Ross Edgley, strongman, author of The World’s Fittest Book and cardio-fiend sometimes referred to as The World’s Fittest Man, has broken a number of records in his 33 years on the planet. These include being the first person to swim around the UK, completing a rope climb equivalent to Mount Everest’s height in 19 hours and running a marathon while tethered to a small car.

He’s also proved that Adonis-like strength and triathlete-type fitness don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

To that end: today he is going to show you a workout secret that could massively increase your gains: “Training anything and everything, anywhere and everywhere.” Or, put simply, if you want to get supremely jacked you need to do away with any notions of ‘going through the motions’ and pursue your goal with single-minded determination.

There’s a reason The Vikings, with inferior equipment (and having travelled across the sea in a leaky boat), were able to belt such fear into the English soldier’s hearts, after all, But we digress.

Taking to Instagram less than an hour ago, Ross Edgley encouraged his 492k followers to embrace that same message (the putting your soul into your workout part, not the pillaging and plundering bit), adding that working out barefoot could be another technique that could get your body into alignment (if done correctly) and potentially get you past a plateau.

Edgley has spoken about the mental side of training before at length, including during a podcast with the now-renowned Joe Rogan, in which he spruiks the benefit of adding an ‘adventurous’ aspect (or goal) to your training, to keep it real.

After all, lifting weights in the gym is all well and good, but if you have a greater aim in mind (whether it’s catching more waves during your next surf, or scaling Mount Kilimanjaro) you are likely to put a little more thrust into that ailing bench press.

This leads into a broader discussion around the modern approach to working out, with icons like David Goggins, Laird Hamilton and Nate Robinson showing us how to use ancient pain-bearing techniques to work out better (without taking it too far and getting injured).

So what are you waiting for? Quit scrolling and start kettle-bell swinging that table in front of you. Or something. Or – at least – resolve to put your damn phone away between sets next time you find yourself in the gym.

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