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Archives for May 2017

Internal Martial Arts and Calisthenics

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Ray Shonk Flag Lead Photo

A long time ago, before I became a trainer (and after a long hiatus in my own fitness and martial art training), I decided to get back on the scene. I began training a martial art called Taijiquan, also known as Tai Chi. To be perfectly honest, I chose this after watching late night Kung Fu movies. Inspiration comes from many places!

Without much research on it, I jumped in. The first few classes were exceptionally frustrating. I was super uncoordinated and it felt like I was doing “the robot.” I was unprepared for the fluidity of many of the moves, as well as for the full body unity that is required. However, after about a year, things eventually started smoothing out, and I finally got into the martial side of Taijiquan.

Ray Shonk Tai Chi

I started working on “pushing hands” or chi sau, and once again the frustration kicked in. As I had previously experienced, I felt clunky in many of my movements.

I decided to get into weight training in hopes of improving my performance. Like many folks from my generation, weight training seemed like the most viable way to get better physically equipped. And while it’s true that my weight training at this time incorporated a few push-ups and assisted pull-ups, the primary focus was still on external resistance.

Speed ahead years later and I got a bit stronger and leaner. I won my first gold medal for Taijiquan. I even left my corporate job to become a trainer. But something was still missing in my own development. I needed to try something different…

At this time, a good friend of mine introduced me to the Kavadlo Brothers by showing me a YouTube video. Like many, my first thought was, “How can you possibly get stronger using no weights?” But I kept an open mind and gave it a shot. I started my training with the basic, fundamental movements of bodyweight strength training: push-ups, squats, lunges, dips and, of course, pull-ups!

Ray Shonk Pull-Up

After several months of training in both calisthenics and Taijiquan, I noticed that I was not only getting faster, stronger and leaner, but all my movements flowed more freely. I had found what I was missing! The movements in all aspects of Taijiquan required control of multiple muscles at the same time and calisthenics promotes multiple muscle recruitment in each exercise. I mean, lets look at it. A bench press uses the pectorals, triceps and deltoids, but a push-up hits all those muscles, as well as just about everything else. A strong man may be able to control others, but a truly powerful man can control himself.

It’s been five years since I put the weights down for good. Now that I’ve established a solid foundation in the basics, I’ve incorporated more advanced bodyweight exercises like the pistol squat, muscle-up and human flag. I have since attended the SCC in New York with Danny Kavadlo, and the PCC in Boston with Al & Danny Kavadlo. I’m finding that I’m stronger, faster and more agile in my late 30’s than I ever was in my 20’s. A huge part of that has been training my body with my body, an art that extends as far back as man. My Tai Chi practice and all aspects of my life are better with calisthenics!

Ray Shonk Jungle Gym MuscleUp

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Ray Shonk, PCC, SCC is a personal trainer in Grand Rapids Michigan, a adjunct professor at GVSU and owner of Quest Fitness. He currently specializes in Calisthenics, Sports Performance and Martial Arts training. When he is not training he spends time brewing beer, and spending time with friends and family. Learn more at www.questfitnessgym.com.

PCC Goes Commando

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PCC London 2017

I’d heard big things about the Commando Temple gym in London from Al and Danny after the previous Progressive Calisthenics Certification there, so I had high expectations going into last weekend’s event.

This would be the third time the PCC was happening in Great Britain, but it was my first time visiting the legendary Commando Temple. Despite the hype, it was even better than I expected!

The Temple is nothing like your typical gym, which tends to be bloated with treadmills, stationary bikes, and machines. It is truly a playground for DIESEL people! There is tons of floor space, pull-up bars of every width, a Swedish ladder, full-sized parallel bars and even customizable human flag handles.

I was immediately impressed and knew it was going to be an event of epic proportions. Still, nothing could prepare me for the energy and excitement that took place throughout the weekend.

PCC London Al Kavadlo Flag

As a self-professed geek, I was thrilled to see that the walls are covered in comic book and superhero art. Everywhere you look there’s a figurine or picture with inspirational action icons!

The superheros pictured on the walls weren’t the only superheros in the room. Just like the unassuming Clark Kent turns into Superman at the blink of an eye, these polite British chaps turned into full-blown calisthenics beasts once they were unleashed on the bars!

