Amidst all the new fangled machines, latest treadmills (equipped with a space to rest your coffee mug, no less), heart monitors, fancy sweatshirts, and what not, we have all but forgotten that there was a time when people trained WITHOUT all these gadgets - and still made fantastic gains. 

I mean, look at folks like Jack Lalanne (someone I greatly admire) and what they've achieved. Lalanne emphasized sticking to the basics, eating a proper diet, and regular, hard training - and that was pretty much the secret to his amazing success. Sure, he may have lifted weights at some point, but thats fine as well; nowhere does it say that lifting weights won't help you in your fitness pursuits. 

Yes, that might sound strange coming from me - the bodyweight exercise maniac - but remember that everyone has their own way of doing things. Lalanne was BIG on bodyweight exercises - but if doing something else also helped him, hey, thats perfectly fine by me.

Anyway, back on topic - all the fancy equipment we see floating around the gyms these days is practically worthless in terms of getting real gains. I mean, think about it - a treadmill with a place to put one's COFFEE mug of all things? Someone's actually gong to be sipping coffee while training and call that real training?? More to the point, if that someone has enough time to drink coffee during training, is he really training?? I don't think so.

What most people need (and what most gym owners need to do, but never will) is to drop all this airy-fairy stuff, and get back to the BASICS. First off, you don't even need anything other than your bodyweight to get in a fantastic workout, and believe me, that type of workout is way more than the average Joe in the gym can handle.

And equipment? Well, believe it or not - a rusty swing set out in the park, an old set of parallel bars that folks mostly use to hang their jackets on, a jump rope, and some rusty, creaking monkey bars are really all the equipment I need, and will need for the forseeable future. And you don't even need to purchase a gym membership for any of that. Go to your local park, and you'll likely find all these pieces of equipment lying about virtually untouched.

Now, I realize that some of you gym goers may think I'm talking through my hat here. I mean how does a thick rusty iron bar compare to the shiny, heavy weights in the gym? Parallel bars? What possible good could they do?

Well, my friend, the answer is that these types of things will do way more for you than the fancy machines or weights ever will.

Take for instance the parallel bars - a training tool that I VERY HIGHLY regard - but which is barely used by most folks (other than gymnasts). The average person is unable to do ONE bodyweight dip on these; so he ends up using the
"chest press" machine or whatever it's called.  Do a set of 25 pushups, and a set of 10 dips on a parallel bar set up - and then tell me if that gets you sweating more than running for 10 minutes on the treadmill.

And thats but one example - the list goes on and on. I could give you many more, and Fast and Furious Fitness contains many routines that require little or no equipment, and will have the average gym goes collapse in a puddle of sweat within minutes. But for now, lets just say that going back to the basics will give YOUR health and fitness a much needed shot in the arm.

Give this a thought, and let me know what you think.

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: There ain't much point spending $40 and upwards a month on gym memberships when you can get better for LESS. In addition, the "true" cost of a gym membership ends up being far more than the monthly fee you pay - google this if you don't believe me. Don't fall into this trap! Instead, pull that credit card out right NOW, and grab your copy of Fast and Furious Fitness for just $24.99 (with NO hidden costs whatsoever). It's the best decision you can make your health and fitness - so hurry!

This morning, I was reading up on ape strength. It's incredible just how strong our simian friends are - a 165 lb chimp, for instance, has been known to register a pull of a mind-boggling 847 lbs - and that only with his right hand!

That's right - 847 lbs! A 90lb chimp can wrestle THREE full grown men to the ground within minutes - and toss them up into the air while doing so. Now if that isn't some real strength, I don't know what is.

And in addition to being STRONG, our simian friends are also fantastic acrobats. I've been to the Himalayas in India, and have seen monkeys perform acrboatic feats on ropes (or electric wires) hung up at precarious heights - and do so without an apparent care in the world. You know a monkey's strong, but you know it's flexible when it does somersaults on a thin electric wire hanging about a 100 plus feet in the air - and that with a baby gripping on to it's underside!

Well, so what this has to do with you?

Well, nothing really - nothing unless YOU too would like to develop the kind of strength these primates posess. If this doesn't interest you, you can stop reading right here - but if this is your thing, then read right on.

