Explosive Calisthenics: Superhuman Power, Maximum Speed and Agility, Plus Combat-Ready Reflexes--Using Bodyweight-Only Methods

by Paul Wade

How to Lead, Survive and Dominate Physically—By Becoming “The Complete Package” As an Athlete…Explosive Calisthenics is for those who want to be winners and survivors in the game of life—for those who want to be the Complete powerful, explosive, strong, agile, quick and resilient. Traditional martial arts have always understood this necessity of training the complete package—with explosive power at an absolute premium. And resilience is the joints, tendons, muscles, organs and nervous system are ALL conditioned for maximum challenge.Really great athletes are invariably that way agile as all get-go, blinding speed, ungodly bursts of power, superhuman displays of strength, seemingly at will…The foundation and fundamentals center, first, around the building of power and speed. But Explosive Calisthenics does a masterful job of elucidating the skill-practices needed to safely prepare for and master the more ambitious moves.But Explosive Calisthenics doesn’t just inspire you with the dream of being the Complete Package. It gives you the complete blueprint, every detail and every progression you could possibly want and need to nail your dream and make it a reality. You, the Complete Package—it’s all laid out for you, step by step“The first physical attribute we lose as we age is our ability to generate power. Close behind is the loss of skilled, coordinated movement. The fix is never to lose these abilities in the first place! Paul Wade’s Explosive Calisthenics is the best program for developing power and skilled movement I have seen. Just as with his previous two books, the progressions are masterful with no fancy equipment needed.You don’t have to achieve a full back flip or kip up to get HUGE benefit from mastering the early progressions. It doesn’t matter if you are a 20-year old looking to push your power and agility to new heights or approaching middle age, trying to slow the hands of time. Do yourself a favor and get this amazing work. This book will be the gold standard for developing bodyweight power, skill, and agility.”—CHRIS HARDY, D.O. MPH, CSCS, author, Strong MedicineDiscover The Ultimate Course for Developing Yourself As a Supreme Physical Specimen…With Explosive Calisthenics, Paul Wade challenges you to separate yourself from the herd of also-ran followers—to become a leader, survivor and winner in the physical game of life. But he doesn’t just challenge and inspire you. He gives you the direct means, the secrets, the science, the wisdom, the blueprints, the proven methods and the progressions—that make success inevitable, when you supply your end in consistent, diligent, skillful application.Now a legendary international bestseller, Convict Conditioning can lay claim to be the Great Instigator when it comes to the resurgence of interest in bodyweight exercise mastery.And—while Convict Conditioning 2 cemented Wade’s position as the preeminent authority on bodyweight exercise—there is no doubt that his magisterial new accomplishment, Explosive Calisthenics is going to blow the doors off, all over again.What makes Explosive Calisthenics so exciting—and so profound in its implications?See, it goes back to the laws of brute survival. It’s not “Only the strongest shall survive”. No, it’s more “Only the strongest, quickest, most agile, most powerful and most explosive shall survive.” To be a leader and dominator and survivor in the pack, you need to be the complete package...Now—for those who have the balls and the will and the fortitude to take it on—comes the next Explosive Calisthenics.

Genres: Fitness, Health, Reference

590 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2015

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from Paul Wade! The first volume dealt with the Big Six exercises, strength exercises that are meant to be done slowly and work all the major muscle groups. Volume two dealt with mostly some supplemental exercises to add emphasis to the grip, fingertips, obliques, calves and neck. It also dealt with more generalized topics on Wade's mind. This third book deals with the exercises that enhance, not strength, but speed. Once again, they are 6 exercises with 10 steps, the master steps which include Suicide Jump, Superman Pushups, Kip Up with no hands, Front Flip, Back Flip, Muscle Up and Over. It also features great illustrations and a number of variations on each exercise. Much more focused than the previous book, and exercises I can't wait to try.

[Pete Aceves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explosive

Another great book to transform yourself into a calisthenics master. Look forward to adding this knowledge into my workout routines.

[Sergiusz Golec · Rating 3 out of 5]

That's a workbook. I plan to re-read it.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent tome on dynamic body weight work. While some books go through a lot of the science of plyometrics and such, which is great for understanding what is happening, Coach Wade's bit here just focuses on making progress with your own body.

Better still, Coach keeps it pretty simple. He explains some of the set-up, then builds out progressions for you to explore, and then closes with how to use this information for yourself.

I think my favorite part, aside from the casual "dialogue" in which this is written, is that Wade doesn't overwhelm you with a bajillion different exercises; he keeps it to six primaries, each with ten progressive steps. This allows each person the ability to find where they are on each of the six spectrums, and customize their own development toward mastery. Well done.

Now, it is littered with typos and editorial errors. It's sometimes distracting (to me), and it's clearly the fault of the publisher for having such poor editors. Still, I dropped off a star for that -- it's such a solid work to be robbed of such poor production efforts.

[Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm looking forward to putting some of these techniques in place. I can definitely start the push-up progressions immediately, but the jumps will have to wait until I can resolve a long time knee pain issue. Once I get those down I'll start to work on kip-ups. That would certainly be impressive at the kwoon.

I also liked the description of the kipping pull-up. I recently started Crossfit and haven't yet received any good instruction on how to perform that move, particularly what some sane progressions would be. Now I have them and can start them on my own after the WOD (as long as pullups aren't already in the WOD).

If you're read CC1 & CC2, definitely read this. Paul's writing style is as easy as ever and it is an enjoyable read. With CC1-3 in your library you'll have all you need to know about bodyweight training. Not get to the local park and get training.

[Noritaka Hara · Rating 2 out of 5]

As you progress strength training by calisthenics or weight, it is natural to become more interested in functional aspects of physiques, such as speed, power, agility, flowing movements, injury free joints strength etc. However, I think these attributes are harder to address and work progressively than pure strength because of complexity of movement and traits.

This book is perfect for those who wants to go beyond simple strength training to reach the another height of your physical capacity. Progressive approach for gymnastics movements (backflip, kip, front flip) makes it attainable and trainable for non-gymnast practitioners.

It’s time to incorporate explosives into your boring gym workout.

[Mark Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed like the book I always wanted to do that elusive, special back flip. I did learn some cool "power moves" when working out that are tough and good for speed and explosiveness, but without thicker mats, flipping has been retired as a dream of mine.

I think the biggest hurdle lies in the huge leap between one exercise in a series and the next. Many proved overwhelming, even with the modifications to make them easier. Transitioning from an exercise I can do 10 times without difficulty to one I can't even do once with modifications... might be a step missing in there somewhere.

[Htb2050 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Falls short of the previous two books. Also it doesn't work on the real pylometrics but instead focuses on explosive movements which are only useful for mastering the few front flip, back flip, and muscle up skills which are good for showing off and may have a little fitness benefit since you will be working a lot to perfect the skill which would require balance, power and agility as the author likes to describe it but those will be the only skills that you will be good at.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long haul stuff

This book picks up where CC1 and CC2left off. It introduces explosive power techniques such as the jump, clapping push-up and flips. As with all Coach Wades stuff, the emphasis is on slow, consistent, disciplined progression over time. A higher emphasis on safety due to the dynamic nature of these techniques.

[Esope · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a bible. I opened the first book probably almost 3000 times for my own use. This third is also a reference for. But I am too old to practice with good results. I wish I have again twenty years old. Explosive Calisthenics are not just sport, it is a state of mind.

[Sadiq Salihoddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave a lot of insights regarding explosive exercises using bodyweight workouts. Author stated there are six explosives to be mastered before we can identify us as 'powerful' athlete. Bodyweight exercise is very important. Not to deny that free weight also important.