Squats, Marco Villalobos – and more!
- A LOT MORE!

I got this from a good friend (and one of our best, perhaps THE BEST so far translators here – and that is sayin a lot!) Marco Villalobos –

My dear friend, it is a pleasure for me to greet you, I hope you are very well, wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I hope we will resume our work issues soon, I send you a big gorilla hug. Marco

Now, there is a bit of a strange history to this one! All for the greater good though -basically on this one, he was trying to get to the book to translate it (he hasn’t bought this one) – but he couldn’t due to file upload issues or something (this book is one of those where I let Sly Stallone’s make up artist do the pictures, hehe – so all HD and “high res” pictures as it were, like on the cover) …

And we went back and forth on it, I set up access for him, but he couldn’t get to the file apparently, then he never got back on certain things I asked him for (to debug the issue) and it “went nowhere”.

One of those strange things, it happens!

I responded back to him this morning saying there were NO issues with his work, no issues between “us” whatsoever – and so forth!

And I’ve set up (or will, post his confirmation) access for him again and so forth but its sage, the timing – it always is “in the flow” isnt it? – of his email …

Given the “leg sizzling” reviews and sales flowing in for Squat 101, indeed, my Amazon profile for whatever reason shows this to be the “most popular book of this month” – with good reason hehe … apt timing!

Now, a gentleman that bought Animal Kingdom Workouts (that Marco will probably translate soon into Spanish too) had questions about … well, the eternal and typical “which is better”.

But he’s a doer, so I responded, his question was “are animal movements for the legs better or squats per se” …

You know, duck waddles, frog jumps and so forth- all of which are covered in that great book Animal KIngdom Workouts. 

Its a good question, although I dont know if he’s asking to “avoid” the high reps and such – probably not since he’s set a goal for himself to do at least 100 squats – of any nature consecutively without pausing.

Now, thats another thing I want to clear up – and have in the book.

While Hindu squats are great, you should never ever ignore the bodyweight squat either or any of the other squat variants mentioned in the book.

Overreliance on Hindu squats can cause issues down the road with imbalance, hamstrings being neglected, and so forth. They’re a great exercise, you SHOULD and must get damn good at them – not at the expense of the less “sexier” exercises though which are equally good, if not better.

The “why” is mentioned in the introduction to the book in great detail as well.

Second, weights.

The Indian wrestlers used to tie weights around their necks when they did this. For you, perhaps a huge stone around the neck wouldn’t work that well! But, there are other creative ways of getting around this issue- Lumberjack “Lodestone” Fitness details these – but for now, back to the question, and other related ones – one being “progression after 100 reps” or so forth.

Now, anyone that has ever DONE 100 – or 200 squats in a row wouldn’t be asking this question – they’d figure it out by then, and go for it (nothing against the fine gentleman that asked tho!).

Especially 500, if people just talk about doing 500, and “what after that” – chances are they’re fat armchair theorists that have never done the thing (and it usually shows on their frames) – and just “spouting hot air”.

But which is better – animal movements or these?

Neither.

Progression as anyone who has done the thing will tell you – two things – one, the SKY is the limit.

And two, if you ain’t squatting, you aint training –  because to get to the sky you build a solid foundation. There is no other way to build that solid foundation without training legs via squats first. Nothing at all replaces the up and down motion of squats, NOTHING – not hill climbing, not animal movements, not rope skipping – ALL Of those – or step ups, or its variants – ALL of those are great, they all deserve their place in the sun but are they superior to the squat

NOT A CHANCE!

If you ain’t squatting you aint training, it’s as simple as that (training right).

And you’re not doing one of the fundamental exercises responsible for really igniting the fat burner within – getting the metabolism jacked and going, and keeping it there – and building muscle throughout your frame – and much, much more.

If there is one exercise I could recommend to you this holiday season?

The almighty SQUAT.

One Christmas gift “that will keep on giving” – Squat 101. Seriously, the best gift ever – the gift of lasting health, strength and fitness! (and thank you to all of you sending in questions – much appreciated, including “paul” who sent the above one in).

Now, you can always make the squat tougher.

Those asking “but how to make it tougher” – again you’ve never gotten to the point where you have to make it tougher, or you wouldn’t ask the question in the manner you are, you’d tell me how you made it tougher!

One leg – more weight – more reps – mixing up exercises – doing animal movements with squats – and so forth.

This same thing applies to pushups, pull-ups, every bodyweight exercise, the sky is the limit, there are limitless ways to making it tougher including holding handstands on fingers if you’re so inclined (the Shaolin Monks in Hunan in China are! Hehe) – or perhaps squats on one toe (I’ve never seen that done, but someone must have thought of it!).

So thats a rhetorical question, and doesnt really make any logical sense to ask in the first place.

Building a solid foundation before you think of skyscrapers is what I talk about in the 0 Excuses Fitness System, right down to the “much copied” language (you’d be surprised at how I put out tiny little things which people shamelessly ape and copy and make themselves look utterly foolish by doing so) ….

And rightly so.

And nothing builds your fitness foundation better than squats.

If you ain’t squatting you aint training.

Period.

Right.

And if you ain’t gotten the book on it even after all this, you’re simply not into serious fitness of any nature, period…

And thats that.

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Those of you that HAVE gotten the book – remember to review it – honest and genuine is all we ask for, not necessarily 5 star or any star (though most reviews we get are 5 star and very well warranted too I must say) – and you get an extra 10% off your next purchase – guaranteed!

Merry Christmas, enjoy thy shopping and heading into the New Year on a great note!

And squat aplenty to burn all that food off, hehe.

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