Apes and monkeys get as strong as they are by working with their own bodyweight in the wild. Most of their lives are spent swinging and hanging from trees, and they do this for survival - not "fun", or not "to train". A baby monkey starts life off by grabbing on to Mom's underbelly and staying that way for hours on end - and a baby monkey likely has a grip stronger than two or three adult men combined. 

And while we humans can't ever get AS strong as our simian friends, we can certainly work up to levels of grip and pulling strength that most folks would find impossible to achieve. And the way to do that is to, quite literally, train like an ape.

This doesn't necessarily means tons of pull-ups and chin-ups, though those DO help, and ARE a fantastic starting point. But training like a monkey goes way, way beyond that. Truly training like a monkey makes pull-ups and chin-ups look EASY, and I'm not kidding you on that one.

I did a lot of this type of training this morning - and had a fantastic workout. One of the things I did was to "walk" the monkey bars - only I didn't do it the normal way - I held on to the side of the apparatus and "walked" my hands up and down the entire supporting bar. Try that one on for strength, and let me know how your forearms feel after that!

And that's just ONE of the exercises I did. There are so many of them that I don't even list them all in Fast and Furious Fitness - mostly because most of them are too advanced.

I may put out a course on advanced pulling exercises in the future, but for now, know that training like a monkey is one of the best things you can do for your overall strength. You'll develop a ferocious grip without even thinking about it - and you'll build massive amounts of upper body power within a very short period of time. And you'll develop a core that feels as if it's made of steel - and has the strength and flexibility to match.

"Walking" the monkey bars will likely be too tough for most folks, but know that pull-ups and chin-ups are a great place to start. The pull-up alone with work your entire upper body in the ground - some folks do NOTHING but pull-ups in their workouts, and get great, great results.

Once you get better at doing them you can try some new things - but that will likely take a while. I talk about pull-ups and assorted variations in Fast and Furious Fitness - believe me now and listen to me later, these exercises alone are more than what most folk manage to master during an entire life of working out.

Grab your copy NOW, and get started on the way to ape-like levels of power.

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: If you have kids, these exercises are some of the BEST things they can do for their overall health and development. More importantly, they're fun - so doing them ain't gonna be a chore for them. Get them started as early as you can!

Dear Reader,

One of the biggest myths that we hear about bodyweight exercises is that they offer little room for progression, other than in the number of repetitions performed - and maybe a tougher version of the exercises if you're lucky, but thats about it. Most folks tend to view bodyweight exercises as "boring" and with "little potential to build real strength", and so forth. So when you ask someone to do bodyweight stuff exclusively for a while, you'll have people thinking of doing endless numbers of pushups or X number of sit-ups per day, or a few stretches - and not even believe that they can get any benefit from doing so - and therefore end up dropping the concept altogether in favor of the latest fancy machine in the gym.

The amazing thing is that in most cases, bodyweight exercises would actually HELP these folks more than other forms of exercises would. I've seen folks that couldn't do five pushups in correct form claim that doing pushups was of no benefit to them, while attempting to lift heavy weights in the gym (with poor form) was. And while I'm certainly not bashing weight training as a form of exercise, it's not a good idea to try and lift heavy if you can barely handle your own bodyweight for five reps in the basic pushup.

And as for gaining strength through bodyweight exercises, well, if you don't believe you can get stronger through bodyweight exercises - how do you think gymnasts develop the kind of "superhuman" strength they have? Certainly not from lifting weights. Elite army units consist of some of the strongest and fittest folks in the world - and what do these guys do for exercise? I could talk ALL day long about this - and as a matter of fact, I think I'll do so in an upcoming email. 

But, for now, let's get back to the topic of endless progressions - this idea is tough for most to stomach - even those that HAVE been doing bodyweight exercises, and have been benefiting from them. There are literally dozens and dozens of ways that you can progress from bodyweight exercises - and you are NOT limited by the number of repetitions alone.

Let's take the good ole pushup (the regular pushup) as an example here. You first start with regular pushups, and when those get easy - no problem - you start doing them in higher reps. Ok, so you do those, and now you can bang out in sets of 25, so your done with the progression, right? Wrong - now you decrease the cadence of the movement, and go up and down slowly, while still maintaining letter perfect form.

