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Progressive Calisthenics

Preparing for the PCC Experience

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Adrienne Pull-Up

While we’ve shared a lot of information about what happens at PCC workshops, there are always still questions revolving around the same couple of topics: How do I prepare for the Progressive Calisthenics Certification, and is the PCC right for me?

Unlike many certification workshops in the modern fitness world, the PCC is a highly physical three-day workshop AND it has a strictly judged physical test (The Century!) to ensure you’re fit to present yourself to the world as a PCC Instructor. While this can seem daunting, there are some clear-cut strategic approaches which can help you both be prepared to pass the test, and be physically (and mentally) prepared to really get the most out of your PCC experience. (Be sure to click here for Paul Wade’s excellent PCC Q+A article written in January of 2013 which I hope you haven’t missed.)

One of the things I like most about The Century is that it’s a balanced test. While the numbers may not look frightening, having to perform each rep to our standards for the required number can prove to be challenging to say the least. I’ve personally seen very fit, very experienced people who were well prepared for the test need to take a second to mentally reset between exercises in the midst of testing.

Practicing the basics to the point that they are second nature is not only great for testing, but is also helpful for situations where you find yourself having to instruct a large group of people, or multi-task in some way while troubleshooting a client or student’s technique. In other words, performing the exercises during testing can tell us how you might perform as an instructor and leader. Not to mention, the testing occurs after three days of exhilarating and fun physical learning!

Testing at the PCC in Sweden
Attention to Detail During Testing at the PCC in Sweden

We usually have to remind especially inspired attendees not to go to complete failure while they are trying out some of the progressions we present during the workshop. It is hard after you get that first muscle-up to slow down and not immediately get back up on the bar for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th attempt at another. I’ve seen guys so overjoyed at their own progress after getting a game-changing cue from Al, Danny or myself that they’ve shredded up their hands while practicing it over and over again. (Yikes!)

Someone preparing for the PCC should really have two goals, passing the Century test is the more obvious of the two, but the other goal should be a focus on general strength, skill, and volume. The volume will also help prepare your body (and hands) for spending more time on the bar, pole, or floor. Suppose your most favorite (and/or most challenging) exercise falls on the 2nd or 3rd day? You will want to have as much strength and mobility at your disposal for trying as many of the progressions as possible—especially since the PCC instructors and your fellow attendees will be there to help you past any sticking points.

Adrienne coaching Tony towards a clutch flag at the PCC

When mentioning this particular topic, people often voice concerns that they think we will be doing muscle-ups and front levers 8 hours a day for three days in a row. Don’t be intimidated by the range of material the workshop offers, but do be prepared to attend at your best.

Also, I hope that you will bring us questions and moves you’ve been struggling with—we can help you work on them, and at the same time, the other attendees benefit from seeing how a given issue can be resolved. This is incredibly helpful for everyone’s own practice as well as that of their clients. I try to bring up stories of how either my clients or I overcame an issue so that others can try the approach too. So bring your strengths, but bring your “weaknesses” too.

By preparing for the Century, you will be drilling yourself well for the basics, which is often the most important aspect of being a professional trainer. While we would all love to be constantly coaching others on extremely advanced exercises, the reality is most of our clients will be everyday people who will need to start out at the very beginning. While many of us have long since progressed from the initial steps in Convict Conditioning (the basis of the PCC) and are slowly approaching the master steps, we need to remember how to really drill down and help someone who is just starting out. Often, beginners bring restricted movement patterns that can prove perplexing to an instructor who isn’t fully prepared.

It’s easy for us to be tempted to skip over that “easy stuff”, but I always remember an attendee at one of the very first PCC Workshops who was incredibly fit and able to do rep after perfect rep of “regulation” push-ups. But, when working through the progressions he was unable at first to correctly demonstrate a push-up from the knees. Fortunately with some attention to detail, and activation of the abdominals and glutes, he was not only able to demonstrate a knee push-up that would truly help a beginner, but he was able to progress further with his own push-ups because of this extra knowledge and experience. Similarly, when I get stuck on a given progression I go back and make sure I’m not taking my own strength for granted, simply because I’m able to “muscle through” a particular move.

The great thing about the PCC is that ALL levels of the progressions are useful—no matter your client’s fitness level. So, getting proficient with the Century Test is a crucial task, as is working up to a volume level that will allow you to fully participate in the workshop.

Jen Kalmes Pull-Up
PCC and RKC Instructor Jen Kalmes confidently completes a pull-up rep at a PCC Workshop in Minneapolis, MN

While we’ve seen a trend towards more men attending than women, everyone who has come to the PCC has been able to fully participate and learn from the experience. Women often ask me if I think they should “even bother” signing up, because somewhere along the line a rumor must have gotten started that we’re going to be doing backflip muscle-up spinaround jump squats (don’t ask me how to do that, I just made it up for emphasis) for three days in a row. But, the women who have shown up to past PCCs have not only thrived at the workshop but always seem to surprise themselves. Similarly, women with training backgrounds not as grounded in raw bodyweight strength often discover a whole new world of training to explore. As I’ve said many times before, if you understand the principles, you can really coach anyone—even people who have different strengths than your own.

The real treasures of the PCC are not just being able to perform or work towards performing cool moves and exercises, it’s being able to break down the movements for any situation. If there’s a common thread I’ve noticed among past attendees of the PCC workshops it’s a willingness to try new things, an innate form of leadership, and an intense desire to help others.

The PCC is an instructor course, and while many people do attend for their own knowledge (which we think is fantastic, by the way) we do find out that after a while those same people can’t help but share the information with others.

The world needs this accessible do-it-anywhere route to fitness, as well as instructors of all shapes, sizes and abilities to lead the way. I hope to see you bring your “A Game” to an upcoming workshop!

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

Bodyweight Conditioning: The Basics

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Al Kavadlo Thumbs Up At ThomkinsSq

In Progressive Calisthenics, we tend to emphasize strength. Many of the most visually impressive calisthenics moves require little more than a high strength-to-mass ratio. Though I often point out that true bodyweight mastery encompasses flexibility and balance as well, if you actually want to perform well in sports (or any prolonged physical activity) there’s another crucial piece to the puzzle: conditioning. A few lucky people are born athletes; the rest of us need to put in some extra work.

Strength is a fairly easy concept for most people to understand, but conditioning can be a confusing concept. What exactly does it mean to be conditioned?

One way to think of conditioning is the ability to perform continuous work without fatigue. It’s impressive to see someone muster a clean muscle-up or a precise pistol squat; it’s a whole different task to perform multiple muscle-ups and pistol squats in the same circuit without resting!

One of the biggest misconceptions about strength and conditioning is that they are on opposite ends of the fitness spectrum. Though there may be some merit to this in certain cases, my personal experience has been that the better my work capacity becomes, the more potential I have for building new strength.

