PCC Blog

Erwan Le Corre talks Bodyweight, Part II

August 6, 2013 By Paul "Coach" Wade 10 Comments

Erwan Le Corre is the founder of MovNat.

Erwan Le Corre is an icon in the fitness world. He is considered by many to be the modern-day inheritor of the French tradition of physical education (and that’s quite a compliment when you consider that the French created parkour, free running, and effectively invented the modern military “assault course”). Erwan is the founder of MovNat—an astonishing physical education and fitness system based on comprehensive movement abilities. There are many coaches who try to imitate what he does, but for people who have seen him in action—or learned from him—there will only ever be one Erwan Le Corre!

Paul “Coach” Wade (author of Convict Conditioning) recently got the chance to ask Erwan his opinion on all things bodyweight, on behalf of the PCC community. In Part I of this interview, Erwan shared his thoughts on his heroes, the thinking behind MovNat, and bodyweight efficiency.

In this second and final part of this interview, Erwan opens up about his status as “World’s Fittest Man,” his favorite bodyweight exercises, and performing sit-ups over an eight-lane superhighway!

Paul Wade: Erwan, what are your favorite bodyweight movements?

Erwan Le Corre: Probably the “muscle-up” (this name is just SO weird, what does that mean exactly?!) simply because it is such an explosive movement that demands power but also coordination and balance. It is also adaptable to different environments, not just gymnastic rings, you can do it on a tree branch, a platform, a cable or rope etc…you’re looking up and the next second you’re looking down from an elevated place. To many people it is an inapproachable feat but when you’ve trained to make it almost effortless it’s such a bliss.

But that’s thinking “bodyweight movement” for strength. You know, holding a simple deep squat, and be super relaxed in that position and hold it for a long time, this is maybe the simplest, most enjoyable human movement and position of all. How many people out there can fully squat and hold it minutes in a perfectly relaxed state? There is more to a functional, competent body than just the impressive stuff that demands strength or power.

Al Kavadlo is a master of the muscle-up!

Paul Wade: Actually, “muscle-up” still seems like a strange name to me—in jail, these were called “sentry pull-ups,” which kinda makes a little more sense!

Do you use progressions in your teaching? (For example, beginning with easier push-ups on the knees, and moving to one-arm push-ups.) If so, could you give us an example?

Erwan Le Corre: Of course! Do you seriously think I’d take a completely deconditioned person (I call them “zoo-humans”) in the woods and say, have them walk in balance across a fallen tree trunk above a raging river? That would be criminal! Where should people start? They start not in natural, unpredictable and complex environments but in controlled, or at least managed environments that are predictable and safe. Or else you don’t have a coaching and physical education system, you have no system and you’re a jackass.

So I place a 2×4 wood beam on the ground and voila, here you go, you’ve got an environment with basic, entry level of complexity but that does challenge the beginner. It demands not just “balance” but “balancing skills” and you start practicing safely and progressively that way. Another example, before you train muscle-ups you train explosive pull-ups, before you train explosive pull-ups you train regular pull-ups, before you train regular pull-ups you train a variety of hangs and hanging traverses (the “side-swing traverse”) etc…

The priority is always the establishment of movement quality and efficiency through technical work. Then you gradually increase volume, intensity and complexity. Gray Cook puts it simply like this, “First move well, then move often.” In most cases motor-skills and conditioning will develop symbiotically. Depending on the movement, and/or the environment complexity, a physical action may demand more motor-control, or more strength and conditioning. I’ve addressed this earlier but I like to hammer it because it is so important. So the way you train sometimes involves both aspects, or may dissociate them. I’ve seen guys who could do tons of pull-ups but were unable to climb on top of the horizontal bar, I mean even after trying a few times. No amount of general conditioning can compensate for a lack of motor-control and technical skill. An hour later they could climb on top 6 different ways after learning the techniques.

I also have seen guys who could do tons of pull-ups unable to climb a horizontal bar even with technical instruction, do you know why? Because the bar was too thick, smooth and slippery for them and they couldn’t hang to it very long, let alone attempting to just pull themselves up, as they simply didn’t have the necessary grip strength to do so. You’re only as strong as your weakest link, and not amount of technical instruction will compensate for a lack specific conditioning or strength. And if you want to know, all these guys were highly trained CrossFitters. Take the test I mentioned above and see how it goes. If it doesn’t go as well as you thought it would, you have two options:

– re-assess the way you train (and maybe the reason you train), and modify your training regimen consequently. Maybe take a MovNat course or certification workshop.

– just forget about it and get back to your routine.

Paul Wade: Erwan, so far I am surprised by how much your thinking has in common with what I would call the “old school calisthenics” approach to training—you make a throwaway comment “you are only as strong as your weakest link,” but very few people will realize how important that understanding really is.

What’s your personal training regime like now, in brief? How many days per week?

Erwan Le Corre: I rely on my intuition. Not everyone is endowed with good intuition about themselves, their body and what’s the best way to train, I am fortunate that I’ve got a lot of experience and I know myself well, I have explored many training modalities and mastered a few. I’m also opportunistic. If I am somewhere with water I might swim, if I’m in a gym my training will be slightly different, or in nature, or at a martial art academy, depending on what a particular place has to offer. Personally, routines are not my cup of tea, but this being said routines and programs are very important for beginners, or when you have a very specific objective, like an event you want to participate in and you want to kick ass, or at least survive. Programming IS part of MovNat. It’s just that at the moment, my training doesn’t follow a particular structure. It’s free, intuitive and opportunistic, and I am mostly maintaining a decent general level of skills and conditioning. It can change tomorrow and I can decide to structure my training again, with particular goals. There’s no rule. I also want to say that it is very important to manage health for longevity.

Bodyweight-based training can be opportunistic—use whatever is around you to build your skills and abilities.

There’s only so much your body can take. Aging is real. You can’t prevent it, but you can decide how fast it goes, and avoid poor lifestyle choices that make you age even faster. Overtraining and under-recovery participate in aging faster, including uncomfortable symptoms such as joint pain etc…At almost 42 I am fortunate that I experience so far very limited symptoms like that, and it has to do with the way I train, in term of movement quality but also the way I treat my body overall. If I were to tell you I train X number of days a week, or X number of hours, or X number of sets and reps, does it actually mean something THAT objective? What is the quality of each movement performed? At what intensity? How prepared is my body? How do I recover? How do I treat myself? You know the latter questions only seem more subjective, but IMO they are actually more objective than any indication of numbers. The body doesn’t know anything about numbers. It only knows about movement patterns and sensations. How you FEEL should be your number one indicator or adequate training and practice. Feel amazing and don’t settle for less. You’ve got one life. At the end of your journey you will have forgotten all the details and numbers of your programs. But you will never forget how they made you feel.

Paul Wade: An amazing attitude—a lot of advanced guys think the same way.

Guys like Demenÿ and Hébert believed that an athlete should have mastery of their body in any environment—underwater, on rough terrain, even high above the ground. You are known for having performed some very unusual feats in this tradition. (For example, Erwan famously had a sit-up competition with Jean Haberey, while both men were hanging from a bridge over an eight-lane superhighway!) Could you tell us some of the thinking behind this please?