That get to be too easy for ya? Well, do the same movement on your fingertips now - and then tell me.

Ok, so your getting good at those as well? Now do the same pushup, except on one hand - and then come back and tell me how tough it is.

You see what I'm saying here - I've already given you three or four different variations of the pushup, and thats NOT EVEN scratching the surface of the number of ways you can perform this exercise. And remember we've only dealt with the pushup - we haven't even gone on to the other exercises as of yet. And neither have I even begun to speak about the cardivascular benefits of this type of training; that is a whole another kettle of fish altogether.

So always remember that bodyweight exercises are second to NO other form of training when it comes to progressions, and potential strength gains. It's easy to get suckered into a fancy gym membership, or hours of yoga - and if thats what you prefer - no problemo amigo - but always remember that bodyweight exercises, done correctly give you far more bang for your buck than anything else can.

Grab a copy of Fast and Furious Fitness today; once you find out how bodyweight exercises will transform your body QUICKLY - and with far less time invested - you'll never want to go back to the other stuff. 

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: Scoot on over here to grab the book that will change the way you think about fitness forever.

PS#2: I gave you one very important tip on how to improve your pushup numbers in this email; see if you can spot it!

Back when I was a kid in high school, I was one of the skinniest guys around. I wasn't much of an exercise fanatic back then - but something I've always wanted to have was a huge upper body. At that time, I had no idea about how to train the body, or what parts of the body are the most important to train - or anything like that, but all I knew is I wanted a huge, barrel chest along with arms to match. And mostly for the "look" - it's sad, but true, that most kids at their age don't have an inkling of what REAL strength can do for you.

When I first got into training, I started doing pushups on a regular basis. These didn't quite give me the results I wanted, but then I found out I wasn't doing them right - so I started doing them right, and started to see results. Fast forward a few years, and I'm doing like 250 pushups per workout - on a daily basis - which is not a bad number to  be cracking off daily. And I got more than the results I wanted from this routine - but, I still wasn't quite growing out of my shirts like I'd have liked to. I had a flat stomach, a strong chest - but my shoulders, while not under developed by any means, weren't bursing out of my shirts.

But, there was ONE thing lacking in my routine - and that was doing pushups from a handstand position; in other words, handstand pushups. 

Ever since I started doing this amazing exercise, I've never looked back. My upper body strength has skyrocketed - and my chest and shoulders have grown broader than ever before. I think I wrote to you a while back about having difficulty shopping for shirts? Well, that problem persists - we're never quite sure whether the shirt I buy today will fit me in a couple of month's time. Also, remember that I'm 31 years of age, and not exactly a spring chicken any longer. - but, I have a far stronger upper body than I've ever had before in my life.

And folks keep asking me if I go to the gym and lift weights - and my answer is always, NO. It's an honest answer - I don't lift weights, but remember that bodyweight exercises done correctly will give you even more "bang for the buck", and the example I've just given you is a case in point.

Remember that while handstand pushups are one of the best exercises you can do for the upper body, they are NOT for everyone. If you have wrist problems - work into these with caution, strengthen your wrists, or use pushup bars to do them. If you are currently unable to do more than 10 regular pushups in a row - then your probably NOT ready to start banging out handstand pushups. Trust me on this - I developed a nasty bone "spur" from doing these when I wasn't quite ready for it - which took a while to heal - so don't make the same mistake yourself.

I cover handstand pushups and other related exercises in Fast and Furious Fitness - you can get your copy here.

And last, but not least, remember that a BALANCED exercise routine is of utmost importance. You can do handstand pushups all day long, but you'd be well advised to mix in other things into your routine for best results. More on that later.

Ok, that's it for today. Have a great weekend, and if your training this weekend - make it a super one!

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: If you have kids, make sure that they know that while academics is of utmost importance, physical exercise is equally important for overall development. Make sure they have access to the RIGHT training information - not the nonsense being pushed around in the bodybuilding magazines - most of that is as applicable to normal folks as a piegon landing on Mars. Fast and Furious Fitness would be a great place to start.

