Motivation and Goals

Five Ways to Gauge Your Calisthenics Progress

December 20, 2016 By Matt Beecroft 6 Comments

Calisthenics Progress by Matt Beecroft

When someone asks me how long will it take to learn an elbow lever, human flag, handstand or any other intermediate/advanced level calisthenics move, my response is always, “It will take as long as it needs to.”

For the most part, if your only concern is how long it will take to achieve your goal, I believe you are in it for the wrong reasons. Immersing yourself in a healthy daily practice of self-improvement is really where the gold is. Not the destination—although it is totally sweet when you do get there.

When it comes to learning calisthenics, everyone has different athletic backgrounds and everyone learns at their own pace. It also depends on the coaching and the cues that are used.

For example there is no “one” way to learn a handstand. There is no secret or holy grail. Some of the best hand balancers are self-taught, and while their methods may have worked for them, they may not work for you or your athletes.

Most gymnastic coaches will swear to you that their way is the best way and yet they all differ in their approaches. The background of the trainer, whether it is gymnastics, calisthenics, yoga, circus or b-boy will usually determine how the handstand is taught. So the cues that coaches use, and how that resonates with the student can heavily influence the learning outcome.

So the, “How long will it take me?” question is an impossible one to answer.

I’ve also been blown away by my own assumptions. Some people, because of their athletic background, I have assumed would progress very quickly, and have not, and others with no athletic background, have surpassed my expectations very quickly.

Such is the complex nature of skill training and calisthenics.

Advanced calisthenics exercises are skills, and skill work does not always progress in a sets-and-reps mentality, as other strength based training often does. That approach can work with early progressions, but as you get closer to your end point—be it a handstand, human flag, pistol squat or other such feat—the training needs to be more organic.

Al assisting handstand

So once you can kick up into a handstand, or perform any other calisthenics position, exercise or hold, how do you know that you are improving?

As you progress there are subtle things that you will observe. It’s not just whether you can hold the progression or do a number of repetitions that is important as you work towards mastery. And sometimes it can be really hard to know if you are improving or not.

Here are five questions to ask yourself in any of your exercises in order to gauge your progress:

How does it feel?

First, how hard do you feel like you are working on a scale of 1-10? This is known as the rate of perceived exertion (or the Borg scale or RPE) and ultimately we would like it to be a 6 or lower (10 being the highest). In other words, the hold or repetitions should feel “moderately easy” before you move onto a harder progression.

Similarly, I believe a progression generally isn’t achieved unless the participants perceived exertion level is a 7 or lower on a scale of 1 to 10, while their rate of perceived technique is a 7 or higher. And a rate of perceived discomfort (10 being agony and 1 being insignificant annoyance) should be no higher than a 3 out of 10, and there should certainly be no pain. Once all these things are roughly in line, then we are ready to move along to the next level as some proficiency has been achieved. If you feel you have plateaued at a certain number of reps or time for a hold, look for these three parameters. You are probably improving and didn’t even know it!

Matt Beecroft pistol squat

How is your breathing?

Here’s my best advice on breathing: don’t stop! Breathing is a big indicator of a person’s overall comfort level. When a participant is in fear or working at the edge of their threshold, they will typically inhale and hold their breath, bracing the body. This is a high threshold training strategy and it’s not typically sustainable for longer sets or holds. When breathing is synchronous with the movement performed, we have moved into a higher level and are one step closer to mastery of an exercise. If your breathing is comfortable and controlled, you are winning!

Are you in control?

Calisthenics is all about being able to control your body. If we look at the example of the handstand, many people are very heavy whilst kicking up and coming down from the wall. Being able to come into a position and out of a position softly, slowly and with ease shows true movement competency. When learning the handstand, kicking up against the wall too hard teaches you to over-kick, which will make learning the freestanding handstand more difficult.

As skills progress, your body awareness improves as does your awareness of your surroundings. This may mean your ability to gauge your distance from a wall correctly, or a fellow practitioner (scissor kicking someone in the head while coming down from a handstand is never a good move.) So if your calisthenics are becoming more controlled, and you are becoming more aware of your body and your training environment, then you are certainly improving.

partner headstand

Do you need a lot of preparation time or recovery?

What you will notice is that as you continue to work your calisthenics, the soreness and stiffness you once experienced isn’t the same. The body is an adaptive survival machine and it gets efficient quite quickly, so recovery from exercises you are used to doing is more expedient.

Secondly, as our skills improve we need less time to prepare the body. It has always amazed me that masters can often just go into a position, hold or perform repetitions or display amazing skill with no prior preparation – the body just “knows” it. That’s not to say they don’t warm up or do preparation work but the skill is performed on command. So as you progress in your training you will feel that you can move into a hold or do a certain number of reps when you feel like it without all the preparation, and depending on what your training entails, your recovery will be quicker too. This means you are making progress!

Is it repeatable?

To go back to our example of the handstand, being able to hold a consistent and repeatable 10 second handstand is what I consider actually being able to do a handstand. Not a fluke hold for a second or two depending on which direction the wind is blowing.

An “on command” and consistently repeatable 30 second freestanding handstand is considered a benchmark before moving onto more advanced balancing variations by many professional hand balancers. This is considered to be an amateur balancer!

Some days or weeks you will feel like you are not progressing at all, and then others you will feel like you are really getting somewhere. There are going to be lots of peaks and valleys that will be part of your journey. It is all just feedback. Please don’t worry about failure with your training. Often when you feel you aren’t getting anywhere or you have plateaued, is often where you are learning most. Just keep on turning up. It is all about the positive mental attitude.

Matt Beecroft L-sit

If you look for these markers of improvement listed above, you may be more dialed into the subtleties of your training, which in itself is a form of growth. Progress is not always set, rep or time orientated. It’s not always about the numbers!

There will be light bulb moments in your training but the real magic is in the small improvements from day to day, week to week and month to month. Learning calisthenics is never a linear progression. If you are like me, longevity is the ultimate goal and this is measured in years, not workouts.

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Matthew Beecroft is a PCC Team Leader, Senior RKC, and CK-FMS certified instructor. He is also a GFM and Animal Flow instructor and Expert Level 2 instructor with Krav Maga Global and a Muay Thai coach who has trained amateur and professional Muay Thai champions. He can be contacted through his website www.realitysdc.com.au or his Facebook page facebook.com/MeetLifeHeadOn

Natural Muscle—How Much Can You Gain…Really?