Furthermore, training for endurance challenges like a Marathon or Triathlon can help you reach new levels of mental resolve. Your mind must be strong enough to push through the physical discomfort of your training in order to cause adaptations in your body. This mental fortitude can be cultivated through practice and will carry over into your strength training. The stronger your heart, lungs, mind and generally recovery abilities, the more volume you will be able to handle in your strength work.

Al Kavadlo Running Race
PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo running in the NYC Marathon

Sometimes conditioning is mistakenly confused with cardiovascular endurance, which is only one aspect of it. Conditioning is actually a combination of several components including cardiovascular output, aerobic capacity, lactic threshold and, perhaps most importantly, familiarity with the given modality. The better your technique, the less energy you need to exert. That’s why athletics tend to be so specified. Powerlifters and gymnasts are among the strongest athletes, but I’ve never heard of anyone who successfully competed in both at an elite level. Likewise, boxers and basketball players both tend to be highly conditioned, yet their individual skillsets are specific to their individual sports.

While sport specific work typically makes up the bulk of most athlete’s practice time, almost every serious athlete also dedicates a good deal of time to improving their overall fitness by practicing general conditioning exercises that require little skill.

Though I find the conventional approach to “cardio” a huge turn-off, I absolutely believe that even the casual fitness enthusiast should be capable of demonstrating basic fitness conditioning in a variety of contexts.

Below are some bodyweight conditioning exercises that you can practice outdoors, along with brief suggestions on how to begin incorporating them into your routine. No cardio machines required!

No more Stair Steppers required
So long, Stair-stepper!

Jogging

Boxers and other athletes have been incorporating “road work” into their training for generations. Arguably the most fundamental form of bodyweight exercise ever, jogging may be the best place for you to begin building your conditioning. The key is to go at a slow enough pace to maintain a steady speed for as long as possible. For beginners this may be slow and brief, which is fine. With consistency you can build to longer amounts of time and also begin to increase your speed.

If you are new to jogging, I recommend alternating between jogging and walking for a minute each, for no more than 30 minutes total. Focus on staying light on your feet in order to minimize any joint impact. Though there is some technique involved, running is a fairly low-skill activity. Any able-bodied person can begin a running program, you just need to go slowly and be willing to put your ego aside.

Since jogging is low impact and low intensity, you can start with three days a week, adding more days as your abilities improve. Eventually you can build up to several miles a day if you so desire.

Al Running By Hudson River

Sprinting

When you are new to running, maintaining a steady jog can quickly start to feel like a sprint! Once your legs have acclimated to the point where you can handle 20 minutes or more of steady jogging, however, I recommend incorporating some real sprint work into your regimen.

After a 5-10 minute jog to warm up, aim for 3-5 rounds of 10-20 second sprints with 3-5 minutes of recovery time between rounds. As sprinting is much more intense than jogging, I suggest you keep your frequency fairly low. Once a week should be plenty to start.

Sprinting is a relative term, so don’t worry too much about how fast you are actually going. Instead, focus on your intensity. Try to push yourself to 90-95% of how fast you would run if you were being chased by a bear!

Run like a bear is chasing you!

Stair Climbing

If you have access to stadium bleachers (or don’t mind being the weirdo running up the stairs at the office), stair climbing is another simple activity that can greatly improve your overall conditioning. There are some people who get winded walking up one flight of stairs, others can run to the top of the Empire State building in under 10 minutes. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, you can get a great workout on the stairs without spending much time or any money.

Stair climbing is best approached with a slow-and-steady mindset. Start out by attempting to walk up stairs at a continuous pace for 10-20 minutes. Over time you can build to running the stairs and doing longer distances.

Swimming

I almost didn’t include swimming on this list because it requires a body of water, which not everyone has access to. Ultimately, however, it is a bodyweight exercise that anyone can do and there are plenty of naturally occurring places to swim (you don’t have to go to the pool). The great thing about swimming is that it is very low impact, therefore making it safe for pretty much anyone, regardless of weight problems or joint issues.

As swimming requires a lot more technique than the other activities on this list, you may need to take some lessons when you are starting out (or restarting after a long hiatus).

As before, focus on your relative intensity rather than how fast you are going. Beginners can start out by swimming several sets of 20-50 meters at a time with short recovery breaks in between efforts. From there you can gradually build to swimming continuously for 30 minutes or longer.

Al Kavadlo at the Beach

Cardio Calisthenics

I hate using the word cardio, but I sure love me some alliteration! Cardio calisthenics are bodyweight exercises that require fairly low levels of strength so that they can be performed for extended amounts of time. Jumping jacks, mountain climbers and burpees are all examples of cardio calisthenics. As you get stronger, push-ups, pull-ups and even pistol squats can become conditioning exercises.

A sample cardio calisthenics workout might consist of 50 jumping jacks, followed by 40 mountain climbers, followed by 20 burpees. Rest between each exercise as needed and aim to repeat the whole circuit 3-5 times. Eventually you can try building to 5 rounds with no rest.

The Century

That’s right, the PCC Century Test is both a strength and conditioning challenge. I’ve observed several PCC hopefuls over the last year and a half who were strong enough to do the required reps for each exercise individually but lacked the conditioning to recover enough to perform all 100 reps in the 8 minutes needed to earn the PCC credential. If you want to be a PCC, you’ve got to have a solid foundation of strength and conditioning.

Get It Together

In my early twenties, I could do 20 pull-ups or 50 push-ups with no problem, but I couldn’t even run one mile. My weak link was exposed when I attended a personal trainer workshop that included a barrage of fitness tests, one of which was a 1.5 mile run. Even though I didn’t finish last, it was a big embarrassment for me. After that humbling experience I decided I needed to work on my conditioning, but I had no idea where to start! When will I fit it into my schedule? What if I lose strength? I was filled with doubts, but they were really just excuses. Just like your strength training, if you are serious about improving your conditioning, you will find the time to make it happen.

I began to practice running in the mornings before breakfast and moved my strength work to afternoons or evenings. On days where I didn’t have time for both strength and conditioning, I got in whatever I could. Sometimes I combined the two by doing circuit workouts like the ones in the videos above. Like anything, the beginning was the hardest part. As I often say, the first is the worst!

I was successful because I didn’t take an all-or-nothing approach to fitness. Some workouts were more encouraging than others, but over time I found that consistency trumps all else. Slowly, my conditioning began to improve as well as my strength. The same will happen to you if you make the decision and follow through with it.

Stop overthinking things and get started! Good things come to those who train!

Al Kavadlo At The Finish Line

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About Al Kavadlo: Al Kavadlo is the lead instructor for Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification. Recognized worldwide for his amazing bodyweight feats of strength as well as his unique coaching style, Al is the author of three books, including Raising The Bar: The Definitive Guide to Pull-up Bar Calisthenics and Pushing The Limits! Total Body Strength With No Equipment. Read more about Al on his website:www.AlKavadlo.com.