Pull-ups are a fantastic exercise to build strength throughout the entire upper body. This one exercise, as I've said many times before, is worth it's weight in gold, but is sadly ignored by the majority of people these days - believe it or not, 90+% of folks today cannot do a single pull-up in good form. And out of those that DO them - you'll find that the enthusiasm for sticking to the exercise quickly tapers off as they learn how hard the exercise is, and consequently struggle to progress. Not good.

And today, I'm going to share with you one tip that will help you improve your pull-up performance, or get past a "sticking point" (if you are at one) on this exercise. This tip works for all levels; it will help you if you cannot do a single pull-ups, and it will help you do more if you can currently bang off 10 in a row.

And this tip is NOT what most people would think about doing - in fact, most folks will likely not believe me when I mention it. It is NOT doing more pull-ups. It is NOT working on the grip - though that helps as well. And it is NOT doing lat pull downs - or lifting weights - none of that.

So, what IS it then Mookerjee, you might ask? What the heck is this mysterious secret that will help me improve on pull-ups? Well, its not a secret at all - at least not to me it ain't. And it is - doing PUSHUPS.

That's right - doing pushups - all sorts of pushups - WILL help your pull-ups. There are some kinds of pushups that lend themselves better to pull-up performance than others, but rest assured that pushups in general will help you do that first pull-up - or do more if your stuck at a certain number. And the reasons behind this is that pushups, contrary to what most folks think, build ALL the muscles used in pull-ups, specifically and most importantly, the grip, forearms, shoulders, entire back, and biceps as well - yes, biceps as well.

Additonally, the pushup complements the pull-up perfectly. I wrote a post about exercises that complement one another a while back - if you missed it, go HERE. And pushups are easier to do for most people than pull-ups (remember I said easier than pull-ups, not just "easy"), so progressing on them and consequently building more strength through this exercise is easier - and all this leads to better performance on pull-ups.

Still don't believe me? Well, for those of you that are currently spending hours trying to bang out that first pull-up, do this. Do NOT do any  pull-ups for the next two weeks - but concentrate on banging out 100 pushups daily in letter perfect form. Don't dwadle while doing these; make sure you bang them out as fast as you can - but - and this is IMPORTANT - maintain correct form while doing so (never compromise on form for speed). Do regular pushups, or any type of pushup you prefer - there are many different combinations of pushups you can do - see Fast and Furious Fitness for more on this.

And at the end of the those two weeks (or however long it takes you to get 100 pushups in a row), try your pull-ups again - I'll bet you'll be surprised.

This ONE tip is so valuable that I could probably devote an entire chapter to it in Fast and Furious Fitness, but I figured I'd send it out in my daily newsletter for maximal benefit to all. in fact, I'm going to add it to the articles section of the website as well - it is THAT important. Of course, if your looking for more great tips on improving your pull-ups, and general levels of fitness, then grab a copy of the book pronto.

So for those of you that find pull-ups to be tough - or even if you've been doing them a while - give this a try, and let me know how it works!

Best regards,

Rahul

I'm having a REAL tough time shopping for shirts these days. And it's not just me saying this - my wife's been complaining as well. She often tells me that it's next to impossible to shop for shirts for me without having me there in person as well. She says that she can buy the right size, the right colors, make, everything - but more often than not, if I'm not actually trying the shirt out before I buy it, I'll complain that it's too tight, and won't be able to wear it.

And by "too tight", I mean that it fits a bit too snugly around the shoulders - so I feel like I'm about to rip the shirt apart when I raise my arms up. That same logic applies for coats and jackets as well. My wife tells me I've gained some mass around the shoulders recently, and I can believe it given the exercises I've been practicing.

Funny thing is, a while back I used to wear size XL shirts - but as of late, I've started to find some of those to be "too tight" as well. Problem is, the next size up fits OK around the shoulders, but ends up looking a bit baggier than it should around the waist - but thats what I have to live with if I choose to buy "off the rack" clothing.

And why am I telling you this?