Erwan Le Corre: I think lots of people lack motivation to exercise because the purpose behind it is either unclear or too superficial. It can be unclear when you’re aiming at general aspects of “fitness” but without ever really assessing their transferability to real use. Because of this vagueness, you need to focus on something that is more tangible to you, like number of sets and reps. That may be rational in some way, but your mind needs something more substantial and real to be really excited. My mind at least, and that which of people who train with us. Superficial goals like a better looking body are legit, but they are not deeply satisfying.

So I’m not saying that having specific goals that can be measured is unimportant, it actually is very important for a number of reasons, such as assessing progress, the effectiveness of a program and motivation for instance. All I am saying is that when there’s a truly practical goal in mind, let’s say I’m going be able to carry somebody on my back a whole mile, or I am going to train to hold my breath 3 minutes straight so I could dive and rescue someone if needed, or I will become fast at running so I could escape a threatening situation swiftly…you see, these are practical goals. The indications of the one mile firefighter carry or the 3 minutes breath hold only matter because the objectives are practical performance, but if you remove that and just look at “one mile” or “3 minutes” then it doesn’t mean much anymore.

The practical goals go beyond the current perception of what is “functional.” You step on a bosu and do rotational lunges and that’s functional. Fair enough. But what actual practical physical action are you performing? If it is not clear in your mind what you’re trying to replicate, then you might get bored very soon because it won’t click in the back of your head. Practical goals give you, and your training, a deeper sense of purpose, that increases and maintains your drive to exercise hard and consistently. Because you want to acquire real-world physical competency, or to maintain it. You want to know what you are capable of, what you are made of. There’s a sense of reality and realism that is undeniable. You can walk the streets with the self-confidence of a person who knows they won’t be completely helpless to themselves and others if a difficult situation arises. Be useful, know you are. This is a great feeling!

Paul Wade: What, in your opinion, is the biggest barrier to fitness in the modern age?

Erwan Le Corre: Mentalities. There are gyms everywhere, parks everywhere, nature, cities. There are millions of fitness videos online for people who seek motivation, and books or trainers for those who seek knowledge or guidance. But the sad reality is that the average Joe and Jane are real “zoo-humans.” Why on Earth would they even want to move or exercise? Why such a physical punishment when you can be comfy at home and hide your physical suffering with pills and entertainment? Comfort is weakening, but people seem happy to be soft, they joke about it, every TV commercial makes people laugh about useless, helpless human beings who are completely disempowered. There’s a global culture of voluntary disempowerment. It is both a mass-condition and a mass-conditioning.

Bodyweight fitness is about more than strength and huge muscles. How is your running? Your climbing, your swimming?

Change this mentality and you will have legions of people who realize that exercising, especially moving in natural ways, is not a chore, not a punishment, not an option, but an expression of their most beautiful human nature. It belongs to all of us regardless of what makes us different. It has the potential to bring us all together. I want to awake in a world crowded with self-actualized, self-empowered individuals. Instead I wake up in a world crowded with dormant minds and lazy, soft bodies. The people who train physically and want to stay healthy and strong within a society that is sick and weak are modern heroes. They may not want to be part of an elite, but in some way they are. But my point is the opposite of trying to create elites. It is rather that everyone would be liberated and empowered. I have created MovNat with this vision in mind. It is quite the romantic, utopian and delusional vision, yet I am innocent enough to believe a change will take place. In my inner world, the change is taking place NOW.

Paul Wade: Wise words, my man. Are there any long-standing myths about strength and fitness training you would like to see vanish from the face of the earth?

Erwan Le Corre: Probably the idea that all there is to fitness and building a body is to grow bigger muscles. It is not really a myth but an overwhelmingly common perception. There is more to building a body than building muscles, and there is more to building a human being than building its body. To me fitness is the level of your energy at every level, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. This is old school, in the sense that the ancient Greeks thought like that, all the main pioneers of physical education in Europe all thought like that. They didn’t seclude themselves to a purely physical realm. They wanted people to be whole. The mainstream, commercial fitness industry has absolutely no interest in you thinking like that. You don’t make much money on self-actualized people, that’s why.

Paul Wade: You have been called The World’s Fittest Man due to your wide-range of abilities. Any final tips from the World’s Fittest Man?

Erwan Le Corre: This is one of the myths you were mentioning earlier and that needs to be debunked. Christopher McDougall, NYT Best-seller author for “Born To Run” has written in a article he wrote for Men’s Health a few years ago that I may rank as one of the fittest men on the planet. Well, it all depends on what criteria. Few people, I admit, are able to follow me in my “world” and keep up with every type of physical challenge they could encounter, on any terrain. I’ve met many inspiring specialized athletes that all could kick my ass in their specific field of predilection. I’ve met guys who are generalists, like high level CrossFitters, but who forget that reality is specific and that specific training is required for every aspect of competency you want to be ready for. But don’t be mistaken. I couldn’t care less about competition and rankings. I’m not here to prove anything, but to embody my philosophy and spread the MovNat system. All I hope is that MovNat will produce many “fittest guy on Earth.” Most importantly, just train smart and hard and become YOUR fittest, this is what truly matters. The rest is just ego. Don’t neglect areas of your physical competence and potential and leave them under-developed. It’s really a loss for yourself. Become the fittest you can be in all areas of natural human movement is probably the best tip I can share.

MovNat students learn to use their bodies in different environments—not just in an air-conditioned gym!

Paul Wade: Erwan, you are a phenomenal example of natural fitness! Thanks for your time.

Erwan Le Corre: Compliment taken. You’re not bad yourself! Resiliency is a beautiful thing. I want to tell people this: whatever you thought or told yourself you were, whatever you are or were told you are, it doesn’t matter anymore the moment you decide to redefine and remodel yourself into the most self-actualized person you can. ON YOUR OWN TERMS. Because if you can’t empower yourself…who will?

***

Erwan Le Corre is the founder of MovNat. To find out more about his training approach, head on over to http://www.movnat.com/.

***

Paul “Coach” Wade is the author of five Convict Conditioning DVD/manual programs. Click here for more information about Paul Wade, and here for more information on Convict Conditioning DVD’s and books available for purchase from the publisher.

Erwan Le Corre talks Bodyweight – Part I

July 30, 2013 By Paul "Coach" Wade 14 Comments

Erwin_pic5 — **Erwan Le Corre is the founder of MovNat.**

Erwan Le Corre is an icon in modern fitness. Men’s Health once declared that he ranked amongst the fittest men in the world. Whatever your personal definition of “fitness”, Erwan undeniably has an amazing pedigree; in fact he is considered by many researchers to be the modern-day inheritor of the French Physical Education tradition.

Erwan spent his childhood exploring the countryside and training in the martial arts. He went on to become the most famous protégé of Jean Haberey, the notorious French stuntman and athlete. Haberey’s students met at night, and climbed bridges, ran and jumped across the urban skyline, and fought hand-to-hand in sewers. Haberey‘s underground society—dubbed Combat Vital—is widely considered to be an important forerunner of the modern bodyweight arts parkour and free running.

After seven years, Erwan left Combat Vital, and plunged into an intense period of in-depth research into traditional training methods. The result of these years of study and experiment was MovNat, Erwan’s physical education and fitness system which promotes authentic, natural movement through activities such as running, crawling, climbing and swimming.