Lower Body Calisthenics

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Corey Howard One Arm Plank With Cast

One of the best things that happened to my training was rupturing my triceps in late May. It was devastating! Right after the injury happened, on the way to the ER my 10 year old son said, “Dad now you won’t be able to do push-ups for a long time!” He was right. After surgery it was 3 full months before I could do anything upper body related and even then that would only be light pulling movements. That being said, it was the best thing to happen to my training. I couldn’t do any upper body training, I couldn’t touch any weights, and the only thing left to train was calisthenics only for legs and abs. To most people that sounds like Hell, but to me it sounded like fun!

When you look at some of the calisthenic practitioners online, you notice they have a lean muscular athletic look, yet typically don’t carry a ton of thick lower body muscle. The week of my surgery, Dragon Door published Paul Wade’s book, C-Mass, where he shows how to add size using calisthenics. This ignited my plan. For 12 weeks I would train legs and abs twice a week using only bodyweight movements. My goal was to gain two full inches on my thighs and glutes, and at least an inch on my calves. I emailed Al Kavadlo, told him about my injury and to expect an article about my journey. Here are some things I learned over the last 12 weeks…

First, know your progressions! Paul Wade gave us all an excellent training guide in Convict Conditioning. For success, you need to know what level you’re at in the pistol squat progression, and how many reps you can do. This way, if you can only do three reps, you know to work on adding reps. Or if you’re proficient with a movement, you can pair it with an “easier” exercise to thoroughly exhaust the muscle. An example of how this worked for me was pairing sissy squats with shrimp squats, or pistol squats with split squat jumps. Over time I developed some proficiency with shrimp squats, so I did sissy squats first to make them more difficult. This exhausted my quads and cut the total number of shrimp squats I could do in half.

Corey Howard Shrimp Squat

Adding a plyo movement immediately after a high skill movement like pistols also pushed the limits of my ability. Remember, your body has no idea if you’re holding a dumbbell or simply tweaking a calisthenic movement, it just knows you’re asking it to work harder and generate more force. By pairing various squat or bridge progressions, you can really push the limits of your lower body.

Second, don’t be afraid of reps. It frustrates me when someone says, “Any more than 5 reps is cardio.” Really!!! If you want to add size, anywhere from 1-20 reps should be performed. Embrace reps. Think about bodybuilders, typically they perform 4 sets of 12 with a shorter rest period between sets. Basically they are increasing the amount of time the muscle is under tension.

Corey Howard Single Leg Bridges

So if you do 20 single leg bridges per leg, then immediately follow it up with 15 glute-ham raises you’re increasing the time under tension for your posterior chain. Things like this will create muscle growth as well as a deep soreness the next day! Don’t be afraid to push a set to failure, especially with lower body calisthenics. What’s the worst that can happen? Maybe you fall on your butt while doing pistols? If you’ve been doing your bridges it will only cushion the blow! This simple philosophy reminded me what it’s like to step off a curb and have my legs collapse!

Third, two sets will work. Why on earth do we need 4 sets of anything? For the last 12 weeks I never took a movement past 2 sets. Once you’re warmed up and locked in, fire up the grueling sets. After pushing the reps to as many as possible and doing it twice, the muscle gets the message that you need it bigger and stronger. Two working sets also gives you time for other movements, and that means you can play with some variety.

So what happened at the end of 4 weeks? I added an additional 2 inches on my thighs and glutes, and an inch on my calves. Twenty-four ab and lower body calisthenic workouts later and I have a meatier, stronger, more powerful lower body than I ever have. Keep in mind, I’m not a newbie to strength training. I’ve been working out for 22 years! After all that time, even I can add size using only calisthenics!

A side benefit from this has been the carry over. As I start with some upper body work I’m noticing that I really haven’t lost much strength, despite surgery, a cast, and upper body inactivity. If your foundation is strong, you will be strong. If anyone is interested in what I did or would like to see some of my workouts, just message me or comment below. I’d love to help. I will warn you though, none of it was easy! Fire it up!

Corey Howard added 2" to his legs after 12 weeks calisthenics only leg training

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About Corey Howard, PCC, RKC, CK-FMS: Corey Howard strives to constantly become stronger, and to help others to achieve their fitness goals. He is the owner of Results Personal Training, and can be reached at www.resultsptonline.com or www.coreyhoward.com.

The Joy of Troubleshooting Progressive Calisthenics

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Adrienne NYC Push-Up

One of the many things I enjoy about teaching at PCC workshops as a Senior PCC Instructor is helping people get past where they’ve been “stuck” on a given progression. This is also very rewarding with my own clients at home, but since I know them so well, it’s a bit easier to predict where they are having trouble. With a room full of new people—most if not all of who are very physically accomplished—the task of helping them troubleshoot their progress takes on a new level of difficulty. And since I don’t know them very well, what I like to do is to help them determine where the “sticking point” really is, and why the problem is occurring.

From there it’s much easier to figure out what needs work. The bigger hope is that by going through this process, the attendee will learn how to evaluate their own future issues and be able to do the same thing for their clients!

Some of the most enjoyable moments at a PCC workshop surround the privilege of watching the “light bulb” come on for someone. While most of the time people assume that someone can’t do a move just for a lack of strength, this isn’t always the case. Other sticking points can be related to coordination, mobility, an unfamiliar movement pattern, a lack of proprioception in a new position (upside down!), fear, or any number of very mental reasons.

The following are a few examples of successful troubleshooting, and the train of thought in each. The first and last are from my own struggles, the middle two are from a recent PCC Workshop. Hopefully these examples will give you ideas to try in your own practice, and if you’re an instructor, with your clients or students.

To Me, There Was a UNIVERSE of Difficulty Between These 2-3 Steps

I am still very much in pursuit of a feet together, straight-leg, full on, no excuses, held for time, press flag. Mainly because you just don’t see women do them, or if you do, it’s in the context of an extreme straddle position, which while it is still very impressive, is not nearly the feat of strength I want to demonstrate. Watching Al and Danny pop up into the human flags at will, and at length at any PCC workshop inspires an incredible amount of very motivating envy.

kickup to chamber press
This is more difficult than it looks…

Having conquered the clutch flag, which I can do on any given day, for time, reliably, and have now coached tons of other men and women to do, I originally approached the press flag with a false sense of security. I took to the first step of “support press” rapidly, and the same with the press hang. Though it took a whole lot of practice to feel comfortable with that unusual grip. I studied the photos in Convict Conditioning Vol 2 a bit obsessively, I watched videos. I found video of a woman in Russia who does not seem to be affected by gravity, but by watching her, gained a LOT of knowledge. I even went so far as to attend a couple “pole fitness” classes (stop laughing) and quizzed some of their most advanced teachers and students about that unusual and at first very not-secure-feeling grip.