Well, pretty much to warn you that YOU too may have difficulty purchasing shirts that fit right once you start following an exercise routine similar to what I do. Remember that ALL I do is the exercises I teach you in Fast and Furious Fitness. I do NOT lift weights, play sports professionally  or do manual labor - these are all activities you'd associate with broad and powerful shoulders, but I'm not doing any of them.

So I'll warn you in advance - if you're the type that shops once a year and expects your clothes to fit you correctly the entire year, then you probably don't want to mess around with the exercises that I advocate. If your worried that a constantly expanding shoulder size, or broad, powerful back muscles will make it tougher for you to shop for clothes, well, you've been warned ahead of time.

Of course, if your the rare breed that doesn't mind having a set of broad shoulders that are every bit as strong as they look - and continue to get stronger as you keep training - then you'd be well advised to grab a copy of Fast and Furious Fitness TODAY. But if you do so, expect to have to keep buying new shirts on a regular basis. Yes, the exercises contained within ARE that powerful - do them as I tell you to - and you'll be building muscle on your entire body like you never have before, while also melting off fat at a record rate. 

On another note, we did end up buying an "off the rack" coat which seems to fit ok for the time being. The function's still a few months away though - so all bets on the coat fitting right at that point are off. You could also look upon it as a sort of "goal" to achieve; increase your shoulder width so much that you have to buy new shirts every so often.

Now that's an interesting goal to aim for - aim to outgrow your shirts! My wife doesn't think much of it, but then again, she's the one shopping for me (and the one who gets to have me try on each and everything before she buys; NOT the easiest of tasks) - so I can't say I blame her.

So, thats the wisdom (or warning) for the day. Be back tomorrow with more!

Best regards,

Rahul

I've been training hard over the last week or so on a few exercises that I consider to be tough - and that I'm not proficient at. I exercise on a daily basis and take maybe one day off in a week - two if I need it, but I haven't taken ANY days off this last week.

Now, just so you know, as far as my training goes, my "week"  began last Thursday since last Wednesday was a rest day for me. I've been hitting it hard (or fast and furious) since then, and have been working hard on variations of exercises that are currently not easy for me to do - at least not if I do them at the level I would like to do them at.

And today was a red letter day for me in many ways. After five hard days of regular training, I've done what I previously thought was impossible for me to do in terms of these exercises and can see myself progressing further than I ever thought I would. Note that until yesterday, my training was just "normal"; but the results of the hard work suddenly showed up TODAY, and I'm well on the path to getting to that "elite" level on those particular exercises.

So, WHAT are those exercises, you might ask? Well, it doesn't really matter - one of them is a variation of a handstand pushup that I couldn't even BEGIN to do, but can do a few reps of now (still not in perfect form, but I am getting there). Another is a version of a leg raise - there are many - but the point of telling you this is that daily practice, without failure, is one of the keys to achieving super success in your training.

And this goes for everything in life - if you want to get better at something, practice daily, multiple, quadruple times a day if you have to - but practice without fail, and practice as if your life depended on it.

I emphasize this point repeatedly in Fast and Furious Fitness - be sure and grab a copy if you haven't already.

Now, I realize that some people reading this may take this to mean training to failure daily, not taking any days off, etc etc.And no - the above does NOT mean you should hammer your body to the point of no-recovery - that is actually taking a step, or several steps backwards instead of forward. Train sensibly, and LISTEN to your body - and judge how to proceed. I wrote another post on this here; be sure and read that for more on listening to your body.

And only YOU can judge how you feel and what to do. I can guide you on doing pushups, but I cannot tell you how often to practice - only YOU know how your body feels, and what your current fitness levels are. I can guide - but I cannot make the decision for you - only YOU can.

What I CAN tell you is this is that if you practice daily and do so sensibly - your gains will skyrocket, and you'll soon be on the path to doing what was previously impossible for me, and this goes for anything in life.

And on another note, I remember a visit to New Orleans a couple of years ago, where I saw a guy performing in front of a large crowd. This guy was doing handstands and handstand pushups - something you might not think is that big of a deal. But get this - that was just the start. What he did after that was to walk up a flight of stairs on his HANDS alone - and walk back DOWN that flight of stairs, again on his HANDS alone! And if you think that was tough, well, you'd me mistaken. He then did five pushups while still on his hands, and then "walked" back up the flight of stairs again.

