strength training

On Street Workout

January 14, 2014 By Danny Kavadlo 21 Comments

Danny Kavadlo Performs a Human Flag in the streets of New York City

There is no denying it: The phenomenon known as Street Workout has built a mighty following over the years, a following that grows exponentially every single day.

What started with minimalist calisthenics crews in New York has spread across these great States, and all over the planet. While not exactly the same, Progressive Calisthenics and Street Workout do have a lot in common. Just look at the wild success of PCC Sweden (where participants trained on actual urban scaffolding!) and next month’s sold-out PCC Australia, not to mention upcoming events in Germany, Holland and Ireland. Clearly, the principles of Street Workout have become an international sensation. A movement, if you will.

And we are not slowing down. You can’t ignore us. Street Workout is just so damn fun and good for you! It sometimes seems like the fitness world is nothing more than a bloated bastion of isolated movements and impractical applications. Street Workout is a breath of fresh air.

A variety of exercises demonstrated simultaneously by participants and PCC Instructors at the 2013 PCC in Sweden

Do It Anywhere
To begin, it encourages us to tap into the creative, even artistic, part of our cerebrums. Whereas commercial gym members use multiple thousand-pound machines to train one muscle at a time, we can look at a pole, fence or street sign and come up with a dozen exercises on the spot. The ability to observe and use your surroundings is a human trait that’s dying these days. Free your mind. Further, unlike a gym, there’s no fee for this club. We welcome all comers.

I used to know a guy who would drive 40 minutes each way to a gym to train for 45. He could have ran flights of stairs, done dips on a bench and pull-ups off a ledge in a fraction of the time. Hell, he could have done push-ups right there on the street—that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Al Kavadlo Performs a Push Up on Cobblestones

Real Strength
Street Workout is more than just efficient and visually impressive—it also makes you really freakin’ strong! By encouraging harmonious full body movements over isolation and non-cohesion, this style of training builds real world power! Modern classics like high-altitude pistol squats and scaffolding pull-ups employ more muscle groups and promote greater overall strength than traditional gym exercises like leg extensions or biceps curls. I’m a lot more impressed by someone who can confidently pull his or her body up and over a real object, than somebody who moves a weight straight up and down a machine!

Danny Kavadlo Performs a Pull Up on New York City Scaffolding

It’s Fun
We are born with a primal urge to be outside. We’re animals, not built to sit under florescent lights in climate controlled, window-less rooms all day. It’s bad enough that so many good people have to do this at their jobs. Why do it during your workout?

Have some fun. Breathe the air. Feel the sun. Outdoor training makes you feel like a kid again.

Wilson on the playground

Community
This is the best part of all. Whenever and wherever there is a gathering of Street Workout enthusiasts, it’s like reuniting with old family, even if you’ve never met. The passion and energy are that intense. I can’t explain it, but there is a special kinship in our world, just as there is in the calisthenics community overall. I treasure being a part of it.

In his groundbreaking book, Raising the Bar, my brother and PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo refers to it as “The Bar Brotherhood”.

The Kavadlo Brothers

When all is said and done, working out, like life, should be full of challenges, fun and adventure. No training style embodies these elements quite like Street Workout does. So what are you waiting for? Let’s hit the pavement and train!

***

Danny Kavadlo is one of the world’s most established and respected personal trainers. He is a Master Instructor of Progressive Calisthenics and the author of Everybody Needs Training: Proven Success Secrets for the Professional Fitness Trainer. A true in-person experience, Danny is known globally as a motivator and leader in the body-weight community. Learn more about Danny at: www.DannyTheTrainer.com.

The Straight Handstand—The Door to Amazing Strength Development

November 19, 2013 By Co-written by Lionel Ng and Bruce Dierl 9 Comments

If you are reading this blog, chances are you are looking to make some physical improvements to yourself – e.g. you want to be able to run faster, or to jump higher, or to churn out amazing feats of strength, etc.

Being able to do and hold a straight handstand for one solid minute will aid in all-round athletic development.

But before we begin, let us first take a look at a couple of handstand photos.

Even though there is no one “perfect” handstand form, so to speak, the straight handstand that we are talking about here should approximate the one shown in the picture on the left, as opposed to and contrasted with the handstand depicted in the picture on the right.