While I could do the press hang, and was even able to lift my feet (legs straight and together) reasonably high off the ground after a while, when I tried to kick up into that overhead vertical position to come DOWN to the press flag, some part of my body was putting on the brakes. Suddenly, my grip seemed unsure, just thinking about kicking up with that much force was making my palms sweat right through my trusted “secret weapon” known as “liquid dry hands”. What was going on?

“Just kick up really hard,” the guys said. Then I realized something very significant. While I don’t like to make training very “gender specific” this is one area that’s of obvious concern—center of gravity! Guys typically will have their center of gravity within the upper body (and closer to the pole on a flag) than women who typically will have a lower center of gravity around the hips. That’s certainly the case with me. This explained why kicking hard enough to get my hips high enough to be over my head was causing a little mental distress.

Here’s what I did over the period of several weeks:

  • Increased my confidence in the necessary grip by practicing it more and more, even just hanging there!
  • Practiced the kick-up with and without the grip being in question. I found some bars that were parallel (think gymnastic stall bars, or a welded-in-place ladder) and allowed me to wrap my hands fully around this neutral grip. With increased confidence in this practice grip, I felt ok enough about really LAUNCHING myself into the air at nearly full force! From there I was able to dial back and learn exactly how hard I’d need to kick up.
  • I put it all together and was finally able to kick up while gripping a pole, and stay up there with my feet pointed towards the ceiling. Eventually I became comfortable enough with this that I could find the places where the leverage was and was not so favorable, and found the next areas of STRENGTH I’d need to build up to keep progressing towards the full flag.

She Had All the Strength She Needed…

At a recent PCC, an attendee was obviously more than strong enough to nail an elbow lever, but somehow didn’t know that quite yet. Similar to my own experience with the flag above, we just needed to mentally put two and two together.

First of all, having seen the other moves that this particular attendee could already do, I knew that her abdominal strength was more than sufficient for a great elbow lever from the ground. But, she was struggling on the ground, and having a hard time finding that “floating feeling” balance that’s often a combination of body position and leverage. Fortunately there was a box nearby of nearly the perfect height.

She was able to experiment on this raised platform in two crucial ways that led to two PRs in a row:

  • Standing next to the box, she was able to pay close attention to the position of her arms/elbows and her trunk. She was also able to now see how to “push forward” to balance her body on elbows that were not as bent as they might look when others perform the elbow lever.
  • Once the arms/elbows/chest were in the right place, she slowly but steadily was able to bring her legs up from the ground higher and higher. In the time it took to blink, I saw her absolutely nail a perfect elbow lever then hold it—legs perfectly straight. Then, when John Du Cane came by with his camera, she tried it again and held it for so long that no one could believe that this was her second-ever elbow lever!
A virtuoso performance of the elbow lever by Al Kavadlo
A virtuoso performance of the elbow lever by Al Kavadlo

Just be Nearby So I Don’t Feel Like I’ll Fall on My Head

Sometimes all we need is a little confidence or reassurance, and that’s when a training partner, or empathetic instructor can really make a world of difference. This PCC attendee had longed to do a handstand but had a significant amount of fear of falling over—even while using the wall for support. This is very common since we are all much more accustomed to being “right-side up”.

We talked about headstands, crow stands and all those things she was doing very well, then moved towards the wall. What was the issue? Part of it was similar to my own with the progressions towards the human flag. She was afraid of kicking up too hard and falling over. So I got very close to spot (while also being sure not to be kicked), and made her promise to keep her elbows straight.

At first she didn’t kick hard enough, but that first push towards the wall was in itself confidence-building. The next kick was too hard, but no biggie, while staying in communication I helped her steady her feet until she was ready to come down. The next kick up was closer to ideal, and she didn’t need my help at all. She did it again with me nearby once more, then felt confident enough to start practicing them on her own. From that point I saw her do TONS of handstands with the wall during the rest of the breaks that day!

That Elusive Clutch-Lever…

Adrienne Clutch Lever Danny
In this magic show, Danny gets to wear the cool hat, but I’m doing the hard work…

Diamond Cut Abs by Danny Kavadlo coming soon

I was very excited to be asked to appear in some photos for Danny Kavadlo’s upcoming book Diamond Cut Abs, and of course wanted to be in as many cool photos as possible. When they first described the photo seen above, I wanted to make sure it happened no matter what.  Of course it involves the clutch lever and holding it for a bit, so that the synchronized “acting” Danny is doing in the photo would have the desired effect in the photo.

Al and Danny Clutch Lever
NOW it makes sense…

There was just one problem, for some reason I just couldn’t get the clutch lever move that day. I’d done it at home several times, I’d done it after a PCC workshop ages ago when we were all just hanging around, playing with moves and socializing. Today was NOT my day. I was frustrated with myself, and was doing a mediocre job of hiding it. So as we stood there troubleshooting it, I kept applying my secret weapon “Liquid Dry Hands” while listening intently to Al and Danny.

Then Al popped up and did one. Sure enough, right after seeing him DO a clutch lever, the move mentally clicked into place for me. BOOM. I had it. At least that time, but the timing of the photo was off, so we had to do it again, and again, and I started to stop being able to do it. I said, “Al!!! Do it again!” I needed another dose of “monkey see, monkey do” and sure enough, I could do it again. And we got the shot. It’s one of many very cool photos in Diamond Cut Abs which is a really fantastic book.  Can’t wait to see it all in print!

The take-home conclusion from this odd “monkey see, monkey do” situation was simply that I needed to spend more time on this move, to really fit into it and understand—mentally and physically—where I am in space, and how to reliably replicate that feeling on the spot. The prescription = more practice.

How did you move past a sticking point? Have you discovered a special “micro step” of your own? Please share it with us in the comments below!

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

Building an Indestructible Body with “Outside the Box” Exercises

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Al Kavadlo Back Of The Wrists Push-Ups

Push-ups. You move in one plane of motion, up and down.

Squats. The same thing. Pull-ups too.

Everyone here will agree that bodyweight exercises are great, but it’s important to realize that there are many, many different ways of doing them.

If all you ever do are one dimensional exercises, even if you build a lot of strength in them, your overall fitness and athleticism will remain one dimensional.

It’s a sad fact that one of the biggest things holding people back from hitting their training goals are injuries. Yet, with smart training these can largely be avoided. And if you do suffer from pain currently, there are always things you can do to work to improve your situation.

Whether you are rehabbing or pre-habbing (doing work that aims to prevent injuries), these exercises generally are the same.

So, what makes one of these exercises different than a regular exercise?

The focus on building flexibility and/or mobility along with a strength component.

The more mobile you are (up to a point), the more likely you can fully exert the strength of that joint and the surrounding tissue.

