Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength (Second Edition)

I could not recommend this book more. It is clear and concise, but also thorough, and truly written for all levels.

Great book. Gave me an understanding on how to implement an exercise program based on my schedule, of how and why to make my own precise program and how to progress. In the past 4 months I have moved up 4 levels on the progression chart in the book and I work out 4-5 times a week for about 45-60 minutes a week. I do not do the perfect program of a pro for time reasons, but I know what I need to adjust to make something work for me. For whatever sports you do, if you are serious about it, this book help you know what and how to train. If you teach or coach this is a great book to help you. Even if you do one of the below programs this book will help. Though it is geared toward gymnastic exercise it goes over the basics of the various types and how and when you use them. He does not tell you what is best but gives you the data to decide what works for your purpose.My friends were into Convict Conditioning and my physio friends are doing the Gymnastic Bodies program. This got me interested in doing a gymnastic based program. I researched online and found 4 basic ones that seem to be the most popular. I went with this book as it was not hundreds of dollars. I did not want to pay for a program that I spent a lot on and might not stick with. This had good reviews in terms of applicability. Even the section on injuries change my view on recovery. Now if I wake with a stiff neck or something like THAT, I handle it different and a lot more effectively. This alone made the book worth it.The other programs were:Convict Conditioning was 7 basic movements and was limited for me and has a slower progression than I liked. It has a basic book that was $30 ($10 used) but once you hit a point you need to buy other books from the author to advance.Gymnastic Bodies costs a couple hundred for the beginner program and about $750 for the full program. This is geared toward getting to the professional standards and is based on a very strict program. The author/coach is very strict and is very critical of anybody else's program. Some of his students are also like this but most seemed helpful with online questions. If one was going to go to competition levels this would be a good program. He keeps pushing how he was the junior nationals coach though the majority of us do not fit into that category and training a bunch of teenagers does not necessarily qualify one to train 30-70 year old people. Though I think he has a good workable program and can work for others.Gold Metal Bodies is similar to Gymnastic Bodies (but not per the above coach) and priced the same. If I get advanced enough I may pay for this program but that will be in a few years.Cons to this book are: it is a bit technical in vocabulary. When I started reading it I had zero gymnastic knowledge, no idea what the Victorian or iron cross was or some of the biology terms. I ended up using YouTube and Google to get a good understanding of these terms, it helped a lot to be able to actually see what he was talking about. I had 2 friends who saw me reading the book and tried to get through it but gave up. If you find it too complex there is a cheat sheet on how to get started fast, just Google it. Though I recommend reading the book. The main critical reviews were on how it was written. Yes there are some typos and sometimes it is a bit repetitive or not elegantly written but this is not why I bought the book. I wanted something that works and teaches me how to make a program and this does that. In the book he says to make your own program and not use his example programs. If you were like me and had no experience, just use his example programs, they work fine.So thank you Steven for a great workable book.

The media could not be loaded. I will just come out and say that this is an invaluable resource for those into calisthenics and good old body weight workouts. What I love is how minimal equipment is needed. The illustrations show clear form and technique, progressions are given, training for different fitness levels are given. The book really helps you design a program to follow. This book is geared more towards helping you create your own progressive workout as opposed to giving you a set template. Which I think is great, as it lets you work on your specific goals. Also allowing for unlimited growth as its not a set program, although there are workout templates that you can certainly use. I think its a perfect book for beginners to grow with and advanced to perfect with. The equipment needed is very minimalThe only problem I had with the book, is when the author mentions charts. For instance "Print out the progression chart in the middle of this chapter" I have no idea what chart the author is referring to and its not clearly labelled. The next chapter the author asks to break down your goals in push and pull except the exercises aren't clearly labelled push or pull so you literally have to go through and determine which ones are which. This is done often and I think it would have been much easier to have a list of the exercises and a list of information given about each. At one point the author states you can go to the website and print off a sheet but its not in an easy to locate area, that clearly labelled.I have nicknamed Overcoming Gravity the Body Weight Bible. Hands down at the top of my list for workout books. Definitely worth the price tag and more. It available on Kindle but I preferred to have the actual book to mark up and look through. Excellent Book