Essentially, a straight handstand should find the back flat, with no arch in the lower back. The major limbic joints of the body, i.e. the wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles should find themselves “stacked”.

The reason for the difference between a straight handstand and an arched one is also the reason why being able to do and hold the former is going to make you stronger and more coordinated.

The key word here is “tension”.

In order to perform a handstand, as with any other physical feat, one requires some level of bodily strength. If you are able to stand and balance using your arms, just imagine the kind of strength, coordination and body awareness that you will achieve.

In a straight handstand, the entire body is tensed in a coordinated manner, with the exception of the facial and neck muscles. We are talking about conscious muscle engagement (you are using it, not just training) to hold this unnatural position, it makes subsequent hand balancing elements ‘easier’ to learn. When one finds his or her lower back arching in a handstand, chances are that some parts of the body are not being engaged as needed to achieve the straight form, or some structural issues subsist that makes the straight form difficult to achieve.

The ability to generate and hold this muscular tension throughout the body such that a straight handstand is achieved comprises two key ingredients: coordinated strength and body awareness.

Our legs are strong not only because they make up a large part of our bodies; it is also because we tend to stand a lot. We are able to stand on our feet so well because we have been doing it since we were little. Using the concept of perceived effort level (PEL), over time as your musculature has been doing prolonged hours of work keeping you standing upright, you get so used to it that you stop perceiving this effort level as an undue strain or demand. Of course, we don’t remember much from when we were really little. Otherwise, you might have recalled that learning to stand was a real pain.

The same broad principles apply in the handstand. Because the handstand is a relatively new and somewhat unnatural position for those of you who are not acquainted with it, you are going to find it terribly difficult, at least initially, to tense your body in the requisite manner while trying to hold it in the air, on your hands. This is normal, and only to be expected.

And, make no mistake, the handstand, especially the straight handstand, is a powerful physical tool that unlocks many doors in the realm of physical fitness and culture.

You will get stronger from holding your handstand. This is because the tension that your body generates and maintains while you are performing a handstand is an exertion of strength.

Through the practice of handstands, we learn to generate muscular tension in some pretty challenging circumstances. Which means to say, the finer balance involved while you’re standing on your hands will compel you to tense your muscles harder than when you are standing on your feet. What this in turn means is that you are able to contract your muscles rather powerfully, and hold this contraction over a certain period of time.

Speak to any strong power lifter and he or she will tell you to brace your trunk while you are lifting. The act of bracing the musculature in the torso is a cornerstone of the ability to move some serious weight. Bracing is a requirement for a straight handstand and can be translated into the other athletic disciplines or types of movement that you may be interested in.

Since your hands are smaller than your feet (pardon my presumption if this isn’t true for you), and they lack a proper heel that would allow for effective balance in the direction away from your fingers, you will find that in holding a handstand you will be needing to perform many micro-adjustments in your musculature as a form of re-balancing exercise in order to continue staying on your hands.

When all is said and done, while the handstand is not going to make you as strong as the Hulk, or as finely-balanced and superbly-coordinated as Spiderman; but what it is going to give you is a sound foundation upon which these traits can be more readily built and refined.

Envisioning your body in space while holding an inverted position on your hands helps with development your body awareness, in terms of muscular effort and proprioception. For those of you dreaming of flags and front levers and the like, all these skills share a similar trait that requires full-body tension as in the handstand. Main point of difference – since in a flag or a front lever, or a back lever or a planche, your major limbic joints are not going to be as stacked under your bodyweight as in the handstand, they are going to require far greater and more specific arm and shoulder strength in varying scapular positions.

For a novice, the tremendous arm and shoulder strength required for a proper planche or lever isn’t going to come as quickly as is hoped. Tensing the body while struggling to hold a desired position is often nigh on impossible. That is why one should start with the handstand if one aspires to these other skills – the handstand, by the law of simple physics, does not require the same staggering levels of arm and shoulder strength. Learning it will teach you the body tension that will then stand you in good stead as you pursue the other static strength holds.