The more flexible you are (once again up to a point), the more likely you can fully exert the strength of that joint and the surrounding tissue.

When you recognize that strength must be used in combination with mobility and flexibility, then you see why you need to do more than just “straight line” and conventional exercises. The effects of this type of training help you to build an indestructible body.

Before we begin it is important that you move into these exercises slowly. While they will help strengthen your weak points, remember that you are still working on weak points! The difference between something that is good for you and something that is not, can be separated by very little intensity or volume, so you must ease in slowly. Be smart!

Cross Leg Squats

The knee is a simple hinge joint. As such, so many personal trainers and coaches become deathly afraid if it ever does anything outside of that ability. “If the knees go past the toes in a squat you’re going to wreck yourself!” they say.

But here’s the truth: If your body can move in a way, that ability can be strengthened. And if it is strengthened then you’ll have less of a chance for injury. Not only do cross leg squats work the knees, they stressing them in a plane of movement they don’t normally go—and the ankles get worked too.

Begin by sitting with your legs crossed, then rock your weight forwards and press on the sides of your feet, extending your legs until you come to a standing position. Make sure to try it with your legs crossed both ways.

For assistance you can grab onto a doorknob or other solid object to help. You don’t need to do a lot of reps, but instead work to make this an easy way you can get up from the ground at any time.

Logan Christopher Demonstrates the Cross Leg Squat

Sit to Cossack Squat

Was that last one too easy for you? I’m guessing that’s the case for many people reading here. So try this challenge.

Do a Cossack squat to one side while keeping the heel flat on the floor. Once at the bottom, sit back until your butt is sitting on the floor. Now rock back up to Cossack squat, switch sides and repeat.

If you need assistance use your hands to get back up, but the challenge is to do it without them, while trying to use as little momentum as possible. This takes some deep flexibility, and you may notice that your knees don’t necessarily track your toes.

This video shows it in action as well as the secret I found to performing it after much frustration and failure to do it.

One Arm Twisting Bridge

Let’s move onto the upper body. This is a fairly advanced move that I covered before here on the PCC Blog: One Arm Bridge, Twists, and the Valdez.

It’s so useful I’m bringing it up again. The twist in particular builds shoulder stability and strength in an extended range of motion. It even works the wrists in a flexible manner.

At the same time the spine is in full flexion and then twists. A big “no-no” that I say yes to!

If you can do this, there’s a good chance you don’t have issues with any of the joints mentioned above. If you can’t do it right now, but take the time to build up to it, your body will be that much more indestructible from your work.

Back of the Wrist Pushups

An important thing to realize when doing these “outside the box” exercises is that you can still follow the same rules of progress as you would in all your other training.

Back of the wrist push-ups are a great complement to doing lots of push-ups and handstands. In regular push-ups and handstands, your wrist is extended back. But here, you flex your wrist fully and put the weight on the back of the hand. This builds strength and toughness in the wrists, but also works the elbow joints in a big way.

Start slowly with these, as in kneeling push-ups. You can hold for time or rep them out. Progress to regular push-ups when you’re able to. Remember to go slow.

I decided to see just how far I could progress with this and worked my way up to a back of wrist handstand push-ups.

Adding Indestructible Exercises to Your Program

Here’s the great part about these exercises and the hundred, if not thousands, of other moves like them. You don’t need a whole lot to get the benefits.

Doing a few of these exercises, like a few reps in a single set, will be enough to get better at them, and reap the benefits.

Any of the following will work:

  • Add them to your warm-up.
  • Add them to your cool down.
  • Add them to your stretching program.
  • Add them to your mobility work.
  • Do a few on your off days.
  • Do them as part of a morning wake up routine.

You can work through your entire body or just focus on one area at a time.

If you enjoyed this article let me know in the comments section below. I’d love to share more exercises with you in the future!

***

About Logan Christopher: Logan Christopher has been called a physical culture renaissance man as he is accomplished in a wide range of strength skills from kettlebell juggling, performing strongman stunts, and bodyweight exercises. He is the author of numerous books including Secrets of the Handstand and The Master Keys to Strength & Fitness. In addition, he’s spent the last several years going deep into mental training to find out what it takes to really excel and tactics that can help people instantly improve their exercises. You can find out more about all this at http://www.legendarystrength.com/.

Elbow Levers For Superhero Strength

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Grace Menendez One Arm Elbow Lever

Growing up, I was a scrawny, geeky kid who spent my free time reading comic books, fantasizing about having mutant powers and dreaming of looking shredded like my heroes in the stories. The first time I ever saw an elbow lever, the kid in me got excited. I’d always wanted to be a superhero, and this was the closest thing to flying that I’d ever seen. I had to try it myself!

Unfortunately on my first attempt, instead of flying I ended up face planting instead! After scarfing that slice of humble pie, I did what any intelligent athlete would do: I took a step back and started practicing foundational movements to help me earn my wings!

#1 – The Plank

As played out as this exercise may seem, it is the perfect place to start. The plank position puts you in the same plane of movement as a lever and helps you build the necessary core strength. Emphasize keeping an open chest while broadening through the collar and retracting the shoulder blades down and back. “Zip-up” your mid-section by squeezing your glutes, engaging your quads and evenly distributing the weight between the top and bottom of the body. Eventually when you can hold the pose for 2 minutes, experiment with gecko plank variations, which involve lifting a leg and/or arm.

Grace Menendez Gecko Plank

#2 – Back Bridge

In a culture where flexion is the norm (sitting for prolonged periods, driving, etc.) the bridge liberates the spine from excessive upper back arching, as well as from a variety of other back pathologies. How does this apply to levers? In order to hold the body upright, you need to have a flexible upper back and strong spinal muscles–and the bridge addresses both! Take your time with this movement as it can be very intense for beginners. There are less difficult variations you can practice like the straight or table bridge, neck bridge, etc.

Grace Menendez Bridge

#3 – Bound Eagle

One of the gnarliest sensations you need to get past when first practicing this move is getting used to having your elbows jammed in your guts! If you have never tried it before, go ahead and try! Not as easy or comfortable as you thought? No sweat! Master PCC Al Kavadlo, suggests in his book Stretching Your Boundaries (definitely a must-have for every regular calisthenics practitioner) a helpful preparatory pose could be the Bound Eagle. This pose can help you gradually develop the flexibility needed to turn your elbows inward.

Stretching Your Boundaries Bound Eagle

#4 – Midsection Holds

Speaking of jamming your elbows into your midsection, the L-Sit progressions are ideal to get your abdomen prepped to take all your bodyweight. These holds involve tensing almost every muscle in your body, specifically the abdominal region, much like you’ll need to in order to perform a successful elbow lever. Start with a tucked L-sit and progress from there. I also like to include the frog stand here as it emphasizes lifting the chest while balancing on the hands just like in the lever!

