Gymnasts are great examples of strength and suppleness. They are athletes I admire and respect and love to watch. They move with grace and control and train using their bodyweight with little to no equipement; they practise calisthenics.
image from bodyweighttrainingarena.com
I have this goals list on tiny whiteboard sitting on my desk. It’s about four years old. There’s one item on it that I’ve been wanting to work on and 
achieve for over four years now and still can’t do: 5 un-assisted chin-ups. I think back to my childhood when I spent hours on monkey bars swinging from bar to bar and even skipping a bar, racing other kids and manoeuvring in all directions. Today, I just hang there unable to move in any direction let along pull myself up. I know that without physically practising, it’s never going to happen, no matter how strong or fit I am in other respects.
With this idea lingering at the back of my mind for so long, I slowly realised that I want to be much more bodyweight fit and use calisthenics for my personal workouts. Last year I started looking into calisthenics training. Read up on it and got a great book (Complete Calisthenics: The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise) that got me quite excited about it, my wonderful husband even made me parallattes (mini-parallel bars) so I could start practising at home. Unfortunately, I injured my neck and had to set that idea aside for a few months and focus on physio and recovery. I did continue to read more and watch more videos on YouTube; I also looked for local gyms that offered calisthenics coaching or parks and outdoor communities. I didn’t find what I was looking for. I did find some online communities and coaches but wasn’t ready to commit until now.
I more recently came across Barstarzz. They just launched a 12-week online program BTX Full Body Transformation Extreme Program along with a 4-week pre-program for beginners. So I did it, I signed up and I’m going to start with the 4-week pre-program and follow through the 12-week complete program. I’ll be sharing my experience, progress and results here in my blog. Stay tuned for this next “Try Something New” series featuring BTX by Barstarzz.
If you are wondering what happened to Roller Derby after I completed and passed my 12-week Freshmeat course, I’m still doing it! I’m still uncertain if it’s the right sport and hobby for me but I’m going to keep at it a while longer and see how it goes. I started the intermediate level sessions last week and have until late-September until the next assessment. Though I won’t be writing weekly about it anymore, I’ll keep you posted on any new life-lessons and interesting skills I learn.