• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Contributors
  • Resources
    • Q&A with Paul “Coach” Wade
  • Workshops
  • Products
  • Forums
  • Articles
  • Blogs
    • RKC Blog
    • Strong Medicine Blog
  • Archives

PCC Blog

Progressive Calisthenics - The Official Blog for the PCC Community

Archives for July 2016

Be Prepared for the Time of Your Life

July 26, 2016 By Shari Wagner 13 Comments

Shari Wagner With Al Danny Kavadlo at the NYC PCC

Where do I begin? I guess the best place to start is to say that if you haven’t been to the PCC yet, GO! I’ll wait while you go sign up. You won’t be sorry.

I had the PCC on my workshop wish list for quite some time. I was maybe halfway through the first day, my mind already being sufficiently blown away by what we were learning, when I thought “geez, what on earth took you so long to do this?”

The PCC was different from any other certification I have attended. There was a certain energy in the air amongst the participants from the moment we walked in the door. A lighter energy, an inherent sense that this workshop was going to be a lot of fun.

I think the fact that the workshop starts with Al Kavadlo essentially telling us that he had no expectations for what we could and could not do immediately releases any nerves the participants may have. He tells us to have fun and try new things, but that some skills take months or years to achieve at their highest levels of progression.

NYC PCC Danny Al plank demonstration

The name of the certification embodies the very principles of this method. Everything is progressive. But because everything is progressive, at the same time everything can be regressed. As such, everyone can participate in some way, to the level that is appropriate for them on that particular day.

The energy amongst the participants, however, is magnifying, inclusive and inspiring. As you’re working within your small group or with your partner, you suddenly hear an eruption of cheering next to you as someone reached a personal best on something they have either been working on, or with a skill they just tried for the first time. Sometimes, you find that the cheering is for you. Often you find the courage and the encouragement to try a skill that may have scared you.

Shari Wagner Dragon Flag

The participants don’t just cheer when the achievement is met, they cheer for each other as they make these attempts. This is all in an effort to try something new and to learn what each progression of an exercise feels like. If you try but don’t achieve the skill, they still cheer for you just for trying.

The skills themselves look like feats of superhuman strength, and some definitely are. But at the same time, they are playful. This playfulness just adds to the fun energy in the air. Each day is wrapped up with tallying all of the personal records on each skill that we learned. To see how many hands are raised for the PRs and to see them posted on John Du Cane’s Facebook page is that much more empowering and inspiring for the next day and for the future.

Of course, just like all the Dragon Door certifications, you always make new friends at the workshop. That’s another thing that the Kavadlos tell you from square one. That you will make some deep connections with people and leave with a bunch of new friends that are all part of the PCC family. Perhaps you’ll even find yourself practicing some of your new-found skills with your new family on the subway one evening after dinner!

NYC PCC Subway L-Sits

When you go to the PCC, be prepared to accomplish things you never thought possible. Be prepared to learn how to advance your own skills while bringing back a host of smaller chunks that you can use with your clients. Be prepared to look at every street sign or every kind of pole or bar in a new way. Be prepared for the time of your life.

***

Shari Wagner is a PCC instructor, RKC Team Leader and owner of Iron Clad Fitness in Denver, Colorado. While Shari’s fitness journey started with kettlebells, she loves the results from adding calisthenics to her own training. Her clients are having lots of fun incorporating calisthenics as well. She can be contacted through her website IronCladFit.com. Follow Shari on Facebook: facebook.com/IronCladFitness and Twitter: @IronCladFitness for more info.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Workshop Experiences Tagged With: NYC PCC, PCC Workshop, Shari Wagner, workshop experience

Fitness, Fun and Failure: What I Learned at the NY PCC

July 19, 2016 By Joe Boffi 11 Comments

Joe Boffi Archer Pull-Up

A few weeks ago I had the honor of being a student at the Progressive Calisthenics Certification in New York City. The PCC was 3 days of learning how to bend, twist and leverage our bodies into chiseled masterpieces. There was talk about being turned into PCC ninjas, which immediately had me excited. However, I was just as quickly saddened to find out that we weren’t actually going to learn how to disappear behind a ninja smoke bomb. It was then that Head Master Ninja John Du Cane quietly whispered for me to be patient.

