Over on The Movement Athlete Facebook Group, we hosted a 30 Day Hand Balancing Challenge with Sam McFarlane a few months ago. We were highly impressed by so many of the participants that we felt the need to get to know them a little bit better and learn about their journey with movement. We hope that by sharing athletes’ journeys with movement we can inspire athletes all over the world to explore movement and play.

Let us introduce to you Federico Lopez Sanz, the co-founder of Alma Comunidad and a movement teacher. We were drawn to him from his skills, creativity, and inspirational commitment to the movement culture. When we recently interviewed him, here is what we learned about his journey with movement.

Federico, a movement athlete in his late twenties, from Santiago de Chile, knew from a young age that he would build a career around fitness. As a kid, he enjoyed playing sports at a competitive level. He played rugby for most of his younger years and competed in skateboarding and rollerblading. He love all sorts of physical activities.

Once he started travelling the world, he was first exposed to different body movement disciplines. He learned about aerial silks, acrobatics, dance, and different circus disciplines. He then bumped into yoga and loved it so much that he became a Certified Instructor. Yoga is still a crucial discipline in his daily movement routine.

A few years later, he dedicated himself to Crossfit, reaching Level 1 Certified Coach. It matched his energy levels and was a huge stress reliever.

At a crossroad in his life and eager to define his role in the movement culture, he decided to commit his practice to teaching others. Having been inspired by so many in their respective disciplines, he now wanted to inspire as many people as possible with movement. It’s what excites him most and fulfills his soul. He wanted to give back and share the conscience of movement.

Movement is a key component in Federico’s training. He incorporates it into his workout routine to build strength, improve flexibility and become aware of his body. His main goal is to dominate his bodyweight to reach freedom. He believes that freedom allows you understand any method, discipline or sport.

Federico had been wanting to be part of a challenge for a while. When his wife introduced him to our Facebook challenge, something ran deep in his soul that he knew immediately he wanted to input his grain of sand.

What he found most challenging was having patience. The patience to build something as beautiful as an arm balance. Yet, the reward of finding play with movement, capturing the moment and sharing it with a community outweighed the challenge.

The challenge got him out of his typical training spot and outdoors. Anything that spices up his routine, the more he likes to incorporate it. Especially since he felt really creative and inspired.

Federico had been wanting to be part of a challenge for a while. When his wife introduced him to our Facebook challenge, something ran deep in his soul that he knew immediately he wanted to input his grain of sand.

Federico’s desire to inspire and share his knowledge brought him to building his passion project with a friend. Together, they build a space available for anyone who wants to share or teach something different or unconventional. Alma Comunidad is a community bringing people to connect more from movement and less from ego. Their main principle is that:

Federico’s journey with movement is no short of inspiring. He lives and breathe movement daily. He embodies everything, we at Calisthenics Academy stand for and want to build. He’s an inspiration for us to continue building and sharing our discipline and community with you and the world.
Feeling inspired too? Join The Academy today and stay tuned for our next Facebook challenge.