November 8, 2016 By Paul "Coach" Wade 333 Comments

Al and Danny Kavadlo for Paul Wade

I’ve found that these days I keep getting asked the same questions over and over. Why did you get those lame tattoos? How come your face looks so much older than your body? Who are you, and what are you doing in the girls’ locker room?

That’s my personal life, but in my life as a coach I get a lot of repetitive questions too. Since I wrote C-MASS, here is a doozy that crops up over and over again:

How much muscle can I gain without steroids?

Yeah, you’ve heard it too, right? Well I can’t promise you that I can give you a concrete answer, but at my age I sure am getting good at rambling—so if you’ve got five minutes, stick around and listen to old Uncle Paul. There’s five bucks in it for you. (There’s not.)

Alright. Let’s start with a baseline. (I’m going to focus on the males here because, well, it’s only the males that seem to care about gaining maximum muscle—forgive me, my bodyweight bodybuilding sisters.) How much does the average untrained dude weigh? Modern stats tell us that the average American male these days weighs around 190 lbs. But modern stats are misleading, because we are interested in muscular bodyweight, right? And let’s face it, the modern generation is the fattest ever. Fat Albert, fat. So let’s go back to the sixties—before the obesity epidemic was in full swing. In that decade, stats tell us that he average male was a much sleeker 166 lbs. Now, this wasn’t a lean, steel-cut “six pack” Kavadlo-type athlete—just a regular, untrained not-fat dude. So let’s make this a pretty rough weight for “Mr. Average”—166 lbs.

Now, the Million Dollar Question: how much muscle could our Mr. Average gain, just through training and eating right?

The problem with answering this question in the modern era can be summed up in one word—drugs. Drugs have skewed Joe Public’s vision of what can be achieved by training, more than most people could even imagine. (More on that in a little bit.) So in order to look at what’s really achievable naturally, we need to go back to a time before steroids hit the training scene.

You might be surprised how far back that actually is. Most people probably associate the first true “steroid-era” with the seventies, and the larger than life physiques of men like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, as seen in the movie Pumping Iron (which was based around the battle for the ’75 Mr. Olympia). In fact, similar (and in some cases, identical) compounds to those used by the seventies crew were already for sale in the US in the late fifties. The Soviets were experimenting with steroid-based drugs for Olympic lifters in the forties, which is no surprise because testosterone was first synthesized in the early thirties. If we go even further, natural testosterone—from animal cajones—was first being injected into humans as far back as the nineteenth century. (Hell—that’s before even I was born. I think.) So bodybuilding drugs ain’t new, kids.

As a good guideline though, we can say that—in America, at least—steroid-based PEDs were not being tested on weightlifters until the fifties. So if we go back to the forties, we should—probably, if not absolutely definitely—be able to find drug-free, natural bodybuilders at their peak. This, in turn, should maybe give us at least a clue how big and lean our Mr. Average could aspire to get, at a push.

So let’s look at arguably the best (and most muscular) bodybuilder from the forties: the guy the other lifters all called “the King of Bodybuilders”: Clarence “Clancy” Ross. Clancy was Mr. America 1945—the biggest bodybuilding title in the world back then. (The Mr. Olympia title wasn’t created by Joe Weider until 1965.) How big was he? He was about 5’10, with 17 inch arms, and he weighed in at 185 lbs pounds, soaking wet.

First things first—to many of you on the fitness scene now, this will seem like a ridiculously light weight for a “big” guy. Hell, lean bodybuilders nowadays sometimes hit the stage at close to 300 lbs! So as a result some of you may be thinking…185? At 5’10?! Did this guy even lift?

Uh, yes, He did. In fact, Clancy was a monster who outlifted 99% of modern bodybuilders: he could curl 200 lbs, bench 400 lbs, squat 500 lbs and—get this—perform a standing press of 320 lbs! (Good luck seeing that in a modern gym.) He was also a big fan of traditional calisthenics.

That 185 sure looked good on old Clancy. He had a six-pack like bricks on a building, pecs like huge slabs, muscular, separated quads, round, thick delts and loaded guns.

Actually, Clancy was undernourished and underweight for his frame when he started training. But if he had been the “average” male weighing 166, that would mean he put on close to 20 lbs of muscle as a result of his training and diet (actually probably more like 25-30 lbs, as Clancy was leaner than the average guy.) There were a tiny number of men in the forties who were bigger than Clancy—George Eiferman is an example—but there are always going to be taller guys or real genetic outliers who screw the curve. The fact remains that Clancy is a great example of what “big” is for a male of good health, average height, and normal-to-excellent genetics.

In reality, when guys ask me about how much muscle they can add, it’s obviously impossible to answer. You’d need to see into someone’s genes to know the answer—to also know their hormone levels, dietary habits and work ethic. But as a good rule of thumb, most men who are not underweight and are dedicated to their training and eat and rest adequately can gain 20-30 lbs of solid muscle via training alone. (Obviously you can dial up or down the numbers according to height.) Clancy is an extreme example—among the world’s best—but as you can see from his photo, 20-30 lbs of muscle on a fairly lean physique is enough to make you jacked as sh**. Hell, if you are lean enough, as little as ten pounds of muscle added to your frame will make you look like a buff dude. Toxic drugs are not required to look great.

At this point, a lot of younger guys will be shaking their head, and saying I’m just an ancient loser who’s setting the bar too low for athletes. (They’re right about the ancient loser part, sure.) I get emails all the time about this guy and that guy who does bodyweight-only on YouTube, and is built like a friggin’ Pershing tank. Many of them weigh 200 lbs with change, and are often sliced to the bone. These men are putting on 40 plus pounds of muscle using bodyweight training, their fans tell me. Well, sure they are. They are on steroids. Do you think you are only allowed to use bodybuilding drugs if you lift weights? Jesus, there’s steroids in all sports now. Hell, even the International Chess Federation started doping tests for steroids in 2003. (I’m not kidding. Look it up.)