Grace Menendez L-Sit At Beach

Grace Menendez Fingertip Frog Stand

#5 – Elevate yourself

Start practicing your elbow lever on elevated surfaces like plyo boxes, tables, counters, park benches, paralletes, etc. Be creative; the sky’s the limit! Start by letting your legs hang over so your form will resemble less of a straight line and more of an arch. As you get stronger, just like in your midsection holds, you can work from a tuck to a straddle and eventually that perfect expression of the pose with long extended legs!

Grace Menendez Elevated Straddle Elbow Lever

Grace Menendez Elevated Elbow Lever

#6 – Get Grounded

If you’ve mastered step 5 and you’re ready to attempt the elbow lever on level ground, you may still find it difficult to completely clear your legs from the floor. It may be helpful at this point to use a wall-assisted regression, in which you press one or both feet into the wall to spot yourself. From there, it’s just a matter of taking a leap of faith and going for it. If you’ve done the work, it should come without too much of a struggle.

Grace Menendez Elbow Lever On Ground

#7 – Next Level Levers

What’s great about progressive calisthenics, is that even after you are finally able to perform the elbow lever, there are even more advanced variations to be conquered! You can try doing an elbow lever on your fingertips, or even just one arm. Be patient during the earlier steps and focus on form. It takes consistency and synergy for your body to learn this unique movement!

Elbow levers are truly the stuff of Superheroes. They take skill, courage, and strength to perform properly! Don’t be shy! Embrace your inner hero and get your lever on!

Grace_POW

***
Grace Menendez, PCC, HKC is a personal trainer, group exercise instructor and massage therapist located in Los Angeles. For more information about Grace, check out her website, www.DieselGrace.com

Calisthenics Grip Training

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Handshake

I’ll never forget Gary. It’s not that Gary was such an amazing person, in fact he was quite bland. Imagine shaking hands with someone’s limp lifeless, overcooked soggy noodle hand. That was what made him disappointingly unforgettable. We’ve all met someone like that, and it creeps most people out. Shake my hand like you mean it!

On the other side of the spectrum is Rich. Rich has been crowned the World Arm Wrestling Champ many times. After introducing him to my father, my dad said, “that was like sticking your hand into a bunch of bananas! I wasn’t sure I was getting my arm back!” Your handshake says a lot about you. Grip strength says even more.

Al Kavadlo Human Flag
Grip strength is an essential part of many advanced calisthenics exercises, such as the infamous human flag, demonstrated here by PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo.

How can a strong grip help?  First, your grip is the linkage between your body and whatever it is you’re trying to control.  If you’re trying to put heavy objects overhead, a crushing grip can actually tighten the linkage in your shoulder and give you a safer press.  If you’re a calisthenic ninja, killer grip can keep you on the bar for more pull-ups or help your handstands as you grip the ground and drive upward.  But how on earth can you develop card tearing grip strength using only calisthenics?  According to Paul Wade in Convict Conditioning II, finger tip push-ups and towel hangs are all you need.  From my own experience, he’s right!

Finger tip push-ups are simple; just do a push-up on your finger tips!  Well, there’s a bit more to it than that.  This one killer exercise strengthens the entire hand from the fingers up through the forearms.  It’s easy to let your ego get in front of you with this one, so be sure to progress slowly and cautiously. I recommend starting these as incline push-ups.  This enables you to keep your technique spot-on and stay injury free.

Fingertip Setup Hand Position
Make sure you set your hand up with your fingers locked and spread.

It’s important to make sure you set your hand up with your fingers locked and spread.  Try and create a tall wide support structure with your fingers.  Ideally you want your fingers to look like they are flowing right up into your arm, there should be no odd bends or strains.

As you make progress with these just keep moving closer to the floor, and once you’re able to do 8-10 quality fingertip push-ups, try one arm push-ups, or 3 finger push-ups.

AlKavadlo Three Finger Incline Pushup
PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo demonstrates a 3-finger incline one arm push-up, unofficially known as the “Heavy Metal” push-up.

Towel hangs can start out easy, then progress to a battle of will between your body and your mind.  These work amazingly well for developing grip endurance as well as thick muscled forearms.

Again I strongly suggest starting out with a grip training drill you can do fairly well and slowly progress to the harder stuff like one arm hangs, thicker towel hangs, longer hangs, or even pull-ups or leg raises with a towel.  I would also encourage you to pull the shoulders down away from your ears while you hang.  This tightens up the shoulder complex and creates more stability.  Once you can hang for about a minute I’d suggest you bump it up a bit.  Remember, everything can be made more challenging with simple calisthenics tweaks.

Corey Howard Towel Hangs for Grip Strength
I love to use towel hangs for developing my grip!

I caution you about pushing too hard and trying to progress too fast.  Sometimes you can overwork these smaller muscles and not even know it until you have a painful case of tennis elbow.  Remember for most people, grip is the smallest link in the chain.  The last thing you want to do is allow your brain and larger muscles to overpower your grip work and cause an injury.

Grip training can be tricky but the rewards are huge! I can tell you from my own experience, Paul Wade’s combo rocks!  After doing these two movements fairly consistently I’ve had to add a link in my watch, and can no longer slip my wedding ring off for any pull-up work.  My forearms, wrists and fingers have thickened up a bit.  If you increase the size of the motor, most of the time you increase the output as well…. More grip strength!  More pull-ups!  Fire it up!!

***

About Corey Howard, PCC, RKC, CK-FMS: Corey Howard strives to constantly become stronger, and to help others to achieve their fitness goals. He is the owner of Results Personal Training, and can be reached at www.resultsptonline.com or www.coreyhoward.com.

My Journey Towards the One Arm Pull Up

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Al Kavadlo performs a One Arm Pull-Up at the PCC in Sweden

I have a confession to make; I’m obsessed with the one arm pull-up! It wasn’t always this way; three years ago I was a skinny runner, who weighed less than 60kg. In April 2012, I stumbled across a book that would change all this – Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade. After reading it, I decided then and there that in my lifetime I would perform a dead hanging one arm pull-up.

Note that this is simply the progressions I have made. The more you train calisthenics, the more you realize there are many different paths to progression, and what may work for one individual may not work for another.

At the beginning of my training, I could perform a handful of full range pull-ups, so I skipped the first few levels (sorry Coach) and went straight into full pull-ups, followed by close hand and then uneven pull-ups. It took me about 3 months to perform 2 sets of 10 strict full range pull-ups; by full range I mean a straight arm at the bottom and my chin over the bar at the top.

David Mace Perfoming Standard Pull-ups
Your arms should be straight at the bottom, with your chin over the bar at the top.
David Mace Performs Close Pull-ups
This time bring your hands next to each other.