PCC London Hanging Leg Raises

The guys weren’t the only ones getting in on the action, either. There were some Wonder Women in this group as well. I love connecting with other ladies who share my passion for calisthenics. As a female, it’s empowering to be on the forefront of a movement that is typically dominated by men. However, at every PCC we are spreading the word that pull-ups and push-ups aren’t just for the boys. The ladies of PCC never fail to impress me with their strength and solidarity.

PCC Ladies Group Photo

As always, the PCC brings people together from all over the world. Though there were many local Londonites in the house, attendees came from places as far and varied as Senegal, South Africa, Italy, Greece, Belgium and Ireland. We were all united by our passion for calisthenics and our desire to improve. And improve we did! There were more PR’s set than I can ever recall seeing at a PCC workshop. Pistols were firing, flags were flying and handstands were happening everywhere.

PCC London Handstands

The whole weekend went by in a flash! When all was said and done, we were left with new friends and a great group of newly certified progressive calisthenics trainers. It’s an honor to teach and share what I’ve learned so far in my journey, and it’s a privilege to be a part of this wonderful movement. My favorite thing about the PCC is how it brings out the best in people. We all have a superhero inside of us.

PCC London 2017 Group Photo

 

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Grace Kavadlo is a PCC Team Leader, personal trainer and group exercise instructor located in New York City. She is a columnist for Bodybuilding.com and can be seen in several Dragon Door books, including Al Kavadlo’s Zen Mind, Strong Body and Paul “Coach” Wade’s Explosive Calisthenics. For more information about Grace, check out her website, www.DieselGrace.com.

Taking The GET STRONG Transformation Challenge

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John Du Cane Pull-Ups Get Strong Transformation Challenge
John Du Cane comes off the bench to help John Du Cane with the Get Strong Phase 3 Pull-up and Chin-up sets.

What mechanism acts as both the Great Protector of our health and well-being—while often acting as the Great Saboteur of our attempts at physical transformation?

That mechanism would be Homeostasis:

  1. “The tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function.”
  2. “A state of psychological equilibrium obtained when tension or a drive has been reduced or eliminated.”

As the cliché goes, we are creatures of comfort. We seek to minimize pain and to quickly eliminate any perceived threat to that comfort. Without this overriding tendency, of course, our internal systems would collapse—as they de-regulate into a chaos of conflicting and unbalanced energies.

But when we seek to transform ourselves physically, the whole construct has to shift. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Now, we have to deliberately, savagely, nastily traumatize our own bodies—to shock them into change…

We have to willfully terrorize ourselves out of the sloth of our addiction to ease…

Far from reducing or eliminating tension and drive, we need to psych ourselves up into an unreasonable quest for dis-comfort, dis-equilibrium—and a kind of planned mayhem. We freaks of fitness storm the barricades of complacent physical mediocrity—and to hell with the naysayers and stay-at-home couch potatoes…

However, all this savagery of intent still screams for proper leadership. Whatever the fire burning in your belly, you’ll go nowhere fast if you don’t have wise guidance from fitness experts who are true masters of their game.

Otherwise we become a foolish, disorganized rabble, our dreams of physical transformation derailed by misinformation and false promises.

And here’s the great beauty of a well-organized, well-planned transformation program: it helps jump us out of the rut of our normal meandering exercise patterns. Instead of two steps forward, three steps sideways, one step back, woops, two more steps back, yikes, half a step forward and so on—boom, we suddenly have our marching orders, a goal to achieve, fire in our eyes, confidence in our hearts, competitive juices flowing and a sense of driving purpose.

30 perfect Feet Elevated Push-ups can be surprisingly demanding
30 perfect Feet Elevated Push-ups can be surprisingly demanding

Now—against all the homeostatic odds—we can embrace the pain-drenched ecstasy of the struggle for physical glory. And succeed, right? 🙂

Get Strong is exactly that well-organized, well-planned, proven program you can count on to effect the changes you desire. You can do it on your own, of course, but why not join forces with other bodyweight exercise enthusiasts?

So, when Al and Danny Kavadlo created their Get Strong 16-Week Transformation Program, we thought it would be perfect to include a community contest to help motivate us all to give this thing our best possible shot. We can join forces with a bunch of fellow maniacs, urging each other forward, come what may…

While waiting for the printed copies of Get Strong to arrive from China, I decided to preview the Transformation Program myself. Almost without any exception I train alone: bodyweight exercise, kettlebells and Chen Tai Chi. Mostly in my office. This is all well and good, but this solitary training has its pitfalls—as I quickly realized once I embarked on the Program. I will describe my experience below, but first, here’s the contest we devised:

To qualify:

  1. Submit one or more Before photos taken within three days of beginning the contest.
  2. Submit one or more After photos taken with three days of completing the 16-week contest.
  3. Submit an article detailing your performance progress through the Get Strong program, beginning with the Phase 1 Test as the baseline.