The information of the seminar was presented in short and precise modules. Keeping the presentations concise was great because it left a lot of time for the real learning to commence through a form of play and cooperative teaching. We were instructed to pair up or form small groups to practice teaching and performing the exercises. From the start, the instructors let us figure out how to move our bodies and guided us to the techniques that worked best for us as individuals. We were encouraged to also learn the movements by teaching what we took away from the modules in our own way to our fellow students.

NYC PCC

Along with cooperative learning, a very safe, fun and familiar atmosphere was created. The environment encouraged students to try movements that they normally wouldn’t have tried. People were laughing and smiling with each other in success and failure. In fact, failure wasn’t frowned upon, it was looked at as an opportunity to apply our new knowledge and work for a new goal.

One of my favorite examples of how failure was not looked at negatively came at the very end of the weekend during the illustrious Century Test. A student of advanced age was up. He crushed the squats, push-ups, and hanging knee raises. Going into the final exercise of the test, the pull-up, he had some trouble. But he also had the entire seminar cheering him on. When he dismounted from the bar he may not have had all 10 reps completed but he did have a large grin. Missing out on the pull-up portion of the test wasn’t a moment of sadness for him. I believe that his grin was from the immense encouragement and love given to him as his fellow students and new family cheered along.

I personally had a humbling, yet oddly comforting experience while practicing a new exercise during the squat module. Throughout my fitness journey I have been performing all sort of pistol squats from body weight to weighted pistols, pistols balancing on top of kettlebells or barbells, and even carefully doing depth jump pistols (that’s a whole other story). Needless to say, when we got to this portion of the day I felt rather confident. That was until I attempted my first shrimp squat.

NYC PCC Shrimp Squats
PCC Master Instructors Al and Danny Kavadlo making the shrimp squat look easy. It’s not.

This exercise appeared to be a single leg pistol regression so I thought to myself, “I got this.” Well, I didn’t. Since I considered my legs to be very strong already, I figured there must have been something that I was doing all wrong. I called Master Al over to watch and tap into his expertise. After demonstrating my new found nemesis, Al adjusted a few very minor details and told me I wasn’t doing it all wrong and that I just need to practice. I was humbled by the shrimp squat, yet at the same time comforted by Al and the knowledge that I can take my perceived failure and add it to my box of tools and goals.

Besides the amazing exercises that were taught, my two biggest takeaways were that a safe, fun and encouraging environment, coupled with the humble expertise of quality instructors, is the best way to facilitate learning for all. This seminar also reaffirmed for me that failure is just a way to add new goals in life, and not something to be discouraged by.

And don’t forget, ninja smoke bomb training is coming….

NYC PCC Danny Al Joe Boffi

****

Joe Boffi is a PCC, RKC and co-owner of Catalyst Sport in New York City, which will be hosting an upcoming SCC workshop this November. If you have questions for Joe, leave them in the comments section below or contact him at Joe@catalystsportnyc.com.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Workshop Experiences Tagged With: Catalyst Sport, Joe Boffi, New York, NYC, NYC PCC, workshop experience

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

July 12, 2016 By Danny Kavadlo 24 Comments

Danny Kavadlo Sunk Cost Fallacy1

Gamblers do it all the time.

You’ve seen them in Vegas. Atlantic City. New Orleans. They’re pumping money into shiny machines, stacking chips on velvet-covered tables, spinning their wheels at roulette. With tired eyes squinting through the thick, blue smoke, they see a fantastic vision of recovering what they’ve lost. In all likelihood, they won’t.

I imagine the thought process goes something like this: You’ve lost thousands and are continuing on a downward spiral, but you’ve already spent so much that this time, you gotta win! You’re due for a little luck anyhow. How could you not hit? You think that if you just keep at it, you will get back at least the cost you invested, maybe even a little more. But this is a fallacy. The cost is lost, my friend.

It’s why people hold onto falling stocks, hoping for a rebound, or spend all day at the track with nothing to show, rather than cutting their losses. Ultimately, you must do something different because what you’re doing isn’t working.

