There are many tips I have, of course, in terms of blasting past fatigue – increasing rep counts – recovering from a hard set – and so forth.

One, and most useful tip is what I mention about breathing – but only in the 0 Excuses Fitness Videos.

That means, yes, you have to get the book and videos to learn about this special tip that will take you from panting up a storm “out of control” as Carol once said, hehe – to “easy peasy recovery” regardless of how hard the set or workout is that you’re doing.

And it involves doing the polar opposite of what the so called experts say, i.e. it involves HOLDING the breath.

I’m hardly the first one to advocate this though, Martin Farmer Burns in the Lessons of Wrestling and Physical Culture advocated holding the breath as well during his special “stomach flattening” isometric.

That one might make it into a future book of isometrics as well.

Rule of thumb – if “everyone” says do it this way – don’t. Hehe. Simple as that!

Other than this, well, another special trick I’ve spoken about in the past

The trick of 2’s.

When doing 500 jump rope straight, for instance, I count each rep twice – so when I get to 250, I’m done.

This helps me immensely in terms of “less to do” – just the “weight of the numbers” reduced by half if you get my drift.

There are many other tricks I have – and you likely have too.

Share some!

But the one I’d like to talk about today?

When you feel fatigued, when you feel you simply cannot go past a certain sticking point, when you feel “100 is all I can do in a row!” (though you want to do more) and so forth – then do the following.

One, put a picture into your mind.

A picture of something that truly matters to you, that you think about consciously or not, day or night.

Good or bad, socially acceptable or not, whatever it is, we all have our “deep dark desires”, secrets, goals or so forth.

It’s something you go to bed with every night, wake up every morning, sometimes dream about at night too.

What you call  a real goal – or passion – or both.

Something that has never until now failed to energize you beyond belief, light a fire under your ass to GO, go, and keep GOING!

Put that picture in your mind instead of the rep count, and watch yourself crank out another 25 or so effortlessly!

Along with that, it might be useful to remember what David Goggins said about human beings in general.

When we think we’re at our sticking point, most of us have only gotten to like 30% of our REAL capacity.

So true, my friend, so true.

That, then is the tip.

Put something – an IMAGE – which should naturally evoke deep strong feeling and desire and PASSION of what you WANT – in your mind – AS you train, while you train, as you keep going past reps.

Chances are you’ll achieve (get) it on auto pilot as well!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

Like I posted on another site, except this is even briefer.

“If your pants dont fit, it’s time to commit”.

Which is precisely what most people refuse to do – commit to a decent EXERCISE program.

Most people are content to ask the same questions, piss and moan about their “lot in life” (fitness included), but the doers are few and far in between, yet, the reality of “pants getting tighter” by the day is something that cannot be denied for the vast majority of folks out there.

Anyway, that is the thought of the day – came in through a, surprisngly enough or not, nonsensical email about diet which was so stupid I won’t even begin to address it- some junk about which diet does what, and glorified B.S. explaining (so called).

End of the day, nothing replaces hard down to earth “real man” (or woman) exercise…

And thats that.

Back soon.

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

Admittedly, this dude I keep seeing out there in the park isn’t half as loony as some of them out there – think bodybuilder dude who showed up uninvited when I was doing high rep squats “ass to grass” claiming “he taught yoga” and that squats are meant “only for the thighs” … or, the idiot who claimed I shouldn’t be doing pull-ups because “why am I not working my brain more”.

And he’s in pretty good shape as well.

Stays to himself for the most part too, so I dont intefere either.

But watching him do pull-ups, it’s those classic mistakes people make a lot of times.

First off, the thumbless grip – I’ve never understood why someone would want to do that, even if just to “increase reps”?

The natural way to grip is with all five digits, my friend – sure, to TEST yourself you could take a few away – either on the floor, or on the pull-up bar, but for the most part, the meat and potatoes – well, have you ever seen a wild ape or chimp do “just finger hangs” unless they have to?

I dont think so and chimps, by the way have far longer fingers than we do, as opposed to homo sapiens where the THUMB is longer (than most apes).

I dont know, I’ve never quite figured that one out, along with the jerky “crossfit style” pull-ups people do – or the pushups, like this dude was doing, where he is barely going halfway down.

I dont get it, what is the point of half reps as a workout??

All that aside, it was his muscle ups, replete with oohs, aahs, and feigned grunts that got my attention, and more than a few giggles from the kids nearby.