Paul “Coach” Wade (author of Convict Conditioning) recently got the chance to ask Erwan his opinion on all things bodyweight, on behalf of the PCC community. The two-part interview that follows presents a unique insight into Erwan’s radical—and powerful—training philosophy. Erwan goes in-depth and pulls no punches, telling us exactly what is right with modern training—and also what’s very, very wrong.

If you are interested in bodyweight strength or movement training, you do not want to miss this!

Paul Wade: Erwan, thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions. Many people see you as the modern inheritor of a long tradition of “natural” physical culture.

Who is your all-time hero in physical culture, and why?

Erwan Le Corre: Paul thanks for inviting me, it’s appreciated.

First off I would like to dissociate Physical Culture on the one hand and Physical Education on the other. Historically there is some overlap between the two, but physical culture was mainly orientated towards feats of strength and the development of sculptural physiques. The term “culturist” comes from it, and is the forerunner of modern bodybuilding. Think Eugen Sandow or P.H. Clias for instance, the “Arnolds” of their time. I’m not saying they were not physical educators in some way, but in this regard there is, in my opinion, more substance to find when looking at the history of Physical Education.

Physical educators of the past had at heart the complete physical development of young people and the general population. So their aim was not just strength or sculptural physiques as in Physical Culture, but a more harmonious, general, and practical development of the body and mind. The type of “gymnastics” and “calisthenics” they promoted had not so much to do with a modern approach to gymnastics and calisthenics, in the sense that a lot of the training was based on practical skills. Movement skills practice such as jumping, running, climbing, throwing, carrying etc…were not done just for aesthetics, and not just for general physical conditioning through bodyweight exercise. The approach was way more practical, with exercises strongly resembling real-world physical actions and apparatus mimicking the environmental and situational demands of the real-world (there was also often a strong correlation with military needs and nationalistic ideas).

So of course my personal, all-time hero is the famous French physical education pioneer Georges Hebert. The reason is that he did emphasize utilitarian training as well as contact with nature like I do. He’s my big inspiration, though not the only one. But the history of physical education doesn’t start or end with him. There were wonderful other pioneers before him (who did strongly inspire Hebert, such as Amoros or Jahn), and there are quite competent innovators that came after him too. Sorry for the discourse in Physical Education history in Europe, I hope more people start to understand that “functional fitness” didn’t start with kettlebells or modern calisthenics. There’s a LONG line of people before us and a long history of methods, systems and programs. There’s nothing new under the sun!

Erwin_pic1 — A rare physique shot of Georges Herbert (1875-1957). Herbert developed bodyweight assault courses for the military which were later dubbed ‘parcours du combattan’ —the path/course of the warrior.

Paul Wade: There’s no doubt about it—you’re right, there’s nothing new in physical training. Nothing good, anyway! Let’s look a little at how you go about “Physical Education”. A lot of MovNat seems to be based around moving the body in different ways. “Body competency” seems to be a huge part of what you and MovNat are about. Could you tell us a little about your philosophy of bodyweight training?

Erwan Le Corre: Well, prepare for a lengthy answer! MovNat is based around moving the human body in all the ways that are natural to it. To understand what “natural” entails from our perspective, you want to imagine a wild human animal, maybe one of our common ancestors, or one of the remaining ancestral hunter-gatherers, moving through natural environments for survival. Having to seize opportunities while avoiding threats. Unless they’re resting, playing or dancing, the movements they will have to perform are all PRACTICAL; they aim at doing something immediately useful in a variety of situations of the real life. Secondly they are ADAPTABLE, they must adapt to the physical environment where you are.

This simple observation has a lot to do with the way we approach physical training in MovNat. First off we focus on the practicality of the movements we train. For instance performing a “human flag” does have value from a bodyweight strength standpoint, but not so much from a practical standpoint; therefore it may be trained occasionally as part of your overall physical experience and background. Comparatively, significantly more attention and energy will be dedicated to actually practical climbing techniques, for instance a “tuck pop-up”, or climbing strength and conditioning movements, for instance the “forearm pull-up” which is the discrete component of the “tuck pop-up” that requires more power.

Erwin_pic2 — **There’s more than one way to pull yourself up—if you have the strength. How many methods have you explored?**

Environmental adaptability is the second main pillar of our philosophy. If you train a given jumping technique, say a broad jump, you are not just considering the strength gain and other physiological adaptations by training this movement at a greater volume or intensity. You are also looking at finely tuning your motor-control skills by increasing environmental complexity. Greater environmental complexity means a physical environment that becomes progressively more challenging. This can be starting first by jumping at ground level on a flat floor, then landing on a flat but restricted surface (still at ground level), then jumping from and/or landing on a small, slightly elevated surface, and ultimately performing a similar jumping technique but at a height, landing on a narrow, uneven surface, and potentially involving a danger in case of a fall.

That’s an example of progression in (environmental) complexity, without necessarily an increase in volume or intensity. The movement pattern remains the same, the volume and intensity too, but you must finely tune your motor-control if you want to be both effective (doing it successfully) and efficient (with minimal energy expenditure, in the shortest time, in a mentally relaxed state etc…). You see there is more to greater performance than just volume and intensity. When you add to the mix the necessity to increase movement adaptability, you open a whole new world of possibilities and challenges. It can be intimidating to those who prefer not challenging their comfort zone too much, but it is going to thrill those who want optimum preparedness for the real world. No extra amount of general conditioning will ever compensate for a lack of motor-skills and adaptability.

Erwin_pic3 — **“No extra amount of general conditioning will ever compensate for a lack of motor-skills and adaptability.” –Erwan Le Corre**

So yes, physical competency to us is movement competence and to develop it you need motor-skills, strength and other aspects of conditioning. This being said, we are not restricted to bodyweight. To us bodyweight just means locomotive skills such as running, jumping, crawling, balancing, climbing etc…i.e., moving your body through various environments. Sometimes, you need to move both your body and an external object, and your bodyweight movement becomes a manipulative action against greater resistance if for instance you’re lifting and carrying something heavy, and this is practical and adaptable training too.

I like to tell people, especially the big dudes who are mostly focused on strength and lifting heavy, that before they moving “heavy s**t”, they must be able to move the “heavy s**t” that they are. They usually get it because the heavier you get in bodyweight, the more difficult it can become to move your body with complex movements and through complex environments. They know it and can feel it inside, so it is hard to argue with something that just makes sense.

So physical competency starts with being to move your own body skillfully before anything else. My good friend Gray Cook says, “Don’t add strength to dysfunction” and he is so damn right. This simple common-sense is probably what led him to create the CK-FMS, so that kettlebell practitioners who primarily focus on the external load, manipulative side of exercise, would rediscover fundamental human movements and positions. After fixing basic dysfunctions they can better put their strength to use, or develop even more strength once they got rid of physical limitations, such as lacking full range of mobility. Move your body skillfully first, then skillfully move stuff around, not the other way around.

Paul Wade: I am in agreement with this, completely. It’s ridiculous how many people I see trying to squat with loaded barbells when they can’t even squat properly with their own bodyweight. A lot of the older generations of lifters and bodybuilders (pre-1960s) all did bodyweight work before, and alongside their weighted training to keep these essential skills at a high level.

