The Ultimate Guide to Calisthenics from Jeff Cowan

How Strong You Really Are?

For years I used to do weight training. I felt strong and I looked big. One day I was challenged by one of my friends to do a back lever, and miserably I couldn’t even get myself in the right position. Then, he challenged me to do a Pistol Squat… Embarrassed, I couldn’t go down much… Really? I did not have the strength for that? Me? A strong, fitness freak? Even though I trained for years I lacked simple flexibility, mobility and balance. My big muscles locked my movements and I become a prisoner of them. Few years later I joined CrossFit and just months into training I ended with a nasty shoulder injury. I pushed too hard. I still love Crossfit but I needed to find a way to train with my injury while still gaining strength. Plus I was sick of being dependent on having a box or a gym to go to. I needed a change. That was the time when I truly discovered calisthenics – a lost art of the most effective, natural strength training on earth which is just using bodyweight.

The Un-ending Power of Progressive Calisthenics.

The most effective, natural strength training on Earth

Calisthenics is the art of increasing resistance with only your bodyweight to develop insane strength. Using progressive resistance, similar to weight training, you add difficulty levels across a full range of motion, skill, position, etc And because calisthenics uses only natural movements, it not only protects and strengthens your joints, but also conditions your body into amazing shape. It builds incredible strength, balance, flexibility, and natural and extreme body control ability Well-structured progressive calisthenics can give you insane strength gains, muscle growth, and fat loss while still protecting your joints and conditioning your body—naturally

I absolutely fell in love. My injury healed, I felt stronger than ever before, I lost all unwanted fat I build a physique of a gymnast I always wanted. And you know what? It was actually so much fun to get out there every day, try new skills, train towards advanced moves not only towards another inch on my bicep. I loved how I become flexible, mobile, how I started developing my balance and all the things I would never even think about with my normal weight training. And I loved how my joints were getting stronger while I was growing older.