Often, the exertion of the scapular complex to fight the pull of gravity in a lever or flag or planche is going to be rendered extremely challenging if the body is not tensed. A loose and sagging torso and legs represent far greater resistance by leverage than a torso and legs that are powerfully-tensed/engaged. Acquiring the ability and the capacity for this tension in the handstand will greatly expedite the learning process for the other, more strength-demanding, exercises.

On a side note, even if the freestanding handstand is not your goal, hand balancing training has benefits which should not be overlooked. Hand balancing training is more than just kicking up onto the wall and holding for time. The alignment and balance drills and flexibility training will help with many of the mobility issues faced by the individual on a daily basis.

Due to the nature of the practice, hand balancing training helps with shoulder health and strength. Strength and health should go hand in hand unlike today where the pursuit of one aspect (usually strength) solely results in poor long term health (joint problems, imbalances etc).

***

Post is Co-written by Lionel Ng and Bruce Dierl of Basic Training Academy. Credit to Ling Qinghu, ex-acrobat from the Fujian Acrobatic Troupe, for teaching me (Bruce) the fundamental principles behind the handstand. Credit to Yuval Ayalon, former gymnast and former Le Reve performer for his guidance in understanding the finer intricacies of hand balancing. Bruce and Lionel previously attended a workshop by Ido Portal.

Building Strength Without Mass

October 29, 2013 By Al Kavadlo 53 Comments

I’ve been getting at least one almost every single day for a while now. In the beginning they were annoying, but after the first few times I actually started to get a kick out of them. I even came to find them flattering. After all, the people who send them are generally well intentioned and often don’t realize they are being rude. Some of them are actually very polite. I’m talking, of course, about emails like this one:

If I had seen the me of today when I was a teen, I probably would have wondered the same thing. After all, the main reason I got into strength training was because I was a scrawny kid who wanted to build some muscle. Fourteen-year-old Al would be very disappointed that after 20+ years of working out I still wasn’t as massive as the Incredible Hulk.

In fact, even though I’m about 30 pounds heavier now than I was at age fourteen (in spite of not growing an inch taller since then), I’m still a fairly small guy. And though my bodyfat percentage sits comfortably in the 8-12% range (I tend to naturally lean out in the summer), at a height of 5’11’’, I’m incredibly small by bodybuilding standards. Good thing I’m not interested in becoming a bodybuilder!
As a kid, however, I desperately wanted to bulk up. Though I managed to beef up to 190 pounds by my early twenties, I eventually came to find that I felt and performed better when I wasn’t carrying so much mass. Though bulky muscle-men seemed ubiquitous to me in my youth, as an adult I soon discovered that to people who weren’t fans of pro wrestling and Arnold movies (which, shockingly, is most people), being overly bulky is a turn-off. It took me a long time to change my perspective, but I’ve since learned to embrace my physique and take advantage of its benefits.

Though there are a few notable exceptions, most advanced bodyweight practitioners tend not to have huge, imposing physiques. Instead, high level calisthenics athletes usually have more of a lean, athletic build. After all, if pound-for-pound strength is the goal, it helps to be relatively light. The higher your muscle to weight ratio, the better off you’re going to be in regard to bodyweight training. Though you definitely need some muscle mass to achieve high levels of strength, it’s more pragmatic to make a little muscle go a long way. At a certain point having too much mass becomes cumbersome. It’s weighs you down more than it helps.

Build Your Foundation

Regardless of whether your aim is to add muscle mass or simply get strong, the first thing you need to do when you begin training calisthenics is build a solid foundation. Though everyone starts at a different place, building to at least 40 bodyweight squats, 30 push-ups, 20 hanging knee raises and 10 pull-ups (those numbers might look familiar) is a prerequisite that should be achievable within a few months (or a few years, depending on where you’re starting).

Women should aim for the same numbers, but with knee push-ups and Australian pull-ups in place of the full ones. This is not an issue of sexism. Biologically, women have a lower propensity for upper-body strength as compared to men. Of course with proper training, women have the potential to develop serious upper-body strength!

Once you’ve established that baseline of fitness, you’ll have likely built a bit of strength, stamina and muscle along the way. If you aren’t looking to grow your muscles past this point, however, it’s time to start training more advanced exercises and leave the high reps to your warm-ups.