“Making a show of himself literally he was”, I would say, as he “swung himself up” literally by kicking and with momentum, somehow managed to reach the top position of the muscle up, did a few quarter inch or so reps, and then flew back down (literally flew).

Man, I thought. That must be wearing his joints down real quick!

Of course, I said nothing.

But doing them – or pull-ups – this way is an open invitation to injury – weak connective tissues/ligaments – or both – or worse.

Again, dont get me wrong – dude’s in pretty good shape that he can at least DO a muscle up, or something close to it.

But it should be more like the other dude I saw years ago in Southern China, tall, strapping guy who would do a dead hang – albeit without the thumb – and then slowly pull-up in perfect form, then push, and then do a 360 on the bar after completing a rep.

Now that (the muscle up part) was good form!

And thats how all exercises should be done – in good form.

This guy’s hanging leg raises are done all the way up to the bar, but with knees bent – which takes away half the “fun”.

The legs need to be ramrod straight to get max benefit out of the movement.

Alright, enough preaching from me you might say

But really, carping on form – well I consider it my “birthright” to do so, if just to “defend” the great exercises that are so often mangled by the majority of people out there.

Bottom line, do it with good form, friend.

Your body and results will thank you down the line.

And God knows, I’ve earned the right to say that, because I am even more hard on myself in terms of form!

Alright , thats it for this one.

Back soon!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

That was the lovely 24 year old Venus who said that (I gave her, along with another girl I know that name).

Somehow “Venus” for me has always held a nice connotation, not necessarily because she is supposed to be the “Goddess of Love”.

But because, I dont know, the name just sounds good, and since men are from Mars, women from Venus, and Bozo Schofields in between are from planet Earth (nah – kidding – please, trans guys or girls or whatever reading this, I’ve got nothing against your personal choice, but when it comes to transgender sports competitions, glorifying all this as being the “norm” and anything else as not, adoption – and such – well, then I say NO – because it ain’t fair towards the very women a lot of “men” like Glyn apparently want to be- and well, just for eff’s sake leave kids out of it).

Sorry, I had to rant a bit there – lik eI just did on Twitter.

But Venus, her of the “I like man and money, but I like money most!”

Coldly practical, yet sensous … much like the OTHER Venus I know. Hehe.

The same age, both of them are.

Wait a minute, this ain’t the “other site” is it.

Nah.

Hehe. So I will stop describing them, but that was the comment she made to me once she met me – and keeps saying it till date.

“Oh my God!” You know me too well!

and then again…

“You’re a man of purpose!”

We won’t get into my purpose with her here. hehe.

But it’s interesting, people either call me that, or the other extreme.

Interesting indeed the contrasts, but you know when Chinese girls with one purpose in mind -business – and nigh nothing else, all else secondary (for the most part!) – say it over an dover again, there’s gotta be something to it.

Business!

Anyway………………

I dont know why I felt compelled to share that, but somehow I feel a lot of YOU feel the same way about me.

Always a purpose, always a reason – nothing is random, even though it might seem like it  – I took that straight out of the Bourne Supremacy, did I not?

Nah.

My own life.

Anyway, man of purpose or not, there’s no doubting my purpose when it comes to these emails.

One, to SELL.

Yes, I said it.

To SELL.

And two, to make sure what I am selling, what you BUY – emphasis on BUY (I’d rather be upfront about it) – helps you more than any other fitness (or if it’s the other site, other) products you buy. (or use, whatever).

My workout today was 450 squats and LOTS of deep stretching, I can feel my hamstrings singing right about now.

These workouts, my friend are workouts YOU should be partaking of – daily.

And the man of purpose sayeth so.

Here’s an interesting question I’ll leave you with.

It’s one Napoleon Hill asks often in Think and Grow Rich. 

What is YOUR purpose i.e. that ONE thing you KNOW you were meant to do?

Good, bad, ugly, Bozo, socially accepted or not, familial acceptance or not, anything I’ve left out…

Write back – let me know!

And be sure to review your purchase of the 0 Excuses Fitness System too, my friend.

I’ll throw in a special discount for all those that do!

(as I always do).

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Almost forgot to mention something interesting.

Last night, the PM of India showed up repeatedly in my dreams – umpiring a cricket match of all things, dressed in one of his sage “suits” (btw, why do Indian politicans never wear real suits. Hehe. The Chinese seem to have figured that one out a long time ago…) … and looking dapper and happy for one!