Your attitude to “practical” movements is really interesting. These days, people are beginning to realize that calisthenics is about more than formal exercises like push-ups and sit-ups; bodyweight training can encompass a massive range of activities including “natural” exercises like crawling, balancing, jumping, and so on. I tend to think that both these types of bodyweight work—the formal/systematic, and the free/natural—work really well side-by-side in a training program.

What kind of role do more formal, traditional exercises (e.g., pull-ups, push-ups, bodyweight squats) have in your method?

Erwan Le Corre: People start rediscovering movement as whole, and there’s a slow shift of perception and paradigm towards a more movement-based approach to fitness. So far movements, usually basic, segmental and mechanistic movements have been used for the purpose of muscle building, strength or conditioning. With MovNat the approach is different, as the purpose of movement is movement itself, or movement competency if you prefer.

Muscles and joints are the tools, much less a finality. This being said, to perform practical movements effectively you do need a functional body that is also conditioned and strong. You will need full range of mobility, stability and strength, power, coordination, endurance, spatial awareness (proprioception and exteroception), and so on.

To answer your question more specifically, most formal strength and conditioning drills such as pull-ups have their place in our method all simply because they ARE natural movements too. Let me explain, what exactly is a pull-up? From a classic strength and conditioning standpoint it is an upper body strength conditioning drill. From a MovNat standpoint, it is a climbing movement. If you hang for instance to a horizontal tree branch and that you pull your body up, the end-goal is most likely that you intend to actually climb on top, right? You see, the movement itself hasn’t changed, but the intention and purpose have, as well as your perception of the drill. It is replacing movement in its original practical context. The strengthening value of the pull-up drill is the same, and we will practice it to develop upper body strength in the trunk, arms, shoulders, abs, forearms etc…so we can condition for more complex climbing techniques. Where our approach will differ is that we will try perform various practical ways to pull-up, for instance hanging from a much thicker surface or a flat surface, pulling hanging from your forearms (we call it “forearm pull-up”) etc…so we can adapt to specific environmental demands with effectiveness and efficiency. This is why for instance a “chin-up” (supinated grip) has much less value to us than a “pull-up” (pronated grip) chin to the bar or higher. Why? Because if you think climbing a horizontal surface and pull your body up chin to the bar, what do you do next? That’s right, you’re forced to bring each arm behind and over the bar so you can keep climbing. It is a waste of time and energy, it is inefficient.

Erwin_pic4 — **Calisthenics strength and bodyweight movement skills can work together well. PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo is famous for his ability on the bar, but trees don’t pose a problem for him either!**

You see, just being good at pull-ups won’t necessarily translate to effectiveness or efficiency in every climbing movement or surface. It is important and even essential, but not sufficient at all. The reason is that both motor-skill and conditioning need specific training and adaptation. Think SAID principle, i.e., Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. This is why we don’t believe in just training in a (usually) short selection of general conditioning drills, because the “reality of reality” is that more specific demands can be placed upon you and your body won’t respond effectively and/or efficiently unless it has been trained to perform specifically. To us, “GPP” (general physical preparedness) programs do work, but work only to an extent. Contrary to a common belief, our observation is that they do not prepare you for “anything”, and people with a GPP training background who come train with us realize this. Within seconds or minutes. Again, most people don’t just lack techniques and motor-control, and MovNat is not just that (a set of techniques), they also lack specific conditioning and MovNat also addresses specific conditioning (not specialized conditioning).

I hope it all makes sense! If people in your audience want to understand this approach from an experiential standpoint, I invite them to find a bar that is about 4 inches thick (such as these metal structures for swings in kid’s playgrounds) and perform these 2 tests:

-max reps (pronated grip) pull-ups (compare to max reps with regular pull-up bar). If the number is significantly lower than what you can normally do, you lack grip strength. Isn’t it part of strength conditioning?

-starting from a full dead-hang (no motion at all), climb on top of the bar until you can straddle on top of it. You can’t jump off the ground, you can’t pull on something else than the bar itself, you can’t push off anything with your feet (like the vertical poles on the side). How many ways can you climb on top? How many ways do you know, and how many ways can you actually perform? For each technique you’ve used, how easy and efficient was it? If you couldn’t climb on top once, maybe you lack technique and motor-control, maybe you lack specific strength and conditioning, or maybe a combination of both. Same answer if you could only succeed climbing on top using one particular movement. You should be able to use 3 different ways at least, and ideally all 6 ways we teach in MovNat.

Next week we’ll post part II of this interview, where Erwan talks about his approach to training progressions, motor skills, training longevity, and debunks longstanding training myths—plus much more. Not to be missed!

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Erwan Le Corre is the founder of MovNat. To find out more about his training approach, head on over to http://www.movnat.com/.

***

Odd Object Training with Bodyweight?

July 23, 2013 By Logan Christopher 12 Comments

There’s a method of training with weights called odd object lifting. While a barbell is made to be lifted, with its small diameter handle that is easy to grip, and the weight being perfectly balanced, most of what is encountered in the real world is not.

If you’ve ever moved furniture you know this to be true. While an item may not be all that heavy, its size and shape can prove very difficult to maneuver.

Thus if you want to become strong the use of odd objects is suggested. This means lifting things that are harder to lift like rocks, stones, barrels and the like. The idea being that this will force your stabilizing muscles to work much harder. Often your grip is taxed much more. Plus your form in lifting these odd objects will be different than how you’d handle a barbell.

But what does this have to do with bodyweight training? Can we take this idea of odd object training and apply it to bodyweight exercises?

Well, I was reading Raising the Bar by Al Kavadlo the other day. There’s a single sentence in there that got me thinking.

“Training on odd objects can sometimes offer unique challenges and benefits.”

This sparked my thinking about this more so in this article I’m going to go deeper on how to use odd objects in your bodyweight training.

Most pull-up bars are just like the barbell. Its perfectly straight and has a thin handle to make the exercise as easy as possible. So what happens when you do your pull-ups on things besides a normal pull-up bar?

Try it on a tree branch. The thicker grip will make it harder to do. Plus here you won’t be able to wrap the thumbs around. Depending on the strength of the branch there may be some sway as you do the exercise (of course you’ll want to make sure the branch can easily support your weight before you jump on it).

Tree Branch Pullup — **The thicker grip will make chin-ups more challenging.**

You could modify this even more with a tree. What if one hand hangs on a branch while the other is closer to the base of the tree, where the branch comes out. This will be an uneven pull-up and depending on how wide your hands are apart could also be an archer pull-up.

This same thing can be done on many monkey bars. Look around at the thick bars and the angles you can use.

Uneven Pullup — **An uneven chin-up with one hand on the thick bar and one on a chain.**

**Not only is the grip tough here on two chains, but I was forced to straddle the legs.**

And don’t just think pull-ups. Levers, hanging leg raises and dips can be done on different bar setups too.

Wide Dip — **Feel the stretch with wide dips.**

Here you’ll gain some similar benefits as those odd objects can bring. The exercise will become harder as certain parts of your body will need to work more. The great thing is if you spend some time working on the odd bars when you go back to a regular bar its going to feel that much easier.

Bars aren’t the only way you can get this effect. What about pushups? Although you could use a variety of pushup handles you may be able to find objects to do pushups on too.

**This pushup is done with offset hands at different heights.**

Plus this same effect can be accomplished on the flat floor just as well. Instead of always doing pushups in your perfect, ideal form, change them up.

