Quick stats

Name: Matt Curran
Age: 25
Height: 1.81 m
Current weight: 80 kgs
Current city: The land of gold, JHB South Africa
Occupation: HR consultant and aspiring entrepreneur

How long have you been training in calisthenics and how did you get started in it?

Roughly a year now, but competitively for 6 months.

What do you love about it?

The best part about this form of training is that you are only restricted by your mind. There are no limits as to where you need to train or what you need to train.

Calisthenics is about the ability to move your entire body in ways you thought you couldn’t and that’s what I love. The power to overcome fears both mentally and physically.

Another bonus is seeing all the others in our calisthenics community achieve something everyday. Its inspiring.

Learn how to start off in calisthenics! For more training tips and calisthenics exercise specific advice from matt, click here!

What was the first advanced calisthenics move that you managed to do and how long did it take you to get there?

To be honest, the first move I got right was the flag (primarily because it looked the coolest and seemed the toughest at that stage ha-ha. But wasn’t I wrong).

I would say it took me about 2 weeks to get right, taking into consideration at that stage it was the only movement I had focused on.

Did you ever train with weights? Do you ever train with weights nowadays and do isolated exercises?

Certainly. I believe weights and being in the fitness environment lead me to where I am today.

I come from an extremely sporty family with both my parents representing national teams for various sports, so that also gave me somewhat of the athleticism I have today.

I did also compete in the fitness modelling arena but that wasn’t for me. Currently, the only weights I do make use of are for squats and using dumbells to add levels of difficulty to handstands ect. But no isolated movements, no.

Tell us a bit about how you started Rip core Calisthenics and why it came to be?

Ripcore is the brain child that came about through sheer passion for calisthenics and the desire to take the sport we love to a higher level in South Africa.

It just so happened that Adam and I trained at the same gym and after months of trying to out do each other at gym (don’t tell him I said that ha-ha) we decided to join forces and pursue this, and so today we have RipCore.

Do you give specific classes?

We do indeed. Our spiritual home is our amazing urban outdoor park in the heart of the Johannesburg CBD. We were afforded this opportunity and took it with both hands.

As of this year, the Johannesburg branch of Ripcore will also be giving classes in Sandton. These classes do cater for all levels of progression and by having one class that mixes these levels, we all feed off each others energy and achievements.

Most people say you cannot really build a great muscular body from only calisthenics and weights are needed. What do you say to that?

In response to that, I’d beg to differ. The misconception that a muscular body is strong is somewhat exaggerated. When it comes to calisthenics, we train to get strong, dynamic and agile, that is what I call strong.

Being able throw your own body weight around and contort in ways sometimes deemed impossible is what we call strong. Its not about being the biggest. But hell, athletic physiques are a bonus of this training.

What are your future plans?

Future plans from a Ripcore point of view are in talks. We do hope to see the sport grow in the country, and with this growth see our brand expand. As mentioned earlier, Adam has found himself in a fortunate opportunity to take Ripcore and advance it in the mother city. So yea, future plans are happening. This idea is driven by passion, and that’s always the most important aspect.

From a personal perspective, I do have goals to achieve, particularly with flexibility and my static movements. At the same time in the process of getting my business off the ground.

What was the best piece of advice you ever received?

The best of advice I’ve received was simple

“If you aren’t falling, you are not pushing yourself hard enough.”

This is important as overcoming the fear of heights and falling was a turning point for me.

Take us through an average day of yours:

I am very structured and live my days by routine. This allows me freedom of thought as with routine my essentials are always sorted.

• Like most people I wake up early, and do a 15-20 minute stretch.
• Then head to work. I work a solid 9-5 and the job is full on.
• Post work, make my way to training either at gym, outdoors or gymnastics.
• EAT – SLEEP- CALISTHENICS – REPEAT

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet, Do you monitor closely what you eat?

I believe in keeping my eating simple and not over complicating it. I eat to live and don’t live to eat. I ensure I consume nutrient-dense foods, sleep well and drink water. I am very conscious about what I eat and this stems from the vegan based lifestyle I live.

I am Fortunate enough to be powered by Synerchi Organics, so that covers my supplementation, which in fact does aid the levels of performance.

What are your top nutrition tips to getting ripped?

Consistency is key. Eating meals regularly and also knowing what your body responds to better. The obvious things like sugar, sodium, alcohol and processed food are also a huge no.

Did you make any mistakes when starting out? What are some common mistakes people make when starting out in calisthenics?

Of course, I’m human and innately we learn more form failure than success. This was very new to me and with self teaching all this myself, mistakes and falls are all part of the journey.

Not starting from the basics. If you have been pushing weights with isolated or even dynamic movements, its not to say you will succeed here. This is all about learning about your body and starting from the basics.

What does a typical training week or day look like for you, how do you structure your workouts and on average how long do you workout for?

I try and incorporate as many different techniques and styles of movement in to my week as possible.