And smug, satisfied.

Now, I’ve no idea WHY he showed up.

Trump, I can understand why.

But while I admire Modis style of marketing, he does a damn good job of it, I’m pretty “ambivalent” about him otherwise …

Who knows. Hehe. Guess we’ll find out!

(no, it ain’t some latest repressed desire to be a leader of  a country. The title might sound grandiose, but the hassle? Hell nawl!

I’d rather just PM or President the Ship!)

This is why you need the videos, my friend.

0 Excuses Fitness videos – where I SHOW you how to DO the exercises and workouts, my friend.

I could write all day long, and do.

But there are certain nuances that I could explain well enough via writing, yes, but WATCHING me do it – takes it to a different level altogether.

I haven’t put out much on squatting for years now – in fact, even the first set of video I made for 0 Excuses Fitness, very well received, “the steak – why go out for a burger when you’ve got steak at home” as a certain DOER John Walker from the United Kingdom rightly put it…but if I could go back and redo something?

Well, I wouldn’t redo it, but I’d put out a workout video dedicated to squats alone, perhaps squats and pull-ups (the original pushup workout video was supposed to be just floor pushups, but it became squats, bridging and a handstand or two at the end too!). . .

Thats how it goes, of course.

Things happen – so do workouts morph.

Anyway, one of the things I keep telling people about hindu squats – and bodyweight squats too – is this.

You go FAST.

And you keep going – while maintaining form.

This might take you MONTHS to master i.e. you might do 10 in perfect form, then your form dips when you get past 10, and beyond 17 or so, you take a break.

This is because of two things – one, either weak “back of the body” (very common, it’s NOT just about the thighs, this movement!!) – or two, because the tendons and ligaments aren’t tensile and strong enough to withstand the quick reps.

Something else that scares a lot of people about the Hindu squat is this – and a lot of people want the regular bodyweight squat because they feel it’s different – is the way you literally “drop down” – like a hot potato – while doing the squat.

Bodyweight squats are meant to be done the same way, my friend, but because of the “on the toes” motion, and the tight lower backs most people have, the “dropping down” happens slower during the bodyweight squat, and doesn’t scare most people off that way.

Now, how do you drop down?

Well, simple.

When you let a ball fall from your hand, it falls – down – via gravity – in a straight line.

That, friend, is basically how you drop down. Unlike the ball though, you dont just BOUNCE back up.

You SPRING back up – via the elasticity of your hamstrings, butt and TENDONS.

This might sound strange to a lot of you that keep thinking thighs – indeed, lots of idiots keep referring to my squats and complain “but you’re supposed to work thighs more!” – for the squat, but guess what – like I’ve told you many times before, the BACK of the body is far more important than the front, even in the squat.

If you’re doing weighted squats in the gym, something I really dont recommend because it emphasizes muscle growth over tendon growth, it’s “isolating the thighs” way more than any movement should (dont get me wrong, squats are still great compound movements, but think about it – in real life – while wrestling – while throwing – how often do you go down under strict control “only midway” like that??) – and because they dont emphasize the butt a lot (most people dont go all the way down, or even close to it) – then maybe the thighs are what really burn.

But when you’re doing bodyweight squats, or HIndus – the thighs DO burn – but it’s not just the thighs.

Done correctly, you should feel your butt and hamstrings working a LOT more than what most people.

Sound strange?

Well, drop down in perfect form in the squat, and then “spring” back up while picturing a coiled motion … or a coiled spring … and initiate the motion from the toes, while keeping the toes flexed and “grabbing the ground” and repeat for reps.

You’ll soon see what I mean.

These  squats are done under CONTROL, or you’ll bounce up and down as opposed to squat.

But they aren’t super strict controlled either – i.e. you DROP down, without inhibition (no Glyn Schofields reading this I hope, hehe) – and then your butt and hamstrings work WITH your thighs to “spring you back up”.

The Gama was supposedly a mediocre wrestler according to some.

Mediocre, someone who never lost in 50 years? I dont think so, hehe.  But then people point out more technically accomplished wrestlers…

Truth be told, I dont know.

Maybe there were others more technically accomplished than him, but results are what count, eh.

And if he remained undefeated, but they didnt … then?

Then we come to a point even his most ardent detractors emphasize.

That being this.

