Using bodyweight to heal

busting the myth of ‘no pain, no gain’.
Mark
Join the tribe of Movement & Calisthenics Athlete – people 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!

This is story of Mark – Calisthenics Academy

Mark is a jack of all trades who was a gym rat in his twenties, until back issues forced him to rethink his fitness habits. If you can’t lift more than 15 lbs, weight lifting and traditional gym workouts just aren’t possible anymore.

“Fitness doesn’t have to take hours a day. It can be as simple as doing squats or push ups while you wait for your coffee maker in the morning!”
It took him becoming dependent on painkillers to finally go see a doctor in 2015. He was forbidden from lifting heavy weights, which completely demoralized him. He had to rethink his approach to fitness, and calisthenics felt like a good solution.

“Calisthenics isn’t new to me, it’s where I started when I was 18. Now being 30, it’s where I begin again!”

Mark uses calisthenics, yoga and a specialized back-training program to rehabilitate his bad back, developing new skills as he goes. However, Calisthenics Academy was how he managed to get started on a healthier path to fitness.

“Calisthenics isn’t new to me, it’s where I started when I was 18. Now being 30, it’s where I begin again!”
“It’s all about doing more, no matter how little. Doing one more push up this week than last week, no matter how slow you go, progress is still progress!”
The 3 main benefits Mark gained since joining Calisthenics Academy

He now has a tool he uses for himself and his fitness clients

As a personal trainer, Mark loves to guide his clients through the learning process that is a calisthenics progression. With the help of the Calisthenics Academy platform, this is even easier to do now.

“I use [the Calisthenics Academy] program as a guideline for my personal training clients as well as for my own training!“

It changed his approach to fitness

It can be quite the experience to move from weightlifting to calisthenics! Mark’s view of fitness has changed completely, to the point that he’s devoted to bodyweight training and movement disciplines.

“I have actually sworn off weight lifting!!”

It taught him the importance of stretching

Calisthenics is about working your entire body, rather than focus on a single specific muscle, or its growth, or on weight loss. Mark understood this idea, but didn’t train accordingly until his bad back forced him to.

“The older I get, the more I look forward to my after workout stretching (mostly yoga!) than the workout itself.”

“A great part of our work is helping companies outgrow this silo-stage. The link with calisthenics is clear to us. Body-building is more oriented on training isolated muscles. Due to that, the interplay, or coordination between muscles isn’t trained, which makes a bodybuilder look very strong, but at the same time not that mobile, agile or flexible. Calisthenics is more oriented on the interplay between muscles, body parts, etc. It’s not about looking good, it’s about moving in an integrated way.”
Every small success matters
To keep progressing every day, Mark focuses on small steps. Daily movement is just as important as focused training sessions. With calisthenics, the results aren’t as immediate or visible as they might be with weight training. But the small increments are what matter most.
“It’s all about doing more, no matter how little. Doing one more push up this week than last week, no matter how slow you go, progress is still progress.”
“Since starting my calisthenics journey I am far more aware of my own body. ”
Mark’s advice to anyone interested in starting calisthenics
“It’s all about doing it! Once you commit completely you can overcome anything!!”
“This is such a great, simple and effective program!”