Entries can be submitted up to October 30, 2017, sent to support@dragondoor.com
Winners will be announced November 15, 2017.

Judges: Al Kavadlo, Danny Kavadlo and John Du Cane.

Grand Prize: $500 in cash, one free RKC or PCC workshop, interview, dedicated PCC blog piece.
Next four best entries: Interview, $300 off any Dragon Door workshop.
Next fifteen best entries: $100 off any Dragon Door workshop.

We have also set up a private Facebook group The Get Strong Transformation Challenge. Purchase the book and we will automatically invite you to join or accept your request to do so.

My experience with the first three phases of the Get Strong Program

The First Phase is called The Foundation—and it is literally that. Raw newbies would need the full four weeks, if not additional weeks, to be able to test out. The thing though about all the Phases, is the inclusion of one or more exercises that you may have been neglecting in your own practice.

John Du Cane Handstand
A work in progress on my Wall Handstand—some technical tightening needed on that left elbow…

At age 68, my current biggest vulnerabilities are my elbows and my right knee. I had reduced my pull-up practice because of tendinitis in those elbows, so I definitely felt the one-minute Active Hang part of the Phase 1 test. Those tendons were letting me know of their existence… Yes, I tested out with ease overall, but I realized Phase 2 was going to up the pain factor by a fair amount.

Phase 2 is called Brick and Mortar. I did NOT pass the Phase 2 test at the end of the four weeks and had to repeat Weeks 3 and 4. The villain was the Wall Handstand. Amazingly, I had never practiced handstands in my life. Strange, but there it is… So, I entered Phase 2 a handstand virgin and paid the price. The test requires a 60-second hold. I made it to 55 seconds! An undoubted weakness that I have enjoyed confronting in Phase 3—which requires two sets of 60 seconds in Week 4.

Did I have any other problems with Phase 2? For the testing, probably the toughest part was only being allowed one minute between each exercise. Those who have taken the Century at the PCC would appreciate the energetic demands of completing 30 Push-ups, 10 Chin-ups, 20 Hanging Knee Raises and 40 Squats plus an additional four exercises with just one minute rest between each…

On to Phase 3, Concrete and Iron, where things start to get more challenging for sure…

Phase 3 is where both my elbows and my right knee asserted themselves. Phase 3 introduces Assisted One Leg Squats and Bulgarian Split Squats. As a former sprinter and longtime martial artist my legs have been my strong point—pistols for instance were never a problem. However, for quite a while now, I have stopped doing unilateral leg work—and have just done regular squats or double-kettlebell squats. It was a shock to discover how much weaker my right leg was than my left. I have enjoyed the challenge of fixing that—big time.

Combining relatively high reps of Assisted One-Legged Squats and Bulgarian Split Squats is not the breeze you might think it to be…
Combining relatively high reps of Assisted One-Legged Squats and Bulgarian Split Squats is not the breeze you might think it to be…

My elbows are really squawking from attempting 2 sets of 10 Pull-ups, plus 2 sets of 10 chin-ups plus 3 sets of Hanging Straight Leg Raises—mixed in with other arm-intensive drills in close succession to each other. Here, I am straight-out being sensible. From bitter experience, I know that pushing into the realm of tendinitis will be highly counterproductive to future progress… There is good, constructive pain, then there is foolish, destructive pain… So I am going to take the time I need to advance without injury, whatever pace that might require.

John Du Cane Hanging Leg Raises
3 sets of 10 reps. I don’t feel this in my abs, but I sure feel it in my arms…

The most challenging new exercise for me in Phase 3 has been the Feet Elevated Pike Push-up. I had never performed this move in my life other—so another hump to surmount.

To succeed with the Get Strong Program, particularly when you are older, proper recovery is essential. I have become acutely conscious of needing that much more sleep, that much more rest and that much cleaner a diet. To that end, I have found Wim Hof’s ice therapy and breath-holding exercises immensely helpful. A very recent and wonderful addition to recovery has been my discovery of the Air Relax dynamic compression system. It’s hard to truly quantify, but I believe it has cut the recovery time for my leg work by perhaps as much as 50%. Exciting…

All in all, test-driving the Get Strong Transformation Program has been an exhilarating personal experience for me—and I have been immensely enjoying the additional strength I have gained from a religious adherence to the Kavadlo Brothers’ blueprint.