Skill Out

It is often said that strength is a skill, and like any skill, the way that you get better is consistent practice. The goal of a strength workout is not to focus on the quantity of reps, but instead the quality. I recommend sticking with sets of 3-5 reps. However, it is helpful to add additional sets to offset the low rep range and allow for adequate volume. For this reason, I suggest performing 3-5 sets of each movement in a given workout when strength is the primary goal. Remember, you don’t need to do the same amount of volume as you would in a hypertrophy workout. The most you’ll probably ever need to do of a single exercise is 25 reps per workout. We’re not necessarily looking to get a pump, either. In fact, you’ll want to take longer breaks in between sets when you’re doing pure strength work than when the goal is mass-building. I recommend anywhere between 2-5 minutes of rest between sets.

It’s important to understand that strength is as much neurological as it is physical. Whenever you try to get your body to do something that it isn’t used to doing, it has to build a new neurological pathway to make it happen. Even when you ask your body to perform a familiar movement pattern, it will have a hard time if the leverage has been made less favorable than what it’s become accustomed to. Your brain has never had to send that specific message to your muscle before, so it must work very hard in order to arrive there. The message often comes in fuzzy.

Imagine using a machete to chop your way through the thick vines of a jungle. This is how hard your brain must work to get your body to do something for the first time. Now imagine you’ve lived in that jungle for ten years and walked the same few routes over and over, gradually clearing away the brush little by little. Eventually the path would be easy to walk and you’d arrive on the other side much more quickly, and with much less effort.

The same thing happens in your brain with consistent training. Over time, the pathway becomes clearer and the message arrives faster. The body adapts to whatever stimuli it is consistently exposed to. A body that is regularly called upon to apply force against resistance will get better at doing so.

Lean Machine

Diet may be the single biggest factor that determines whether or not you will increase or decrease in size. If you want to grow, you’ve got to eat a lot. Conversely, if you’re not interested in gaining weight, you shouldn’t be overeating. Though nutrition is a bit more complex than a simple calories-in minus calories-out equation, nobody ever gained significant bulk without the calories to back it up. Conversely, you can’t lose fat without being in a caloric deficit.

Personally, I follow a very simple diet: I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. I avoid mindless snacking and stay away from processed foods. I’m not trying to gain mass, but I’m not trying to lose it either. People love to ask me how many grams of protein I consume each day or how I time my carbohydrate intake, but the truth is I don’t concern myself with such trivialities. There is no need for the average person to possess a profound knowledge of nutrition in order to have a lean, strong physique. One need not understand how free radicals and antioxidants work in order to know that eating blueberries is healthy.

Regardless of your ambitions, the most important thing is being consistent with your training. Focus on making regular exercise a part of your lifestyle. Don’t over-analyze the details, especially if you aren’t doing the work physically. Of course if nutritional science is of genuine interest to you, there’s no reason to ignore that yearning.

Just don’t make your life any more complicated than it has to be. When all is said and done, the most important thing is to respect and appreciate the body you have. It’s great to strive for physical perfection, but the journey matters more than the destination.

***

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.

Handstand Push-ups and My “Aha” Moment

September 24, 2013 By Logan Christopher 10 Comments

Logan_Phonebook HSPU — This very wide stance, along with phonebooks to limit the range of motion, can be useful when getting started with this exercise. Demonstrated by Logan Christopher.

When I got started with bodyweight training my goal was to be able to do a handstand push-up against the wall. My upper body strength had always been quite weak as judged by the bench press, so I figured if I could achieve this goal I’d be on my way.

However, it was a long ways off. It took me awhile just to get the handstand against the wall. If I bent my arms at all I would come crashing down. But I was committed to the journey, and within a few months I achieved my goal.

This started a lifelong love of the handstand push-up. There wasn’t all that much information available on how to do this exercise out there so a lot of what I learned came from trial and error.

Al Kavadlo demonstrates the elevated handstand.

I’ll never forget the one training session that led to my “Aha!“ moment. Fast forward a couple of years from my first rep and I was doing a handstand push-up focused routine. I had worked up to doing about 5 reps and thought I was ready to increase my range of motion. Now my goal was a full range handstand push-up (hands to shoulders on an elevated platform).

