Tom_Honka_-_Blog_Banner

Join the tribe of Movement & Calisthenics Athletespeople just like you that are working with their own body weight to get strength, lose fat build muscle, recover from injuries and live their best lives!

✨Meet Tom

 

Stepping out of your comfort zone is something worth taking. For some, it’s a learning process that unlocks a whole new world of progress.🤸

This is the case for Tom, a chiropractor from California who now just recently tried calisthenics, but now enjoys the discipline and it’s benefits.🏆

 

Tom_Honka_-_Quotes

This is the story of Tom- The Movement Athlete

 

“I have always enjoyed athletics, played hard as a kid, wrestled in HS, rowed crew in college, but had never done calisthenics until I found The Movement Athlete.”

👊Tom was never new to movement. As a chiropractor, he knows the vital role of exercise in achieving a healthy and capable body. He just recently enjoyed playing pickleball, a paddle sport quite similar to tennis.

 

Looking for a Science-Based Approach

“I have been a practicing chiropractor for 33 years and keep up with the literature. Resistance exercise and vigorous aerobics reduce all cause mortality by 40%. So I am very motivated to see how far I can go.”

Even though Tom was quite active, he new that that wasn’t enough to achieve a holistically healthy and functional body. The sports he plays focus more on cardiovascular endurance and coordination. And because he’s practing chiropracteur, he approaches his training based on scientific literature. 

Resistance training should be included in everybody’s routine. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise AND at least 2 sessions of full body strength and muscle-building routine. This is just for achieving a healthy body. If you want to maximize muscle-building potential or improve your performance, more training volume or frequency is needed.

As you can see, resistance training such as weightlifting or calisthenics is crucial for health and function. Here are the 📍benefits of including them into your routine:

  • ✅ Slow down or prevent the rate of inevitable muscle loss
  • ✅ Build muscle and strength for performance
  • ✅ Maintain body movement function
  • ✅ Also improve cardiovascular health; hence, reduce chances of aquiring cardiovascular diseases
  • ✅ Improve physique and body composition
  • ✅ Increase confidence
  • ✅ Increase bone density
  • ✅ & prevents possible chronic muscle and joint pains (especially 📍back pains!)

So as you can see, there are tons of reasons why you should include resistance training into your fitness regimen, and it’s not only too look good.

 

🏃Letting Go of Fitness

“I knew I needed to get back in shape.“

And because of life’s getting too busy for Tom, he, unfortunately, lost track of his fitness. He gotten a bit heavier and gained fat in the process. 

But he wants to make the change.

While cardiovascular movements are great for fat loss, it’s not enough to attain a healthy body,

💪Resistance Training Option Other Than Weight Lifting

“Needed some resistance workout and I never have liked weight lifting.“

Although most studies on resistance training uses weight lifting as their protocols, some of findings on the relevant literature can be applied on calisthenics application.

🏋️‍♂️Weightlifting might not be for everyone. For Tom, it’s not his cup of tea. But in terms of resistance training, weightlifting isn’t the only option available. One powerful form of resistance workout is calisthenics, and Tom’s ecstatic that he found The Movement Athlete app to guide him in his bodyweight journey.

Calisthenics, like weightlifting, focuses on building muscle and strength, but instead of using weight, calisthenics uses body weight as a form of resistance. It’s not just not an alternative, but it could also be your main bread and butter for 📍building muscle. 💪

Here are other 📍advantages calisthenics has to offer:

  • 🔥 Zero to minimal training equipment needed – Read more here: 📍The Ultimate Guide to Calisthenics Equipment and Cheap Ways to Replace Them
  • 🔥 More balanced body development
  • 🔥 Calisthenics skills acquisition
  • 🔥 Improves body coordination and control
  • 🔥 Increases your mobility & flexibility for better performance and function
  • 🔥 Convenient training you can do anywhere at any time

Calisthenics and weightlifting has their own advantages and disadvantages. It’s really up to you to decide which one you would enjoy the most. But for Tom, calisthenics is the clear winner.

You can compare more about the two approaches here: 📍Is Calisthenics Better Than Weightlifting?

🤸Transfer to Other Disciplines

“I also discovered pickleball three years ago and found my play markedly enhanced after only a few hours of TMA.”

Strength in calisthenics doesn’t only stay in the calisthenics realm. All the attributes such as general strength, improved mobility & flexibility, endurance, and coordination transfers to other disciplines as well.💯

For Tom, he was able to win more pickeball games. The holistic body development he gained through calisthenics translated to better general performance.

“I feel stronger, more coordinated, and have been winning a lot more games.”

Tom gained progress efficiently and effectivly because of two features this calisthenics app offers: PERSONALIZATION and ADAPTIVE Training program

Tom_Honka_-_Case_Study

💥Personalized Program

“I looked online for exercises, but wanted a definite and comprehensive program that I didn’t have to invent.”