Now, I don't know about you, but I know I'm nowhere near that level right now. And I KNOW I'll have to practice hard daily - for years - in order to GET to that level.

That skill is a fantastic one, and a great goal to work towards. But, I've got some goals to accomplish already, so that one will have to wait. 

Now, what about YOU?

What goal are YOU going to set for yourself today? What effort are you willing to put into achieving that goal? Will you stick to it?

Answer the questions above, and act accordingly - and you'll be on the road to success in no time.

Best regards,

Rahul

Woke up this morning feeling a bit grumpy and tired. Got to bed real late last night, plus had a host of other engagements the day before - not what you'd term an ideal weekend - which was probably the reason for me feeling a bit down. Woke up, drank some green tea, and then plunged into my workout. And an hour later, I'm soaked in sweat and am feeling on TOP Of the world. In fact, I'm literally buzzing with energy - so you know I got a GREAT workout in!

And thats pretty much how YOU can expect to feel as well when you work out the way I teach you in Fast and Furious Fitness. Short, hard workouts that get the heart pumping and the muscles working - and thats all you really need.

Back on topic though - In my workout today, I did exercises that complement each other. And doing so is one of the keys to getting a superb overall workout in. One simple example of exercises that complement each other would be doing pull-ups and push-ups together - you do a set of pull-ups, bang out some push-ups right after, and keep repeating until you can't do any more. This is a very simple, yet often forgotten "secret" combination for most folks - and you'd be amazed at the benefits you reap from working on just this combo three times a week.

And while what I just told you is a powerful combination that will get you STRONG, there are many other routines that work just as well - and are even tougher. And you'll get to know what these are upon reading Fast and Furious Fitness, where I give you some sample workouts that'll have you huffing and puffing like a locomotive in no time at all.

And finally - note that though I did NOT do any pull-ups (or pulling movements, for that matter) in my workout today, my forearms feel like they've been put through a wringer, and my back muscles are starting to talk to me as well. You may not think that's possible, but it IS. And the routine I followed is actually very simple - think about it, and let me know if you figured out what I did!

OK, thats it for today. Time to get down to business now.   .   .

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: If you haven't signed up for my diet newsletter as yet at the other site, your missing out on some great stuff, and I strongly recommend you to sign up. Click HERE, and sign up NOW.

One easy way for me to answer this would be to tell you to simply do the exercise, so you can find out on your own. As in, DO the thing, and you'll find out what is better - or, more importantly, what works better for you. And that would be a perfectly legitimate answer - actually DOING the exercises yourself, and figuring out what works best will actually give you far more insightful answers that I (or anyone else) ever could. 

I talk more about doing what works best for you in Fast and Furious Fitness, but for today, I'll delve into the topic myself and share MY feelings with you. And if I were asked this question, my answer would be a combination of "to each his own" and "both have their place".

Now, why do I feel this way?

First, training correctly rarely falls into the "black and white category", where everything is either RIGHT, or WRONG. No, that's not it - much like life, training questions, complications and everything associated with it is a "grey area", in that one usually has to find a middle path (while keeping certain basics in mind) - there is no absolute RIGHT or WRONG.

Second, both exercises are great for upper body development. Both develop a deep, powerful chest, a strong upper back - and also develop the shoulder muscles in their entirety. Both require very little equipment (pushups require NONE), and both can be used to craft together workouts that will have you huffing and puffing in no time flat. 

But, both have their unique benefits. Pushups can give you far more of a cardiovascular workout than dips do, and involve the legs and lower back as well - as opposed to dips, which mostly use the upper body musculature. Dips, on the other hand are much harder to do correctly for most people, and can be used to get an excellent strength workout, while also getting cardiovascular benefits. Pushups have far more variations than dips do (that I know of), but modify the regular bodyweight dip a little, and you have a whole new exercise that will tax you far more than most pushup variations will.

And both have their place as well - those with shoulder issues may want to avoid dips and start off with pushups. Those who are already at a certain level of strength and fitness may want to start off with an advanced variation of the dip, and concentrate more on that. As I said - DO the exercise, and you'll find out.