Why are so many modern athletes lying about their natty status? A simple law of human behavior. Anything which gets rewarded happens more, and anything which gets punished happens less. There are lots of rewards for lying about drug use—more fans, more views, more sponsorship, more respect, etc.—and plenty of punishments for telling the truth—stigma, being banned from sports, jailtime, etc. Of course these guys lie: I don’t even blame them. The problem is though, it creates false expectations, particularly for the younger athletes. They think they suck, or their training sucks, because they don’t look like some juiced up balloon in six months. As a result, they either get despondent and quit training—and so lose a myriad of lifelong benefits—or figure it out and take the drugs, ruining their hormonal profiles and setting up a future health minefield along the way.

It’s understandable that so many people overestimate the amount of muscle that a natural athlete can put on, because drugs have skewed their view of reality beyond belief. To see just how much drugs have changed the picture, check out the biggest bodybuilders after drugs began to infiltrate the scene. Let’s take a look in time lapse, every twenty years:

The best bodybuilder in the world in 1945 (Clancy) weighed 185 lbs.

Twenty years later, the best bodybuilder—the 1965 Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott—weighed 200 lbs: heavier AND leaner than any Mr. America in the forties. (All this, and he was three inches shorter than Clancy!) What caused this huge jump? By now bodybuilders were using the oral steroid Dianabol and almost definitely injectable steroids like Deca-Durabolin, which was available from the late fifties. They were probably taking fairly light to moderate doses (by modern standards) and only using the drugs before competition, coming off them for long periods.

Twenty years later—it’s 1985 and the world’s greatest is Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney. At 5’11, Haney weighed in at a phenomenal 245 lbs. With paper-thin skin and dehydrated, Haney weighed about 70 lbs more than old Clancy! What caused this quantum leap? Maybe Haney was just more intense in the gym, or trained better? In fact, no—by all accounts, Clancy Ross could outlift Lee Haney on his best day: so it wasn’t the training. The real reason is that by now the top bodybuilders were using much larger doses of drugs, for much longer periods. They were also “stacking” multiple oral and injectable compounds, and beginning to use low doses of Human Growth Hormone (HGH)—which, at the time, was extracted from corpses, meaning that if the dead body had a disease, you got it too. (Oh, it made you a bit bigger than the competition, though.)

Fast forward another twenty years to 2005 and basically things have got ridiculous at the top level. Mr. Olympia now is Ronnie Coleman, and he’s stepping onstage weighing 290 lbs (!), ripped to bejesus, and looking something like a cross between a walking chemical toilet and a badly-drawn comic book. This guy weighed well over a hundred pounds more than poor little Clancy, while being only about an inch taller. What caused this latest “improvement”? Huge doses of the same old steroids, now stacked year round, plus much larger doses of more modern, synthetic growth hormone, along with widespread heavy use of insulin, which it turns out, is a another massively anabolic drug when applied in a certain protocol. Hell, guys are now literally shooting oil into their muscles just to keep the expansion happening.

This is the context modern students of bodybuilding have to enter—is it any wonder they have lost all sense of what’s real? Let’s get some reality back. Let’s look back to the old physiques—the guys under 190 lbs, with abs: look at Eugen Sandow (180 lbs), Clancy Ross (185 lbs), Roy Hilligenn (175 lbs). These men were pinnacles of strength AND health, and looked as big (and healthy) as any normal person could want.

**Hilligenn: shorter and lighter than Clancy, but still a slayer.**

One more common question, to finish. This muscle gain—20-30 lbs—can it be done using calisthenics? Or are weights required? My answer is: maximum muscle mass CAN absolutely be achieved with bodyweight-only training. External weights are not required. You only need to look at the current rash of calisthenics stars who are using the same kinds of drugs as the hardcore bodybuilders used back in the sixties (Dianabol, Deca, test). Guess what? They have the same types of upper-body measurements as the bodybuilders had then! This is because your muscle mass is not determined by your training stimulus, but by your hormonal profile.

I hear gym lifters tell me: yeah, bodyweight exercise might be good for the upper-body, but you can’t build huge legs with calisthenics alone. Again, this is something of a modern illusion. what folks don’t realize is that all these “huge” legs aren’t being built with barbells but drugs. Remember—it’s the steroids that make you big…the training is way down the list! Look at those huge, overgrown cows and bulls these days; they have huge hips and asses just like modern bodybuilders, but it’s not because they are going to some secret bovine gym. It’s because they are being shot with hormones—steroids and growth. In fact, some popular modern anabolic steroids (I’m lookin’ at you, trenbolone) are literally just the dissolved animal steroid pellets farmers give to livestock to make them bigger.

**It ain’t the drugs, bro! It’s heavy squats!**

It’s a prevalent myth that you only grow if you take steroids and train hard. There are plenty of studies that show you will grow more than any hard-training natural athlete just by sitting on the couch, if you are loaded up with steroids. It’s your hormone levels that primarily cause growth: like I say, training is very secondary. Remember: these drugs are legitimately used for people with horrible injuries and wasting diseases, to add muscle mass…the patients aren’t lifting weights, but the drugs work anyway. Remember going through puberty? When over a year (or even a summer, in some cases) you went from being a scrawny boy to suddenly having some muscles? It happens whether you exercise or play video games. It was caused by a sudden surge of natural steroids.

Training heightens the effect of the drugs, but not nearly as much as most non-athletes think. Clancy Ross built 24 inch quads by doing squats with 500 lbs…meaning his LEGS in 1945 were the same size as Ronnie Coleman’s ARMS in 2005! I’m pretty sure Ronnie wasn’t doing 500 lb curls. Work your legs hard with squats, one-leg work, sprinting and jump training, and yes, they will reach their natural limit. But they won’t ever be 36 inches unless you’re also willing to inject your body every day to make them that way.

Okay, ramble over. Go back to work. And remember, brethren—all this is just my opinion, based on what I’ve seen. I’m not claiming to have the final answers on fat-free mass indexes or stuff like that. If you still have questions, I’d love to hear ‘em. Slap them in the comments below and I’ll answer. If you think I’m wrong, yell at the screen. Or, better yet, hit me up in the comments section and tell me where I’m screwing up.

I’ve got a pot of coffee on the stove, and I’m always ready to learn.

Pink Ribbons and Strong Women

October 18, 2016 By Benji Williford 4 Comments

exercise to help beat cancer

All too often, a person’s mindset toward training can be superficial. Most people who work out are focused on improving their physical appearance, or achieving a personal accomplishment.

So what happens when this mindset is turned on its ear, and you are instead faced with uncertainty due to extreme adversity? Do you become defined by a diagnosis? Do you shut down and give up?

