Smart Bodyweight Training
by Matt Schifferle
Text Copyright 2018 Matthew J. Schifferle
All Rights Reserved
ISBN-13: 978-1718906648
ISBN-10: 1718906641
The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects
discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical
condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The
publisher and author are not responsible for any specific health or allergy needs that may require
medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment,
action, application or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book.
References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any
websites or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change.
Cover photo and design by Chris Clemens at http://www.thinkpilgrim.com
Dedicated to Grand Master Stephen Barrett.
Thank you for your endless patience while teaching me how to be a technician.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The phrase work smarter, not harder," has become so commonplace it's almost become a clich but how many times do we take this advice to heart? These days, a busy schedule and an over-caffeinated lifestyle seem to be the norm. When was the last time you ran into someone who said they werent busy, tired or stressed?
This idea of always working harder particularly applies to fitness and exercise. Our fitness culture loves to extol the virtues of blood, sweat, and tears. A quick scroll through social media makes it clear that hard work is what all the cool kids are doing while working easier or taking shortcuts is for wimps and sissies.
Motivation phrases like this are all over our fitness culture, but while Hard work is very important, it isn't everything.
Its easy to understand why hard work is put on a pedestal. In a world of scams, inflated hype, and empty promises, hard work is quickly becoming one of the few reliable ways to invest your time and energy. Sooner or later, everyone gives up the search for shortcuts and resolves to get results through brute force.
Hard work is incredibly important, but while this strategy can work for a little while, its incredibly limiting and even dangerous. This is because hard work is extremely hard to scale. Eventually, everyone reaches the limit of how hard they can work.
Trying to succeed through brute force is like running at a wall as fast as you can. Youll make some initial progress but eventually, youll have to stop moving forward. You may even crash and suffer burnout or injury. Once you reach that wall, your only options are to either quit and walk away, or you can continue to push against that wall in an attempt to maintain your results. Continuing to push your limits will prevent you from falling back, but youre now stuck working as hard as possible for the rest of your life just to stay where you are.
Hard work is like running at a wall. You make progress for a while, but eventually, you stop moving forward no matter how hard you keep pushing.
Working smarter gives you the opportunity to escape the exercise rat race. The more you learn about training intelligently, the better your results will be even if youre not putting in more effort than before. Learning to train in a smarter way teaches you how to move around that wall so your efforts can continue to move your forward.
About the author
My name is Matt Schifferle and Ive spent most of my life learning that hard work alone holds limited potential for success in fitness. I used to pride myself on how hard I could work with exhausting workouts, and punishing routines. This approach did bring me some progress, but it cost me a lot of time, money, and energy. It also beat my body and mind to a pulp by the time I was 30.
I almost gave up on fitness entirely, but as a last resort, I decided to give bodyweight training a try. Within a few months, every aspect of my fitness improved dramatically, plus my body and mind felt refreshed. The real shocking part was that I was making more progress while working less, not more.
Calisthenics taught me that even though I had spent most of my life working hard, I was also working dumb. I thought I would get results if I could work hard enough while using the right exercises, the right routine, or the right equipment. I eventually learned that none of that stuff works very well when I neglect to use them in a progressively smarter way. Ive spent months, even years working as hard as I could without building any muscle or strength nor was I improving my performance in any of my hobbies. These seemingly endless plateaus came to an end once I realized that training smarter was a much easier to way to make progress than always trying to work harder.
What youll learn from this book
The information in this book can potentially improve every exercise and workout you do for the rest of your life.
Thats a bold statement, and I write it because I have absolute faith in what the information in this book can do for you. You see, this is not just a book about bodyweight training. Its a book about using calisthenics as a tool to consistently learn how to exercise in a smarter, and more productive, way no matter what style of exercise you practice.
Ill start out in the next chapter explaining why bodyweight training is a scientifically sound method for helping you reach your goals. In fact, it provides some massive advantages compared to more equipment based methods. The following chapters will show you the three things you must focus on to achieve success regardless of what exercise methods you use. After that, Ill teach you my unique approach towards progressive bodyweight training so you can build a custom program to perfectly fit your goals, your body, your fitness level and your lifestyle.
Who is this book for?
Maybe youre looking to break free from the shackles of a gym membership. Perhaps you want to add some new tools to an established workout routine. Or maybe youre tired of the iron game and want to explore a new way to get stronger. You may even be an experienced bodyweight practitioner and are just looking for some new ideas. No matter what youve done in your past, or what you hope to accomplish in the future, Smart Calisthenics can help you break free of the false hope of hard, yet dumb, work.
-Matt Schifferle Founder of the Red Delta Project 2017
Chapter 1
Unfair Advantages of Bodyweight Training
There was a time when I was very skeptical of bodyweight training. I used to believe it was impossible to get very far without a gym full of equipment. Over the years, my views have changed, and now I prefer bodyweight training over weights and machines by a mile and a half. It's not just because I enjoy practicing calisthenics; it's because of the practically unfair advantages it has for building muscle, burning fat and improving performance.
The biggest advantages have to do with helping you satisfy what I call the Delta Principles of Fitness. To quickly recap from my book, Fitness Independence, the five Delta Principles are the essential make-it-or-break-it principles in fitness. All of your potential depends upon your ability to fulfill all five of those principles. The more you satisfy them the better your results are. However, if just one of these principles is lacking, you have almost zero chance of getting what you want. Calisthenics makes it much easier to fulfill all five. Lets take a closer look at each one to find out why.
