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Progressive Calisthenics - The Official Blog for the PCC Community

Announcement

HYBRID STRENGTH TRAINING IS HERE!

November 30, 2021 By Danny Kavadlo Leave a Comment

Hybrid Strength Training by Danny Kavadlo Book Cover

definition of the word Hybrid

Hello I’m Danny Kavadlo. You know me. I have been one of the world’s most visible proponents of bodyweight training for over a decade. I still am. And while I’ll always express the importance of bodyweight exercise, I’ve personally trained in a hybrid style for over thirty years, lifting weights and moving bodyweight side-by-side.

For this reason, over the years, the one question I’ve received more than any other is: “Danny, how do I combine calisthenics and free weights?”

Search no more. The answer is here.

Not only have I practiced hybrid strength training for decades, I’ve spent the last three years putting this book together so I can answer this question for you as completely as possible. Finally… HYBRID STRENGTH TRAINING—How to Get Jacked & Shredded with Calisthenics & Free Weights has arrived!

Danny Kavadlo Performing a weighted Pull-up

There are almost endless variations of every exercise in existence. The exercises included in HYBRID STRENGTH TRAINING are the ones I use because they work, not because they’re trendy. In fact, quite the opposite: because they’re timeless.

All beginners need to start with the basics. Advanced practitioners continue with the basics, and add from there. Fundamental bodyweight exercises are the prerequisite. In other words, if you are unable to perform a bodyweight squat, then there is no sense in putting a barbell on your back.

Calisthenics is the greatest baseline, as well as the oldest and nobles form of strength training. It also gives the highest yield from the least gear. By manipulating the body’s leverage, range of motion and/or muscular emphasis, you can work every muscle in the body equipment free (or equipment lite). Furthermore, having less with which to work compels us to get creative with what we do have.

Employing free weights adds to your baseline, and takes you beyond. Although complete 100% isolation of any muscle is impossible, the nature of training with free weights allows us to target individual muscles and/or muscle groups with greater specificity than other modalities, while still employing our own powers of intramuscular communication. Additionally, free weight exercises are often simpler to scale. (You can adjust the load simply by adding or taking away external resistance, as opposed to calisthenics, which would require altering the exercise itself.) Finally, free weights provide the opportunity to lift a greater absolute load than the weight of an individual’s own body.

Ultimately, we gain the most when we fuse calisthenics and weight training, employing the most effectual exercises from both in order to maximize the value of every workout. Whether you overload your muscles by changing your body’s position (as with calisthenics), adding external resistance (as with weight training) or any combination of the two, you will make gains!

Hybrid Strength Training contains the most detailed programming I’ve ever committed to ink in my career. In addition to the three unique programs (Blue Flame, Red Hot & HELLYEAH!), we discuss training templates, recovery, set and rep schemes, training for max load, weighted calisthenics and much more. I want you to take my programs, exercises and guidance and make them your own, for a lifetime of progressive training.

Check out this video for more info and to get fired up!

Here is what the biggest names in strength have to say:

“I’m honored to call Danny my friend. His impact on my field of strength and conditioning continues to expand daily. This book is part of his legacy. Enjoy.”

—Dan John, Master RKC, author, Never Let Go

“Danny finally did it. I’ve been waiting years for someone to take on the behemoth task of writing a book about combining calisthenics and weight training. What better person to step up to the challenge than Danny f*#kin’ Kavadlo? Hybrid Strength Training is the perfect book for any fitness enthusiast, at any level.”

—Mike Fitch, founder & creator, Animal Flow

“I have been asked countless times over the years to recommend the finest source on combining weight training and bodyweight work… but I have always had to just shrug. Coaches and authors who really understand both disciplines at an elite level are few and far between. But the wait is over. FINALLY that book has been written!”

—Paul Wade, author, Convict Conditioning

I want to know what YOU think of HYBRID STRNGTH TRAINING! Let me know in the comments below. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE!