October is breast cancer awareness month, and statistics show that 1 in 8 U.S. women will get diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. I personally can’t think of anything that signifies adversity more than receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Among many clients with many great stories, I’ve had the honor to train with three women that not only endured a breast cancer diagnosis and treatments, but did so with strength and poise. I met and started training with two of them post-treatment, while the third was diagnosed after she had already been training with me.

None of the three were defined by a diagnosis or allowed themselves to become victims. Instead, they each went on their own introspective journey to determine what was really important and find their purpose to persevere. Essentially, it came down to longevity and maintaining independence. Calisthenics training was at the top of the list to achieve these goals.

Why calisthenics? I decided to ask my three clients (Denise, Lori, and Ginny) for their thoughts on why they train.

Denise Mackey-Natz is a salon owner, wife, and mother:

Denise one-arm handstand

“I went through breast cancer and treatment July 3 – December 31, 2009. I had a lumpectomy and 8 rounds of chemo followed by 25 radiation treatments. It’s crazy to say, but that was the “easy” part for me because I always had an end date in mind to keep me focused. In February of 2010 I started tamoxifen for 5 years every day. This was the hardest part of my journey because the end date was so far away. In early spring a dear friend of mine convinced me to train with Benji. I truly believe that this saved me! My body was so weak. Regular visits with Benji have not only helped my body get stronger, but also my mind! And the friendships I have made throughout my workout journey will last forever. My husband and I even go one night a week together. It is our date night and we look forward to it every week!”

Lori Eklund Walsh is a therapist and mother:

Lori Raised pistol squat

“Throughout a variety of stressors and challenges the past few years, I have used my ability to maintain my workout routine as a benchmark for how well I am managing. In my mind, if I can’t get up and go to boot camp, I’m in trouble, need to take a serious look at what is going on, and make lifestyle adjustments accordingly. This was never truer than this past year after having been diagnosed with breast cancer. My goal was to not let the cancer and my treatment interfere with day-to-day life. Being able to continue my regular workout routine was paramount to maintaining my health and sanity. My Tuesday-Thursday workout group provided me with a supportive, encouraging, caring community that helped keep me motivated and grounded. People said I was an inspiration, but really, they were my inspiration. They told me I was beautiful when I showed up bald after losing my hair. They told me I was strong when I felt drained and weak. They laughed with me and cried with me, but most of all they welcomed me, accepted me, and just loved me.

I don’t have any scientific proof of the benefits of maintaining my activities at the level I did. But I firmly believe that the cross-body movements, balance, strength building, focus, and coordination applied from my calisthenics training helped keep me motivated, improved my mood, increased my stamina, minimized the size-effects from the treatments, and aided in memory and concentration. I was fortunate to have been in pretty good overall health at the time of my diagnosis, and even more fortunate to have been able to be with a group of people who were instrumental in helping me stay healthy during the course of my treatment. “

Lastly, Ginny is a widow, mother, grandmother, and all around bad-ass:

Ginny advanced rail push-ups

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, resulting in a mastectomy. After just returning from my checkup, I can report once again that I am still cancer free and in good physical shape. This did not happen by not being proactive. When first learning of my cancer, my doctor emphasized how very important it will be to maintain a regular exercise program, along with good nutrition, and weight control. Exercise has made a huge difference in my life. As my doctor said, it plays a big part in producing antioxidants in my body, which is so important. Daily exercise and good nutrition keep me mentally and physically healthy. This regimen is not just for those of us who have been diagnosed with cancer, but very important for everyone as a preventative measure.”

What drives you to train? I encourage you to look deep inside to identify your true purpose, and I hope it’s never due to the need to overcome extreme adversity.

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Benji Williford, PCC, RYT, CF-L1 is a Personal Fitness Trainer located out of Eau Claire, WI. Benji believes that, “A successful fitness program is based on positive dialogue between the mind and body.” He can be reached through his website: http://www.benjiwilliford.com/, or by email: Benji@ChainReaction-Fitness.com.

Ten Tenets of Calisthenics Skill Training

October 11, 2016 By Al Kavadlo 21 Comments

When I got into working out as a teenager, all I cared about was having a muscular looking upper-body. I wasn’t familiar with the concept of “functional fitness” and I don’t think it would have interested me much at the time anyway.

Back then I just wanted to look good with my shirt off. Doing a muscle-up or pistol squat had never even occurred to me. A lot has changed since then.

With progressive calisthenics continuing to grow in popularity every day, more people are training to learn bodyweight skills first and foremost, with muscular gains being secondary. Though training for mass, strength and skill certainly have some overlap, there are several subtle differences to keep in mind if your top priority in fitness is learning new ways to move your body.

Before getting to my advice on skill development, however, we first must define our terms. Skill training encompasses many things, including moves where precise balance is key, like the handstand or elbow lever, but it also includes exercises like the pistol squat, human flag or muscle-up, which although they require significant strength, require loads of coordination and body awareness as well. You can treat pretty much any calisthenics exercise as a skill if you approach it with a focus on movement quality, though there is undeniably more technique involved with a back lever than a basic push-up.

With that in mind, if skill is what you seek, you would do well to abide by the following ten principles:

1. Build Your Foundation
You’ve gotta crawl before you learn to walk, and you’ve gotta get good at pull-ups before attempting a muscle-up. While it can be tempting to rush ahead and try advanced exercises when you are new to calisthenics, the best way to eventually attain those skills is by building a strong foundation with the basics. Aim for double digits on classics like push-ups, hanging knee raises and squats before you worry about anything too ambitious. Advanced skills are built upon proficiency in the fundamentals.

2. Utilize an Earlier Progression
If there is an exercise that you feel is on the fringes of your skill set, the best way to work toward acquiring it is to find an earlier progression that you can manage for around 3 solid reps (or in the case of isometric holds, something you can hold for a few seconds).

If your goal is to perform a freestanding handstand, you should first get very comfortable holding one against a wall. If a full pistol squat eludes you, there are many regressions you can use, such as a bench pistol. Whatever you are working toward, there are lots of ways to assist yourself or modify the leverage to make anything more accessible. (Check out me and my brother Danny’s new book Street Workout for progressions and variations on all the major calisthenics skills.)