Alter hand placement. Go closer, go wider, go offset. Turn one or both hands out to the side. Turn one hand backwards as you keep on forwards. Try this while they’re both wide.

**No objects are necessary. Try this pushup with both hands pointing in the same direction.**

The great hand balancer Professor E.M. Orlick taught handstands just like this. Don’t just keep trying to add time to holding a normal handstand. Instead alter your hand position (among many other things). Once again go closer, go wider, or offset.

**Doing an open fist handstand. Harder than flat hands but easier than fully on the fists.**

When you train in this manner, since almost all of it will be harder than the normal version, when you get back to that regular pushup or handstand it will be that much easier.

While consistency with the basics is necessary and a good thing to do, one of the best ways to improve that is to “complexify” what you’re doing. This “odd object” like training will allow you to do just that. Sometimes you need to go outside the normal and play around with as many variations as you can.

***

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/.

My Unique Path to Calisthenics

July 16, 2013 By Corey Howard 6 Comments

Corey Howard ‘hangs out’ with his 9 year old son, Dylan Howard

“I’ve had the same training program for the last 6 months.” That’s what I told the gentleman sitting next to me on the shuttle back to the hotel after day 1 at the PCC (Progressive Calisthenics Cert). He seemed a bit confused but very intrigued. “What is it!?”

My road to Calisthenics is a unique one. My training roots are in powerlifting. Six month training cycles that incorporated max efforts and speed work have been normal to me for many years. After tearing my tricep and experiencing a badly herniated disc in my low back, I discovered kettlebells. Kettlebells took me through the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification) and gave me an outlet to train heavy and hard while still getting in my explosive work. Recently though, due to a severe case of Scoliosis, my back issues flared up and have forced me to limit my kettlebell practice. Since giving up strength training simply isn’t an option, Paul Wade’s “Convict Conditioning” book provided an outlet for strength.

Anyone that says you can’t build insane levels of strength using old-school calisthenics just simply doesn’t understand bodyweight training. If we all agree that you can build crazy levels of strength by simply increasing the tension or load placed on the body then we should agree calisthenics work. For example – with a deadlift, you can simply add more weight. With push-ups you can begin with standing wall push-ups and end with a one-arm, one-leg push-up, or even progress to a handstand push-up off cement blocks! The basic rule of thumb is knowing how to manipulate the load or tension placed on your body. Once you figure that out, the kingdom can be yours!

So how did I take my powerlifting background and apply it to a ‘simple’ bodyweight training program and still get stronger?

First, I always begin with a simple joint mobility routine to warm-up. Then I follow it with some basic rolling and crawling patterns to get the body firing, centered and stabilized. How you do this is entirely up to you. I always begin with 15-20 minutes of Primal Move.

Second, move on to strength work. After an efficient warm-up and firing up our nervous system with Primal Move, spend some time practicing your high tension drills. For example, this might be a handstand push-up paired with an assisted one-arm pull-up.

It’s also very important to pair movements that complement each other here. For example, I like to pair a horizontal push with a horizontal pull, a vertical push with a vertical pull, or a squat movement with a high total body tension drill, like a plank or hanging toe touch. I always limit my strength work to 3 sets and generally never go any higher than 3 reps. It’s also very important to take your time with your strength work. Rest up and begin each set fresh.

Third, we need to understand conditioning is important. Strength will make the easier tasks crazy easy, but we also need to spend time getting the heart rate up and practicing the basic calisthenics movements. I like to combine a few things for high reps.

As Paul Wade and Al Kavadlo tell us, practicing the basics helps build up tendon strength. Pay your dues on the fundamentals! An example for this portion would be 50 bodyweight squats paired with 30 lying leg raises for 3 consecutive sets of time. Or you could combine 20 kneeling push-ups with 10 horizontal pull-ups for 5 consecutive sets of time. This gives you some metabolic work and lays a foundation of the basics.

Fourth, don’t be afraid to sample various progressions. Once you’ve nailed one arm push-ups on a box for 3×3, don’t be afraid to go a little closer to the floor. Or once you’re able to do 200 basic bodyweight squats and 100 hanging knee raise in 5 minutes, fire up more reps or try the next progression and switch to straight leg raises.

So what’s a sample program look like?

Day 1

Warm-up: Primal Move for 20 minutes

Strength: 2 board depth handstand push-ups paired with uneven pull-ups

Conditioning/Basics practice: 50 bodyweight squats paired with 25 hanging knee raise, 3 sets for time.

Cool Down: Joint mobility work in areas specific to my needs followed by a half kneeling stability drill.

Day 2

Warm-up: Primal Move for 20 minutes

Strength: Pistol Squats paired with hanging toe touches

Conditioning/Basics practice: 20 kneeling push-ups paired with 10 Horizontal pull-ups, 5 sets for time.

Cool Down: Joint mobility work in areas specific to my needs followed by a half kneeling stability drill.

Day 3

Warm-up: Primal Move for 20 minutes

Strength: One-arm push-ups on a low box paired with one-arm horizontal pull-ups

Conditioning/Basics practice: Walking lunge paired with sledge hammering a tire for 10 min total.

Cool Down: Joint mobility work in areas specific to my needs followed by a half kneeling stability drill.

So there you have it. Always pair complimentary movements together for strength work and alternate the basics with the strength movements from session to session. With this basic outline I guarantee consistent progress. As you get stronger, your conditioning will get easier. Practicing and drilling your basics makes your strength better. It all fits together like pieces of a puzzle… Fire it up!

***

About Corey Howard, 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 Pleasure of Calisthenics

July 9, 2013 By Matt Schifferle 8 Comments

It’s a pleasant Sunday morning at the gym and my friend is looking at me like I’ve turned into the Mad Hatter. Someone on the treadmill asks from behind me,“What are you on and how do I get some?”

I’ve just finished a set of pull ups and I’m jumping around the gym like a man possessed. I’m smiling ear to ear and in a state of near euphoria.

“Calisthenics” I answer the guy on the treadmill. “It’s a good trip you should get on it.”

I’ve done all manner of exercise from bike racing to weight lifting over the years but nothing makes me feel as alive as calisthenics. The reason can be summed up in just two words:

Body awareness.

At the PCC, the term body awareness was thrown around quite a bit. Some were crediting it for the reason why the strength of calisthenics transferred so well to sports and activities. Others gave body awareness credit for the power to push themselves beyond perceived limits. But while all that stuff is great, I believe it’s the power to deeply enjoy an exercise that makes heightened body awareness so rewarding.

As a trainer I’ve noticed a relationship between how much a client is aware of their body and how much negativity or enjoyment they experience from it.

In the case of a negative relationship, individuals often regard their body as an opposing force. They relate to their physique as something that must be tamed and (heaven forbid) punished into submission. This often creates an inner conflict through which they have little hope of winning. As I always say, you simply cannot fight yourself and win.

On the other hand, if someone has a heightened sense of body awareness they tend to foster far less negativity about their body and how it operates. In some cases, they even find the work pleasurable. They understand that the burning muscle and labored breathing isn’t their body punishing them, but rather those are the sensations of applying their own strength and discipline through the power of their mind. They feel strength surging through their body rather than struggle.