The Gama was bar none, the BEST conditioned wrestler around – perhaps even today if he was here on the physical plane with us.

That, along with the fact he did hundreds, if not more, of Hindu squats daily to build those massive tree trunk legs of his – is a fact NOBODY disputes.

I repeat, nobody.

And his results back it up – conditioning is what ultimately, all else being equal – wins the day – even if you’re not technically that strong on the mat, if you can out condition the other wrassler, well, then ultimately that is what matters – and counts.

You, my friends, will know the meaning of tree trunk thighs – and the FEELING – once you get good at Hindu squats – which may take a long, long time if you practice daily.

And the results will be nigh well worth it.

Make a start today, my friend.

And I’ll be back!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

I could well sum up the essence and premise of 0 Excuses Fitness in the headline of this email.

You know how it is when you’re busy – right?

Us “entrepreneurs” – or solopreneurs – or, I dont know what the term is these days (I’m called business man usually) – to me, anyone with a brain and some balls – know this feeling very well – if you’re doing it right, there ain’t enough hours in the day to get it all done, and even then, when you go to bed at night, you’re dreaming about “work”.

When you have something to get done – especially annoying, tedious paperwork – you want to get it out of the way and done NOW – ditto with emails – or new IDEAS which you must act upon instantly!

That isn’t me saying it.

Check out what the great Napoleon hill said in Think and Grow Rich i.e. when the idea (or inspiration) strikes – put it to work (fruition) immediately, without DELAYING. Every second you delay is not just a second where that idea might die, but it might well be fatal to your SUCCESS.

The DOERS will understand this as well, that sense of urgency.

With all this being said, I’ve done both types of workouts.

Long and slow, and QUICK and dirty, and a combo therein.

I remember back when I was on speaking terms with my parents in 2008, or maybe 2007 we went for a walk together.

I remember Mom saying “Rahul, you’re sweating too!”.

(in response to me saying that was an easy peasy walk -an hour or so, but none of it uphill).

Sure, I was sweating.

That was more the heat and humidity than anything else though, step out in the Delhi (which is where I was then) heat someday, you’ll know what I mean.

I told her that, but i didnt really press the facts home.

Then, those long, ardous treks up the hill – in even hotter weather in China – and even worse humidity I’ve described in 16 Inspirational Fitness Recollections in graphic detail – those were tough x 10.

Four hours of hill climbing daily will make you feel it – and sometimes twice in the evening too. I never missed a DAY.

Then, what I do NOW.

On both the above occasions, I wasn’t really doing my own thang as much as I should have – now that I am for years, there is always stuff to do.

Today was a race to get to “lunch” by 6.

I had like 15 minutes or so left around 530 – and until 545, I figured I’d work out – while also checking the laptop and phone for some important messages from some payment processors I’ve been dealing with (dont yall just hate that repetitive paperwork, things never scanned correctly, the most minor of details – a bank recently rejected my docs not because they were not correct for what they wanted, but because “they couldn’t see four corners of the document”!! I mean, really, geez…) …

And of course, in that limited time frame, with 10,000 different things going on, I squatted.

And I did pull-ups and stretched.

Squats and pull-ups, my friend – or the former with pushups are the CLASSIC thing you can and should do daily in terms of exercise.

They’re also the very best when there is limited time.

Squats are #1, of course.

It took me like 8 minutes or so to pop off 220 assorted squats, then I made it even quicker to 300.

I did 25 pull-ups.

I stretched for a total of 2 minutes cumulatively throughout the workout.

And now, I’m done.

Oh, I managed to get lunch in around 6 too. Hehe.

Perhaps I’ll workout again – squats.

I likely will.

There is no better way to “digest” food, I’ve found – one being to “let it go down” as my friend Lilly would say, hehe.

And second, heavy duty leg work an hour or so after it’s “gone down”.

Key thing though, being time – and in that limited time, I was soaked to the bone.

I got a great workout in – more than what most people get in the gym in hours.

Dont believe me – try knocking off even 50 squats the way I teach you – quick – and in good form.

It ain’t easy – if you can even get past 10.

Thats what I love the most about my workouts beyond the obvious – the TIME benefit.

Maybe I should rename my System to the “Entrepreneurs”, or “busy man’s” fitness system.

Hehe.

Nah.

Ill leave it as it is!

And I’ll be back!