3. Take Long Breaks
Learning new skills is taxing on your neurological system as well as your muscles, that’s why it’s helpful to allow yourself plenty of rest between attempts. There’s no need to time your breaks or abide by any strict protocol when skill improvement/acquisition is your chief concern, however. Simply warm up, and start playing around with whatever it is you are working on, be it a backflip, muscle-up, or elbow lever.

Though it only takes a few seconds to attempt these moves, remember to take a few deep breaths between each effort and give yourself a few minutes off when you feel like you’re beginning to fatigue. Be aware that you may tire quickly when working on new skills, even if you don’t feel the same type of burn in your muscles that you are used to from more conventional set and rep protocols.

4. More Sets/Fewer Reps
Along those same lines, it’s usually best to do only a few reps at a time (or practice fairly short holds in the case of isometrics) when training new skills. For this reason, you may need to do more sets than you typically would in order to get enough total training volume into a given session. Remember, your goal is precision – as soon as you cease to be able to perform at your best, it’s time to take a breather. It’s not unusual to do 5 or more sets of a single exercise during a skill training session.

5. Video Your Workouts
Taking a video of your training session isn’t just for showing off on YouTube. You can learn a lot by watching yourself try new things. You may find that what you think you are doing and what you are actually doing are two very different things. Watching a video of yourself can help you stay objective and find ways to fix your form. Reviewing your video in between efforts can also give you something to do while you’re taking those long rest breaks.

6. Don’t Bite Off Too Much
You can’t learn to do everything at once. Movers who have a large arsenal of skills have gradually acquired new ones little by little over many years. Focus on one or two new things at a time, while keeping your other exercises and skills in maintenance mode. Sometimes when you hit a plateau with one skill, you can shift your focus to something else, and eventually return to the previous skill with renewed focus and greater experience.

7. Avoid Failure
If your primary concern is gaining muscle mass, it may be best to push to the point of absolute fatigue, as this will pump as much blood into the muscles as possible. Conventional wisdom is that “the pump” can help facilitate muscular growth.

When learning new skills is your primary concern, however, it’s best to avoid muscular failure. You want to be as fresh as you can for each effort, so you can get the greatest yields for your time. It’s best to keep a little bit in the tank to avoid burnout when working on new skills.

8. Find Training Partners
We all must walk this path for ourselves, but along the way others can offer guidance and inspiration. If you have the opportunity to work out with friends or attend a workshop – take it. The collective energy that happens when you get a group of calisthenics fanatics together is something that must be felt in order to be understood. Whether it’s through organizing a meet-up with your buddies at a local park, or coming to a Progressive Calisthenics Certification Workshop, there’s no better motivation than the energy and encouragement of your peers.

9. Be Patient
Many people underestimate how long it can take to learn a new move, then get frustrated and give up because it’s not happening quickly enough. Accept that some days will be better than others, and that you may get frustrated at times. This is okay. There is no true “mastery” in fitness, so aim to keep the beginner’s mind: Instead of focusing on the goal, focus on the process; instead of setting deadlines, set intentions. Patience is the key to unlocking advanced calisthenics skills.

10. Stay Consistent
The secret to fitness is not in any specific exercise, or sequence of exercises. It’s not in any particular set and rep scheme, and it’s not in any particular tool or apparatus. It’s not about periodization, core stabilization or muscle confusion. Those things may play a role, but the real secret to fitness is consistency. Because without consistency, none of those other details mean anything. If you want to improve your calisthenics skills, you’ve got to stay the course and keep practicing. You will learn more from your own trials and errors than from anything else. Enjoy the journey and embrace each step in your progression.

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Al Kavadlo is the lead instructor for Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification and the author of several best-selling books, including Street Workout and Pushing The Limits. For more information visit www.AlKavadlo.com.

Give The Squeaky Wheel Some Grease

September 13, 2016 By Bret Hamilton 17 Comments

Al and Danny Kavadlo PCC demo squats and mobility

Keeping things simple, yet effective is something that I’ve personally struggled with at times. Every so often, I find myself imagining the solution to a problem has to be complex in order to provide the result I desire. I’m also often reminded that said solution to said problem is staring me in the face, I simply don’t realize it right way.

Back in June of this year, I had the privilege to meet and work with Al and Danny Kavadlo at the Progressive Calisthenics Certification. Over the course of the weekend, we did one-to-two hour modules on each movement taught in the course. It was during the squat workshop when I approached Al with a question regarding ankle flexibility as it pertains to the squat–specifically the airborne or hover lunge variation. “Al,” I said. “When you are working with someone who may have an ankle that is stiff or impinging, do you have any specific go-to drills to help develop flexibility in that joint to make the squat feel more symmetrical?”

His response, so simple as it was, annoyed me at the time. To be honest, I expected more than, “Give the squeaky wheel some grease.” With Al’s trademark grin, smiling eyes, and a pat on the back, he walked away as I reflected upon his words.

“Give the squeaky wheel some grease,” I thought, silently grumbling to myself. “That was not the answer I was anticipating, nor looking for!”

brethamiltonalkavaldopcc2

You see, when I asked that question, I was specifically asking it in reference to an old soccer injury of my own that left my right ankle feeling very bound up, and occasionally painful compared to the other side. I’d utilized various joint self-mobilizations in the past, yet nothing had really helped the ankle improve permanently. As a point of reference, by the time I attended the PCC in June, I was capable of performing full depth pistol squats and hover lunges for reps on either side, but they were rather sloppy on the right leg, due to my mobility limitations.

When I returned home from the course, Al’s words stayed with me. Even though I was skeptical, I trusted that maybe there was more to what Al said than I’d initially thought. I decided to put his words to the test. I dedicated myself to working on my hover lunges daily, focusing on “pulling” myself into the movement using my hip flexors and shin muscles. Gradually, I began to notice that I was more easily able to place the knee of my rear leg closer to the heel of my front foot on the descent of the hover lunge. Although the depth of my hover lunge had not increased, the amount of articulation my ankle was forced to go through in order to complete the rep was increasing steadily.

Al’s words were ringing true, all to my surprise, pleasure, and chagrin! The answer was in front of me all along, but it took a guy named Al six short words of wisdom to help me realize what I needed to do: Practice the move more often, and with a sharp focus on improving specific qualities within that movement, no longer worrying about reps and sets.