Sadly, money is not the only investment in which so many double down after losing. There are numerous others. Time immediately comes to mind, and it’s a far more worthy commodity than cash. You’re stuck at a dead end job. You hate it, but you’ve been there forever. “Oh, I cant leave,” you say meekly to yourself. “It’s too late to go anywhere else. I’ve already invested so much time.”

So what?

You won’t get that time back, even if you stay. Don’t focus on your diminishing returns. Just leave. If you think it’s too late to start something else and change your behavior and life, then we have a major problem on our hands. As the saying goes, time is of the essence. You go now!

Yet even more valuable than time and money is love. Yes, our most wondrous emotion (or oftentimes, a lack of it) has been known to fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy as well. Have you ever been in a toxic relationship that lasted way longer than it should? Have you ever grown so accustomed to another’s smile that it no longer brings you joy, only pain? Or even worse, indifference? Have you ever held on, when there remains nothing worthwhile to cling to? I reckon we all have and I’m sorry if you’ve suffered. We all live in pain at times, but if you’re stuck in a situation like this, you gotta get the hell out. That’s all I got to say about that.

DannyKavadloBrokenHeart2

All of these scenarios involve protecting yourself from yourself. No one can love another if they cannot love themselves. Yes, I’m telling you to love yourself wholly: personally, emotionally, spiritually and, of course, physically.

The great thing about nurturing your own physical body is that (barring injury or disability) it’s the one thing that you have complete control of. There is a direct correlation between effort and yield. Your body isn’t a slot machine; there is no need for luck here. No matter how many hours you spend at the casino, it does not guarantee prosperity. But putting hours into your training does!

For that matter, you can write the world’s greatest song, but if it doesn’t sell a million copies, you will have little or no validation of your craft. You can paint an amazing portrait, but if no one buys it, your career as an artist will not be successful. This is not the case with fitness. If you make a change today, and remain consistent, it will show. That’s part of what makes working out so real and beautiful. It’s the only phenomenon in this world where you truly reap what you sow.

Don’t subscribe to the sunk cost fallacy when it comes to your own being. So what if you haven’t trained in a week or a year or since high school? Try not to look at the sunk cost behind you; get over it. Look at what can be in front of you instead. It’s not too late to start a personal revolution today. Don’t gamble with your health.

Danny Kavadlo Muscle-Up
Get over it!

Keep The Dream Alive,

-DK

****

Danny Kavadlo is one of the world’s foremost authorities on calisthenics, nutrition and personal training. He is the author of the Dragon Door titles Strength Rules, Diamond-Cut Abs and Everybody Needs Training. Most recently, he co-authored Street Workout with his brother, Al Kavadlo. Danny is known for his minimalist philosophy, simple approach and motivational talents.

A true in-person experience, Danny is a Master Instructor for Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification. He has been featured in the NY Times, TRAIN, Men’s Fitness and is a regular contributor to Bodybuilding.com. Learn more about Danny at www.DannyTheTrainer.com

Filed Under: Motivation and Goals, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Danny Kavadlo, fitness, goals, long term fitness, motivation, Sunk Cost Fallacy, training

Primary Sidebar

Featured Products

previous arrow
GetStrongBookCover
ConvictConditioningBookCover
StreetWorkoutBookCover
ExplosiveCalisthenicsBookCover
StrengthRulesBookCover
next arrow

Categories

Progressive Calisthenics Certification Logo
Click here for more information or to register for the PCC workshop

Get Strong Workouts TriadXP App
Get Strong Workouts App

Recent Posts

  • Top 5 Reasons Why an In-Person Workshop is the Best Way to Supercharge Your Training
  • HYBRID STRENGTH TRAINING IS HERE!
  • My Calisthenics Journey to the PCC
  • The Handstand Press: Complete Control Through the Handstand
  • The Get Strong App is Here!

Dragon Door Publications

Dragon Door Publications

Recent Comments

  • bross dandon on The Case for Curved Handstands
  • Johnny Flewellen Jr. on Strength for Life
  • Dan Earthquake on The Pursuit of the Daily Minimum
  • Johnny Flewellen Jr. on The Pursuit of the Daily Minimum
  • Johnny Flewellen Jr. on Yoga, Calisthenics and the Journey of a Lifetime
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Copyright © 2025

Dragon Door Publications / The author(s) and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions or opinions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.