Calisthenics is unique in the fact that body awareness and appreciation is required to do the exercises. It’s very difficult to even attempt some of the moves without a high level of physical awareness.

For some folks, the requirement of awareness is scary and intimidating. They can’t distract their attention with a TV or smartphone. For others, like myself, the focus allows us to savor the rich sensations that can saturate our exercise experience.

In either case, turning the attention inward and savoring the sensations of an exercise can be a deeply enjoyable experience. So much so, that it can even make someone who once greatly disliked exercise to jump for joy while doing it.

***

Matt Schifferle a.k.a The Fit Rebel made a switch to calisthenics training 5 years ago in an effort to rehab his weight lifting injuries. Since then he’s been on a personal quest to discover and teach the immense benefits of advanced body weight training. You can find some of his unique bodyweight training methods at www.RedDeltaProject.com.

Live and Learn

July 2, 2013 By Jack Arnow 8 Comments

Jack Arnow performs a one arm chin-up at the age of 66

In high school I won a race by pushing myself past my limits. I just wouldn’t listen to my body. I threw up as I crossed the finish line, and was sick for the next 2 days. When I found chinning, I’d do reps until my muscles locked and began to spasm. I was a small, skinny, asthmatic kid who was overcompensating. I’d get injured often. I was poor and worked out in my apartment, schoolyards and parks. Back then I had no name for what I did, but “bodyweight training” probably described it best.

A friend brought me to a vacant lot in Brooklyn where Jasper Benincasa had put up a chinning bar. Lots of kids would work out on it and play stick ball or touch football in the adjacent streets. I became a regular, stopping by almost every day on my way home from school. It changed my life!

Now, more than fifty five years later I still workout almost everyday, primarily for the wonderful physical and emotional feelings that the workouts produce, but I also like the respect and attention that I get from young folks. And today’s wisdom is that it’s good for my health too!

Injuries, including elbow tendinitis and rotator cuff problems have long been my nemesis. Mindlessness and overtraining have been their root cause. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

Focus on your day to day training, not just the high of achieving your goals. Future results are never a certainty, so enjoy the journey.

If your training ever becomes a chore, be creative and try new things. As I approached 50 years of age, training to regain a one-arm chin, I became desperate. Worrying that aging was causing my muscles to atrophy, I over-trained, despite the signals my body was giving me. Although I did regain the one-arm chin, I lost it again. Experiment on yourself to see what works for you, but always approach new routines cautiously and slowly in order to minimize the possibility of injury. I say minimize the possibility of injury, because you will make mistakes. All humans make mistakes. Another reason that injuries occur is that your body changes all the time. What worked today may not work tomorrow. You are a work in progress.

If you are feeling really good because you are advancing quickly towards your goals, that is a time for extreme caution. That’s when you may be likely to push it just a bit too hard and get injured. If you are upset that you are not advancing fast enough, or have reached a plateau, that’s another time to be careful. Perhaps it’s not a time to increase intensity or volume, but try something new. At all times listen to your body. Each day may be different. After one set, or one rep, or in the middle of one movement, stop if something feels wrong. Make training plans, but alter those plans if necessary. If you are uncertain how to proceed, stop to use your brain, the most important asset you have. Considering an alternative may prevent injury.

I last did a one-arm chin about 5 years ago, because I realized they were getting harder for me to do. I felt happy and smart to stop them before I became injured. I had taken up yoga, planned to get certified as a yoga teacher and wanted to continue to give massage. I did not want to risk my ability to do these things. The memorial for chinning legend Jasper Benincasa in March 2012 inspired me to try to regain a one-arm chin. I’ve advised many others how to train for a one-arm chin. I came to the conclusion that I should just listen to my own advice! I’ll be 71 in a few months and am enjoying my training immensely. It’s two steps forward and one step back. I’ve learned not to set time goals. Setting a goal such as “I will get a one-arm chin by January 1” is a terrible idea. Putting a time limit on reaching your goal may lead to making bad day to day decisions. You may focus on “getting there,” rather than listening to your body moment by moment. That will increase your likelihood of injury.

If you’re feeling weak one day, listen to your body and do less or even rest entirely. Keep in mind that you are a many-sided being, and all things affect how you feel, affect your mood, affect your strength and affect your ability to focus and recover. If you had to work overtime and are tired, if you had an argument with a friend, partner, or family member, if the weather is rainy and cold, if you are stressed out or many other factors can reduce your strength. It may even be more efficient to resolve non-training issues before continuing.

It has become clearer to me that my training and goals have long been one-sided and imbalanced. I reached very high levels in chinning (pulling) and front levers, but neglected legs, pushing and flexibility. I thank Paul Wade, and Al and Danny Kavadlo for my new insights, because I believe a more balanced approach will reduce injury. After doing half handstand push-ups at home this morning, I went to a neighborhood park in Brooklyn and attempted muscle-ups, assisted bridges and skin-the-cat. I couldn’t do a muscle up or skin-the-cat when I met Al and Danny recently, but I made them my goals. Today, a teenager in the park was impressed with my muscle-up, but I still can’t do skin-the-cat. Nevertheless, I taught the teenager to do one.

Whether you made a training mistake or not, accept injuries as part of training and being physically active. Don’t beat yourself up. Try to see the positive aspects. You may rest the injured area, and develop coordination and strength in new areas. Getting the injury can be a wake-up call to improve your technique or change another aspect of your training which will prevent further setbacks. An injury may temporarily (or perhaps even permanently) reduce your strength or ability. Although you should feel proud that you reached some of your goals, never forget that you are much more than your achievements. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that no-one will love or admire you because you can’t do them right now. Most of my friends, but especially my dear wife, think I’m nuts to spend “so much time” exercising. They love me anyway. They appreciate the many things I’ve learned from a lifetime of training: the value of determination, discipline, hard work, enthusiasm, passion and confidence. It’s relatively easier to be joyful when things are going great, but when you are injured or facing other difficult circumstances, continue to let your little light shine.

I believe you have the ability to become your own life and training guru. Learn from trainers and others with experience, read books, and be open to new ideas wherever you find them, but fundamentally no one has the capacity to know yourself as well as you do. Make it your responsibility to become your own guru. For bodyweight training, volume and intensity are very important. Too much and you will get injured. Too little and you may not reach your goals. And the particulars change often. After all is said and done, you are the best one to make that call. Review your growing experience, and try to apply insights often. People are similar but also different. Learn what works for you. Don’t think what works for you, works for others, and vice versa. If some things I wrote in this article don’t work for you, disregard them. That is natural.

Should you be able to internalize even one idea that improves your training or makes you happier, I will feel this article was a success.

(Video Courtesy of www.alkavadlo.com)

***

The PCC and….Love?

June 25, 2013 By Peter D'Epiro 11 Comments

It was back into the trenches Monday morning after attending the inaugural PCC over the weekend. To say this course was phenomenal is an understatement. The Kavadlo brothers (Al and Danny) set the tone for the weekend with their positivity, humility and accessibility. Further enhancing the vibe were John du Cane, Al and Danny’s co-instructors Adrienne Harvey and Steven Low, and all of the students who spent the weekend cheering, coaching and supporting one another. I have rarely experienced a class, conference or certification with such an amazing atmosphere and amazingly accessible group of instructors in my years in this industry (don’t want to age myself, but somewhere in the immediate vicinity of 20 years…).