After training uneven pull-ups for a few months I hit my first road block; I could perform 2 sets of 9 uneven each arm, but any attempt at half one arm pull-ups was met with failure. Knowing what I know now I would have built in some extra progressions and gradually moved my non-working hand further down my arm.

David Mace Performs Uneven Pull-ups
The uneven pull-up can be made more difficult by moving the non-working hand further down the arm.

Instead of this I found an alternative progression upon the purchase of a set of rings; whereby one arm is on the top ring, with the other arm on a lower ring. This way you can easily increase the distance between arms over time. As both arms are on the rings, your head can go between them, which makes it slightly easier than with one arm on the bar.

David Mace Uneven Ring Pull-ups
Start with your working arm straight; at the top position your chin should be above the hand of your working arm.

My training for this had gone on for a few months when I read a couple of articles from Coach Wade and Al Kavadlo, here on the PCC blog about training for mass and training for strength. I had been toying around with the idea of moving away from strict Convict Conditioning style progressions for a while and this proved to be the catalyst. I split my main training plan into 2 different groups of sets; the first being the hard set, consisting of 2 sets of up to 5 reps, and being the most difficult exercise you can do in the progression whilst you are fresh. After this I perform my working sets, consisting of 4 sets of 5 reps. This new plan allowed me to switch to 2 separate progressions in the same workout, which I’ve found to be extremely effective towards reaching my goal.

For my hard sets I added one-arm negatives. Simply pull yourself up to the bar with both arms, then gradually take one arm off the bar and lower yourself with as much control as possible. Starting with fewer fingers is a good way to progress to this, otherwise the most likely initial outcome will be you dropping straight down. The working sets were made up of my uneven ring pull-ups.

David Mace Performs One Arm Pull-up Negatives
Start at the top position of a one arm pull-up, then lower yourself with as much control as possible.

With uneven ring pull-ups you eventually reach a point where your lower arm is performing a pushing motion, rather than a pull in the top position. This is where it starts to become easier and means it is time to change to a new progression. In this instance I moved my pulling arm back to the bar, then used just the one ring to assist. It’s really important with this exercise that your head follows the path of your pulling arm; this means that your working arm is taking most of the weight and replicates the path you would take for a one arm pull-up. Note that this exercise could easily be performed with a towel or the post of your pull-up bar, if you do not have access to rings.

David Mace Performs Ring-Assisted One Arm Pull-ups
Your chin follows the path of your working arm; whilst your other arm is just assisting.

By this time I had been teaching calisthenics to some of my work mates for around a year. For those who can’t yet perform a full range pull-up, they start with negatives for their hard sets and band assisted pull-ups for their working sets. Exercise bands have some good advantages in that you don’t need anyone to help you, and you know exactly how much assistance you’re getting. They’re very easy to progress with as they have different levels of assistance. Having said that, they have a major weakness in that they assist you a lot at the bottom but not as much at the top. This has worked for a number of people to get full pull-ups though, so I was keen to see how the band would work for the one arm pull-up.

When attempting this you will find that your body naturally wants to twist. Squeeze your core and obliques tightly to help prevent this, but you may need to reset yourself every few reps. What I particularly like about this exercise is it allows me to use just one arm, with no assistance from the other. I now train this exercise in my hard sets and the assisted one arm pull-ups in the working sets.

David Mace Performs Band-Assisted One-Arm Pull-ups
The bottom position your arm should be straight; you haven’t reached full range until your chin is over the bar.

Finally, below is my latest attempt at a jump assisted one arm pull-up. As you can see my left arm is quite a lot weaker than my right, this I’m trying to resolve by only moving onto the next progression once both arms can do it, but my right arm will always be stronger.

Though I forgot to do it when pulling with my left, you may have noticed that both in my video and the picture above, I squeeze my non-working hand as tightly as possible. This is a technique to create extra tension in the working arm, there is a link between the 2 – the more full body tension you can get, the more power you will have. For this reason you should squeeze your non-working arm, core, glutes, and in fact pretty much every muscle in your body as tightly as you can.

I will achieve a dead-hanging one arm pull-up eventually, look out for a video and an update then.

***

David Mace is a full time programmer and a part time calisthenics enthusiast and loves to teach PCC to friends and co-workers. Success for him is measured in helping others (and himself) to achieve their maximum potential and doing things that you once thought were impossible. He can be contacted through his website at www.mpcalisthenics.com, where you can also read his blog, get advice on nutrition, training and life philosophy.

Progressive Calisthenics: Like Riding A Bike

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Wayne Salter At Minneapolis PCC With Instructors

This past April, I was fortunate enough to attend the fifth Progressive Calisthenics Certification in Minneapolis, MN. I was a bit nervous about attending: I had recently undergone hand surgery, which kept me from working out for several months. Furthermore, just one month prior to PCC, I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. At the age of 45, I was wondering if I was biting off more than I could chew. Leading up to PCC, I actually had dreams that would wake me at night of my knee giving out during the PCC’s final physical test, The Century…but luckily the knee held out and so did I!

As a police officer on a SWAT team, my fitness goals include getting in the best physical shape that I can and maintaining it for a lifetime. That means staying lean, strong, flexible and injury free. Unlike many commercial gym-goers, I don’t chase numeric goals or take expensive chemicals. I’m certainly not against mainstream fitness, but there is more to it to me than increased external poundage. Sadly, for a lot of people, it’s all too easy to get caught up in numbers or obsess over one single muscle. Many lose track of the purity of exercise and the unity of the human body, which is made to function as a whole.

Something I love about calisthenics is that just about all the moves require total body tension—elimination of perceived “isolation”. If you are questioning what I’m saying, try knocking out some one-arm pushups. If you can’t do them on the floor yet, then lean against a table, or even the wall, and try some. Seriously, go ahead and give it a shot! You will see that you MUST engage your whole body from your shoulder to your feet, or else you will end up in a twisted heap on the floor!

PCC helped me understand how bodyweight exercises can be adjusted in difficulty from beginner to advanced levels, even to the super-cool bodyweight feats of strength that Al and Danny Kavadlo are becoming famous for. Anyone can jump into the world of bodyweight training at whatever level is appropriate for them.

I’m finding a lot of people think PCC is just about learning some “cool” moves, but it’s much more. It’s learning techniques to use your body weight to do functional-type exercises and to be able to adjust the level of difficulty to fit a person at any fitness level – plus body weight exercises improve your body awareness, balance and flexibility.

PCC Instructor, Wayne Salter, Demonstrates a Clutch FlagI love analogies. The following is how I see calisthenics:

Calisthenic progressions can be compared to the use of a baby’s walker or even a circus performer’s unicycle, not to mention many things in between, all of which apply the principles of PCC. A baby’s walker is short and close to the ground, with several points of contact to the floor. This is similar to a modified push up on your knees – making the body shorter puts leverage in your favor, hence creating an easier regression. It is also similar to how a wide stance makes for an easier squat when compared to a narrow one.

Next, a toddler can progress to a tricycle – a little higher and with three points of contact. After a while, a child can ride a bicycle with training wheels – still three points of contact, but the points are closer together and the body is positioned higher, just like with the mighty pushup, which can be made easier by placing your feet farther apart and, conversely, tougher by bringing them together or even lifting one foot off the floor. Placing your feet on an elevated surface adds to the challenge as well.

Next is the classic bicycle. Even higher still, and with only two points of contact. A bicycle requires the rider to maintain balance. Many bodyweight exercises incorporate this element… Do you see a pattern? Handstands and Gecko Push-Ups are great examples of how balance affects the challenge. I tried and loved (and bought) a pair of Neuro-Grips at the PCC. If you really want to step up your game, try experimenting with push-ups, planks, or even L-Sits on these bad boys! You’ll see what I mean.

Wayne Salter PCC Neuro-Grips L-sit

I believe anything is possible. If a person has the desire, they can progress to the unicycle, one-arm pull-ups, pistol squats, elbow levers, and more. Like a unicycle, there is only one point of contact in these advanced variations.

A person can approach any particular exercise and pick it up at an appropriate level for them. The exercises and all their variations continue to make me stronger, leaner and more flexible – plus I’m strengthening my joints which goes a long way towards injury prevention.

Although I was partially attracted to PCC because of how physically impressive some of the advanced moves are, I also took home more practical knowledge and experience than I could have previously imagined. With a Progressive Calisthenics Certification, I’m not just looking forward to sharing the information with others, I’m looking forward to having a great time doing it, which is also what it’s all about. Working out shouldn’t be a chore – it can be fun… just like riding a bike!

Danny Kavadlo On Bicycle

***

Wayne Salter served in the Army in the 82nd Airborne for four years and was a full time personal fitness trainer before becoming a police officer. He can be reached at: wayne0218@yahoo.com. He can also be reached through his website: www.exercise-guide-to-lose-weight.com

C-MASS: A gift for the PCC community!

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[ssba_hide] Around seven months back, I wrote a two-part post for this blog, called The Ten Commandments of Calisthenics Mass. I wrote it because, in my experience, many athletes know how to use bodyweight to build strength and skill—but very few really understand how to use calisthenics as a powerful tool to maximize dense muscle mass.

I didn’t realize it when I was writing it, but the piece turned out to be the most popular post ever published on the blog. I love hearing from the bodyweight athletes out there, so I was real happy to get, and answer, ten comments. But then I got twenty. Then fifty. Eventually, the piece had hundreds of comments, and I had a mountain of questions by email, too. The article had really hit a nerve—a huge amount of blog readers were clearly starving for more information on old school bodyweight bodybuilding. A lot more.

AlfredMoss
Many modern trainees have been taught that only external weights build muscle, and bodyweight is simply for fitness. A century ago, the opposite was true. Most of the truly muscular men—like Alfred Moss—used calisthenics to get big, and only ever employed super-light dumbbells for conditioning.

Then a member of the community had a smart idea. Somebody suggested—for convenience sake—that we weld the two posts together, and throw in a bunch of the questions and answers I’d been discussing. We could publish this as a short PDF, free to members of the PCC community.

This was a great idea, but I decided to go one better.

You see, I’m passionate about bodyweight bodybuilding. I love it. And talking to all you guys and girls on the blog had ignited that fire hotter than ever! I wanted you all to love it too, to see calisthenics mass-training the way I have always seen it.

So as I was putting the little PDF together, something happened. I started to really get into it…found I was setting down all of my “secrets”…my favorite exercises, my hard-won tactics, my long-held theories about bodybuilding routines…

…and before I knew it, I had added over a hundred dense pages of totally new material! I made this little book into a big book, representing the last word on bodyweight mass building!

When I was done, I crammed this new volume with dozens of cutting-edge bodyweight training shots, as well as old school photos, instructional illustrations, graphs and tons of other cool stuff! After months of effort, I was finally as proud as a new poppa. I called my latest baby C-MASS—for calisthenics mass—and I’m not lying when I tell you that I love this book at least as much as Convict Conditioning.

Here she is!

I know what you are thinking—probably what I would be thinking, reading this post. I’d be thinking: okay…he’s gonna try and sell us something now. He said the book would be free to the PCC community, but because the book has so much extra content, he’s decided to cash in on it.

I would think that too. But I’d be wrong. When it comes to my bodyweight brothers and sisters, I’m a man of my word. Only for the PCC community and regular readers of this blog, I’m giving you the chance to get your FREE copy of C-MASS, today.

[Offer is now closed]

Simply enter your details, and as soon as Dragon Door staff have verified that your request is appropriate, they will shoot you your own complete digital copy of C-MASS! (In the form, there’s a question asking why you qualify for a copy of the manual. Just tell them that you are a follower of the blog, a member of the PCC community, or whatever else makes it right.)

This gift-offer has a window of one week—the webpage above is temporary and will close on Tuesday, June 10th. I worked real hard on this book, and I would dearly love all of you reading this to receive this little gift from me. So please grab it now!

What’s the catch?

There is no catch. The gift is yours, no-strings-attached. However, note that Dragon Door has already been selling C-Mass as an inexpensive e-book and is working on the design for a paperback version, which should be published in a couple of months. So, perhaps you’ve already got the sucker! Then consider this a second copy you can share with someone who could really use it.

I’m not the only one who has worked on this project out of love, either—the entire PCC team has taken part! When I told them I was writing a new book, Al Kavadlo and his brother Danny offered to donate all the high-quality photos I needed. They asked for nothing, and bent over backwards (in the case of the bridging images, literally!) to get me everything I asked for. Likewise, John Du Cane threw all his support behind the project, donating PCC event photos and handing me all the resources I needed to get this thing done. What a goddam gentleman!

Even the lovely-but-super-busy Senior PCC Adrienne Harvey threw in a great photo—plus, it was the Girya Girl herself who took the amazing cover shot! The entire team pulled together for this. It is a true honor to work with such talented people, people who will drop everything, just for a chance to give something back to the bodyweight community.

The PCC team put this together as a labor of love, just to show our heartfelt gratitude to all of you—the amazing PCC community who have supported us SO MUCH over this, our first year. I’m not just talking about all you future-legends who attended our certs, or the phenomenal athletes who have won the right to bear the letters PCC after their name. I’m also talking about all the wonderful folks who have spread the word, checked out this blog, made a comment, or just plain shown interest in what we are doing.

Guys—you are amazing. Thank you so much for being with us. With you enlisting in the Bodyweight PCC Army, this first year has been mind-blowing. Next year is gonna be even better!

…so what are you waitin’ for? Go get your free book!

Paul

PS. If you enjoy it, please come tell the world here.