The ultimate guide to bodyweight exercises for anyone interested in taking their workouts to the next level without the use of weights, machines, or expensive gym memberships Complete Calisthenics is an essential guide for anyone interested in losing weight, building core strength, and taking their workouts to the next level. Author and trainer Ashley Kalym has designed a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to calisthenics using only one's own bodyweight for resistance. Readers will learn how to execute a wide range of exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, core development movements, and lower-body routines. Also included are easy-to-follow instructions for the planche, the front and back lever, handstands, handstand push-ups, muscle-ups, leg training, and other key exercises. Complete Calisthenics includes essential information on workout preparation, simple props, nutrition, and an assortment of diverse training routines. New to this second edition are enhanced muscle-building exercises, instructions for optimal rest and recovery, and an assortment of original recipes. Kalym also includes samples from his personal food diary. With over 500 instructional photos, Complete Calisthenics takes readers on a path to creating physical endurance, agility, and power. The book is suitable for every level of athlete, from beginner to experienced.

Written by two physical therapists who have worked with thousands of people around the world, Overcoming Poor Posture is based on one simple idea: there is no such thing as perfect posture. No two bodies are alike, and we'll teach you how to find your own best alignment so you can live each day in health and comfort while performing your best in all the activities that matter to you. Instead of a painful issue to fix, you'll learn to think of your postural alignment as a dynamic component of how you sit, stand, and move in your body.

Stephen Schwartz is among the rare American composer-lyricists whose Broadway musicals have inspired passionate followings, resulting in blockbuster hits like Wicked, Godspell, and Pippin. In the revised and updated second edition of Defying Gravity, biographer Carol de Giere reveals how Schwartz’s beloved musicals came to life, adding four new chapters that shed light on the continuing Wicked phenomenon and exciting projects that include stage adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Alan Menken and The Prince of Egypt. A popular feature of the first edition remains intact for the second: the story of Schwartz’s commercially unsuccessful shows, how he coped, and how he gave himself another chance. The new edition also features an acclaimed series of “Creativity Notes” with insights about the creative process. Wicked enthusiasts are treated to a revealing, in-depth account of the show’s evolution that takes readers from developmental workshops, to the pre-Broadway tryout in San Francisco, through the arguments over changes for Broadway, and finally to productions around the world. Movie musical fans know that Disney’s pairing of Stephen Schwartz (for lyrics) with composer Alan Menken (for music) led to award-winning movie musicals “Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted. Menken’s revelatory “Foreword” that introduces the second edition of Defying Gravity explores their “wonderful chemistry” and creative challenges. The abundance of behind-the-scenes stories in this Stephen Schwartz biography came by way of the author’s unprecedented access to this legendary songwriter for interviews. She also drew from conversations with his family members, friends, and colleagues (librettists, composers, directors, producers, and actors) to render a rich portrait of this complex and gifted artist. She rounds out the book with photographs, Schwartz’s handwritten notes, and highlighted quotations. Performers and others involved in productions of Godspell, Pippin, Children of Eden, Working, Rags, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, will discover the intentions of the shows’ creators. Singers, writers, fans, and anyone interested in the development of stage and film musicals will enjoy multiple insights from this backstage journey, from Godspell to Wicked, and beyond.

New York Times best-selling author Caroline Myss draws from her years as a medical intuitive to show that healing is not only physical; it is also a mystical phenomenon that transcends reason. Inspired by ordinary people who overcame a wide array of physical and psychological ailments—from rheumatoid arthritis to cancer—Caroline dove into the works of the great mystics to gain a deeper understanding of healing’s spiritual underpinnings. Based on these studies, she demonstrates how conventional and holistic medicine often fall short in times of need. Both systems rely upon a logical approach to curing illness when there is nothing reasonable about the emotional, psychological, or spiritual influences behind any ailment. Integral to this mystical healing approach is the engagement of the soul, which we experience through exploring our seven shadow passions, building an empowered inner self around our seven inherent graces, and learning how to work with the mystical laws that govern it. This knowledge holds the key to understanding what it means to defy gravity and break through the boundaries of ordinary thought. You can heal any illness. You can channel grace. And you can learn to live fearlessly.