One of the best ways to get better at handstand push-ups is to increase the range of motion just a little bit at a time. This was a method I had used in getting to my first head-to-the-floor rep, and it was my plan in working towards the full range.

I kicked up on my elevated setup in my garage and went for my first rep. As I lowered down I couldn’t even manage a single rep. What was going on?

I had only increased the range of motion about two inches. It shouldn’t have been THAT much harder. But it was.

What I came to realize is that I hadn’t just changed the elevation but much else about how I was doing the exercise. This was the first time I came to realize that small changes in your body position make BIG differences in the difficulty of the handstand push-up.

When the average person does regular push-ups, their elbows flare out far to the sides. While this is okay, it is not optimal. Done too much, this can cause problems for the shoulders as all the stress is placed into one area.

However the same problem does not occur in handstand push-ups. Because of the vertical, rather than horizontal angle, the shoulders are in a fine position either way.

Al -HSPU — Al demonstrates the handstand push-up.

Do a little experiment with me. Go ahead and put your arms straight overhead right now. Now widen their position. If you look closely you’ll notice that when you widen them they’re not quite as high.

A part of how this hand position changes the difficulty may be in a favorable angle for you to push. This will probably depend on what you’re used to doing. The majority of it comes from the fact that you shorten your range of motion with a wider hand position. A shorter range of motion means an easier exercise. And this is something you can do without any sort of equipment.

Although it’s not a huge decrease in range of motion, it is close to the sticking point in the press and thus can make a big difference in what you can do.

If handstand push-ups are something you can do right now go ahead and kick-up against the wall and give this a shot. Do a few reps with a wide hand placement. (Don’t go too wide as you’d lose all leverage and it would then become very hard). Then try a couple with the hands at shoulder width and note the difference.

If you watch people doing handstand push-ups, you can notice how close or far their hands are when they do them. Remember, a wider position is easier and will allow you to do more.

This can be helpful in allowing you to achieve that first rep.

This can be useful in allowing you to push your numbers up. (This easier form of handstand push-ups is what I used to achieve my current record of 21 reps against the wall.)

This can be used in helping you do full range handstand push-ups.

This can also be a big help in doing freestanding handstand push-ups and other bent arm presses.

When you’re holding a handstand you’ll usually want the hands to be shoulder width apart, as this is best for maintaining the structure in the handstand. However, if you’re doing any sort of bent arm press it can be made easier using this technique. All you have to do is practice balancing in the handstand with a wider than normal hand placement.

Of course, if you use this all the time it may make it harder to do anything where you need the shoulder width or more narrow hand position. For this reason it is best to mix it up. In any case this technique can be a useful addition to your bag of tricks, and a form of progression you can use.

The wide stance makes these freestanding handstand pushups easier. Demonstrated by Logan Christopher.

***

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/.

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/.

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)

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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!

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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.

Freaks and Geeks of Fitness

April 9, 2013 By Danny Kavadlo 23 Comments

We within the calisthenics community come from different backgrounds and origins, assorted borders and parts of the world. Yet here we are united for a common cause, a love of fitness and function, a passion for the improvement of self and the inspiration of others. In bodyweight training, we achieve with only the bare minimum.

Young and old, male and female, black and white: we are all represented. In fact, lots of us have never really fit in anywhere else, have we? I love it when outcasts come together. Diversity is a beautiful thing.

From urban bar athletes of New York, taking muscle-ups to new levels, to the teenagers in Europe flagging off the street signs, many with the affection for fitness have found a place to call home in calisthenics. So what if we didn’t throw the winning touchdown at the big high school game? We may have had different introductions to exercise, but we’re proud of who we are. And we train hard.

Coney Island, in deepest South Brooklyn, is the stomping ground of some of the illest calisthenics practitioners on the planet. Historically it was the home to strongmen, acrobats, and freaks of nature. Those guys were no joke. I can do a human flag, but I can’t bend nails!

One need look no further than the pull-up bars on the beach, the side show by the seashore, or the upcoming strongman contest, to see inhuman feats of strength still being performed to this day. Boardwalk history repeats itself as these modern marvels echo the death defying showmen of yesteryear.