Bret Hamilton shrimp squat hover lunge

It is now early September. I’ve practiced the hover lunge daily for 6 weeks now. Not only has my ankle improved its flexibility, but it has ceased hurting. I’ve progressed from a regular hover lunge to placing first one hand behind my back, and eventually a second hand behind my back while performing them. This has forced the muscles in my hips, thighs, and shins to contract more forcefully in order to keep stable and complete the rep. I’ve also practiced doing a “dragon” variation of the hover lunge with zero, one, and two hands behind my back, as well as an elevated dragon pistol squat. I was capable of none of these feats prior to attending the PCC.

Throughout this learning process, Al’s simple words have continued to resonate with me. I’ve since applied this principle of consistent practice to other movements I’ve been stuck with and have found it to be equally as effective. I’ve “greased the groove” before, but only with the intent to improve the strength of a movement, never to improve the perceived quality of it. It has been the most liberating six weeks of strength training I’ve had since, well, ever! Letting the process unfold before me has been such a joy, and I encourage everyone to approach their own training with this same mindful pursuit. This is truly why calisthenics is so unique, beautiful, and playful all at once.

At the end of the day, my goal is to become the best version of myself possible, and to help further others in their own journeys. My hope is that you might take notice of this post and give your own squeaky wheels some grease. Because let’s be honest, we’ve all got them! And don’t forget to keep it simple.

Thanks, Al, you son of a gun!

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Bret Hamilton is the head coach and co-owner of Constant Forward Progress-Bodyweight and Kettlebell Training. He and his wife Megan live and train near Portland, OR. When Bret isn’t working with clients in the gym, he loves to jump on the trampoline, play pickleball, read a great book, and relax to video game now and then. You can learn more about Bret and CFP at www.constantforwardprogress.com.

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.

Keep The Dream Alive,

-DK

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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

Shifting Focus and Setting New Goals When Injury Strikes

May 31, 2016 By Ian Deeth 8 Comments

Ian Deeth at the UK PCC In the life of an athlete, there is a high likelihood that injury will disrupt our training plans at some stage. As much as we try to prevent our bodies from breaking down, and do our utmost to push ourselves to the limit without crossing the line between optimal performance and injury, our fitness journeys don’t always go as planned. But how many of us use an injury as an excuse to feel sorry for ourselves and take a break from training? Don’t fall into that trap; an injury can actually be a fantastic opportunity to reflect, re-evaluate and shift focus to work on a different area of fitness.

At the start of this year, my training plans were firmly focused on urban-running events and I was coming to the tapering phase after a high volume period of training. I was making awesome progress, nailing my training targets in the gym and on the road; I was in the best shape of my life! Then, disaster struck. At the end of an urban running race, I slipped and turned my right ankle on a timing mat. What I believed was initially a bad sprain later turned out, to my utter devastation, to be an avulsion fracture to my fifth metatarsal. After consulting a doctor, I knew running for the next 8 weeks was out of the question and my immediate race plans were over. But I also realised there were a number of things I could still do. My focus shifted to an area of fitness I had toyed with in the past but never stuck at for a set period… bodyweight strength training. The park, as opposed to my usual running tracks and paths, became my new fitness home.

New Fitness Goals
Living in Singapore, we are blessed with outdoor fitness parks on every block and consistent warm weather. Calisthenic sessions replaced my running and weight sessions in the training diary and the journey to progress my flag, tighten up my muscle-up and experiment on the bars took off once more.

Ian Deeth PCC UK Muscle Up I continued to seek medical advice from my doctor but ‘rest’ from exercise only meant resting from any exercises which could have worsened my injury. Whatever injury or setbacks you have, there will always be some form of training you can do. Even if physical activity was not possible, I knew mental training techniques such as visualization and meditation were always an alternative.

Staying Focused and Keeping Routine
With new goals identified and a revised training schedule in place, I kept to the same training days and times which had served me well previously. Aqua jogging in the pool and rowing also allowed me to keep up a good level of cardiovascular fitness. The temptation to replace training with other lifestyle choices was certainly there and whilst planned breaks from training are always important, this wasn’t the time. I had firmly set my sights on new fitness goals and was fiercely determined to commit this 8-week window to improving them.

“Obstacles are often put in our way to see if what we want is really worth fighting for”
Coincidentally, the above quote is engraved on the Spartan race trophy which I won in the very race I injured myself in. After eight weeks, I was able to return to light running, but in that time I had made excellent progress on a number of bodyweight exercises which I was always keen to develop, but found difficult to fit into my usual training regime. Using the progressions from my PCC manual and knowledge gained on the course, suddenly holding a human flag for more than a split second was a realistic target, and I could perform 10 strict muscle ups without a kip. I knew that shifting the focus back to urban running may slow the excellent progress I’d made with my calisthenics, but I was ecstatic with the improvements regardless. The time off had also reinforced how much I enjoyed running. I was ready to step back into my trainers and hit the running paths with renewed vigour, but also with a new artillery of calisthenic movements in the locker.

Ian Deeth at the UK PCC Life Lessons
When you’re in the flow of a great training regime, slowing down isn’t fun and losing some of your independence isn’t particularly great either. Even though my injury, on the grand scale of things, was fairly minor and relatively short term, my time spent on crutches did teach me some valuable life lessons. It made me appreciate how much I enjoy being active and challenging my body. It certainly made me empathize with those who have permanent mobility problems and athletes who are suffering from long term injuries. But most importantly, it taught me to always focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t. If you look and research enough, you can find a way to keep moving forward. Sometimes this means being adaptable and taking a slightly different path than the one you had planned. By temporarily shifting focus and setting new goals, you might even discover alternative areas of fitness and achieve new targets along the journey.

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Ian Deeth is a PCC Instructor and teacher, originally from England but now living in Singapore. He is a former Great Britain U23 and Scottish senior international 400 meter runner.

What Do I Know?

May 24, 2016 By Danny Kavadlo 48 Comments

Danny Kavadlo LeadPhoto Dunce Hat

What do any of us know?

I, for example, am nothing more than a product of my own reason and common sense. I pair perception with experience. I observe, report and conclude, all the while, trying my hardest to do the best I can within my capacities.

But do I actually know anything?

Given my many limitations, I get asked a great number of questions. Don’t get me wrong: I am grateful for each one I receive and I certainly do not wish to appear otherwise. I consider it an honor that any of you value my opinion enough to have me weigh in on your training, diet or life, and I thank you for the opportunity. But the truth is that I can’t possibly know all the answers to every query that anybody may have. I do my best. But sometimes my lack of firsthand experience with a given situation holds me back.

