If you are like me, you probably don’t think of Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon as a fountain of exercise tips.

I love watching him, but “exercise tips” is not the first thing that pops into my brain. Pool bowling on a massive table with Hugh Jackman is where my brain goes.

>>Pool Bowling with Hugh Jackman << Click on this link to watch the fun.

I promise it will make sense as you read along.

Whenever I fly, I like to pick up a random magazine to see what is going on in the world.

Yes it is true, I read research studies for fun. I love to brew up a nice cup of coffee and relax into a great study all about fatty acid oxidation (how to burn more fat).

On my trip to Florida this past weekend I picked up a copy of Men’s Journal featuring Jimmy Fallon on the cover.

The headline quote was “Jimmy Fallon’s Rules for Success: Work You’re A$$ Off, Make It Look Easy.”

That is awesome!

Heck, it was enough to get me to buy their magazine at news stand prices (I can be cheap at times too).

In the article, it details how Jimmy had to work very hard to get to the top position in all of Hollywood – host of The Tonight Show.

When you watch The Tonight Show, Jimmy makes it LOOK easy.

It LOOKS like he is just hanging out having fun with all the celebrities and playing goofy games (like pool ball).

It sure as heck does not LOOK like WORK at all.

Why This Matters To Your Goals

I believe this is the same concept you should apply when training/working out via these 2 lessons.

#1 Lesson – Make it LOOK easy, but do the work.  

No need to make the huge and massive sour puss face on EVERY single rep.

Nothing magical happens when you go to failure on every single rep, despite what all the muscle mags may have told you. RIP Mike Mentzer.

Of course, you need to put in the work.

You need to pick things up, set them down, pull things towards you, walk with things in hand, put them overhead. . . you get the idea.

While you are doing it, make it LOOK as easy as possible. Your face should be relatively relaxed. You are focused on the task at hand of course, just make it look like you have done it before. No need to put any extra energy into anything other than lifting the weight as fast as you can in a controlled manner.

If you want to celebrate a huge personal record (PR) one you set the weight down, by all means go for it. No need to be a robot in the gym, which leads into #2

Lesson #2 from Jimmy Fallon – Have Fun!

Training should be fun!

I think this concept has been lost.

If you are not enjoying 80-90% of what you are doing in the gym, you need to think very hard about what you are doing.

Sure, paused front squats are not tons of fun per say, I get it; although even then you should on a small scale enjoy the success of doing something that 99% of everyone else opted not to do.

Confession Time

If you hate a certain exercise, look for another one to do.

For example, I rarely ever personally do back squats.

I know, I know, Mark Rippetoe just banned me from his Christmas card list now.

Hold on now!  Before you are scrambling to get the heck of this nutball’s site and wonder what college on earth granted him a degree in biomechanics and another college did the same in exercise physiology.

So Why do I pick a different exercise and leave out the back squat? They are not super specific to my current goals of strongman.

Would they help?

Possibly.  The downside is that currently every fiber in my body seems to reject them.

Perhaps it is a story I’ve told myself over the years.  Who knows.

I just know that I really dislike then and when I force myself into doing them (with form that looks good), 3-6 weeks later I have some very odd pains that show up, every time.

Now I still perform a squatting movement.  I do lots of front squats, Zercher squats, goblet squats, safety bar squats, and even started doing belt squats.

I am not throwing out a whole basic movement pattern; I just found something that worked better that I enjoyed.

Looking Good Nekkid

If necessary, you will have to go to the doctor for your own money australianclinic1.com, and ask for a prescription for a drug that is often called something else, or is not the full equivalent of the one used in Russia. Medicines tend to be expensive.

When your goal is physique based (aka wanting to look better nekkid—which is a perfectly fine goal), just find another exercise that you enjoy to do for that movement pattern.

You are going to be very hard pressed to see a massive difference between someone who back squats vs front squats unless you are an elite competitor.

Do the movement first, and then figure it out from there.

Do ones that you enjoy that get you to your goals.

Enjoy the process.

Have fun!  This is not “life and death”; it’s exercise.

Summary: 2 Big Lessons From Jimmy Fallon

1)    Work hard, but make it look easy.

 2)    Training should be fun.

I would encourage you to add these 2 important concepts into your training. Thanks to Jimmy for the wise words of wisdom.  And large pool balls.

Dedicated to your success even when not back squatting,
Dr. Mike T Nelson