he is playing the violin.)

The ghost, whose real name was Erik, had been the disfigured son of a construction worker. Young Erik fled his home in Normandy and joined various carnivals, where he learned agility skills, musical performance, and even weapons. He became very good with weapons, including rope. He could throw a loop, known as a “Punjab Lasso”, around an opponent’s neck with astonishing speed. Sometimes he was ordered to entertain a wealthy sultana (wife of a sultan) by locking him in a room with a condemned prisoner by welding a pike and a sword. Eirk with his lasso, he would always win. (The sultana later learned the same skill, and amused herself dispatching servants and friends with her lasso. And people think Erik was scary).

The Ghost was also hired by wealthy men to construct mysterious buildings with secret passageways in Turkey and Persia. (But he had to flee when his employers tried to keep secret passageways a secret by murdering Erik.) When he brought this ability to France, the Phantom built the opera house where he designed his own hiding places and passageways. This opera house covered several acres, including a large horse stable. So, he had plenty of room to move around, observe the world, practice his music, and perform his shenanigans.

Then he was a tutor and fell in love with a young singer, Christine Daae, and that’s where the story begins.

Although it’s a tragic story, the Phantom of the Opera shows just how formidable a functionally fit “monster” can be. Being able to lift, run, climb, kidnap maidens, evade the police, and fight former suitors requires a sustained type of strength that most people in the 21st century cannot even hope to achieve.

This is why bodyweight exercises like power yoga, Pilates, and gymnastics promote a more natural type of strength and fitness than machinery in most large gyms.