-DK

Danny Kavadlo with Barbell

***

Danny Kavadlo helped pioneer the bodyweight fitness craze with Strength Rules, Diamond-Cut Abs and Get Strong, all of which went to #1 on Amazon. He has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post and Men’s Health, and is a contributor to TRAIN magazine and Bodybuilding.com. When he’s not traveling the world as Master Instructor for Dragon Door’s acclaimed PCC Certification, Danny works with personal training clients in New York City and virtual clients everywhere. Danny Kavadlo’s long awaited HYBRID STRENGTH TRAINING is available from Dragon Door Publications.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: barbell lifting, bodyweight exercise, calisthenics, Danny Kavadlo, Hybrid Strength Training, strength training, weight training

The Get Strong App is Here!

October 19, 2020 By Al Kavadlo and Danny Kavadlo Leave a Comment

Kavadlo Brothers Get Strong Workout TriadXP app

Since the release of our bestselling Dragon Door title Get Strong, we have received countless messages from fans relaying their success with the program. We love to hear from you!

Sometimes these messages also have questions. Other times they have requests.

The most common request has been for a smartphone app specifically designed to help track your progress on the Get Strong program

We’re excited to tell you the Get Strong app is finally here!

The new Get Strong app is part of Triad XP, an easy-to-use mobile tracking system that Dragon Door has partnered with.

The app will help you stay motivated and provide additional accountability to complete the program.

Plus the convenience of it all being on your mobile device for review rather than a paper log book will make it easier than ever to monitor your progress.

If you’ve been doing Get Strong and need some extra accountability, this is perfect for you. It’s also a great time to start the program if you’ve never tried it before.

You can use the app in conjunction with the book or on its own, so whether you have the book already or not, make sure you check out the new Get Strong app!

Filed Under: Announcement, Motivation and Goals Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, Danny Kavadlo, Get Strong, Get Strong App, Get Strong Program, Get Strong Workouts App, TriadXP, TriadXP Workout App, Workouts App

Isometrics, Prison Training and Bodyweight: A Match Made in Valhalla

October 24, 2019 By Paul "Coach" Wade Leave a Comment

Hey, you guys!

It’s been a long time. I missed ya! How’s the wife? I always thought she was a honey…a real catch!

…Wait, what? She did what with the mailman? She took the kids, too? Damn.

I never liked her anyway bro. …Uh…some training talk might take your mind off it, huh?

I’ve sure been thinking about training a lot these days. One type of training in particular—isometrics. I’ve also been working isometrics—hard—for the last couple years or so, and feeling stronger and tougher than ever as a result. Let’s chit-chat about ‘em; tumble some thoughts around in the brain-laundry, and see what colors run, eh?

“Isometrics” is a word virtually everyone who trains knows pretty well. We’ve all heard about isometrics; static training; “isos”. We’ve all read an article about their benefits, thought about seriously applying them, then put the ideas back in a dusty mental drawer and continued with our usual old training. Since Dragon Door is about to release the ISOCHAIN—a project I’ve been heavily involved in, from the get-go—I thought I’d talk a bit about bodyweight and isos to my PCC brethren. (And sistren.)

I’ve used isos in some manner for decades; since the earliest days of my training, in fact. In Convict Conditioning I wrote about how I used to pull on prison bars for an iso workout. I didn’t invent this; inmates have been doing it for hundreds of years to get strong. It’s amazing how varied and productive bar pulling can be. I had a little, dog-eared notebook full of different techniques, bad pencil sketches of different angles and holds to work different muscles. I even included a handful of examples in Convict Conditioning.

Something I talk about a lot in all my books are the old-time strongmen and their methods. All the old timers used isometric holds, particularly as feats of strength: I’m thinking of the human bridge, various back lifts, crucifix holds, ridiculously heavy support holds, restraining wild horses—all this must have put thousands of pounds of force through the human body! But those guys thrived on it, and many of them were performing well into old age.

The Mighty Maxick (1882-1961): one of the great pioneers of isometrics.
The Mighty Maxick (1882-1961): one of the great pioneers of isometrics.

Maxick stands out as a guy who build his entire system around loadless isometrics: pitting one muscle against another. He built an amazing physique on it, too, and his “muscle control” exhibitions were famous throughout the world. Angelo Siciliano—a.k.a. “Charles Atlas”—was another former strongman who took isometric tension seriously, and his Dynamic Tension system pretty much started the modern bodybuilding craze. Nobody wanted sand kicked in their face, did they? (Apologies if you’re into that kinda thing.)

