Coach Mogambo: Built by Discipline
About Huzefa
Huzefa Talib, a former banker turned biomechanics expert, transformed his own injury struggles into a deep passion for human physiology and athletic training. As Co-founder of The Outfit gym in Bangalore, he’s trained everyone from national athletes and Bollywood stars to the Bangalore Women’s Cricket franchise, always focusing on training the individual, not the sport. Pioneer of restrictive eating in India and creator of the "Welcome to the Jungle" program, Huzefa is on a mission to redefine longevity, discipline, and high performance with sharp insights, tough love, and authentic coaching.
5 Things We Loved About Huzefa’s Story:
1. More Than Reps: A Coach’s Day Is Built on People, Not Just Programs A fitness coach’s day is long, holistic, and people-focused — it's not just about workouts, but about building wellness, confidence, and lasting habits.
2. Ditch the Outcome Obsession: Fall in Love with the Process
Tension stems from focusing on the result. Shift the mindset to the process, not the outcome. Stick to basics, follow the routine, and enjoy the sport.
3. Train Smart, Not Invincible: Injury Is Part of the Game
Not all injuries are preventable. Train smart to avoid repetitive ones, but know that trauma injuries are part of the game. Surround yourself with people who lift your mindset and stay open to feedback.
4. Bounce Back Like a Pro: It’s the Comeback That Counts
Everyone loses sometimes — even the greatest. What matters is how you respond. Rest, reset, and return to your process the next day.
5. Age Isn’t the Barrier — Lack of Purpose and Guidance Is
It’s not about age, but purpose and supervision. Kids can start training if it's structured, guided, and focused on performance, not aesthetics.
6. Fit Isn’t a Look: Strength Is in Function, Not Size
Thin or “skinny” doesn’t mean unfit. Focus on function, not form. Sleep, food, and mental fitness matter more than shape or size.
7. Bolt Mentality: Why Huzefa’s GOAT Is About Grit, Not Gold Usain Bolt is Huzefa’s GOAT — not just for his victories, but for overcoming adversity, staying positive, and believing in his path despite the odds.
8. Strong Mind, Strong Game: Greatness Starts Off the Field
Don’t just train your body — train your mind. Read widely, especially biographies and nonfiction. Greatness begins before the game even starts.
Our Conversation With Huzefa
Soundarya (Host): Welcome to the edX Live podcast where we spotlight changemakers shaping the future. Today's guest is a powerhouse in the world of fitness and transformation. Huzefa Talib, better known as Coach Mogambo. A former athlete turned elite coach, he's known for blending physical training with mental toughness, helping athletes and everyday folks push past limits. He's also the co-founder of one of the most popular gyms in Bangalore, called Outfit. From sport-specific programs to mindset shifts, he's not just building bodies, he's building belief. Let's get into it with the one and only Huzefa Talib.
Welcome to the edX Live podcast, Huzefa!
Huzefa Talib: Thanks for having me here.
Soundarya (Host): So, Huzefa, to start off, can you walk us through what a fitness coach actually does? What does a typical day in your life look like?
Huzefa Talib: You go to the gym, we meet people who want to get fit, basically - perform better, and it's a pretty long day. As much as a lot of us think that fitness trainer's job is to just go to the gym and work out, we just don't do that. It's very holistic. Right. We impact lives. We talk to people about how they can get fitter, better, healthier. The word is wellness. We interact with people who are going through something physically or mentally. We train them and it's a lot of conversation, nudging, making them better. But it's a long day.
We start at, say, 5:00 AM, sometimes we finish at 8:00 - 9:00 PM. Life of a trainer is pretty much the same. It's repetitive, very monotonous. Same, but that's with every work. But we get an opportunity to explore, do much more beyond what some other profession could give you.
Soundarya (Host): So, many athletes experience anxiety before a competition. You know, there is this very real fear of the unknown. So, what are your strategies for managing pre-competition nerves?
Huzefa Talib: The reason why you are tensed is because you're looking at the result. Stop looking at the result. Win or lose - when it starts playing your head, you take away the fun of playing the sport, so you're tensed.
Oh, today, if I don't perform well, we won't win. Today if I don't perform well, I might not get picked. So, we've already jumped into the outcome. Change that mindset for sure. Like start looking at, okay, what did my coach tell me to do? Look at the ball, hit the ball, play a particular technique. Focus on the process.
