Warning: Undefined array key "inject_bottom_color" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 143

Warning: Undefined array key "inject_bottom_color" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 159

Warning: Undefined array key "" in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 159

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 160

Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/0excusesfitness/public_html/wp-content/plugins/newsletter-leads/plugin.php on line 161

Alrighty!

A great, great topic today and one you SHOULD read even if you aren’t afflicted with what I mention above, and also a longer than usual dispatch – – here goes!!

And emphasis on the word “TRULY”, my friend.

When I say your knees are truly not in the condition to do Hindu squats, for instance, I mean there is a REAL problem.

Not soreness.

Not just muscle cramps.

Certainly not just laziness and “ouch! I Can’t walk for days after doing a 100 of these!”

(the last is funny, but believe me, yours truly has been there. Yours truly that hikes hills like nothing else! Hehe).

(And there is another exercise which will give you or MAY give you the same impact, but we’ll cover that later).

Anyway, in 2017 I met one of my best buddies Vincent.

You guys on the list know him already!

A wrecking machine of a man, ex-Marine (Force Recon) and definitely a FORCE to be reckoned with even though he is retired now.

Shoulders like Boulders, a kung fu like grip (as he once said I had) and much, much more!

And REAL Strength that comes from having been in the trenches day in and day out.

We were discussing 0 Excuses Fitness shortly after we met, of course, and he mentioned that his back was too shot to do bridges.

And that he wasn’t too sure about the squats either . . .

Now, for what it’s worth, Hindu squats are usually, for MOST People, the #1 remedy for “shot knees”.

Weak ligaments. Creaky tendons. Weak thighs, or even hips. And so forth. Actually, the entire core and lower body . . .

. . .MOST people with knee pain report it having gone away after a month or so of getting GOOD at these.

And feeling a heck of a lot better too overall! Even those that just do a 100 per week, for instance.

They are truly one of the most rejuvenative exercise ever there has been for the knees – for MOST people.

Ditto for bridging and BACK pain, and lower back pain specifically.

Or upper back soreness, or stiffness. Or that wonky MID-BACK area which you often “pull”. OR, the upper chest.

And definitely the NECK area – that bull neck you need to build! (I’ve not written a lot about neck training in the recent past, but I plan on CHANGING that).

And entire body, actually.

For me its been pull-ups, but bridging is something I recommend even to people that can do pull-ups, as a bridge works you in ways you’ve never likely felt before if you do it right.

And its far better than repeated visits to the chiro for one. Trust me on that one!

Core strength, stability, flexibility.

Ah but wait. You were talking knee pain, I hear you say.

Yes. I was.

And I’m not rambling here for a change, hehe.

A few months after meeting Vincent, we had the conversation about bridging and I recommended it, but he wasn’t “sure” about it.

“How do you know it won’t worsen things”, he asked.

I told him what I am telling you guys here now, but he was still a bit doubtful, and given his back is truly shot with all the injuries he had, I let it go there.

And a month later, as we were meeting up for a beer drink up (out!) I saw he was holding his back.

As we picked up our beers at the neighboring Mei Yi Jia, he had to this to say, ruefully and apologetically (And it was funny, hehe).

“Rahul, I’m sorry, but I Gotta make you the beast of burden today!”

And the issue was that he had pulled his back. He wasn’t even able to bend down and pick up a beer, it was that bad, so MAYBE bridging wouldn’t help him (maybe; I still think it would, but for the vast majority of folks out there, YES, it will!).

Anyway, earlier on that year I “met” (through email and on this list) a man who truly KNOWS a thing or two about training

A man that makes NO excuses, and “gets her done” no matter what!!

A retired cop, and a man that likely served with PRIDE, DIGINITY and HONOR (hats off Sir!) and a man that is a huge 0 Excuses Fitness fan.

Charles Mitchell, he is (you guys know him too! ?) and I first met him when he replied to an email I sent about sprints.

I don’t know if I remember what he said exactly, and don’t have the email with me now (computer crash).

But I think it was along the lines of “he wished he could do sprints, but the knees were too shot”.

Now, this man used to do a 100 Hindu squats daily. And he no doubt knew that this was one of the best ways to rid himself of knee pain.

But although he soldiered on and got good at them – DAMN good at that, he found his pain was increasing.

And so he stopped doing ‘em, but the pain never went away.

(Note – This is REAL pain I’m referring to!)

And he was asking me today about something unrelated, and a gadget of all things, which despite my dislike of gadgets I’m definitely going to look into and provide feedback on. Always have an open mind my friend!

Anyway, I asked him if he was doing the squats in proper FORM, as poor FORM is usually why knees and lower back etc starts hurting after a while of you doing these my friend.

Get the form right, and the pain SHOULD go away effortlessly.

And since he was asking about isometrics, I gave him a wonderful exercise to do indeed in this regard.

The wall chair, that I wrote about before in an email or so prior to this – an exercise that will not just make your thighs quiver like a maple leaf in the Toronto breeze within a few seconds (even those of you that are used to heavy leg work and Hindu squats!) of doing ‘em.

And an exercise which because of the position, strengthens the tendons, ligaments and supporting musculature beyond belief, my friend.

And that brings me to my second point. Imbalances.

I’ve spoken about imbalances being a prime cause of pain and weakness too. Never neglect the weakest link as the saying goes. Often times weak thighs can be traced back to under developed hamstrings.

Often times, back pain can be traced back to more than just the back.

Ditto for elbow, shoulder and other aches and pains . . .

And the other exercise I’d recommend for anyone in Charles’s position would be the Asian Squat.

Something I’ve spoken about before in the “Challenge” emails I sent y’all months ago.

And no, I ain’t being racist when I use the term “Asian”.

That’s just how they sit there, and it’s an immensely healthy position for EVEYRONE, albeit a one which even yours truly took some getting used to.

And apart from all the numerous benefits this position has which I’ve covered in emails prior to this, THIS position also strengthens the lower body beyond belief (especially hips, connective tissues etc).

Simply get in position and HOLD.

For time.

And you’ll notice you’re getting a workout by doing just that if you’re not used to it.

Now, I can’t promise this will cure the knee pain overnight, but I can tell you this – isometrics are a very powerful way to workout – and strengthen the entire body my friend.

And there are literally tons and tons of ways to do isometrics. I had about 26 exercises ready to go for the book I was working upon on that, but of course, the laptop crashed Shantaram style, hehe.

Round #2 it is then!

And that’s that for now. I’ll be back soon!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Here is where you can learn the RIGHT way to do Hindu squats and get the form down PAT –https://0excusesfitness.com/0excusesfitnessystem