I hope many of you join me in taking the challenge—and I look forward to hearing your stories down the road!

How to Restore Desk-Damaged Physiques with Calisthenics

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Adrienne Harvey UnDesk Lead Photo

Years ago, well before the PCC, and just after Convict Conditioning began to get extremely popular, I heard Andrea Du Cane say that we shouldn’t live in the posture of our sport. In many cases, we should also not live in the posture of our work.

It seems as though many of our clients (and in some cases ourselves) spend the majority of their working hours seated at a desk looking at a screen, then spend hours staring at a small screen. So, let’s take a moment to work with some do-anywhere calisthenics exercises to help build healthy habits while undoing some of the desk-damage so we can continue to help our students, clients, and ourselves safely build strength.

In 6th grade, a brilliant friend (math genius and fellow computer nerd) and I would get to school early to boot up a lab of dinosaur-era computers. Already at that young age, my friend had the dreaded forward leaning head, hunched shoulders, and rounded upper back from hours and hours of programming. Thankfully, I was still spending a reasonable amount of time playing in the backyard on the monkey bars—while getting regular reminders from Mom to stand up straight and keep my shoulders back—which saved me from the same situation.

But, pulling long hours at work, then tapping at tiny screens has left almost everyone pretty susceptible to bad habits and weaknesses that can hold us back in our calisthenics training—and in our everyday enjoyment of life.

First, for those of us who are instructors, it’s important to remember our scope of practice. If a student or client is in pain or has a medical issue—or even if you’re just unsure about the situation—always refer them to an appropriate medical professional.

As much as it would be great to think that a standing desk would solve all the sitting related problems of the world, some of us have noticed that intense cognitive tasks requiring full concentration and extreme focus just don’t seem to go as well when working at a standing desk. That has definitely been my experience, as my typing speed and overall productivity seem to suffer if I try to do highly mental tasks at a standing desk. So, under the assumption that we or our students/clients will need to work at a desk for a significant period of time most workdays, let’s discuss how we can help.

We already know that it’s important to take breaks from seated work. I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro technique—it can also boost productivity at the same time. Basically, set a timer for 25 minutes of work, then take a 5 minute break to walk around, do a few movement exercises, then repeat the 25min, 5min cycle four times before taking a longer break.

Poor posture habits while standing and sitting often stem from a lack of core or (as Paul “Coach” Wade would say) midsection strength. It’s also pretty common for people with weak midsections to have or develop back issues. Think of the midsection as a cylinder, if the “front half” isn’t doing its fair share, then the back half will be carrying an extra burden. If the abs aren’t able to hold us upright while standing or seated, then the back has to compensate that much more—often leading to discomfort or worse.

The great news is that instead of doing endless questionable crunches, the PCC and Convict Conditioning methodology emphasize training the midsection specifically, and instruct us to engage it when performing most (if not all) of the other calisthenics exercises. For example, It’s hard to even imagine performing a pistol squat without abdominal involvement—the same is true with any advanced push-up (it’s critical for Neuro-Grip push-ups)—and just about every other exercise in the PCC and Convict Conditioning curriculum.

While many different schools of training have their own approaches to counteracting the very modern problem of too much sitting, in this post I’ll mainly focus on calisthenics strength, and very basic mobility. Nothing too fancy is necessary for most of our general population clients to work on counteracting the dreaded desk body. But, if you are inclined to work more on mobility and flexibility alongside your calisthenics strength, definitely check out Al Kavadlo’s Stretching Your Boundaries.

I think of “un-desking” as having the following components:

  • Unlocking the hips and hip flexors
  • Abdominal/midsection strengthening
  • Stretching and strengthening the shoulders and upper back

Unlocking the Hips and Hip Flexors

The short bridge (also sometimes called the hip bridge or shoulder bridge) is a regular part of my mobility warm-ups and those I teach to others. It’s accessible for nearly anyone. When practicing the short bridge, the beginner is comfortable and in control as they work towards bringing the hips higher while engaging their glutes.

Start on the ground with your hands at your sides. Push down hard through your heels and strongly activate your glutes to get your hips as high as possible. This is nearly the opposite of slumping over at a desk. It’s sometimes helpful to think of pushing the hips up and over towards your head (but only THINK this, your feet need to stay on the ground).