They never fit in anywhere either.

C.I. is iconic; some would say magical. Even Coach Wade shows his love with a shout out to Joey Chestnut in his Convict Conditioning Ultimate Bodyweight Training Log. As the new season begins after a devastating year, I decided to include a clip that pays tribute to my favorite gym in the sand. Here’s some extreme bodyweight training, served up with a little extra mustard!

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About Danny Kavadlo: Danny Kavadlo, Master PCC, is a Personal Trainer in New York City. He’s worked with hundreds of clients, including athletes, models, and celebrities. He is featured in the Convict Conditioning Series & Raising the Bar, and is known globally as a motivator & leader in the calisthenics community. Learn more about Danny at: www.DannyTheTrainer.com.

How Training with Progressive Calisthenics and Kettlebells Prepared Me for the Unknown at an Intense 2 day Photoshoot

March 26, 2013 By Adrienne Harvey 7 Comments

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You may remember an earlier post on the PCC blog describing an example of how the “Good Behavior” routine from Convict Conditioning could easily accommodate kettlebell training. One of the absolute highlights of this past week was participating in a rigorous two day–two FULL days–photoshoot for the upcoming Dragon Door book, Neuro-Mass by Jon Bruney. While I had had a few days to look over the extensive collection of unique kettlebell, bodyweight, and specialized equipment drills and exercises, what I would be asked to specifically perform was somewhat of a mystery. Fortunately, the strength, flexibility, and coordination from long-term training with Convict Conditioning’s progressive calisthenics, and basic kettlebell work prepared me very well for this highly-varied shoot.

Even though my at-home and outdoor workouts are not especially spectacular on their own, it’s the long-term consistent practice of meticulous movement patterns and reasonable, safe strength challenges which add up solidly over time. This somewhat conservative approach helps me to maintain my strength and physique while avoiding injury. With a heavy schedule of workshops, travel, and instructing, there simply isn’t time for injury, which is all the more reason for strategic training and knowing when to back off. The approach in Convict Conditioning is absolutely perfect for the situation. Not to mention, when traveling, it’s rare that I even have to leave the privacy of my hotel room in order to finish my workout for the day. In all honestly there’s usually more useful floor (and wall) space in the room than a typical “fitness center.”

Many people ask if Convict Conditioning on its own is “enough.” Generally speaking, the short answer is yes, absolutely. The long answer is yes, but what is your specific goal? While my hybrid training with Convict Conditioning and kettlebells was entirely to credit for allowing me to shine at two days of unknown (and highly athletic) drills performed meticulously at relatively low reps for photos, I will need to do the actual Neuro-Mass routines for their full effect. Same with your sports and the specific skills required for them.

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One of my absolutely most favorite new drills from Neuro-Mass is the pull-up bar walk. All the grip work from Convict Conditioning 2 along with the coordination I’ve gained from inching towards the 1-arm chin up with so much isolateral work really prepared me for that drill in particular. So much that I was able to go forwards and backwards with ease. Jon Bruney has now recommended that we all man or woman-up and work towards going forwards and backwards with this interesting drill. I also like it as it brings the fun and coordination challenge of “monkey bars” to the gym with something as simple as a pull up bar.

The strength and coordination gained from Convict Conditioning as a whole also allowed me to successfully perform (on the first try!) an incredibly cool and difficult drill–this drill is so cool that I’ve been specifically asked to not describe it before Neuro-Mass is published! Before trying it, I had no idea if I’d even be able to do it at all! Consistent practice of Progressive Calisthenics and the seemingly simple workouts from Convict Conditioning had absolutely prepared me for the unknown!

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About Adrienne Harvey, RKCII, CK-FMS, Primal Move Nat’l Instructor: I started studying kettlebell training over three years ago and became RKC Certified in October of 2010, and became an RKC Level 2 Instructor in July 10th of 2011. Kettlebell and bodyweight training have been absolutely crucial in my personal quest for fitness, and I love sharing these ultra-effective modalities with small groups and individuals. Similarly, developing recipes to further support performance, body composition, and general enjoyment is another passion.

Go to http://www.giryagirl.com/ for more information about Adrienne.