For example:

2QuestionA

There is no one-size-fits-all resolution here. A beginner and advanced practitioner will have wildly different rest periods. It depends how long and frequently this person has been training, what their current physical condition is, genetics, outside habits, environment and more.

Still, I am glad the person in the above scenario had a specific question. Sometimes, they’re not quite as thought out:

3QuestionB

Um… ok. Sure. Get back to me…

I live by trial and error. I’m no different than you. In fact, you shouldn’t instantly look to me until you’ve made some important personal discovery on your own. That’s not to say that I cannot be of service. Of course I can, but I encourage you to do some soul searching first. Know thyself, friends. There is no experience like firsthand experience. Don’t look at me. Look at you. While some think I’m a guru, others are not so kind. The truth is, I’m somewhere in between.

Great Book Review of Danny Kavadlo's Strength Rules — Guru or douche? The truth is, I’m somewhere in between.

5Douche — Guru or douche? The truth is, I’m somewhere in between.

Not only do I accept these natural differences in people’s opinions, I embrace them. I am an advocate of free thought and individual will in all their forms. I’m grateful when my beliefs evoke a passionate resonance in anybody in whatever capacity they’re capable of. Some feel that my words are inspirational; others are less kind.

6Inspiration

7Loser And still, some folks would prefer if I just went away. Well I’m not.

How about this fun comment on a recent Danny’s Dos and Don’ts article:

9DONT

That’s cool. Look, there are a lot of people out there. The natural constraints of my knowledge and intellect may not provide what you seek. Perhaps I can’t give you what you need.

Or can I…?

We all have opinions. That’s what makes life beautiful—the transparent fact that it beckons to be lived. You see, progressive calisthenics (or bodyweight training, street workout, whatever you want to call it—I don’t get bogged down on semantics) embodies an experiential component more than it demands wrote text. In a way, our very training ties into not knowing anything. We dispel dogma. We celebrate improvisation. We choose movement over academia. These are the attributes that comprise excellence in our realm.

Every truth-seeking individual on this planet will undoubtedly go through changes. Things we know (and things we thought we knew) can morph over time. This is how we evolve. Therefore I urge you to experiment, to reason and to go with your senses. Trust your intuition but keep an open mind. Learn from what’s around you every day. After all, the purest form of science is observation. Remain nonpartisan and objective, particularly when it comes to matters of the self.

I don’t know anything. You decide for you.

Keep the dream alive,

-DK

Training Through Injuries (AKA: That Time My Friend Sat On My Thumb)

April 19, 2016 By Eric Bergmann 13 Comments

Eric Bergmann Calisthenics
Yup. My friend sat on my thumb.

We’ve all been injured at some point, and most of us are familiar with how it can derail our training. In response to the sprain I suffered, I had to decrease the size of my training repertoire and remove everything that required an opposable thumb.

Those who’ve had the dubious privilege of seeing me train know that my workouts consist largely of picking things up and putting them down with the help of said opposable thumb.

Switching gears was tough for me, especially since my training was going so well at the time. In fact, I was in the middle of the best training year of my life. It was tough for me to believe that an adjusted and, in my mind, adulterated training program could provide the same level of benefit. It was even tougher for me to be cool with doing only the following types of movements:

Squat variations, push-up variations, and pull-up variations (with thumb-less grip).

First, a confession…

I didn’t put my heart and soul into the planning of this thumb-less program. Looking back, I could have made some different choices and put together a more comprehensive regimen. Instead, I just looked at which exercises I felt I could do without risk of further injury and hoped that I wouldn’t lose much ground from my last several phases of training. Unconvinced that these bodyweight-only movements were going to successfully maintain my hard work, however, I was prepared to lose some strength.

That said, I didn’t just throw in the towel and half-ass my training. I pulled out my PCC manual.

Eric Bergmann with PCC Manual

I chose the hardest variations of each movement that I could manage for a handful of quality reps, backing those up with variations I could do for a moderate-to-high number of reps. In essence, this was an attempt to mimic what I had already been doing in successful programs rather than suddenly switching gears or starting all over.

As I explored the variations available to me I took advantage of the leverage concepts from the PCC Certification. This allowed me to transform movements that I could do for 0-2 reps into movements I could do for 4-6 reps, movements I could do for 25+ reps into movements I could only do for 15-20 reps, and so forth. These variations or “hidden steps” allowed me to tailor the movements to my abilities and to use that as a platform for continued growth.

During the “strength” oriented movements (I used multiple sets in the 4-6 rep range) I noted a marked increase in full-body tension/contraction/stabilization. What does that mean? It means that during one-arm push-up variations, I found abs of steel, quads of quartz, and rotator cuffs of coordinated reactive stabilization. It means I found and minimized imbalances between my ability to stabilize my left lateral chain and my right. It means I got strong. Really strong. Way stronger than I’d thought I possibly could with a busted thumb.

During the more endurance oriented movements (I used multiple sets in the 12+ rep range and in the 20+ rep range) I found minor but important losses in active stabilization. What does that mean? It means I found and was able to close gaps in endurance that caused subtle lumbar extension (low-back sag), thoracic flexion (upper-back rounding), and cervical flexion/capital extension (chin jutting). The higher reps gave me the opportunity to lock down my form during my sets, making my positions and joints healthier and stronger, thereby making me more bulletproof.

Overall, this has proven to be one of, if not the most successful training phases I’ve ever enjoyed. From the experience I’m taking improved strength, endurance, and ability to create balanced tension through my body, but the lessons I learned go beyond the physical changes.

I didn’t expect that using calisthenics alone could be brutally hard yet readily adjustable to my current capabilities. As a modern fitness culture we are so accustomed to adjusting loads rather than body positions, and to measuring success in pounds and kilos. What I learned during the calisthenics-only phases of my training has expanded my understanding not just of bodyweight movements, but all movement, and will impact how I train both myself and my clients.

Perhaps the most important thing I’m taking with me is that limitations can often free our creativity and expand our horizons. Injuries are going to happen. It’s what we do in response that determines our long-term success.