Adrienne Harvey Short Bridge

The straight bridge is another extremely valuable early step toward a full bridge in Convict Conditioning that is very useful long after achieving a full bridge. Like the short bridge, you may also know it by other names. Those of use who spend a lot of time typing—and who are also pull-up enthusiasts can greatly benefit from this move. I love it and love to hate it. At the top of this bridge variation, be sure that the shoulders feel rotated back and down. Experiment with different hand positions (fingers facing forward, to the side, backwards) while working to bring your chest and body high off of the ground in a reverse plank position.

Adrienne Harvey Straight Bridge
Remember to try different hand positions when trying the straight bridge: fingers pointing towards the toes, out to the sides, or pointing backwards.

A favorite bodyweight stretch from the RKC curriculum also has great value for calisthenics practitioners. It’s no secret that I love kettlebells as much as I love calisthenics, and I’ve found that including this RKC hip flexor stretch in bodyweight only workout warm-ups can do wonders for bridging. If you find your hip flexors are tight and have never tried this drill before, give it a go! It’s a lifesaver after long car rides, or marathon writing sessions at the computer.

On a padded surface, get in a half-kneeling position. Without pushing forward in any kind of extreme lunge, simply think of tucking your tailbone while strongly activating your glutes. The front of your hip and thigh on the leg with the knee on the mat should feel a strong stretch. Take time with this powerful move and be sure to try it on both sides.

Adrienne Harvey RKC Hip Flexor Stretch

Abdominal/Midsection Strengthening

As mentioned earlier in this post, most if not all of the calisthenics exercises in the PCC curriculum and Convict Conditioning involve the abdominals. But if you or your students are having desk-related issues, focused abdominal strengthening can really help. The leg raise series beginning on the ground all the way up to the most exotic lever strongly impact the abs. Since the midsection recovers quickly, it can be trained much more often than most muscle groups—some may opt to train the midsection daily.

Adrienne Harvey Hanging Knee Raises
Double down on “un-desking” by combining slow and controlled hanging knee raises with a timed active hang. How slow can you go?

Stretching and Strengthening the Shoulders and Upper Back

Weak upper backs and weak shoulders tend to round forward during desk work—but so do the shoulders of active people—especially boxers and pull-up addicts! Spending time hanging from a pull-up bar can not only greatly increase grip strength, but it’s an opportunity to relax and activate the back with dead and active hangs—done for reps, this move is sometimes called a “scap-up” referring to the movement of the scapula. (In a past PCC blog post I outlined several different bar hang grips but in this case, even the most basic bar hang grip will fit the bill.)

Pay particular attention to how your shoulders and upper back are feeling, and if you’re a beginner, take it easy.

Adrienne Harvey Bar Hangs
The dead hang and active hang look and feel completely different!

Last but certainly not least, the Aussie pull-up, especially performed to the chest can help remind our shoulders to stay back where they belong. Far from being just a step on the way to the pull-up, the Aussie pull-up (aka bodyweight row) performed slowly with a nearly isometric hold at the top can help posture, upper back strength and lead to better lockouts at the top of standard pull-ups. Be sure to experiment with lower bars of various heights. The Aussie can be further regressed for beginners or deconditioned students by bending the knees. This shortens the lever of the body and places some of the body’s weight on the feet.

Adrienne Harvey Aussie Pullups, Bodyweight Rows

One of the great and occasionally frustrating things about progressive calisthenics is that there are so many options and there’s never time to talk about or do them all! I’ll just briefly mention dips here for intermediate folks, since the delightful chest stretch at the bottom of the dip (don’t dip so low as to risk impingement) is great after a day at the desk. Likewise a strong active hold at the top awakens many of the upper body muscles that suffer when we sit and slouch.

Adrienne Harvey Bodyweight Dips

Example Un-Desk Warm-Up Sequence (repeat for a few rounds if you have time):

Optimally begin by taking a short walk.

  • Short bridges: 5 reps, pausing for height and max tension at the top
  • RKC hip flexor stretch 1-2 per side
  • Dips and/or straight arm holds above dip bars
  • Bar hang alternating between dead hang and active hang (scap-ups) + a few pull-ups if they’re not maximum effort for you. This is not PR time.
  • Aussie pull-ups (aka bodyweight rows) 5 slow reps with max tension at top of each rep.
  • Short Bridge a few test reps to note improvement.