It’s an interesting but little-known fact that the history of the old-time strongmen, isometrics, and prison training are all intertwined. Nobody personifies this more than the great Russian strongman, Alexander Zass—The Amazing Samson. Zass always used isometrics, even from a young age. His first workouts involved pushing and pulling against trees in the local forest. Before he could fulfill his dream of becoming a famous strongman, World War I rolled around, and Zass was nearly killed by the Austrians, then made a prisoner of war. Despite unbelievably poor training conditions—and food that would make a billy goat puke—Zass never lost his passion to become strong, while injured and locked away. He began grimly pushing and pulling against his cell bars, on a daily basis. When he was put in shackles, he would pull against the chains, over and over, from different angles. Zass was using whatever he could to train. This is the tradition that continues in jails to this day. I’ve seen inmates use towels, walls, even each other to generate some brutal isometric workouts.

Zass was training with chains a century before powerlifters thought of it.
Zass was training with chains a century before powerlifters thought of it.

Did these isometric workouts produce results? Unbelievably, Zass became so powerful from this training that he could split chains and bend bars. He was made a prisoner of war four times: he escaped prison, four times. It seems he was just too damn strong for the early twentieth century military jails. And yeah, that’s not hyperbole. Zass was inhumanly powerful. (You may have seen the famous photo of him taking a horse for a walk: with the colt on his shoulders.) It was Zass who began the bar bending and chain breaking that became synonymous with the old-school strongmen.

Numerous athletes took Zass’s chain-pulling system to heart, and built enormous strength from it. But by the time the fifties had rolled around, strongman training was out in Europe and America, and Olympic weightlifting was in. Chain isometrics were still used, but some bright spark—history seems to disagree exactly who it was—attached a bar to the chain, to better replicate the barbell lifts. This simple—but very powerful—chain-and-bar unit was found in elite gyms throughout Europe and America, but it was stolen by other athletes who craved power, too. You might have seen the famous images of Bruce Lee using one. Lee swore by isometrics as a training method, claiming it increased his strength and speed.

Bruce Lee Training With Homemade Isometric Device

Although isos have largely gone by the wayside these days—our loss—some well-read athletes still use these cool old hardcore devices. Ross Enamait is one famous strength and conditioning coach who still promotes isometrics. (A few years back he wrote a great article teaching athletes how to build their own chain-and-bar unit. Check it out, here.)

I’m old (read: decrepit) enough to remember actually seeing the first generation of these chain-and-bar devices being used, in strength magazines and whatnot. They always intrigued me at the time. I didn’t ever get round to trying to construct one though. The lack of measurement was the only thing that bothered me: how do you know how much force you are generating? You don’t. At least with bodyweight training you know you are getting stronger because you move from progression to progression. With conventional weight-training, you move from heavier to heavier bars. But with traditional isometrics without weights? Sure, you feel stronger—but you just don’t know how much, or what’s working.

This has been the major stumbling block for most isometrics. I think it’s the one issue—in today’s era of measuring everything—that has turned the modern generation off isos. We know, thanks to anecdotal and scientific evidence, that isos get you very strong—rapidly. But how strong? How do you know what’s working? How do you motivate yourself to hit a new PR?

This is what first intrigued me so much about the ISOCHAIN. It has a digital force meter that measures the “weight” you are lifting with pinpoint accuracy: on curls, presses, squats, deadlifts, etc.

I know from experience, also—particularly as I get older—that isometric work is good for building muscle while being amazing for the joints. I have been very critical of lifting “external” weights in the past; one reason is the potential damage heavy weight training can do to the joints. With chain-and-bar devices, your joints are under heavy load, but not moving: this results in almost zero friction inside the joints. Imagine pushing coarse sandpaper against a wall, then rubbing. Does a lot of damage, right? Now imagine pushing down on the sandpaper just as hard, but keeping still. Virtually no damage. This is the difference on your joints between loaded isometrics and loaded dynamic lifting.

