An 83-year old man recently became the oldest person to walk the Appalachian Trail; all 2,193 miles of it. His name is M.J. “Sunny” Eberhart, but most people know him as Nimblewood Nomad.
If you think hiking such a distance is incredible, consider that when this same retired optometrist was 60 years of age, he walked from the Florida Keys to Quebec, a 4,400-mile trek.
The key to walking such distances is NOT training to failure, or going out and giving it “everything you’ve got” each day. Accomplishments such as this are methodical and systematic. Instead of driving yourself to exhaustion, you choose a number of miles that you can consistently walk each day, and then you follow through with action.
Along the way there will be some difficult steps, but the first step is, in many respects, going to be the toughest. This is why there’s a saying, “Beginning is half-done.”
When I first heard about doing 500-straight Hindu squats, I thought it was an impossibility. And 2,000 squats in a row, that was not a thought I would entertain.
In the beginning, my thighs would scream around 40-50 repetitions, a far cry from the goal of 500. But I kept working on it. At times I felt as though I wasn’t making any progress. Then one day it all started to come together when I was able to easily crank out 100.
Being able to do 100 repetitions in a row was a breakthrough moment, and when I think about it, it wasn’t long afterward before I could do 200, 300, 400 and ultimately, 500 in a row.
It took longer for me to get to 100 in a row than it did to go from 100 to 500.
Why?
Because going from 0-100 is when you’re laying the foundation. It takes a number of weeks before your tendons, ligaments and muscles are ready to go to the next level. You do not just forge ahead and force yourself to do 500. You are systematic and methodical, just as Nimblewood Nomad was on his 2,000-mile trek. The key is realizing that there’s some math to this business.
Keep in mind that each repetition flows into the next in a circuitous manner. There is neither a pause at the top nor is there a bounce out of the bottom position. You might think there is a bounce and a pause, but there isn’t.
In the beginning, one set of 10-25 reps is enough. Make haste slowly. Thoughts about doing 500-straight should be dismissed from your mind. But as you consistently work on these puppies and your numbers go up, your quest for the Holy Grail will most likely enlarge and expand naturally.
If you haven’t yet begun doing Hindu squats regularly, make sure you have my Combat Conditioning book and videos, where I cover it.
Once you’re in a groove and you want more details, then my membership site is the way to go. In fact, later this month I’m going to be revealing “the math” on how you can get to 500-straight Hindu squats to my members, so they will learn how to accomplish the goal with far greater ease.
I’m not saying the journey will be easy. It’ll be tough. But you will have accomplished something monumental by being tough on yourself.
In so doing, you’ll get to feel that peace of mind that ole Nimblewood Nomad uncovered while walking the Appalachian Trail.
It’s real.
And it…
Kick Azz!
Matt Furey