While it would be ideal for all workplace settings to have space for—and the social acceptance of—spontaneous exercise sessions, coming up with minimalist sequences for the work day can at least alleviate some of the issues until you can destroy the stress of the day at the gym or at home.

Bonus Slouch Slayer:

If you’re not sure if/when you’re slipping into a slouch at the desk, Place a mirror to the right or left of where you’re seated. While you work, take a second to catch a glimpse of your profile. Catching myself slouching a couple times was enough to build great upright posture habits at the desk. The moment you catch yourself in a really hunched slouch in that mirror, you’ll be motivated to sit up straighter, check your shoulders, abs, etc. At that point I’d also encourage you to stand up, and try a few of the calisthenics “un-desk” moves.

My home office is always a work in progress, but if I feel like I’m slumping, I’ll place that mirror to my left for a day or two – sure enough that fixes the problem!

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Adrienne Harvey, Senior PCC Instructor, RKC-II, CK-FMS, has been RKC Certified since 2010, and RKC Level 2 certified since 2011. Kettlebell and bodyweight training have been crucial in Adrienne’s personal quest for fitness. A core member of the PCC team, Adrienne loves sharing her knowledge with small groups and individuals. She also loves to develop recipes and workout programs to further support performance, body composition, and of course—FUN. Go to http://www.giryagirl.com for more information about Adrienne.

Progressive Calisthenics Comes To Boston!

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Danny Kavadlo Boston PCC

In 1858, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. famously referred to the city of Boston as “the hub of the solar system.” This past weekend, Boston could have been called “the hub of the calisthenics system,” as this historic American city hosted the first Progressive Calisthenics Certification ever held in the New England area.

I was lucky to be there and play witness to this amazing weekend. Here’s how it went down:

Day One

I treasure the first day of the Progressive Calisthenics Certification. Participants from different backgrounds, varied walks of life and numerous locations gather, wildly excited by the prospects, yet still unsure exactly what to expect. But if there is one thing that I’ve learned from my journey as a trainer, a calisthenics practitioner, a PCC instructor and a human being, it’s that bodyweight culture brings people together. In classic PCC fashion, we entered the room as strangers but left as family. From one-arm push-ups to full press flags (even a first-time one-arm pull-up!), many PRs were recorded—and multiple bonds were made. The calisthenics wrecking crew muscled up to the challenge and then some. The excitement in the room was contagious and the energy was priceless.

Boston PCC Flag: The flag flies high in the State of Massachusetts!
The flag flies high in the State of Massachusetts!

Day Two

PCC was pure beast mode the second day! The morning began with leg progressions, ranging from squats and lunges, to pistols and beyond, followed by back bridges in all their forms. It was fantastic to see people coming out of their comfort zones and stepping up to the challenge. Attendees helped each other bring out their best, training hard and stretching their boundaries.

Following floor holds such as the L-sit and dragon flag, the afternoon found us back up on bar for front and back lever progressions. The feats of strength, balance and flexibility were rivaled only by the solidarity and encouragement.

Angelo Gala Bridge
PCC builds bridges.

Day Three

The final day of the Progressive Calisthenics Certification is always bittersweet. As the attendees are celebrating their physical prowess and accomplishments, they are also preparing for the whirlwind weekend to come to an end. But the truth is, it’s just the beginning.

Now that we’ve all met and trained with each other, it’s on us to keep it going in the future. In addition to the new moves and skills we’ve acquired, we’ve also adopted a new family in our calisthenics brothers and sisters.

The Boston PCC Brotherhood!
The Boston Brotherhood!

I’d like to personally congratulate this new group of certified PCC instructors! As our community continues to grow, we also grow as individuals. With upcoming workshops in London, Poland, New York, LA and Australia, there are more opportunities than ever to get certified. Remember, the first rule of PCC is you do talk about PCC, so keep on spreading the word!

The posse’s getting bigger,

-DK

 

PCC Boston 2017 Group Photo

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Master PCC Danny Kavadlo is one of the world’s leading authorities on calisthenics and personal training. Danny has authored several internationally-acclaimed, bestselling books including STRENGTH RULES and DIAMOND-CUT ABS, has been translated into over a dozen languages, and appeared in The New York Times and Men’s Health, Bodybuilding.com and TRAIN magazine. When not traveling the world as a Master Instructor for Dragon Door’s acclaimed Progressive Calisthenics Certification, he trains individuals one-on-one in his native New York City.