It’s pretty amazing how calisthenics changed my life, especially considering the fact that I’d never done bodyweight training before discovering it. For years, I was stuck in these endless loops of doing Beachbody home workouts. Prior to that, I was going to the gym and doing a combination of weight training and cardio exercises 6 days a week.
Looking back, I’d hardly call what I was doing weight training because I had no plan in place. I just went to the gym cause it was the right thing to do. Well, thank God I discovered calisthenics during the pandemic, cause for the first time in my life, everything about health and fitness clicked.
Getting into the best shape I’d ever been in was seamless compared to all the other fitness programs and eating plans I’d followed over the years. I lost 15 pounds and dropped 3% body fat in just a few short months after beginning a home calisthenics program. My jeans went from a 32 to a 30-inch waist as well.
What’s crazy is I’m 5″10 and I started the program at 153 pounds. I really didn’t think I had much weight to lose. I was wrong. We’ve got patches of fat hiding away in strange places on our body. I definitely had a lot in my chest and love handles.
So, I figured this would be a good article to discuss how calisthenics changed my life, not only physically, but also emotionally. Going down any fitness road to health & wellness doesn’t come easy. There are unpredictable hurdles and mind games that go along with it.
The confidence that goes along with having a body transformation is priceless. It’s the reason I write articles now to help others on their own fitness journeys, which is something I’m very grateful for.
So, I’ll do my best in this article to explain to you why diving into home calisthenics was one of the best fitness decisions I ever made in my life.
Got Me Into The Best Shape I’ve Ever Been In
The founder of the calisthenics workout program I follow makes some pretty bold statements. See, one of the concepts behind his programs is that most guys have this aspiration for a specific kind of body.
If you’re going to the gym or working out at home, you probably aren’t aspiring to look like a disproportionate bodybuilder without a neck. Most guys would rather have a proportionately muscular physique like Brad Pitt in Troy, Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool, or Chris Evans in Captain America.
So, I was certainly intrigued by the advertising, and I guess that is that I’d never really seen a fitness program promoted this way. I thought to myself, well, yeah, that would be amazing to be able to look like Brad Pitt in Troy, but I’m not anywhere remotely close to that. I had a soft skinny fat body with very little definition or muscle to it.
What I didn’t fully realize when I dove into the program is that it’s actually a full-blown system with three elements in place that cause us to lose body fat, build lean muscle, and enjoy eating again. I think that was one of the biggest game changers was when I learned that I could eat what I wanted to and not have to resort to small little low carb meals any longer. It’s also probably the biggest factor of the results I achieved.
So, in combination with the eating protocol of the program, which is very simple to follow, the actual Calisthenics workouts helped shape my physique in ways I’d never seen in my life. I understand now why this is possible. It’s because the founder of the program does so much testing and research whenever he releases a new workout. So unless it’s proven to give you a very specific set of results that you can see in the mirror, it’s back to the drawing board.
The program I follow is called Movie Star Body, and you can learn about it here. It was developed and then refined with the pandemic in mind. That’s another thing. I got into the best shape of my life right when the pandemic was at its worst, and all from home, while many people were gaining weight.
Gave Me A Simple Plan To Follow
I love the fact that the workouts are simple and they’re only 3 days a week. See, Greg O’ Gallagher, the founder of this program has died hard fans. But he’s also got a lot of haters. Some of those haters that I personally know just can’t stand the way he looks and talks. I’m not sure if that’s reason enough to disregard a program altogether, but I do understand that first impressions are everything for a lot of people.
Well, I gave him a chance, and the people who are died hard fans love his non-conventional approach to fitness and nutrition. I’m one of those fans. This is exactly what the haters hate though. See, he says that we can get into better shape working out only 3 days a week for 45 minutes than we can by hitting the gym 6 days a week.
He also says that we should eliminate traditional cardio, as it actually does more harm than good. So, what does he suggest instead? Just walk. I haven’t done a single cardio workout since I began doing calisthenics and I have no intention to do so.
See, eating properly and walking daily have helped burn off unwanted fat. The calisthenics routine that I follow on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays have helped shape my physique and build lean muscle in ways I simply wasn’t expecting to happen in only 3 months.
If you want to see the actual workouts I do, visit this link here, which will show you my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday routine.