This praise is independent of the actual course content, which was absolutely spectacular. An organized and systematic series of well thought out progressions for some of the most challenging bodyweight strength techniques out there. These movements/exercises/techniques are accessible to fitness professionals and clients of all levels because of the thorough progressions for each.

All of which brings me back to the title…love? Where does that fit into this picture, or this course? As is often the case in the field of fitness and performance training after a class or conference, I returned home motivated and inspired by the wealth of new information and resources I learned…as well as humbled by my great inability to perform so many of these techniques, despite throwing weights around in the gym for over 25 years. There is the age-old process a professional in our field goes through after an educational program of any type: does this fit into my philosophy and methodology? If so, where and how? How will I incorporate this into my personal training program? How will I incorporate it into my clients’ training programs when I return to work Monday morning and going forward?

Logic and precedent suggest that I set about answering these questions when I returned home Sunday evening. For perhaps the first time ever I didn’t do that though. The content of the PCC is so unique and accessible to all populations that something entirely different happened. Like so many others, I not only took a break from work to attend this course, I also left my family at home, including my 10-year-old son. It’s safe to assume I wanted to reconnect and spend a little quality time with him when I first got home…and before I needed to shift my focus to returning to work the next morning.

Something unique and special happened right after I settled in at home…before giving it much thought I found myself saying to my son, “Hey buddy, want to see a couple of the cool things I learned this weekend?” Always gracious, and perhaps a little curious about what dad had been doing all weekend he obliged me. Next thing you know I had my son’s hands firmly wrapped around my ankles as I spotted him and he pressed his way into his first bridge! From there I showed him one other move that was a little more balance than strength oriented, the frog stand. As he spent the remainder of the night on the floor trying to pop up into a bridge or a frog stand every so often father and son had reconnected and our bond was strengthened by our new shared pursuit (and I’m sure he enjoys the fact that his gumby-like 10 year old mobility allows him to perform some of these moves better than me at this point!).

So…the PCC and love? I don’t yet know exactly how I will incorporate this phenomenal approach to training into my own programming, or that of my clients. What I do know is that school is out tomorrow for my son, little league is officially over, and summer is upon us. My son and I have already scouted out the local schools and parks for the best playground equipment for our needs and have found our “spot” for the summer. We are both equally excited to go workout together. He is excited because it feels like playing to him and he gets to play with dad. I am excited because I get to play with my son while sneakily introducing him to strength training and laying the foundation for a fitness lifestyle for the remainder of his life, while also challenging myself with some of the toughest strength moves I have ever tried to master. My son is the center of my universe, he is my love, and it is the unconditional love he shares with me that humbles and sustains me.

For all the praise I can easily heap upon the PCC course and its content, none is greater than the way it has and will strengthen the love between this father and his son. I have a new “gym” at one of the local middle schools…and I officially have a new workout partner, he’s 10 and he’s my best buddy! I suppose I could put on my business cap and start working on the possibilities and opportunities for bringing the PCC system of training to the TV watching, Xbox playing, inactive youth in my area, but right now I have a date to go outside and “play” on the monkey bars with my son!

***

About Pete D’Epiro: A fitness & performance coach in the San Francisco Bay Area for 20 years, Pete specializes in training the unique population that is the Silicon Valley executive/entrepreneur as well as junior athletes ranging from middle school to Division I scholarship athletes. Pete also volunteers his time to Stew Smith’s non-profit Heroes of Tomorrow, providing free training to candidates preparing for careers in military special operations, law enforcement, & fire. Most days of the year Pete can be found at the world-class training facility, Evolution Trainers (www.evolutiontrainers.com), in Mountain View, California.

Tight is Right

June 18, 2013 By Mike Gillette 3 Comments

Photo courtesy of Mike Gillette

Control… Tension… Control-able Tension… These are the success-essentials for bodyweight mastery. If you (or your clients) lack the ability to “tighten that which needs to be tightened,” then the structural integrity of your exercise-specific postures will be soft, saggy and sad. What you (or your clients) need is the ability to generate head-to-toe tension at will.

If you’ve been training for any length of time, particularly those of you who wield kettlebells, then you have already been teaching yourself how to generate tension. Bracing the body while under dynamic or asymmetric loads is a very effective self-teaching tool when the subject at hand is tension-generation.

But what about your clients? Particularly your new clients? Is there a way to expedite the development of intentional body control so they too can reap the benefits of bodyweight strength-development?

Absolutely.

The following Body-Control Drill sequence is perfect for beginners and simple to administer in a group exercise setting. Once all participants are in the starting position, you will provide a series of instructions. You will be leading your trainee(s) through a process of tightening and relaxing different parts of the body. In addition to the benefit of learning how to generate tension on demand, you are also teaching your clients to respond to your cues. This will make you more effective at teaching them advanced movements down the road. Here’s how you run the drill…

TO BEGIN: Have your trainee(s) stand in a neutral position with feet shoulder-width apart, hips over heels and head over hips. The arms should be resting comfortably at the sides. Shoulders are back and the head is level with eyes cast “on the horizon”.

Points-of-Performance:

Do not exceed 5 seconds of tension at a time. Two contractions per isolated body part are sufficient.
Trainees must be cued to “breathe through” the contractions. They are NOT to hold their breath.
Coaches must be careful not to “burn out” clients in the performance of this drill. Done with intention, this drill can be grueling.
As the coach you are in charge of quality-control. If there is a slacker in your group, then poke, prod or do whatever you need to in order to get them to tighten up to your satisfaction. In general you will be able to assess your athletes visually, but there will be times when you have to go “hands-on”. (Note: When I work with females, I make a fist and gently bump the area in question. This prevents the appearance of hand contact which looks or feels like I am squeezing/grabbing them. If it’s a male athlete I do the same thing, I just don’t bump as gently).
This is just a drill. Use it where and when it makes sense, but stay focused on the bigger picture.

Step 1: “Grab the floor with your feet and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 2: “Tighten your lower legs and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 3: “Tighten your upper legs and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 4: “Tighten up from your feet through your upper legs and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 5: “Tighten your glutes and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 6: “Tighten your midsection and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 7: “Tighten up your glutes and midsection and hold” …. “Now release”

Step 8: “Tighten your shoulders and chest and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 9: “Tighten your arms and hold” ….. “Now release”

Step 10: “From head to toe, tighten your entire body and hold”… “Now release”

That’s it. It’s an easy drill for you to administer and easy for your clients to understand. And using this drill as a basic framework, you can apply variations. Your clients could perform it seated, while holding a broomstick or a length of rope, they could even perform it supine at the end of a workout.

***

About Mike Gillette: Former SWAT Commander and Executive Bodyguard, Mike Gillette is a relentless student of the human factors which allow people to succeed despite overwhelming odds. His research and experiences have taken him through many different worlds and disciplines. They have ultimately produced a body of knowledge which has been put to use by clients ranging from high-risk professionals operating in extraordinary circumstances, to ordinary people who want to make extraordinary changes in their lives…

Find him on Facebook!

