First and foremost, you must have the fire in you; you have to motivate yourself and be dedicated. Calisthenics, and specifically working with bars (dip, pull up, etc.) requires strength, skill, and low body fat. What most people don’t know is that your diet is a tremendous part of your bar training; it has to be a lifestyle. Eating the right amount of nutritional food will help build your muscles stronger and faster while also helping you drop fat. Then you have to master the basics: pull ups, push ups, and dips. When I really started taking my training seriously, I started doing push ups daily. I began noticing that I was ringing in over 300 push ups a day in a variety of variations: neutral, wide, diamond, etc. Since push ups are one of the best overall total body workouts, it helped develop my strength and I was able to build the necessary foundation to execute other, more difficult exercises much more easily. The main thing that you want to keep in mind, as a beginner of calisthenics, is that you should always have the mindset of a student because there is always room to grow and improve.

By Raed Barance

 You may have heard about Parkour or Freerunning (most likely on YouTube), a new type of extreme sport. Put simply, these activities involve jumping on (and off) buildings and obstacles in an efficient or creative way. It may seem like an incredibly dangerous activity that is out of reach for the masses, but in reality, it is something that everyone can do.

By Jo Paloma

 If My Mad Methods readers are anything like me, they have a laundry list of training goals they are working towards and doing so with a very limited resource: Time! It seems like only yesterday I was in my 20’s spending 2-3 hours a day at the gym with time to work on whatever I wanted. Now I find myself busier than ever and some days I am happy if I can set aside 20 minutes for training. My clients and friends are in the same boat. They want the best results they can get while investing the least amount of time possible. The world is moving fast and we are all feeling the pressure to keep up.

By John Wolf

Last year I had the privilege of taking a trip to Hunter Army Airfield with Coach Scott Sonnon to teach the TACFIT system to members of the160th SOAR, a.k.a. The Night Stalkers. The 160th is most elite helicopter unit in any military. They have the responsibility of flying the most dangerous missions, often in the middle of the night, which is how they earned the name. When Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers and Delta Force units are on the job, they are often inserted or extracted by the men of the 160th. One of the most famous incidents that the Night Stalkers were involved in was made into a blockbuster movie called “Black Hawk Down.” More recently, they were involved in Operation Neptune Spear which resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden.

By John Wolf

Combat shooting calls upon a multitude of interconnected psychological and physical skills and attributes. Theoretical work and intimate familiarity with the weapon platform, movement practice with a “dry” weapon, “live” fire drills and scenario training with simunition rounds, and psychological work are all paramount to a shooter’s development and cannot be overlooked, however, breathing skills and a good conditioning platform are what provide shooters with a solid foundation and allow them to put these skills together in harsh conditions under duress.

By Greg Mihovich