Oh, over the past couple of days I’ve been tinkering with the site – an idea that came to mind was to put up a seperate store for those of you that want paperbacks, but I Scrapped that idea – first thing you know, integration between the two is a pain, second, if what works right now works, which it does, well “why change it if it aint broke” (which it ain’t).

Still a great learning experience though …

And on that note, I’m out.

Back soon!

BEst,

Rahul Mookerjee

It’s interesting …

I remember a conversation I was having with the wife once about Amazon, and a lot of their very innovative special offers that only the discerning would notice – Amazon, of course, prides itself on serving all, but especially those that are business minded!

That above bit might sound strange, but I’ve dealt with them for years, I publish my books (paperback) through Amazon, I do everything I can with Amazon – including having Amazon Pay on the site as a means of payment – which unfortunately for now, despite working a few days ago –  is not at the moment – tech errors again.

We’ll get that fixed (it’s an issue at my end).

But I remember her telling me once …

“I wonder who THINKS of all this at Amazon!”

Hehe.

It’s what you gotta do to make a company lean, mean, FUTURE PROOF (thanks Dwayne!) – and “for the long term”.

It’s called investing – and reinvesting – and doing whats best for the customer repeatedly – and having the gumption and persistence to wait it out for years without turning a profit even – until the “floodgates” open – and how!

Anyway ……..

In came a comment the other day about Pushup Central.

Kevin from the US again …

Part of his comment about the book was to do with the different types of pushups etc mentioned in it.

And here is what I wanted to share with you. Hehe.

“Man! Just looking at those difff. styles of pushups, I wouldnt have ever thought these were possible!”

and this –

“how do you even THINK of these!! i mean, pushups, to me, i would never have thought you could do them on your back!”

There was more – I’m quoting from memory (this was a few days ago).

But this bit was what I wanted to share, hehe.

And it’s THIS bit that people dont get.

Bodyweight exercises, or any exercise, but especially bodyweight exercises – have NO upper limit.

Hence, you can never really be a Master at them – true Masters will tell you that.

Take the pushup for instance.

Regular pushups.

Once you get good at them, do ’em on your fingertips.

Once you get good at that, take fingers away until you’re doing them on less fingers – finally, just the thumb – if you can!

GEtting good at those too?

No problem, Bruce Lee…

Elevate thy feet, and repeat.

Getting good at those too?

Take a limb away.

Then take a lower limb away.

Then torque your body  – or “spider man” it – as I show you in the book.

And thats only the REGULAR pushup we’re talking here.

EACH of these movements, my friend, you could work them for an entire lifetime, still not be done, and make superlative gains with EACH workout if you know what you’re doing!

How do I think of these, eh. Hehe.

Well, it’s called years of practice, being in the trenches, giving you the REAL SCOOP no-one else does, the info that flat out works.

Think it’s just pushups?

Think again –  my upcoming book Squat Central will cover more than a few ways on how to do squats as well!

Yes, Hindu squats and regular bodyweight squats, but there are SO MANY different ways, so many subtle nuances that I have not covered as yet, each making the workout different, more energizing, more productive, that a book is definitely in the offing on this one.

Along with Advanced Plyometrics – that is one to watch out for as well.

For now, of course, there is more than plenty to keep yall busy HERE.

And thats that for now.

Back soon!

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Almost forget, Profit Troll – another one in the works! This one will teach you how to not fear trolls (something all of us that have actually DONE something in our lives, or at least tried have encountered i.e. “crab mentality pulling that one solitary crab back in, or trying to”) … but actually WANT to be trolled, welcome them, and PROFIT from them.

It also tells you WHY trolls do what they do, and gives you a peek into their sorry mentality, so you can exploit it (like I have, and continue to do, hehe) – for your OWN benefits – or profits – or both if you so choose.

I should have put the Bozo on the cover of that one, hehe. Maybe I will!

But thats another one to watch out for.

So much to do, so little time…

As my buddy Ricky keeps saying.

“It’ll happen when it’s gotta happen”.

So true!

Thats how my entire life has worked until now!

This morning a battle royale seems to have broken out between the wife and the daughter over something seemingly inconsequential.

Isnt that how most world wars started? Hehe.

Over “Mommy taking a bath in the morning” (apparently she used to at night, then in the afternoon, nothing’s fixed apparently – like my friend Ricky told me about himself “I’m a like a guy they plug and play when they need me, where they need me!”) . . . and apparently “winning the race about it with the daughter” (I did not even know there was such a race).

