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Progressive Calisthenics - The Official Blog for the PCC Community

fat loss

Calisthenics: The Fountain Of Youth

September 11, 2018 By Dan Earthquake Leave a Comment

Dan Earthquake progress photos

I’ve always had a vivid imagination. I’ve heard that anorexics always see themselves as fat, but I saw the opposite with my physique. Like Michelangelo saw the sculpture of David he would release from a block of stone, I saw my muscles and strength beneath. I only think I look fat in old photos. For instance, I was “as fat as a fool” when I swam the English Channel. But, that kept me warm, helped me float, and fed my muscles.

I was very happy with my long term physique for long distance swimming and strength.  I saw myself as a small sumo wrestler with a considerable amount of muscle mass covered with a protective layer of fat. It worked very well for the things I wanted to achieve. I’ve swam over a mile (2000m) in 1.9° Celcius (34° F) and three miles at 40°F. Not to mention, six hour swims every two weeks or so for a year with plenty of physical work—cycling in high gears, carrying the bike whilst jogging and rowing a boat were part of my program. I felt strong and healthy for the most part and rarely cold.

Now in my 40s, it’s wiser to be lighter. The trophies of the heavy work remind me that the daily minimum is the way to go and the desire to lift heavy weights and cover very long distances has waned along with my mass. I now feel the cold more.

I celebrate improvisation: I participated in the UK Strongest Man heats by training in my garden with scrap metal and old tires and tree trunks. Recently I ran my portions of a relay triathlon between London and Paris wearing normal clothes and my usual Dr. Marten boots. I used a steel bicycle made in 1963 for the cycle stage. “Did you find that at the roadside or in a museum?” joked a team mate. In the poem “If,” Rudyard Kipling challenged the individual to see their work destroyed and to rebuild again “with worn out tools.” I realise that I’m railing against convention. To me, the veneer of professionalism which demands branding and uniformity ignores the individual art of survival and practicality. Improvisation is not fashionable, a bit like calisthenics in some quarters. The poster boys and girls of conventional fashion wear makeup, have suntans, clean clothes, and operate in perfect conditions which do not exist in reality.

At the Louvre in Paris the other week, I photographed a bearded statue with a big arm. “That’s me,” I declared to myself, that perfection visible to me beneath an imperfect form. “It’s what you are becoming,” said a voice from the future. I didn’t realize until relatively recently (the last decade or so) that I am a time traveler. I’ve often imagined my future self returning to give advice. Sometimes the advice felt unhelpful, but I took comfort that the future me cared enough to try and help. Sometimes sneering at the elder know-it-all version of myself, I resolved to do it my way. “Stick to the basics,” he said, but I clamored for the cheer of the crowd, the wow of friends and colleagues. Vanity lifting and trophy hunting were (and are) very seductive.

“Calisthenics is both the fountain of youth and the quick route to old age,” my future self advised. “I’m curious about it being the quick route to old age,” I commented. “Time flies when you have fun,” he replied, “Especially given your habit of doing things unconventionally. Don’t worry,” he regularly assures me at opportune moments: “Everything will turn out fine, but the work has to be done.”

Dan Earthquake Tree Pullup

I remember these inner conversations and revisit my younger self to reiterate the message. Sometimes I didn’t listen—I remember that too. There’s still more to do, always more to do. Each day is a new start, a bit more revealed from the block.

Winston Churchill had the right idea: “Live dangerously, take things as they come. Dread naught: all will be well.”

Dan Earthquake English Channel Swim

***

Dan Earthquake is involved in event safety and hosts winter swimming training camps for Channel Swimmers. In 2013 the Channel Swimming Association awarded him the trophy for “Greatest Feat of Endurance” for his 21hr 25 minute crossing of the English Channel. In August 2018 Dan was part of the 4 person relay team that set a new record for the Enduroman Arch to Arc triathlon between London and Paris. For more info, visit www.eqnrg.info

Filed Under: Motivation and Goals, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: accomplishments, calisthenics, Dan Earthquake, fat loss, goals, physique

My Get Strong Transformation Challenge Story

November 11, 2017 By Grand prize Winner, Brian Stramel 7 Comments

Brian Stramel Before After Get Strong Challenge

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
-Zen proverb

I bought Get Strong when it first came out at the introductory price, and eagerly read it in a day or two. I was no stranger to calisthenics and it looked like a great program… that I would start as soon as I finished up what I was doing at the time. At the time, I didn’t even consider entering the 16-week challenge.

I was also not paying close enough attention to my nutrition, even though I was keeping up with my workouts. Mostly owing to my love of craft beer, my weight had crept up to an all-time high. I remember feeling just blah. I didn’t move as well, and my belly was pressing into my shirt–worse yet, it was pressing into my Army (National Guard) uniform. That was it, I decided I needed to fix this! But, was the Get Strong 16 Week Transformation Challenge still going on?

So, I squeeked my entry in at the last minute, and took my Phase 1 Test on June 30th. Checking my log, I beat the test standards on every exercise except for the active hang. My grip gave out right at the 60 second mark on that one.

I got motivated to build an outdoor bodyweight gym, and did that as a 4th of July project.

Onward into Phase 2!

Phase 2 was a wake-up call for me. I had a solid foundation already, so I passed weeks 1-4 as written with no issues. Slow, controlled reps, I even spent extra time on the handstands. But, the Phase 2 test was another story. I failed on handstands, so it was back to weeks 3 and 4. I failed again, so rinse and repeat!

During this time, we also took our family vacation. Since Get Strong just relies on something to step up on and pull on (and the workouts are short) I could keep up with my Phase 2 workouts on vacation without it detracting from family time, even while camping!

Back from vacation, I was able to pass those pesky Phase 2 handstands and move on to Phase 3. Phase 3 was a lot of fun, I enjoyed the split routines and extra volume devoted to the upper and lower body on their respective days. Handstands remained a challenge and while I passed week 3 as written, it was at the raggedy edge of my ability. So, I camped out in week 4 for a few weeks and just passed the Phase 3 test on October 23rd.

I met my goal of getting to Phase 4 by the end of the 16-week challenge timeline. I know the real work is just beginning as I work steadily towards the Phase 4 test.

By focusing on my workouts, dialing in my nutrition, and eliminating most of the empty beer calories, perhaps dabbling with intermittent fasting (thanks for the tip Al!), I have made tremendous progress over these 16 weeks. The stats: I lowered my body fat by 7%–from 16% down to 9% (digital caliper measured). I dropped 23lbs and lost six and a half inches from my belly and over three inches from my waist! More importantly, I look and feel better than I did a decade ago when I returned from a tour in Afghanistan, and I was in great shape then.

The final bonus of this journey is that I witnessed a really cool culture of fitness develop within my family. The kids (8, 8, and 13) call the bodyweight rig the “ninja gym” after American Ninja Warrior and love playing on it. They also all knocked out at least one chin-up after getting inspired by watching me work out. My wife is feeling left out as the only one in the family who can’t do one. That won’t last, however. She’s now passed her phase 1 test and is determined to surpass her chin up goal!

***

Brian Stramel is the Grand Prize Winner of The GET STRONG 16-Week Transformation Challenge

Filed Under: Contest, Motivation and Goals, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Brian Stramel, calisthenics, fat loss, Get Strong, Get Strong Transformation Challenge, Get Strong Transformation Challenge Winner, workouts

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