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Eric Bergmann is a New York City based strength coach, movement specialist, and proud member of the PCC family. He co-owns Bergmann Fitness—a boutique training and nutrition service—with his wife, Beth. You can find out more about them at bergmannfitness.com

Workout Tips for Busy Professionals

April 5, 2016 By Brad Sadler 23 Comments

Brad Sadl and wife, Laura train calisthenics together
“Hey Honey, let’s quit!”

That’s what I said to my wife today about two minutes into the workout we were doing together.

She looked at me incredulously and said, “No!”

Well, back to push-ups, pull-ups and squats for me.

Once we finished the workout, I was glad I’d chosen to train with my wife. Usually, I’m the one to push her, but today I needed some encouragement.

Let me back up just a bit. I love to workout. It’s one of the biggest pleasures in my life. Not only do I love to workout–but I love bodyweight workouts. I love all kinds of push-ups, pull-ups, muscle-ups and levers. Sometimes I wish I could make working out my entire life–but already I have a career that I love.

I’m a physician–a psychiatrist. A busy psychiatrist. I run an inpatient service and I recently started an outpatient practice as well. I am on call every 3rd week for 7 days straight. It’s a lot of work. There are nights I don’t get any sleep. Sometimes that makes it hard to stick to my training. Thankfully I’ve found a few ways to help keep myself in check.

Here’s how I’ve been able to do it:

Plan your workout schedule to correspond with your workload: I know that I’m on call every 3 weeks. That call is 24/7 and it lasts 7 days. Ugh! That week that I’m on call it’s REALLY hard to workout. By the end of the week, I’m dog tired and getting in my workouts is almost impossible. Instead of giving up completely, I now treat that week as a deload week. I plan to work out really hard the first two weeks. I do the majority of my strength work, longer workouts, more intense workouts those two weeks and I rest more and do shorter workouts during the call week. I also don’t expect myself to perform as well when I’m on call so I don’t beat myself up if I’m not where I want to be. You can do it too. Have an upcoming project at your job or a busy season? How about a cyclical business? Plan your workouts accordingly.

Let others motivate you: Sure it’s great to work out alone. I do enjoy that. Typically, I can design my own workouts, I can motivate myself to do them at a fairly high intensity, and I enjoy the solitude of listening to my favorite music (heavy metal and gangsta rap) while getting it in. Sometimes though–when things are busy I can’t quiet that nagging part of my mind–the part that tells me I’m too tired to do this. The part that asks, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a chocolate sundae and watch TV?” This is why I work out with my wife. We motivate each other. It’s good to have her there right with me. Other days, I leave the house and go to the gym. I get motivated by working out with my friends. There’s something that brings out the best in you if there’s a bit of friendly competition in your workouts.

Animal motivation: I love dogs. I have 4 of them. I have VERY active dogs. My dogs need walks. They need play time. On days when I’m too tired for an intense workout, I take them for long walks. Sometimes I even take them for a run. If you have a pet, they need exercise too, so you’re helping them and you’re helping you!

Brad Sadl, PCC, with his Dogs
Learn a sport: Every Friday evening, I go to the local gymnastics gym for a private session with my awesome gymnastics coach. There’s nothing like paying an instructor, coach or fitness professional to motivate you. There are plenty of times I feel tired on the drive over–but once I’m there I’m happy and engaged with the learning process and I always leave feeling happy I went. Starting to learn gymnastics at the age of 40 was a humbling experience as well. I’m the oldest person in the gym by sometimes 30+ years and the young gymnasts are amazing. Sometimes, I just stop and watch. I’m astounded by what the young gymnasts can do. Watching them encourages me to push myself to get better.

Eat well: I’ll admit it, this one is kinda hard. When I’m really busy with work and I’m not sleeping well, I crave sugar. I crave chocolate. I have a hard time saying no to sweets and processed foods when I’m stressed. I know this about myself. I justify eating a cookie or having a couple glasses of wine at night because I’m tired. I worked hard, I deserve it. Sound familiar? I know I’m not the only one. I noticed that after leaving my old job and starting my new practice, I was eating worse. I was gaining a little weight, and I wasn’t feeling as motivated. I recently doubled down on my eating. I haven’t been allowing myself to give in to the thought, “I deserve this.” I also have a trip to Cancun coming up that motivated me to get back on track with eating. I feel better, my workouts are better, and my energy is better. Not only that–my abs are back and that keeps me happy! A lot of people find temporary motivation in an upcoming trip, a wedding, the summer. The trick is, I think, to keep coming up with motivating ideas. Once you’re married–don’t become complacent. Once you’re back from your trip or once the summer ends don’t stop all the positive changes you made. Keep coming up with reasons to eat better and pretty soon it will become habit and habit is harder to change.

Take a day off: What? Isn’t this supposed to be about motivation to work out? Yes. Yes, it is. Sometimes, the best thing I’ve ever done for myself is to take a day off or even two. Come back refreshed. Come back when all your muscles are rested. I promise, you won’t lose all your gains in two days. In fact, once you’ve rested your overworked muscles and your mind–you will come back stronger than ever. I’ve had some of my best PR’s after 2-4 days of rest. If work has been killing you–don’t go and kill yourself even more in the gym. The body can only handle so much stress. If you’re in overdrive all the time–something is going to go wrong.

Have fun: Workouts don’t have to be stressful. They don’t have to be long. They don’t have to leave you gasping for air. I know there’s something you’re good at. Everyone has something they can do well, even if it’s simply walking. Indulge it once a week. Indulge it briefly every day. Anytime you’re moving that’s good. There will be time for working on weaknesses, getting stronger, and building muscle, but some days you just need motivation. You need the spark that’s going to get you going. Go ahead and do it if you love it. Even if you did it yesterday or this morning or 5 minutes ago. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

Sign up for the PCC: Making the commitment to take the PCC was one of the best things I ever did to enhance my training motivation. Once I was signed up, I knew there was no backing out. I also knew that if I wanted to make the most of the weekend, I would need to practice my calisthenics regularly in the months leading up to the event. When PCC weekend came around, I was able to try new things and learn new skills because I had built a proper foundation.

I hope this list helps inspire you to find ways around your busy schedule. Even if you don’t do it exactly how I do it–I’d love to hear the ways you motivate yourself when life throws you that curve ball!

Brad Sadl at the PCC with Al Kavadlo

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Brad Sadler, MD, MS, PCC is a full-time psychiatrist and avid fitness enthusiast. He loves spending time with his family, and practicing calisthenics.