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Andrew is like most of us: motivated and committed to training when first starting out, but soon falls off the fitness journey when we don’t achieve our goals within our expectations.
Training with calisthenics (or any other approach) is easy, to begin with, especially when you started young as Andrew did.
Andrew began his calisthenics journey at the age of 17. He made significant gains in his earlier years but soon found it more difficult to commit to training. It became harder for him to move the needle in his progress.
Now that he’s 33, he didn’t make much progress from way back when. He trained for 16 years on and off.
Getting motivated
“I just wanted to be stronger and more flexible.“
Andrew developed his strong interest in calisthenics ever since he’s young because of the thought of gaining strength using his bodyweight alone. This interest further grew on the rise of calisthenics Athletes on Youtube such as Chris Heria.
Finding a solution but not much luck
Understanding that he needed a structured plan to make the most out of his workout sessions, Andrew tried many apps on the market. He also tried using the popular P90X system. He thought it was good but was very tough to keep up the motivation for such “punishment”.
He was eager to find the one program that fits his needs and goals and that delivers results especially losing his path to improving his health and fitness levels.
Providing personalized programs and knowledge!
“The Movement Manifesto got me interested and some of those other
articles are what really got me hooked!“
Andrew stumbled on The Movement Athlete. After reading the Manifesto, it was clear to him that this is what he needed. He needed to change his training approach and perspective in fitness.
Not only that but The Movement Athlete is also sharing concreted and evidence-based knowledge to back up the program plan it provides.
At first, Andrew was quite hesitant because he knew he can do the calisthenics basics. If not, maybe it was just a case of bad flexibility.
But he was driven to find THE ONE program that can help him stay collected.
“I need the training to calm myself and reset my mind in the middle of the
day since I have a mentally demanding job.”
Upon becoming a Movement Athlete
“I can tell the research that went into it. It’s better than any trainer at
the gym.“
Since he already tried a lot of other apps, he thought that might as well go for it. It was one of the best decisions he ever made.
What he read from The Movement Athlete’s vast source of knowledge was all collated and applied in a single app so all he ever needs is to tap his phone then he gets a “personal trainer” but even better!
Personalised, Progressive, and adaptive calisthenics
This is how The Movement Athlete helps you make progress. It doesn’t force you on an excessively challenging workout like the P90X Andrew was talking about.
It uses a personalised approach so that the difficulty and other factors regarding your workout suit your perfectly.
In all honesty, cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all workouts do little to no good regarding your fitness. In fact, it can set you even further back by demolishing your motivation and causing you injuries or overfatigue.
You can read more of that in the article below: Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced programs that are hurting your training
The Movement Athlete takes personalisation to the next level by keeping it progressive and adaptive at the same time!
This means that Andrew’s program gets increasingly difficult (progressive) in order to make gains towards his goals, but in a gradual manner (adaptive) so it can be sustainable and more realistic.
To progress in your training, you don’t need to be working out for an hour and a half, drenched in sweat, and muscles sore like hell. Your body doesn’t need torture in order to grow and improve.
The Movement Athlete finds the balance of inducing progress by keeping your workout challenging enough without abusing your body’s capacity.
Read more on adaptive calisthenics through Auto-Regulation.
Change of perspective: what really matters
“I used to focus too much on physical measures of progress like
weight, body fat percentage, or size. I stopped measuring them and
just focused on the movements.“
The Movement Athlete is all about improving your body and your relationship with your body in the long run.
This is why Andrew gets to stay more motivated than ever and that’s why he was able to break his “16-year” curse of training on and off.
With his new training approach, he improving his physical values even without paying much attention to it. He’s just focused on moving and improving his body control.
The 4 main benefits Andrew has gained since starting
calisthenics with The Movement Athlete
Convenient training
“Just find somewhere near your house, even if it’s just a tree, and go before work!”
With the very accessible “personal trainer”, Andrew can train anywhere, anytime. Calisthenics is all about accessibility. You don’t need fancy equipment. If you’ll need some equipment, it’s something accessible, affordable, or something you can easily replace it with.
For example, if you need to train your pull-ups, just find a sturdy tree to hang on to.
For more help on calisthenics equipment, check out the article below:
The Ultimate Guide to Calisthenics Equipment and cheap ways to replace it
Keeps him consistent in training
“I was always able to take a good shot at the next level the first time around and that there is always an interesting goal. Often, this is the only thing that gets me to the gym.”
Andrew has never been this consistent in his training. As we all should know, we make gains and progress only through consistent effort.
With The Movement Athlete, he passes through the hour of a workout without thinking about how grueling it is.
It keeps it fun and interesting with the challenges and new goals it offers. This broke his “on-and-off” habit of training and is now leading him towards his new goals of body mastery.
Getting stronger
“I feel stronger literally every session, for most the abdominal progression is extremely slow but in the others, I have gained a lot.”
Thanks to the personalized, progressive and adaptive approach to calisthenics, Andrew has actually gotten stronger and he now feels stronger than he ever achieved.
This is thanks to the science-based approach of program structuring and smart planning without the over-aggression to progression.
Our body doesn’t gain instant strength unlike what video games sometimes perceive. In real life, building strength takes time, but you can gain strength in a more efficient manner if done smartly.
Building physique
“My shirts that used to be tight on the belly are now tight on the back and shoulders! I need to buy a larger size.”
When training with calisthenics, even if you’re not aiming to improve your physique, it will naturally happen.
Our body adjusts to the stimulus we impose on it. When training for strength and body mastery, we inherently build muscle and lose fat to be able to move freely and achieve the calisthenics positions we are aiming for.
This is what exactly Andrew now enjoys without even aiming for it. Getting ripped!
To sum it up
Since training with The Movement Athlete, Andrew has changed how he approaches fitness and his training with calisthenics. He has now broken 16 years of a huge plateau in his fitness journey.
He’s no longer aiming to get the specific body part percentage or muscle size but is now just improving how he can move his body.
With his new training approach, he’s now enjoying these benefits as well:
- Staying more consistent with his training which leads to progress
- He can conveniently train anywhere, anytime
- He’s getting much stronger thanks to the personalized, progressive, and adaptive program
- He’s improving his physique even without directly training for it
From training the fundamentals, Andrew is now aiming to achieve a handstand push-up to planche thanks to The Movement Athlete.
If you also want to take this personalized, adaptive approach to calisthenics training, begin your journey by knowing exactly where you are with your fitness training.
Like Andrew, break the cycle, make progress, and become a Movement Athlete.