From an elite Special Operations physical trainer, an ingeniously simple, rapid-results, do-anywhere program for getting into amazing shape For men and women of all athletic abilities! As the demand for Special Operations military forces has grown over the last decade, elite trainer Mark Lauren has been at the front lines of preparing nearly one thousand soldiers, getting them lean and strong in record time. Now, for regular Joes and Janes, he shares the secret to his amazingly effective regimen—simple exercises that require nothing more than the resistance of your own bodyweight to help you reach the pinnacle of fitness and look better than ever before. Armed with Mark Lauren’s motivation techniques, expert training, and nutrition advice, you’ll see rapid results by working out just thirty minutes a day, four times a week—whether in your living room, yard, garage, hotel room, or office. Lauren’s exercises build more metabolism-enhancing muscle than weightlifting, burn more fat than aerobics, and are safer than both, since bodyweight exercises develop balance and stability and therefore help prevent injuries. Choose your workout level—Basic, 1st Class, Master Class,and Chief Class—and get started, following the clear instructions for 125 exercises that work every muscle from your neck to your ankles. Forget about gym memberships, free weights, and infomercial contraptions. They are all poor substitutes for the world’s most advanced fitness machine, the one thing you are never without: your own body.

Teaches techniques for achieving a strong and toned physique through bodyweight training, explaining how to master the one-arm pushup and the one-leg squat and apply them to a variety of traditional exercises.

This book has potential to improve every workout you do for the rest of your life. Smart Bodyweight Training is more than a book about how to achieve superior results through bodyweight training. It's about using the discipline of calisthenics as a tool to learn how to use every muscle in your body in a smarter and more effective way. Author Matt Schifferle first discovered bodyweight training after years of struggling with classic weight and cardio workouts. Within a few months, of using little more than a pull-up bar, Matt found new levels of strength and health through using techniques that required a fraction of the time and effort of costly gym-based workouts. Unsatisfied with classic step-by-step calisthenics routines, Matt has created an infinitely customizable approach that delivers fast, proven results for anyone from the rank beginner to the elite athlete. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, your best workouts are still yet to come not just by working harder, but through working smarter than ever before.

"Al and Danny cut to a depth that most calisthenic practitioners will never reach. What you have before you is a well researched, practical approach to achieving your fitness goals through bodyweight training, produced by the experts in their field." --Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS ATHLEAN-X(tm) "In Arnold's classic book, The Education of a Bodybuilder, Arnold stresses the importance of bodyweight training. His insights are brilliant, correct and... completely ignored. Danny and Al once again remind us of the need for bodyweight training in their new book, Next Level Strength. I have been using the techniques that Danny and Al have taught me personally and I continue to make progress well after the age of sixty. This is amazing information brought to you by two of the best people I know." --Dan John, Author of The Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge "Next Level Strength takes all the power of old school calisthenics and blasts it to a higher level! Just when I think the Kavadlo library of advanced calisthenics cannot possibly be improved upon, they raise the game for everyone else! Next Level Strength is brilliant...make no mistake: this is the ULTIMATE manual on using rings and parallettes as old school calisthenics tools. As I've gotten older I've found myself utilizing the techniques in this awesome book more and more...the result has ALWAYS been the same: old aches and pains vanish, my joints heal, I gain fresh muscle, and I make breakthroughs in total-body strength. If you have seen rings and parallettes in gyms and were wondering how to use them to take your training to the next level quickly and safely, or if you are just looking for new tools to explode your athleticism beyond your old limits, Next Level Strength belongs on your bookshelf! 10/10!" --Paul "Coach" Wade, Author of Convict Conditioning "Danny and Al Kavadlo have truly taken their already masterful bodyweight strength instruction to the next level with Next Level Strength. Rings and parallettes are great training tools, but the genius of this book is in the exercise selection and progressions. The program is accessible to the beginner, while giving the advanced trainee all they can handle. Most importantly, the program is fun and goal oriented, and will be in regular rotation with my own training. The Kavadlos always set the bar high with the quality of their books, and I think this one will become my favorite, which is saying a lot. Next Level Strength should be on the bookshelf of any serious student of strength. Highly recommended!" --Dr. Chris Hardy, co-author of Strong Medicine