I would incorporate a leg session, about 3 calisthenics sessions (either at gym or outdoors), at least one freestyle session and then a weekly gymnastics session.

Depending on the day, workouts can be between 1-3 hours.

What exercises or holds are you working towards at the moment?

My goals for the first half of the year are both dynamic movements and statics holds.

• The dynamic moves I will have achieved are the shrimp flip, backflip, switchblade and Korean dips.
• The static holds will be the front lever, straight arm planche, pike handstand and pancake splits.

What are some of your top calisthenics training tips?

• Over come the fear of height and falling.
• The beauty about body weight training is that reps count. So rep it out every set.

What are your three favourite exercises and why?

1. 360 muscle up

It was the first proper dynamic move I got right.

2. Maltese

It looks amazing when performed.

3. Close To Impossible (CTI)

Its true to its name, Close To Impossible, so it’s a long term goal indeed.

What are your tips to holding a perfect back lever?

Depending on how you hold the bar, I find it best to squeeze your shoulder blades together and at the same time, open your chest wide. It’s also important to pull your body to the bar and look forward.

Is it easy to gauge how long a specific exercise can take to achieve such as the front lever or planche?

As mentioned earlier these above mentioned movements are on my hit list for the first half of the year. To give you an idea of the progression its been about 2 months. These 2 months were predominately to get my tendons up to scratch and drastically improve my wrist mobility and finger strength.

So yea, I’m hoping about 4 months to have both locked down. Im about 80% of the way to master both.

Do you need to regularly put in work for these exercises to maintain them?

From an agility and stretching point of view, I do this every day for an hour. Stretching not only my muscles but more importantly, my tendons, is crucial for the development to perfect any movements that puts pressure on your joints. And calisthenics does this a lot.

Consistency is key.

Favorite Influential fitness icons:

Hannibal for king was my initial eye opener but I feel what the guys at Barstarzz have done was the game changer for me. At the moment, Raul Villarreal is the heat. His statics and dynamics are on point.

What is the most common question that you get asked?

“What is this you are doing and how do I start?”

It’s calisthenics and it’s the art or form of moving your body. A good place to start (come to Ripcore classes, ha-ha, na kidding) would be to do your research and use youtube as a source of information, I did and still do. Also never fear to ask people questions.

Favorite Quote:

“Never be afraid, amateurs built the Arc and professionals built the Titanic”

Learn how to start off in calisthenics! For more training tips and calisthenics exercise specific advice from matt, click here!

Where can people get hold of you?

• Instagram: blvckfit_ness
• Email: mattdescurran[at]gmail.com

Check out Matt’s teammate Adam Deane with more tips!

The post One On One With Calisthenics Enthusiast And RipCore Co Founder, Matt Curran appeared first on FitNish.com.

Quick stats

Name: Adam Deane
Age: 29
Height: 1.72m
Current weight: 72 kg
Current city: Cape Town, South Africa
Occupation: Sports Event Manager

How long have you been training in calisthenics and how did you get started in it?

I’ve been solely focused on Calisthenics for roughly 18 months now. After seeing some Barstarzz videos online I was blown away at what those guys and girls could do so I decided I wanted to be one of those people as well.

What attracts you to it and what keeps you coming back for more?

There is no isolation of muscles, everything you do requires your whole body to work as a unit and that’s what I love about Calisthenics. There a so many different ways your body can move its always an adventure experimenting with my body so Im never bored.

Learn how to start off in calisthenics! For more training tips and calisthenics exercise specific advice from Adam, click here!

What was the first advanced calisthenics move that you managed to do and how long did it take you to get there?

The first move I ever saw was the planche and I developed a slight obsession with it haha.

I spent the better part of 12 months working on it and perfecting the form. A full straight planche is one of the most difficult moves in my opinion as it requires immense upper body strength, coordination and balance, as well as a strong lower back, fingers and wrists.

Did you ever train with weights? Do you ever train with weights nowadays and do isolated exercises?

I was religiously into powerlifting before I migrated to calisthenics, so all my training was weight based. I injured my lower back very badly and that’s when I decided to leave it behind.

I do still use weights for certain exercises, we do weighted pull ups, weighted dips and we use weights for leg training as well.

Tell us a bit about how you started Rip core Calisthenics and why it came to be?

RipCore Calisthenics was started in June 2015 with the simple intention of creating an awareness in the South African market around calisthenics and street workout.

My teammate Matt and I share the same vision in that we want people to see and experience the benefits of calisthenics the way we have and we try to impart this through RipCore and its weekly training classes.

RipCore is also affiliated to the WSWCF (World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation) and SASWCA (South African Street Workout and Calisthenics Association) and sends athletes to compete in annual competitions locally.

What is the purpose of it and how can people join in and where?