Everybody is different. That’s a fact.Each person has their own skill level, strengths and weaknesses. This translates into training as well.  Not all beginners are the same. Not all intermediates and advanced athletes are the same. So providing a 📍cookie-cutter workout with levels can’t address the individual aspects of fitness.

This is why the TMA app places heavy emphasis on personalization. Programs are tailored for each person. No single workout is the same. So the workout Tom gets is different from what you’ll get.

A personalized program addresses these things:

  • 🏆 Providing challenging workouts – 📍Progressive overload is the name of the game to improve. However, it should be within an individual’s skill level and the process should be gradual enough to 📍avoid injuries and dysfunction.
  • 🏆 Addressing weaknesses – You might be at an intermediate level with your pushing (most people are), but unable to perform a single pull-up. The other guy might have the opposite situation. So with a personalized program, we can address these specific weaknesses to gain a holistic, balanced development.
  • 🏆 Avoiding frustrations – When workouts are too easy, you’re going to end up frustrated. Eventually, you might even quit your workout. The same thing goes when the workouts are too challenging. Personalization lets your workout exactly within your capacity in every element such as strength, muscle, building, endurance and more.

Personalization works in many ways in the TMA app, not just in the main training structure and exercise selections.

🙌Program Adapts to Lifestyle

“Easy to do on my own time and in my own space, no interruptions, no distractions.”

The program can be adjusted to suit your lifestyle. This translates to better adherence to the program since you can train anywhere at any time; making a top choice if you want to get your session even when travelling.

✔️Choose Your Equipment

First of all, the programallows you to choose the equipment you can use. Calisthenics is known as the resistance training approach that can be done without any equipment. While this is true, it’s ideal to get SOME equipment. Don’t worry as these tools as easy to find and very affordable in case you want to get your own.

Calisthenics equipment is needed to master the fundamentals. Here are the 📍most vital equipment you would want to get and their possible alternatives.

  • ☑️ Pull-up bar – Sturdy tree branch, house beams, playground monkey bars
  • ☑️ Dip station – Two sturdy furniture, kitchen counter top
  • ☑️ Gymnastics rings

Again, these are not required, but ideal to optimize your progress.

😲Choose When to Train

Creating a program that allows you to train in your own time makes life easier. There’s no pressure. This works especially for those who have a dynamic schedule. You can always get your workout that meshes well with any schedule.

Just hear out our other Movement Athlete’s enjoying this benefit:

“I now love my 3:30[a.m.]—I know I’m crazy!—wake up workout” – 📍Timo’s Full story 

“I wish I just started with calisthenics and stuck with it back when I was 25 instead of giving up when work took up most of my time.” – 📍Albert’s Full Story

More stories here: 📍The Movement Athlete Success Stories

⏰Choose How Long to Train

One of the most popular reasons why people tend to neglect their training is that they can’t find the time for their workout simply because common workout programs last an hour or more. With the TMA app, you can easily adjust the workout duration depending on the time you can allot.

🎯Choose What to Train

For more experienced athletes who have mastered the calisthenics fundamentals, you can choose your next path in your calisthenics journey. If you want to focus on specific body parts, improve your mobility ,or learn calisthenics skills, the app allows you to choose your next goal.

To be successful in your training journey, the training session to fit your lifestyle. If not, it will be much more difficult to sustain the sessions. Speaking of sustaining your workouts, here’s what separates TMA from the rest.👊

What_s_Included in the TMA app

🏆Adaptive Training Program

The TMA app doesn’t just personalize your training, it also adapts to your current skill level, energy levels, mood, and pace of progress. This is called 📍auto-regulation – making sure your program is practical for your life. 

In an ideal world, you’d be able to train every day, eat perfectly, recover fully, and make consistent progress. But we all know life isn’t perfect! Many things can affect your training, like your rate of progress, sleep, diet, and other responsibilities like work and social life. That’s why auto-regulation is key for success in the real world.

In the app, this means the program constantly gets feedback from the user then adjusts the program accordingly to make the workout just challenging enough but not too much that it can trigger overtraining which can lead to injuries or mental and physical burnouts.

Auto-regulation is the secret to success for a sustainable workout that you can enjoy for life. 

🥇Building Good Habits and Discipline

“I find myself missing my workouts when I miss them.“

An underrated element that people tend to gloss over when looking for a solid training program is how it can build good training habits and discipline.

Discipline and motivation are crucial for success, but we can argue that discipline is more important than the other.

Why?🤔

To quote writer John Maxwell, “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.”

Maintaining consistent training by staying disciplined helps you yield progress in the long run. After all, we don’t get progress overnight. An all-out workout once per week isn’t enough to yield growth.