One of the reasons I’m reaching out to you guys here is that I’d like you to start thinking about incorporating some isos into your program. Isometrics are one of those training topics everybody has an opinion about—but never actually tries, seriously. That’s a damn shame. Isometrics has a ton of proven benefits—from amplified strength and muscle gain to increased speed, reduced joint pain, fat-loss, lower blood pressure, improved heart health, and so on. (Check here for an in-depth article on the science, egghead.)

Truth is—three steps behind, as old Paul always is—I’m probably preaching to the choir right here. If you are seriously into bodyweight training, chances are you already perform isometrics in some form. Isometrics, in its purest sense, just means holding a position to build strength. Damn, it’s hard to do bodyweight training in any form without doing isos:

  • Holding a handstand (or even a headstand): isometric.
  • The plank (RKC plank, anyone?): isometric.
  • Wall squats: isometric:
  • Bridges: isometric.
  • Hollow body holds:
  • Elbow lever variations: isometric.
  • Grip hangs:
  • Front and rear hanging levers: isometric.
  • L-holds and V-holds for abs: isometric.
  • The human flag and the clutch flag: isometric.

…And so it goes on. The most impressive gymnastic strength feats that exist—the Iron Cross, the planche, the inverted cross, the Maltese Cross, and so on—are all isometric holds. Hell, even holding a classical yoga position is isometrics! So us bodyweight guys and gals are probably already well ahead of the curve when it comes to isos.

Classic bodybuilders weren’t averse to getting some isometric action: Mr Olympia, the late Franco Colombu, rocks a front lever.
Classic bodybuilders weren’t averse to getting some isometric action: Mr Olympia, the late Franco Colombu, rocks a front lever.

I’d also like to ask you guys a favor. The ISOCHAIN has been tested in prototypes, but to get the project off the ground—to fund the tooling, the best materials, the programming exactly as we want it—we need pre-orders. If we don’t get them, this project won’t succeed, and that would be a damn shame. I would love for this old-school piece of gear to come back, better than ever, for modern athletes to benefit from. Please, go take a look at the device—it’s amazing. Even if you don’t want one, please send the link to a friend. Or an enemy. Hell, someone you are ambivalent about. Spread the word. Please.

Read about the ISOCHAIN design, here.

Pre-order your own ISOCHAIN, here.

I know what you’re thinking. But it’s a gadget! Some of my hardcore bodyweight bros are probably about ready to track me down and give me the old baseball bat massage, eh? Uncle Paul, you always told us we don’t NEED gadgets or equipment to get in peak shape!

I did say that—and it’s TRUE. It’s as true today as it was yesterday, and it will always be true. I stand behind the ISOCHAIN because I believe, hand on heart, that it will help a lot of athletes, young and old, reach their full potential. It’s the most important piece of training equipment to be released in my lifetime. I hope people who read this know me well enough to know that I would never put my name behind something I didn’t believe in, 100%. Fact.

That said—you don’t need an ISOCHAIN to perform isometrics and gain the benefits. One of the bonuses of isometrics is that it can be performed anywhere. You can do loadless isometrics—muscle-vs-muscle training, so beloved by Maxick. You can do low-to-zero tech isos using a chain, a rope, a towel. You can perform static-state isos, using a doorway, a wall, or so on. And—saving the best for last—you can do bodyweight isometric progressions, like levers, flags, L-holds, grip work, and so on.

So what do you guys think? Do you want to see isos make a big return? Please hit me up in the comments below. Let me know if you’ve used isos, and benefited from them; let me know if you want some more articles here on loadless or zero–tech isos. Shoot me a comment if you have any questions, and I’ll answer them if I can.

Heck, please leave a comment just to say hi. I’d love to hear from all of ya!

Paul

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: bodyweight training, ISOCHAIN, isometric device, Isometric training, Isometrics, isos, Paul "Coach" Wade, Paul Wade

Next Level Strength is Here!

June 11, 2019 By Al Kavadlo and Danny Kavadlo Leave a Comment

Next Level Strength Book Announcement Al Kavaldo and Danny Kavadlo

When we got started in fitness, we didn’t have many options. We were just two broke kids from Brooklyn, so we began with what was available to us: push-ups and pull-ups. This was not because we were necessarily “calisthenics guys” but simply because we didn’t have access to any equipment other than a basic doorway pull-up bar and the ground beneath our feet.