RipCore is there to introduce and train individuals who want to get the best out of their bodies. We run a weekly group class every Saturday in the Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg. The class runs from 09h00 – 10h30. Further to this we are going to be introducing another aspect in 2016 whereby individuals can become brand ambassadors for RipCore and compete under its name.

Most people say you cannot really build a great muscular body from only calisthenics and weights are needed. What do you say to that?

I believe the answer to that lies in two parts.

• Firstly, muscular hypertrophy, fat burning, toning etc all rely on a simple principle. Your body doesn’t know the difference between a barbell, a bag of flour or gravity. All it knows is the load it has to overcome and how long it has to endure it.
• Secondly there are two ways to train, for aesthetics or functionality. Aesthetics don’t translate into applicable abilities, whereas to perform certain movements with functional training your body adapts to look a certain way.

What are your future plans?

I have just relocated to Cape Town starting a new job so that’s a new adventure for me. I want to create a footprint for RipCore in Cape Town as well so we’ll see how that goes. Im also quite enjoying the hikes, and might try my hand at trail running as well.

What philosophy do you live by and believe in to succeed?

The only thing that stops any of us from achieving what we want is our own fears and insecurities.

Have faith, work hard, be honest and be humble.

Take us through an average day of yours:

Im generally up very early mainly because that’s what my 2 yr old son wants haha. I work in the sports marketing industry as an events manager so my work is never dull and keeps me on my toes.

I hit the gym at least 5 times a week after work and spend the evening cooking and spending time with my wife and my son.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet, Do you monitor closely what you eat?

Of late I’ve become more educated and through experimentation I’ve learnt to keep things simple and not get sucked into the fads and trends.

Your body needs fuel to perform everyday tasks and there are things you should be staying away from. Im also very fortunate to be sponsored by the amazing folks at NutriTech South Africa so all my supplementation is taken care of.

My intake is split into 6 meals a day. Breakfast, fruit around mid morning, high protein and carb lunch, a late afternoon protein snack and a high carb and high protein supper with lots of veggies. I enjoy the sweet treat or cheeseburger now and then.

I don’t believe in depriving yourself if you feel like having something “unhealthy”.

How do you stay in such great shape all the time? What tips can you give to keep looking good with abs all the time?

Hours and hours of hard work. People often look for quick fixes and 8 week transformations but the reality is you need to programme your body and the only way to do that is pushing it everyday.

There is no substitute for putting in the reps and sweating it out. The more you do it, the longer you do it, the more it becomes your bodies natural state.

What do you normally eat after training? What’s the ideal foods to take in after training in your opinion?

I take a my NutriTech recovery shake straight after my training and when I get home its generally a chicken dish, or a pasta, steak and chips or curry and rice.

For me the ideal foods are your lean meats (lean steak, chicken breast) for a faster protein uptake, green veggies (spinach, broccoli) to supplement your magnesium intake for recovery and a serving of carbs (pasta, potato chips) to replenish your stores.

What does a typical training week or day look like for you, how do you structure your workouts and on average how long do you workout for?

Matt and I structure our workouts around getting as many reps in as possible within a 60 minute period. Our week is broken into days for:

• Pulling exercises
• Pushing exercises
• Legs
• Mobility training

Each session we try and hit a maximum number of reps, between 200 and 500 depending on the movements. The last 30 minutes of our sessions are for stretching and increasing Range of Motion.

What exercises or holds are you working towards at the moment?

Im currently working on the pike handstand and working towards the splits as well. 2016 is the year of flexibility for me.

What are some of your top calisthenics training tips?

• Don’t ignore the progressions, respect the steps or you will injure yourself.
• Pay attention to your flexibility.
• Have fun with what your body can do.

What are your three favourite exercises and why?

1. Pull Ups

They form the bedrock of a lot of what we do.

2. Push Ups

There are hundreds of variations to master.

3. Box Jumps

I prefer to have strong and powerful legs instead of just big legs.

What are your tips to holding a perfect handstand?

Fall over until it feels normal, take your time and work through progressions to understand what needs to work and how it needs to work.

How long does it normally take someone to master an advanced exercise such as a planche or front lever? How long did it take you?

I would say if you follow the right steps and are diligent with it, 6 months from a complete beginner is enough time to master a Planche.

I took a lot longer, almost 12 months because I didn’t know about the progressions and hurt myself a few times.

Favorite Influential fitness icons:

Frank Medrano, Muhammed Ali and Hashim Amla.

What is the most common question that you get asked?

How do you even do that? Haha.

My answer is always the same, lots and lots of practice and lots of failed attempts.

Favorite Quote:

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

For more training tips and calisthenics exercise specific advice from Adam, click here!

Where can people get hold of you?

• Email: adamactivesa[at]gmail.com
• Instagram: adam_active and ripcorecali
• Facebook: RipCore Calisthenics

The post One On One With Calisthenics Trainer And RipCore Co Founder, Adam Deane appeared first on FitNish.com.