So in closing - both are excellent exercises that have their own place, and their own benefits. Do the exercise, find out what works best for you, and thats pretty much all that you need to do (and that little bit applies to ALL of your training as well). 

Long answer to a pretty short question, but that's MY take on it. Write in, and let me know YOUR take on it!

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: You can read more on pushups and dips HERE.

PS#2: For even greater detail, Fast and Furious Fitness is what you need to be reading.

They're all great, my friend. They're all excellent "cardio" - the RIGHT kind (if you do 'em right). 

And I wasn't going to write about this, of course, but I saw a piece from a guy I ...well, I wont mention him, he's alright really overall, but he's been going on and on as of late about how "step ups are so much better than squats for him" and so forth, and morphing that into "they are sometimes an overall better exercise" - something which I take exception with, except I'm not reverse trolling him or anything, I'm simply going to put out my view on it as I have so many times in the past. 

Ain't I an ass for having an opinion on damn near everything and expressing it (and others learning from it on it, like this dude. Hehe). 

Well, as they say, opinions are like assholes - we all have 'em. 

Doesn't mean right or wrong, good or bad, they're just ... well, opinions, but FACTS? 

You can't debate those. 

And this guy writing the pieces he is is just plain ole sloppy and FAT with a massive gut hanging over his pants, and it shows in his reps. 

He claims to have done 500 or even 1000 Hindu squats all at once "without a break" - then "it got too boring". 

I call baloney on that - it can never get "boring or tediious" if you focus right and have the gumption to keep at it those 15 minutes (really, if you cannot focus your mind for fifteen minutes on something, you will never accomplish nothing of note). 

He claims "who the hell came up with the number 500 as a gold standard for fitness". 

Next he'll probably ask why pushups are the big dog of fitness - and why squats are the big Daddy of fitness. Hehe. 

Look, dude, clearly you've never done 500 or anything - it shows physically - if you had, you wouldn't be making these statements or asking. 

Agreed, you dont have to do 500 all the time or daily, but there is a reason certain numbers have been passed down over the ages by greats as "the gold standard", or some sort of a standard. 

Perhaps this comment stood out the most - 

but I don't need some standard to tell me how fit I 'am.

Ahem. 

OK ... 

The very fact he's saying this blares out "latent insecurity" like a loudspeaker (because he can't DO the thing, so he's claiming that golden standards aren't standards, or important ones at any rate). 

Not to mention his writing - all of it -sreams out "I need validation or else I'll wail". And that neediness likely turns off most serious readers/buyers as well. Some free advice for him if he's reading, although he likely wont take it. I can see the smoke fillied riposte "coming out of his ears" hehe.

Now, he makes some other somewhat good points, maybe he's just not getting his point across right, with the whininess overwhelming the other "good things" (sort of) he's saying. 

He keeps saying squats feel boring. 

Dude, because you aint doing 'em right. 

True, you dont do the same workout everyday. 

But that dont mean squats should feel boring, or are boring. They're something you should do daily without fail - EVERY great fitness writer, or anyone that has done the thing - yours truly - Brooks Kubik - Matt Furey - and anyone that has done the thing - has said it. 

Not this tripe about "Unless you're a fan of the exercise or want to stay in relative condition for daily life or in sports, it isn't that magnificent of an exercise. It has it's perks and I'll do reps from time to time but after doing 500 so many times, it became boring and it didn't have that spark of excitement to do that many anymore. "

Really, these statements sound STUPID. And clearly he's never DONE 500 at a go, which is fine, but to diss it without doing it, well ... 

(not to mention relative condition - or conditionING - which dude clearly has no idea about? Dude that should be "awesome conditioning" if you're talking any sort of serious squats. 

And he wouldn't know a magnificent exercise or anything if it hit him square on his phat noggin, hehe. Really, to make these sort of statements just shows...) 

All I've seen from him are brief 2 minute training videos where he trains one exercise for a bit, another for a bit, then some Tik Tok stuff, and he's done, which is GREAT - dont get me wrong, if thats what he WANTS, but it doesnt change standards or lack thereof one bit. 

Clearly conditioning wise the dude himself has no standards. 