My daughter has a competitive spirit from the time she was born – like me – unlike me, of course, where it was all subdued due to “parents” – with her, its the other extreme (at least in terms of grandparents molly coddling her).

Now, I keep telling her, to an extent this is great.

Hating losing is something ALL Winners do, if they didnt hate losing, they’d never WANT to win, but therein lies the nub, and the other half, you have to WANT to win.

You cannot simply hate and then do nothing.

“I’ll disturb you so you can’t bathe” trilled my daughter, which then led to the battle …

Admittedly, this is negative thinking.

Admittedly, when raised in a Nazi feminist household, this is what happens to young girls – and the boys, well, they are raised to be “submissive” or some such crap.

I’ve seen it all my life, I never got involved in any of it and Im not going to let my daughter turn out that way either.

But this battle royale got me thinking.

IT’s about focusing on YOU.

Improving YOU. Daily. Becoming a better you, striving to become a better YOU – daily – NOT so much thinking about what others ar edoing or not.

Dont get me wrong.

You notice, yes.

But thats it.

Let me give you a story fitness wise, true story.

I’ve told you about how I was always mocked for “wanting to be strong” – and therefore never BECAME strong at a young age – as opposed to the raw physicality many of the other students around me exuded where physical prowress was, as it should be, not just tolerated, but encouraged.

I still remember a friend of mine “Rajinder” who was “solid” – despite having a belly.

I’d hit him in the belly, he’d tighten it and wouldn’t even feel it.

My word, I would say, enviously.

I can’t do that!

“Well, MAKE yourself like that”, my friend would tell me.

I’d also ignore a lot of the other positives I had – such as brain – success with the opposite sex (from a very young age, hehe) – that a lot of the other guys would kill to have.

This was noticed by my close friends as well.

“You think you’re not good looking!” went my friend Dheeraj when I tried to downplay the issue of looks (because I’ve always believed the physical is something you have to WORK FOR, while looks, well, no-one can choose them, so I’ve always valued the former more).

But anyway.

If I had continued to focus all my life on “how strong they were” – “what they could do” – “they can do 100 pushups, I can’t” – I’d be at a big fucking zero right about now.

For a lot of my life, I did just that – until the age of 23 or so, once I first went to China.

That hill changed it ALL For me – Ann Lee, I’ll be forever indebted to you for this!

THAT was when fitness wise I Started focusing on myself.

Not only did I correct all my weak points and turn into the bodyweight exercise guru, but I’ve left the so called strong guys FAR behind in the dust NOW.

I would have never done that if I continued to be “jealous” (like a certain Schofield) and hadn’t done shit to improve myself.

THAT is the lesson of the day!

Even today, there are exercises like side splits where there are people better than me.

I dont moan and groan about that.

I get better at it daily.

Pretty soon, I’ll be surpassing them, but that ain’t the point, the competition is with ME – not the rest.

If I surpass the rest, that is a BONUS, not what I am striving for.

Jeff Bezos often said the same thing.

“We focus on what WE are doing, not the competition!” (about Amazon).

(and customers, of course ie Amazon focuses on customers, and then what THEY are doing to make everything perfect for customers, period)

Indeed, Amazon does some things so innovatively – their special offers, their algorithms, their Amazon Pay (especially in some countries) – that no-one else does – their Amazon Prime, which was ridiculed when Bezos first came out with it (and today, it is the #1 “profitable” source for Amazon) … or close to it …

None of this would have happened if Bezos focused on “them” – and not Amazon.

THAT is the lesson, bro.

A lesson a lot of us would do well to learn …

Let me know what you think!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – If there is one thing you will learn once you start the 0 Excuses Fitness system, it is what I just told you up there. Get better – for yourself – daily. (by DOING the thing daily).

The rest will take care of itself.

It’s such a tiny detail you’d be forgiven for thinking “it doesn’t really matter that much”.

But as with the tiniest of details, the “small things” are ultimately what matter – the most.

Steve Jobs once spoke about his Dad, I believe, he was building a wooden “something” (I cannot recall the entire story)- and his Dad told him you should make the back of the box, something most people never ever see – with the same amount of care and precision you devote to the entire product (and what most customers “see”).

There is a tome to be learnt from that statement.

What people dont see – or train – is what matters.

In the case of fitness, that is the BACK of the body … I’ve written so much about this before.