Because of The Movement Athlete training app, Tom yearns for his training when he doesn’t get a chance to perform it. And the app does this thanks to the adaptive nature through auto-regulation by keeping the workouts challenging, but enjoyable at the same time.

And because of the perzonalized and adaptive feature of the app, Tom is now enjoying these benefits!

Benefits Tom Now Enjoys

Thanks to The Movement Athlete App and Calisthenics

Convenient Workout for Less Stress

Anthony feels the complete balanced strength due to The Movement Athlete’s well organized program. He said,

It’s definitely making me feel a lot better because everything is balanced as far as the workout splits that are happening as far as one day focuses on legs, other days back, upper body.”

This is essential to have in order to prevent muscle imbalances. Alongside with this, the app also helps in training the muscles you’ve never thought of training! 

“ …helping balance out everything that you might’ve been missing with just lifting traditional weights type of thing.”

With weight lifting, other muscles might lag because you’re too focused on lifting heavier on your favorite muscle groups. With The Movement Athlete, the app helps you stick to the program and get everything stronger than ever.

Customers are the Priority

With regard to having a balanced body, this will also make all the aching body parts go away. As Anthony testified,

“That type of thing (Getting a balanced body). I mean right now my hips and my lower back have stopped hurting, which has been great.”

With no muscles lagging, Anthony’s enjoying a healthy, pain-free life. Muscle lags could also destroy your posture so better start training with The Movement Athlete!

He’s also know enjoying the DOMS(the pain after a day of working out)-free workout,

“ …now it’s not painful to get up off of the couch and which obviously completely defeats the purpose of exercising really.”

 

Younger than Ever

 

Related with being free from pain, Anthony also now feels better in terms of his mental state. He said,

I feel like it’s definitely made me feel better mentally, too because I’m not in pain.”

Of course, you’ll feel you’re always having a bad time if your body is aching all the time. With calisthenics, Anthony is free from pain. His mind is also free from thinking about the pain. 

Also, the gym causes some anxiety for Anthony.

“I would say that the thing that I would come across the most when I would go to the gym is that the bench’s going to be open? Is the squat rack going to be open? Am I going to have to wait? You know, other people need to use the equipment, as well. That right there you’re kind of coming to the gym with a little anxiety.”

Calisthenics solves this because even if you go the gym to train, you don’t need much equipment. If you’re going to use the dip station or pull-up bars, those equipment aren’t really used that much at the gym.

Improved Longevity

 

Anthony said,

“Just the fact that it takes every bit of muscle that you have to be able to do [calisthenics skills]. Every tiny little muscle rather than just the big major muscles when it comes to doing the big lifts.”

Calisthenics trains exactly that: the whole body all at the same time. It promotes also the all-around athleticism that appeals to Anthony. Calisthenics helps improve how you can control each part of your body and strengthening it as well.

Calisthenics for Weight Loss

 

Calisthenics lets you train with your body weight, not something you won’t have to carry as Anthony said

“But I have no need to be able to lift 400 pounds. That’s just, I have no need for that.”

He added,

“Rather than just being able to lift something heavy I can move and control my body using my entire body at the same time.

Calisthenics offers something that more functional in your everyday life.

📌TAKEAWAY

Since becoming a Movement Athlete, Tom has consistently been gaining progress, improving his quality of life, and building up to a longer, healthier life even with a busy schedule.

Here are Tom’s final few words about the app.

🔥Best Bang For Your Buck!

“I started with monthly, and I never paid for an app in all the years I have used them. I eventually bought the lifetime membership knowing I don’t spend that kind of money without getting a good ROI.”

Right from the free trial, Tom knew that he will be continue to gain so much from the app. Just imagine, this is the first app he paid for because it’s that good!

Since Tom opted for the lifetime membership, he has now a lifetime coach throughout his training journey.

Remember that fitness and calisthenics is for everyone. So if you can start early, you will enjoy more the app and benefits that goes along with it.

“I recommend this to my patients every day.”

Even if you’re not a patient of Tom, he also recommends trying out the app. There are so many benefits that you can enjoy from calisthenics and The Movement Athlete app. This all thanks to the PERSONALIZED and ADAPTIVE approach to training.

🏆If you want to gain these benefits as well, we recommend checking out the assessment first so that the app can tailor and adapt your program based on your skill level, lifestyle, and goals.

There’s so much to gain and nothing to lose! Take your fitness journey with The Movement Athlete app!

TAKE THE ASSESSMENT NOW! 💪

 

GET A FREE CUSTOMIZED TRAINING PLAN!

Start your life-changing journey with calisthenics and get lean, strong and mobile while unlocking and mastering over 100 new gymnastics & calisthenics skills.

It only takes 5 minutes, and no credit card is required!