Again, thats perfectly well and good, but that don't mean the standards don't count, or aren't there for a damn good reason. 

Sad part, so many of these so called fitness gurus or writers or promoters talk this nonsense, because the average person reading and buying from them is LAZY - period. 

And so they count on making more sales "in the short term" from these guys, and never think about long term, either for themselves or their customers (or lack thereof, in this dude's case). 

Which again is fine, to each his own. 

But with this constant rambling about how step ups are superior to squats? 

They're not, my friend. 

They're somewhat - not a lot, but somewhat - easier for phat phools to do. 

Phool? 

Thats flower in Hindi, I can see these flowers wilting as I type. Hehe. 

Nothing compares to, or replaces, or is an adequate substitute for (unless you've GENUINELY got injuries in that regard) the "legs bending up and down" motion you have in squats, either bodyweight, or HIndus, both ass to grass as it were. 

NOTHING. period. Add in the breathing, and oh my - the benefits are out of the world. 

Step ups are a sorry alternative, at least if you do them like most do, with barely any elevation. 

I just did 50 on each leg in the bathroom (this particular bathroom has a very small ledge seperating the shower area from the rest of the space) while waiting for a bucket to fill. Hehe. I barely felt it - squats? I'd have felt it for sure.

But anyway - drooping wallflowers and lily livered poltroons aside - they're certainly not "better overall" than squats. 

They're a good workout, dont get me wrong. 

But NOTHING beats the squat - period. 

Ask anyone with any brains, anyone thats written any bestsellnig book on fitness, they'll tell you the same thing - in fact, it will be there in their books (Combat Conditioning, 0 Excuses Fitness, Dinosaur Bodyweight Training etc etc) and so forth. 

Now, step ups and stair climbing? 

Y'all know I'm a huge proponet of stair climbing - outdoors. 

And rock climbing too... 

Yet, rock climbing NEVER replaces pull-ups. 

And stair climbing doesnt replace squats either - with the very noteable exception of HILL training - not just sprints, but HIKING those suckers in various ways over and over again. 

Sprints are great, yes, but the "leg work" has to be there too. Along with the roadwork! 

Let me tell you nothing works the core and LEGS better than squats, or climbing hills (either on slopes, or with stairs hewn in) . 

The stair climbing machine in the gym doesnt even come close. 

There is a reason Brooks Kubik asked me if I was in the military all those years ago when I sent him that famous (by now) "Rahuls hill walking workout from China" ... 

It all comes full circle now. 

Step ups at the end of the day are easier than squats - Hindus or bodyweight. Simple fact my friend. 

True, you can claim otherwise, but claiming the sun rises in the West doesnt make it true.. 

And if I really had to choose between stair climbing and squats? In a pinch I'd choose SQUATS. 

In fact, I did squats even back in the day when all else I did was hill climbing. 

Moral of the story - dont take the easy way out, my friend. 

Rocky IV tells you there ain't no easy way out - and as the man himself seems to wanting "more rights" to the Rocky series from what I can glean from the news - this seems to be as good a time to tell you as any, that I've been saying for YEARS now - the world really WANTS back to the good ole days when men were men, women were women, hard work was hard work, excuses were excuses, not mainstream whiny garbage of "what works for me" and so forth ... 

Ok, enough of this. 

But you get the point! 

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - Get your hands on the best, most old school training program right HERE. 

PS #2 - 

 Training is meant to be an adventure, not a chore or something that will make you feel bored.

 If you don't feel a spark or excitement when you exercise, you're just going through the motions and it becomes typical and tedious.

Um, no sir... 

sometimes, those boring, tedious HARD yards - often times, in fact are what give you LASTING long term results like nothing else would. 

Persistence when the entire world seems against you. 

you wouldt know much about that though, which is fine. Hehe. (referring to dude here). 

Whoever gave him the idea that "it has feel like something new each time" was an idiot (though he probably thought of it himself). 

It's DOING the thing daily that gets results, friend, simple FACT... 

Anyway - those of you that love reading my words "even if you're not into fitness" - Gumption Galore! and Zero to Hero! are two great books. 

So is the Fitness Central series ... and the Fitness Pioneer series...  

More coming soon!