Exceeding All Expectations—The Power of the PCC

June 12, 2013 By John Du Cane, CEO and founder, Dragon Door 19 Comments

Exceeding All Expectations—The Power of the PCC

One day in the late summer of 2008, a massive manuscript thumped down on my desk. Out of nowhere. By a complete unknown. Unheralded, no introductions, no referrals, nothing to go on. Just raw text…And a title that leaped up from the desk, grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let go:

Convict Conditioning…

By a certain Paul “Coach” Wade, who had scrabbled to freedom—he claimed—after severe stretches in joy palaces like San Quentin, Angola and Marion.

What made Paul the Unknown so different, however, was the programmatic payload of strength survival secrets he had mastered while doing his time. Or so he said…

I coulda tossed it in the trash right there. But I didn’t, I was intrigued and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to “taste” a few pages…

Aahhh…I was doomed within a couple of deft paragraphs—and I know a good doom when I see it, trust me…

I pride myself on being “the facilitator of greatness”—a guy with the magic eye for spotting outrageous talent and promoting it to a hungry world.

Paul held me with his glittering eye and riveted me to the spot. I was hooked as his redemptive message began to pulse through me with a heroin-like rush. I was up half the night, enthralled and deeply excited.

For Convict Conditioning was that rare thing, a genuinely original, definitively special masterwork that laid out an inspirational program for physical transformation—using bodyweight exercise only. The perfect fit for Dragon Door—and then some: authentic, visceral, gritty, practical, down-to-earth, laden with truth. Built for results.

When Convict Conditioning launched in December, 2009 it quickly established itself as Dragon Door’s all-time most popular title. Thrilled readers have already posted over 400 reviews on the Dragon Door site alone, testifying to CC’s enduring capability to get you formidable results not just short term but over the long haul (which is what separates the men from the boys.)

Fast forward to an email from Paul Wade to me in late 2011, suggesting that I might just want to publish a title called Raising the Bar, by Al Kavadlo, who had appeared with brother Danny in Convict Conditioning 2…

Another magical and momentous publishing event resulted in Al Kavadlo joining Dragon Door’s dream team of bodyweight exercise authorities. The result: two more works of high art, the second being Pushing the Limits!

And the stage was set to “go global” with the Wade-Kavadlo wisdom. Create a worldwide network of certified progressive calisthenics instructors that could help change the fitness landscape, just as Dragon Door had done with the introduction of kettlebells in 2001.

Dragon Door’s highly anticipated program, the PCC, launched this past weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Frankly, I was anxious as all hell about how the PCC was going to pan out. Yes, Paul Wade had delivered an astounding 600-page bible of a manual, yes the curriculum was to die for, and yes, the instructors were world-class.

But how were the elite bodyweight athletes and many of Dragon Door’s elite RKC leaders going to actually respond to the training? Dragon Door’s standards are well known to be the most rigorous worldwide. Would the PCC meet expectations?

Well, as Shannon Scullin exclaimed to me about the PCC team’s instruction: “They knocked it out of the park!”

I have read all the evals and the response has been nothing short of ecstatic.

The atmosphere for almost all the time was electric yet relaxed. Astonishing feats of strength reeled off by both candidates and instructors alike, PRs busting out all over the shop. There was a JOY in the air, a PASSION, a camaraderie that exceed any workshop that Dragon Door has put on over the last 20 years.

The instruction was impeccable, delivered with a gracious confidence and solid expertise. The PCC team of Al Kavadlo, Danny Kavadlo, Adrienne Harvey and Steven Low walked their talk from first frame to last frame.

I just got a Facebook message from Senior RKC and Superwoman, Beth Andrews, which perfectly sums up the event:

“The PCC weekend/cert was EPIC!!! It was refreshing, ‘vibrant’, progressive and FUN! Danny and Al are amazing! I loved their spirit and energy. They have an incredible ability to connect with people and after all, that IS what it’s all about as a community. Can’t wait to be a part of it in August!”

In other words, the PCC exceeded all of our expectations—WAY exceeded them!

Next week we will be posting several hundred photographs from the event (edited down from the thousands we took), but we grabbed some good ones to give you a flavor, right here.

The Dragon Door TV team of Amanda Salas and Spencer O’Hara—who also filmed the brilliant Convict Conditioning videos on Alcatraz—recorded the whole PCC and are hard at work preparing a series of videos immortalizing this special time… Can’t wait!

And, when you read the participants’ praise next week, there will be no doubt left at all in your mind about the quality of the instruction and the power of the PCC to transform the world of fitness.

A deep, deep thank you to all who contributed to making this a magnificent first PCC!

But a very special shout out to the “complete unknown” who sent me that addictive manuscript back in the day and got me hooked on the good stuff:

Paul Wade, without you, our world would be the smaller and the poorer. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your courage and indomitable spirit in bringing us the glory of your redemptive message! Thank you…

Yours in Strength,

John Du Cane, CEO
Dragon Door Publications, Inc.

Al Kavadlo’s PCC FAQ

June 4, 2013 By Al Kavadlo 10 Comments

In less than 48 hours, I’ll be getting on a plane from New York City to St. Paul, MN to lead the first ever Progressive Calisthenics Certification workshop. After almost two years of planning, the PCC is finally happening – this is a very exciting time!

The PCC workshop will contain tons of information distilled down through the experience of PCC mastermind Paul Wade as well as myself and the other instructors. There will be a lot to learn and attendees will come away with something that cannot be gained from a website, book or DVD – real life experience! Nothing in the world can replace firsthand knowledge. That’s why most of the weekend is going to be spent practicing these exercises, not just talking theory.

With the inaugural workshop quickly approaching, I’ve been getting lots of emails and other messages with questions about the PCC. Here are answers to the questions that have come up most frequently.

I’m not interested in becoming a personal trainer. Can I still take the PCC?

Yes! The PCC is open to anyone who wants to improve their knowledge and performance of bodyweight strength training. Though the coursework is geared toward those who want to pass their knowledge and skills onto others, anyone who is passionate about calisthenics is encouraged to attend.

How is PCC different from Convict Conditioning, Raising The Bar and Pushing The Limits?

The PCC curriculum combines content from the Convict Conditioning books as well as my books, but it will be more in-depth than any of those materials. More importantly, however, is that it’s an interactive experience! Books are great resources, but they can’t actually tell you if your form is correct. At the PCC, Steven Low, Adrienne Harvey, my brother Danny and myself are personally going to give you the cues you need to improve your technique and performance on these exercises as well as instruct you on how to effectively pass this information along to your clients. And of course, there will be a chance for attendees to pick our brains during the Q&A session.

I’d love to take the PCC but I live too far away to travel to St. Paul. Is it possible to get a copy of the PCC manual without attending?

The 600+ page PCC manual is incredibly special and it’s only for PCC attendees – no exceptions. The good news is we will be offering workshops all over the world in the months and years ahead, so everyone will have a chance to attend and get their hands on a copy.

I have an old injury/ailment/weakness that will prevent me from being able to complete the Century. Can an exception be made for me?

The Century test must be performed according to these guidelines.

When will PCC be coming to my hometown?

In addition to the inaugural event, there are two more PCC workshops already scheduled – a second one in St. Paul as well as our first European workshop, which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden. Over the next few years, we will be visiting lots of other locations in the US and abroad. Watch this page for updates on future workshop dates.

Photos by Audra May Photography

And for those of you attending the groundbreaking first ever bodyweight certification – I’ll see you this weekend!

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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 lots more about Al on his website:www.AlKavadlo.com.