During the course of our journey, we would explore other methods of training. Once we were old enough to join a gym, free weights began to dominate our workouts. Though we never stopped doing push-ups and pull-ups, weight training had become the focus. We also experimented with machines, sandbags, medicine balls and everything else we could think of to maximize our strength gains. Additionally, as personal trainers in New York City, we wanted to familiarize ourselves with as many disciplines as possible so that we could provide the best service to all individuals.

Each of these modalities offers its own unique challenges and benefits. However, after years of experience with these different options, we eventually came full circle and returned to training with only our own bodyweight.

Pistol squats replaced barbell squats, L-sits replaced ab machines, handstand push-ups replaced military presses. The transition was so gradual that we hardly saw it coming. Little by little, we were slowly swapping out our favorite weight training exercises for their calisthenics counterparts. It is hard to say whether calisthenics chose us or we chose calisthenics.

Over the years, we have cultivated a following around the world for our unique style of bodyweight training, and we’ve been heralded for our ability to help our clients make maximal gains with minimal equipment.

We’ve written books about training with just a pull-up bar or no equipment at all. In Street Workout we even showed you how to make the world your gym.

In our previous release, Get Strong, we gave you our most stripped-down calisthenics program for building muscle and strength.

Although we have written extensively about bodyweight training, we still haven’t covered it all. Not by a long shot. In fact, within the bodyweight kingdom there are two important pieces of apparatus which we’ve never addressed until now: rings and parallettes. We’re still just getting started!

Next Level Strength Danny Kavaldo Abs

Why Rings?

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the pull-up bar. You can do a lot more with a simple straight bar than many people realize. And while many of the exercises in our new book, Next Level Strength, can also be done on a pull-up bar, there are numerous subtleties rendering them quite different on rings:

-Rings require extra core recruitment. Unlike a fixed pull-up bar, rings are free-floating and unstable. They can swing back and forth, rock side to side and even rotate. This forces your body to stabilize itself to a greater degree. As there is always a risk of injury when working with an unstable apparatus, be cautious and take your time.

-Because they are not connected to one another, rings allow you to pass in between them on moves like the skin-the-cat and muscle-up. Whereas you must maneuver around a pull-up bar, rings will not get in your way.

-Training with rings can potentially be more forgiving on your joints, particularly those of the wrists, shoulders and elbows. By allowing your hands to rotate, your joints may move in a more personalized range of motion.

-Though some exercises are more challenging when performed on rings, others are more accessible. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Regardless, if you are used to training exclusively with a bar, those first few weeks of ring training may surprise you.

Next Level Strength Al Kavadlo Parallettes Pushup

Why Parallettes?

Parallel bars that are low to the ground are known as parallettes. Though they might not appear to offer anything special at first glance, these little, low bars are an amazing tool. Here’s why:

-Wrist pain is one of the most common issues associated with floor exercises like planks, L-sits and handstands. Since parallettes allow your wrists to maintain a neutral position during these and other exercises, they offer a great way to work around (and possibly help eradicate) any issues that may plague your wrists.

-Squeezing parallettes while practicing these exercises creates more tension in your upper-body, which can facilitate a greater mind-muscle connection. This will help incur greater strength gains, especially with regard to your grip, core and shoulders.

-Elevating your hands with parallettes makes many exercises more accessible than when they’re performed on the ground. Oftentimes, beginners lack flexibility and/or core strength. Having extra clearance beneath your body can make just enough of a difference to help you nail your first L-sit or tuck planche.

-You can adjust the width of your parallettes to suit your individual proportions, which you cannot do with affixed bars.

The Next Level Strength Program

The Next Level Strength program offers something for everyone. The workouts in our new book build strength, flexibility, control and body awareness. There is also a unique skill element to many of these exercises. To be clear, however, Next Level Strength is not gymnastics. Though some of the exercises may look like gymnastics movements, we are not competing with anyone but ourselves.

Are you ready to take your strength to the Next Level?

Get our new book Next Level Strength today and get started on building the body you deserve!

Next Level Strength Book Banner

Filed Under: Announcement, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, bodyweight exercise, Danny Kavadlo, gym rings, gymnastics rings, Next Level Strength, parallettes, ring training

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