I have shifted my training emphasis from strength and muscle-building to conditioning and endurance. Granted these are on a continuum so one is likely never done without at least some of the other. So, from a capped weekly volume of “hard sets” that reach mechanical and approach muscular failure, I have moved to high volume,Continue reading “New Training Emphasis and a Funny Not-So-Funny Story about Eugen Sandow”
Author Archives: FormIsEverything
The Food Pyramid Scam Scam
The food pyramid is not killing us. Social media and online life are killing us. I’m a recovering ancestral diet enthusiast. What comes with enthusiasm for the ancestral diet and everything else that accompanies it is susceptibility to the belief that all of modern nutrition and in fact modern medicine are wrong and misleading us.Continue reading “The Food Pyramid Scam Scam”
I Can See Clearly Now
In two months I’ll be sixty years of age. I’ve been practicing calisthenics for fifteen years. But as much as I have preached the value of progressive work, I have not practiced it. Until now. Everything came together for me a few years ago when I found Kyle Boggeman’s Youtube channel. He made what IContinue reading “I Can See Clearly Now”
Maximizing Calisthenics Training Effectiveness for Strength and Hypertrophy: Three Pillars (Volume Reconsidered)
What about load? Younger strength trainers would surely include load as a pillar and likely make it number 1. Back in my weightlifting days it was all about load. You have to train heavy to get big, right? Actually, no. Just about any rep range from 5-35 can build muscle. Training heavy has its place but eventually the bill comes due. TheContinue reading “Maximizing Calisthenics Training Effectiveness for Strength and Hypertrophy: Three Pillars (Volume Reconsidered)”
The Most Important Consideration for Building Muscle and Strength With Calisthenics
After a few weeks of feeling like I was stalled in my training without making gains, I decided to take a close look at exactly what I was doing. My main principles are that muscle and strength are best built with 10-20 hard sets per movement pattern per week, executed with good technique. That’s whatContinue reading “The Most Important Consideration for Building Muscle and Strength With Calisthenics”
Paused Rep Calisthenics Volume Training
The plan: choose a push-up, and pull-up and a leg movement. Start with three sets of enough paused reps to be difficult but not close to failure. Make sure the rep quality is A+. Vary hand and feet position slightly from day-to-day and alternate squats and walking lunges. Stay with the same set and repContinue reading “Paused Rep Calisthenics Volume Training”
New Year’s Resolution 2023: Food Is Food. Period.
For as long as I can remember and up until the moment in the fall of 2022 that I began supporting a loved one through an eating disorder, I did not have breakfast or consume any calories before noon. I did not consume any sugar at all. No desserts, sodas, candy. I did not eatContinue reading “New Year’s Resolution 2023: Food Is Food. Period.”
The Muscle Building Power of High Volume Density Calisthenics Training
The spring and summer of 2022 were largely about fat loss for me. After I finished the cut, which involved reduced meal frequency and sticking mainly to real food (one large and one small meal per day separated by 3 to 4 hours), I changed direction. To be honest, I finished the cut because itContinue reading “The Muscle Building Power of High Volume Density Calisthenics Training”
I Lost 20 Pounds in 10 Weeks and Have Kept It Off for 6 More. Here Is Exactly How.
In April of 2022 things had gotten out of hand. Or rather, they’d been out of hand for some time, years, really. I’d had enough. I’m a personal trainer. Should I look like this? I weighed 199 lb. (90kg) with plenty of muscle mass from consistent calisthenics but no muscle definition and way too muchContinue reading “I Lost 20 Pounds in 10 Weeks and Have Kept It Off for 6 More. Here Is Exactly How.”
Bodyweight Squats Will Set You Free
Most people who practice bodyweight squats, or “air” squats, do so briefly. They quickly “move on” to something more “advanced,” after impatiently having asked “how do I make bodyweight squats more difficult?” The expected answers to this question usually involve something like adding weights or working one leg at a time. But to the sameContinue reading “Bodyweight Squats Will Set You Free”
Form Is Everything 