Today, though – lets talk squats – again.

If youre looking to blast past “x number of consecutive reps” – shoot for 500 straight bodyweight or other squats – or anything of that nature, what I’ve got to say will help you beyond belief.

And it works best when you train barefoot when doing your squats.

That isn’t to say don’t wear shoes. I often do squats with shoes, but barefoot is the best way to me because your TOES grip the ground too – if you’re doing it right.

It’s also the best way to train bodyweight, since you’re training the feet – the ligaments, tendons, fascia of the FEET while training bodyweight, and the more you activate the toes and balls of the feet, the more your entire body gets activated.

That isn’t a discussion on, as some people would say, “I dont believe in Chinese pressure therapy” (or reflexology or what not).

Whether you believe or not, you’ll FEEL it – in your own body.

And here’s the tip.

When doing Hindu squats, or bodyweight, or a combo therein – you guys might have noticed beyond a certain point you have to “change” foot positions ever so slightly.

I believe you’ll see this in the workout video in 0 Excuses Fitness too.

And this is fine.

But if you’re shooting for say 100 rapid fire, yet proper form squats without budging an inch … well, then your feet better have a good grip on the ground.

When I do my squats, my toes are all “scrunched and flexed” – the equivalent of doing fingertip pushups, almost.

This is a detail hard to explain via words alone, so maybe I’ll put out a video on it, but those of you doing a lot of squats will KNOW this – and have likely discovered this intuitively.

When you “grab” the ground with your flexed toes, when you maintain focus on your toes along with form, you’ll find you do the exercise a lot better, activate the legs even more and get a LOT more reps in than you would otherwise.

Youll still need to pause occasionally, but thats fine.

And it’s the last four toes on each foot that you really focus on.

Try this the next time you do your squats, my friend.

And tell me how it feets!

Feels…

Hehe.

Thats that for this one.

Back soon!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – More on how?

While wearing flip flops, try “pushing” down with the last four toes right NOW.

THAT is the position it should be for squats as well. Again, I’ll put out a video on this maybe, but thats how it’s done.

Yours truly is “three sheets to the wind”.

Not quite to the point I can’t barely type, but that was the case a week or so ago – pun not intended, or maybe so. Hehe.

My forearms hurt from doing all those pull-ups.

While typing, I can feel it in my forearms. Hehe.

And perhaps thats why I gotta talk to you about grip training – NOW.

Yes, NOW.

I spoke about how people keep saying “I’m a runner”, or ” so fit” … or, other things like that.

I explained to you how the squats over the past coupla months, 500 bar none over the day (with the very rare exception) have done the same magic they did years ago – that hill climbs years ago did – except in far lesser time.

But what I didnt talk about is grip.

Look, every time I climbed that damn hill, my forearms just FELT stronger

Anyone thats done any serious leg / lung training of any nature will know what I mean.

You train the legs, you train the whole body!!!!!

And these days, when I look at people my “age” – hell, I feel around 22 or so – or whatever age is deemed “young” – and when I talk to them – GRIP their hand .. and more …something is very evident.

Good, hard, LEG training is missing.

BIG TIME!

And here’s the thing.

You can train your grip all you like with grippers, dumbbells, static holds and such.

But until and unless you train your grip with some sort of movement that trains the ENTIRE body – i.e. lets say fingertip pushups holds, or dead hangs – you won’t really get “nowhere” if I might say so.

I just did, by the way …

More importantly, for something like grip – or even chest – the BIGGER muscles feed the “wolf”.

Leg training, my friend – there is NO substitute for it – especially when you “stride” in to grip someone’s hand, and give him the Gorilla Grip.

None at all.

All of this might sound cryptic.

It likely is.

Charles, my “former” yet always in my heart friend would probably complain.

Deep down inside though,Charles, you know what it’s about.

Its about kicking ass, and taking names.

As someone once said..

It’s about REAL man (or woman) training.

About REAL training…

It’s … well.

If you’re reading this, and still dont know what this is about, youre probably not the right person to be reading this!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Train legs hard – learn how right here.

PS #2 – My most popular course was Gorilla Grip, however, Isometric and Flexibility Training seems to be VERY WELL on the way to “superlativing” that. Check out why!

PPS -Why does a man do what he does? So his near and dear ones can ENJOY. Blessed are those that UNDERSTAND this – believe it or not, most dont!