You could play really well today and not play well at all tomorrow. That's the beauty of the sport, right? The greatest of the athletes have not played good throughout - Kohli, Virat, Sachin. They've done the process really well. Like you say, Usain Bolt, even the greatest of the greatest - Federer, Djokovic, Nadal. If you talk about any sportsman like Ronaldo, Messi, these guys show up three hours or two hours before their actual training time. They do their basics really well regardless of where they are. Build a protocol regardless of where you are - playing good or playing bad, follow that protocol every day. Always look back and be happy for the fact that you're getting to play.
Soundarya (Host): There's always injury. That's gonna be a tough part of any athletic journey.
You know, how can one deal with physical and the emotional impact of injury for an athlete, especially the guilt or the self-doubt that may follow?
Huzefa Talib: Injury is not in your control. Like you can again, do the right things. You can train well, but you still can get injured. Like sometimes you just fall and you're trying to save a boundary.
You can fall and land bad. You're not predicting that you're gonna be doing something like that. Try to fix injuries that could be repetitive. Say a hamstring strain could be repetitive, so you could fix those things by training better. But if you say, have a dive and you land bad. You can't do much about it.
Trauma injuries - you can't do anything about. You cannot fix that in the gym. But the injuries that could be repetitive through your process of training, like I said, build that process. Warm up, cool down those exercises that help you train those muscles that you're weak in. So, list it down, write it down.
Also, interacting with the right kind of people is the most important thing that you could do as an athlete. Sometimes you feel that certain type of people will elevate your mindset. One random person you could meet and they would tell you certain things that could just elevate your performance to the next level. So, the process is also being open to feedback.
Soundarya (Host): So, Huzefa, tell me what causes an athlete to develop a losing mentality, you know, and how can they break out of it to regain confidence and drive?
Huzefa Talib: Nobody likes to lose, but what you do from it is the most important thing. You've understood that you did a certain something wrong, and there are two teams playing. One is always gonna get better off the other person. Regardless, you cannot win always. There will be somebody who will do something better that day. It's also that day you've lost on one particular day you've not lost overall. Go back to sleep. Do not think about it. Wake up in the morning, go back to your process.
Soundarya (Host): So, there is this large culture of fit-fluencers, which is shaping up in social media and like influencing most other aspects of our lives. This is also something that goes around to a large extent. So, I feel like younger children may also be influenced into joining gyms. Do you have thoughts on young children joining gyms and, and what do you think is an appropriate age for when structured physical training can begin?
Huzefa Talib: Not everybody at every age goes there to do everything that everybody's doing. At 14, you could do things what a 14-year-old needs to do. So, get a trainer who understands that. It's not about the gym, it's about the person you also train under or train with, and the reason to go and train you. Say, I want to get fitter and play harder and improve my jumps or run, improve my speed times, or have strong core or have better game, then go to the gym.
It'll give you access to resistance training. It'll give you access to plyometrics, it'll give you access to working out with like-minded people. Because everybody's winning in the gym. I have never seen anybody lose in the gym. We don't talk that language. You win for the day. Get a great ideology on why you want to go to the gym, fix that.
That's the part of your process. A lot of people go to the gym to look like a particular actor. Don't chase that. Right? So, once you do that, then gym, home, anywhere, it's all safe.
Soundarya (Host): Thank you for that. Yes! My last question to you is, what advice would you give young athletes as a coach who aspire to turn professional? What should they be focusing on beyond just training?
Huzefa Talib: Read books that are not also a part of the sport. I think a lot of athletes don't read that is where they lose out on a lot of critical information that you probably get to tame and shape their mind up. Biographies are there, nonfictions - that can help them grow as an individual.
Sometimes you don't win a game in the field, right? Sometimes you win the game even before you enter the field. Books will help you, so don't stop reading.
Soundarya (Host): Thank you for such an insightful conversation, Huzefa.
And that wraps up this inspiring episode of the edX Live podcast. You can catch more of our conversations with change makers, rule breakers, and use icons right here on the edX Live podcast on edX live.com. Until next time, keep kicking limits and breaking barriers.
Socials : @coach_mogambo @theoutfitgym