In short, though, Mondays are heavy on your shoulders and arms, Wednesdays focus on the lower body, and Fridays place an emphasis on your chest and back. All in all, what I follow is a full body workout routine, and the results that I initially got were in the first three months of the program.
Eliminated Injuries & Migraines
This was actually a fantastic side bonus that I wasn’t expecting. For years, I’d been experiencing bad migraines after my workouts, whether I was jogging, lifting weights, or both.
I also experienced tennis elbow from doing various kinds of biceps curls. Tennis elbow absolutely sucks, because it makes it painful to even lift a glass of water. If you’ve never experienced it, be glad. It’s a really strange sensation, that hurts when you try to pick something up just the wrong way, and that could be the lightest object in the world.
So I was really bummed when I had to stop doing curls. I’d also had lower back pain from doing certain weight lifting movements incorrectly. The combination of getting those headaches and having other bodily pains made it really hard. I wanted to keep working out, but I was always nervous to even begin.
So, when I started following this calisthenics routine, low and behold, all the injuries I ever incurred previously just never came back. They went away completely. The biggest plus was that my migraines never crept back up on me again. Those were definitely the worst, and they always began about an hour after my workout.
The reason the injuries no longer come back is that the of the way I’m using my own bodyweight to develop strength as opposed to lifting weights incorrectly. It’s far more difficult to have a serious injury while doing bodyweight training than it is by lifting weights.
And you can truly develop more muscle by just doing calisthenics than you can by lifting weights at the gym also. I know this because of the results I achieved in only 3 months doing calisthenics exclusively. Far too many people at the gym aren’t nearly hitting their potential when lifting.
When you’re doing calisthenics training, however, you don’t have any option but to lift your own body weight, and that’s a lot more challenging because of the amount of tension it requires. This article here goes into depth about this specific topic. Plus, you’ll learn some other amazing benefits you may not have known about calisthenics.
As far as my migraines having gone away, there’s a part of me that feels it has something to do with the change in my eating habits. I used to eat many small low carb meals per day. But because of this calisthenics program, I learned there’s no reason to restrict carbs, and I began doing intermittent fasting as well.
I feel that the combination of eating what I want in bigger meals may be the reason for my migraines having left completely. I probably had a nutrition deficit in the past that was eliminated when I started eating what I wanted.
Gave Me A Newfound Confidence
Without a doubt, this is the biggest way calisthenics changed my life. I couldn’t be more grateful for it
Yes, calisthenics has the ability to completely change your body. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel self-conscious walking down a beach shirtless. That’s a huge plus, but it’s more than just that.
I feel better overall. People come to me and ask for health & fitness advice, and I’m actually able to help them. My best friend started following my eating routine, and within a few months, he lost 30 pounds. You can learn about that eating routine here.
This website exists because I discovered calisthenics. As soon as I lost those 15 pounds and saw a serious transformation in the mirror, I decided it was time for me to begin helping others who are struggling to lose weight or understand certain topics regarding health and fitness.
So, calisthenics started a whole new journey in my own life and I feel like I continue to learn and grow every single day. I love that this path has taught me so much more than just the benefits of calisthenics. I’ve learned why intermittent fasting can truly change your life also. Click here if you’d like to learn about that. I now know that there’s no reason for eating a low carb diet.
There are ways to implement exercise into your life in ways that are simple and powerful. There’s a way to eat that doesn’t require you to restrict your favorite foods. Getting into shape can be both simple and life-changing.
Calisthenics In Summary
I hope you found this article to be helpful. This was my personal experience on how calisthenics changed my life. I truly believe that a major part of my success has to do with the actual workout plan I followed. As I mentioned earlier, the founder of the program goes against the grain of traditional health & fitness in many ways.
This has caused a lot of controversies, especially when most other fitness gurus tell you to do the exact opposite. I’ve personally always been a black sheep in my family and I never really fit snuggly into any specific group, so it very well could be that’s why this program clicked so well with me. I just decided to take it seriously and go 100%.
It completely changed my life and I’ve watched thousands of other guys go through it and be transformed as well. I’ve seen their confidence skyrocket just as mine did.
If you’d like to learn more about this calisthenics program, visit this link here.
Thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate you being here. If you have any questions or comments at all, please leave them below and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible!