Calisthenics- A form of training that can change your life!

System Athletica is all about calisthenics training. But what exactly does CALISTHENICS mean and what’s it all about?

It's basically the name given to repetitive exercises that use the resistance of your own body to build strength, increase flexibility and burn body fat.
Minimal equipment is needed for calisthenics and can be performed anywhere there is a floor and space. One of the most beneficial aspects of training this way is increased endurance, as with most exercises, you will work almost every muscle in the body. The moves in calisthenics are natural ones that are far better for your joints. Many people who weight train suffer from joint pain because there are exercises that use joints in an unnatural way.

Personally, this is my favorite style of training. I always feel so good after a System Athletica class. The thousands upon thousands of squats, lunges, knees, glute work, taps and heels that I've rep'd out in this class have given me so many benefits.
The strength in my legs are all thanks to this style of training. It's what strengthened Justin's knees after suffering pain for many years.
We cannot recommend calisthenics enough!
System Athletica- Mondays 6pm & Wednesdays 9:30am.
Do yourself the biggest favor and add these classes to your training regime.
Your body and your life will change for the absolute better.

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Bits about pushups

Justin and I do pushups in almost every single class. Love them or hate them, you can't deny how good the ol' push up really is. Why you ask??

Well... as you lower your body to the floor and that familiar "burn" starts to kick in, I bet the last thing you're thinking is "wow! This is activating every single muscle in my body!" However, this is probably one of the top benefits of the push up. Major muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, stomach muscles, anterior deltoids and the lower body are activated to support your body while stabilizing your movements.

Classified a compound exercise (meaning multiple muscles are called upon), the most underrated benefits of doing pushups is the stretch it provides your biceps and back. As you lower yourself down, your back muscles are effectively stretched and when you push yourself back up, your arms get a full stretch as they extend. 

And going back to it being a compound exercise, when you simultaneously engage large muscle groups, your heart must work harder to deliver oxygen-rich blood to muscle tissue. Ultimately, this activity results in an effective cardiovascular exercise which supports heart health and promotes the reduction of stored body fat. Not to mention: the pushup gives you a full body workout, helps create balance, stability and muscle density, you can do them anywhere, they burn calories, easy to modify, and the best part is... they are free!!

I could boggle your mind some more but I think you get the jist of why you need to do your pushups!!

J & I will do around 150 per day... how many do YOU do?!? 

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Mild Oxygen Hyperbaric Therapy at the Stevenson’s & what does it do?

In our quest to maintain great health for ourselves and our trainees, we invested in a Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber (MHBOT). I first saw one of these at a fitness convention in 2004 and wanted one there and then, but when I tried to finance it I was knocked back because I was a broke personal trainer in a new city. Fast forward to today and I am “livin la vida loca” with my HBOT.

Basically when you sit in a pressured environment with an increased (pure) oxygen supply, your body reorganizes itself on a cellular activity by up-regulating anti-inflammatory genes and down-regulating inflammatory genes. The pressure acts as a gas and because our body is made up of gasses on a microscopic scale, every cell must contract giving a "workout" response on a cellular level. As we know from the training cycle, the body runs on oxygen, so when we saturate the body with oxygen, we are ultimately giving our cells a nice mild workout with excellent hydration.

Some of the results from using MHBOT are amazing and seem to be full of it (B.S) - but who am I to disregard another persons tangible result if they are living proof of the process working? I will only ever share what I have seen with my eyes and the results I have felt are the following - which I CANNOT say are placebo or not - however I do not care, I just know they happened since using the chamber.

• Better sleep - more restful. Ease of getting TO sleep is arguable, I think I go down heavier but there is a touch of increased mental activity before sleep kicks in but I have been getting up less during the night - again I am not sure if this is the chamber but I can say with confidence my sleep has been effected positively.

• Faster recovery from training, this this is a text book response due to the anti inflammatory nature of the therapy but It is only subtle. I notice it because I have done 100's of thousands of hours of training so yes it works.

• Old joint pains started lessening. I have knee issues from poor athletic form in my teens and early 20’s and have persistently tried to "fix" them non-surgically for the past 15 years. I can say with confidence that my knees have been getting progressively better. Deep squatting was a trip down knee burn lane but since using the chamber I have slowly gained confidence and can hit rock bottom again with half the burn I used to feel - and it is getting better as the weeks go by. Please note this was progressive. I did feel a marked improvement after my first session though.

• Strength increase - weight lifting capacity went up. Plain and simple I got a 5% strength increase in a few weeks. Did I actually get "stronger" or was it because my body feels better so my trust in it to operate at high levels increased? I don’t know but it happened, and if you know me you will know I am very careful with weight lifting so a 5% increase is huge.

• Mental clarity - this is a big one, I take in tremendous amounts of info every day from multiple sources and I often found myself stuttering and sometimes stumbling mid sentence like my words couldn’t catch up with my thought and since using the chamber this has changed big time. I feel mentally sharper is the best way to explain it.

• Energy and fatigue cycles are more noticeable. Another strange one, they all spout about the energy high you get but no-one says anything about the fatigue. I find myself getting very tired when sleep time rolls around. Training felt different in the beginning too, I felt myself fatiguing faster because my output went up which was not expected. Felt like not being fit which was humbling and interesting at the same time.

• Increased sense of well-being. I see this word combination ("well being") around a lot and often wonder what the heck it actually means to the point it seems like a BS euphemism, but I will use it here in this context because I cannot explain this effect any other way. I am sometimes a grumpy bugger who can be somewhat asocial, this is something I work on constantly so to feel "nicer" without having to remember to be was something that stuck out. I have noticed a marked improvement to my overall sense of feeling "good". This is not to say that feeling “bad” does not happen anymore - of course it does - but you really notice it when it does. To me this is a good thing.

So these are the biggest things that have happened to me with regular usage. I try to use it every day for about 70 minutes and find with each session the benefits I have just mentioned subtly amplify and last. I am not sure how long random session effects last - an interesting side-note is when people are asked about whether it "works" or not is they often do not initially notice the differences. It is the husband/wife/kids/etc that notice the changers more than the individual which I always find fascinating. If we do not notice changes but our loved ones do, what else are we missing?

If you want more science in Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy check out the internet but be warned, most if not all of the medical case studies refer to HARD Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy which is completely different to mild. Most of the info on mild has been copied and pasted from a few major sites on HARD therapy so this obviously taints the info which is why I chose giving my personal opinion instead of a whole bunch of well conceived and placed words which are actually falsely misleading when they are using HARD therapies medical doctrine to promotes MILD’s benefits.

I wish I could point you in the right direction for medial research data on MILD’s benefits but I cannot. All I can say is that it works for me, thousands of professional athletes like Lebron James, professional cyclists sleep in them, home doctors have "cured" loved ones, tens maybe hundreds of thousands of regular folk swear by the benefits and I am becoming one of those.

Recovery @ Cyn

I'm not always "Hitler" in session, I can massage too!!

I try and get my clients to have a recovery session every 6-8 weeks. The body is like a car; it needs to be serviced regularly in order to keep working and moving. 

My recovery sessions consists of stretching, mobility work, balance, massage and sometimes even a sauna. 

The client leaves feeling fresh and revitalized bacause the session prompts the release of endorphins (the brain chemicals and neurotransmitters that produce feelings of wellbeing) Levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine which can impair the immune system are also reduced. 

A Rico Recovery session leaves you with reduced muscle tension, improved circulation, stimulation of the lymphatic system, reduction of stress hormones, relaxation, increased joint mobility and flexibility, improved skin tone, improved recovery of soft tissue injuries, heightened mental alertness and reduced anxiety and depression. 

My clients say that my massages ROCK because I know exactly where to target. Alot of massage places will only target the usual areas; back, legs and shoulders. I'll get into the little areas that tend to be forgotten about. Places like the ITB, the achilles, tibialis anterior, sternocleidmastoid, the traps and teres major and minor. 

And I target these areas because I know that's where I usually get sore from training. 
So... you tired? Stressed? Sore? Or just need some time out to yourself? Come see me... for a small person I got some pretty sharp elbows!!

Why you gotta bounce

When we bounce on the trampoline we are working calisthenics (using our own bodyweight) and against the constant force of gravity, which runs resistance through all 50 trillion cells of our body. As you are reading this, also consider that "weight", by definition, is mass X acceleration. 

Rebounding offers 2 extra forces related to velocity or change of velocity and the forces are called acceleration and deceleration. (Uses car driving analogy accelerator and braking to decelerate) Generally these forces run along straight, linear pathways, in rebounding we manipulate them to travel vertically or straight up. This, along with the other forces of gravity and velocity variables introduces the physiology to a whole new environment it must adapt to.

Traditionally, working vertically can be eventually problematic as the only other modalities are basically running and sports which require many years of technique and are often difficult to reach high exertion levels due to the potential damage these activities are known for (i.e. knee, back & foot issues). Rebounding takes all that away due to the mat & spring system, allowing the user to reach high levels of output/exertion without the compounding damage of a hard surface.

An important part rebounding plays is working relatively unknown part of our physiology called the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a system of tubes that start in the toes and fingertips and work up throughout the entire body. It is filled with one way valves which makes it so the lymph fluid only flows in one direction. The lymphatic system is sometimes known as the internal vacuum cleaner of the body. It has the capability of sucking up toxins, poisons, trash and metabolic waste making it possible for the oxygen and nutrients to get in and bathe the cells. The way to turn on the lymphatic system is by activating the one way valves , and the way you activate those valves is by an “up and down” activity or vigorous movement. Rebounding is one of the most efficient ways of achieving this.

Because of the elevated lymphatic system activity, rebounding acts as a “cleansing” exercise which in our opinion places this style in a class of its own. The next key benefit of rebounding is the aerobic work, or the ability to breathe deeply and take in greater quantities of oxygen which has many profound and far reaching crossovers too many to list here. Next we come to the resistance, which comes in the form of gravity. Because gravity is an invisible force which passes through all 50 trillion cells of the body, each one of these must contract in order “keep the body together” so to speak (If a cluster of these cells were NOT to contract, they would float away in space and time!).

Training the body on a cellular level creates elevates effects such as the connective tissues and muscles become stronger and work as a compete unit, the vital organs get conditioned allowing them to function more efficiently due to the increased lymph fluid activity. We also get to stimulate  the balancing mechanisms of the body; the vestibular system, the anti-gravity muscles and the proprioceptors of the joints, so that you develop a greater sense of balance, coordination, rhythm, timing dexterity, and kinaesthetic awareness. Because of all these benefits, we have found that the entire body will function much easier.

Point of the story, if you have a history of eating "garbage" food, your "garbage collectors" are regulated by the lymphatic system. The easiest way to stimulate this system into action is rebounding. What are you waiting for? Get bouncing!

A little about Rico Shadowbox

A great track from our favorite workout Shadowbox - the most misunderstood training style of all. When shadowboxing is performed correctly the results are staggering. Speed, coordination, balance, power, strength, agility, timing, flexibility, injury preventative, enhanced proprioceptive control, enhanced auditory recall, accelerated metabolic rate, the nerd list goes on. Our biggest hurdle is because shadow requires learning and skill development before these results occur, most people/trainers give up and move onto the more generic styles like circuits, weights etc. If you have never tried good shadowboxing, give this track a go. In the comfort of your own home just go for gold, heck even take your clothes off and do it nekked if thats your thing, we aint judging, just promoting participation. Check out our YouTube channel for many different styles of training material too, most people have never set foot in a gym let alone done an exercise to music class, so if you are worried about a family member/friend getting more and more overweight + sedentary, show em some videos and they can follow in their own time in their own space. Put in the time and you will be rewarded.

Boxing track from Shadowbox Mix 2 Cyn & Justin Stevenson Song: Lights & Thunder by Krewella, mix & choreography by Cyn Stevenson Follow Rico Group Fitness Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rico-Group-Fitness-179205145490969/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricogroupfitness/ www.ricogroupfitness.com.au www.ricogroupfitness.net

Float for recovery

People ask me all the time what I do to recover my body after training for 15+ hours a week; FLOATING.
This is something both Justin & I try to do regularly and is something more people should know about and do.
As you've probably gathered from the name, floating involves being in a room that is designed for short term sensory deprivation that is filled with "super-saturated" magnesium water that makes you completely buoyant. 
The basic concept is that floating completely reduces external stimuli for 1 hour to help the body achieve a natural restorative state... no light, no music, no phones, NOTHING! 
Yep, at the beginning it was challenging to just lie there with absolutely nothing to do & "switch off" and ignore the "brain chatter" but of course like anything, do it a few times and you get use to it. Now, we both cant wait for our float so we CAN purposefully switch off! 
It's insane how much we rely on technology these days so being away from stimuli for just an hour helps with stress & anxiety relief, muscle recovery, pain, headache relief... I could go on & on!
Seriously, if you haven't tried floating, do yourself the grandest favor and give it a go... promise it doesn't disappoint xx Cyn

We go to Saltury in Five Dock, They are usually pretty busy during popular hours but are very accommodating, clean and punctual. https://saltuary.com.au/ 

Mini trampolining, the pelvic floor, falling and coordination

I want to address a few questions that have been popping up about bounce by new participants: The pelvic floor, coordination, falling, and the trampolines structural integrity. So the Pelvic floor in this context basically is in charge of stabilising your bladder, and during the training process, if your pelvic floor is unconditioned you will find yourself going to the toilet often until it gets conditioned. Because this muscle group is an internal muscle group that responds best to gravity, controlled impact and vibration eg: running, sports, skipping, etc, the only way to strengthen it is to put the body under these types of working loads which can be difficult to execute for a novice level trainee due to the demands they place on an unprepared physiology. Mini trampolining provides in my opinion the ultimate conditioning tool for conditioning pelvic floor due to the complete cellular activity working against gravity when bouncing and minimal joint load from the surface. Strengthening the pelvic floor is very important for modern lifestyles because as we sit down in front of screens and cars for prolonged amounts of time the pelvic floor actually deactivates due to inactivity which leads to postural imbalances, breathing problems, back issues, and fatigue/energy issues. In my opinion this makes the trampoline style of training extremely valuable to the majority of people who do not the time to “live” at a gym. The mat also provides a non-impact surface, and the nature of the training means muscle activation/effort is progressive and natural as the participants skills improve. This brings us to coordination and trampoline integrity. The Trampolines we use have a 150kg/330Ib weight limit and I would never recommend someone over this weight do this style of training initially anyway which to me is common sense. As far as coordination, yeah you will be a little un-co at the start but as you learn the movements, the language, and give your skills time to develop, the coordination naturally comes. Do not expect to be “good” your first go, no one ever gets it the first few times so liberate yourself from these expectations. And do not worry about falling off. We have seen 1000’s of people train and have only seen 1 person kind of “fall” BUT there was a random factor involved in that instance so if you want to focus on the 0.01% chance of falling well, that’s your choice but it does not seem necessary from my experience. So go ahead and enjoy yourself with this amazing style of training.

Power Bounce track from Rico Bounce Mix 5 Cyn & Justin Stevenson Song: Jumping Jack by Soul Breakers, mix & choreography by Cyn Stevenson Follow Rico Group Fitness Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rico-Group-Fitness-179205145490969/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricogroupfitness/ www.ricogroupfitness.com.au www.ricogroupfitness.net

System Athletica and Dynamic Isometric training

Check out this track from System Athletica which offers an uncommon training technology referred to as dynamic isometrics. This style of movement stimulates the brain through co-ordination, agility, timing, footwork (the dynamic principles) and works the physiology through progressive overload (isometrics) not to mention the overabundance of the squat and lunge primal patterns which are done without spinal compression. As we get older we get slower, our footwork ability decreases, our coordination diminishes and our ability to “fire” certain muscle groups “at will” heads south as well. If you are serious about your movement future forget the vanity style training and do yourself a favour, add these tracks to your routine and notice the benefits. Things like stair climbing, getting out of bed easier, decreased lower back issues from compression, increased neurological adaptation to coordinating your feet under your body are all common feedback we have received over the 10+ tears we have been sharing this style with participants. Oh and by the way, if you do this stuff at a good level, you will see great muscular benefits as well, so the vanity muscles become part of the natural process. Have fun!

"Work" Track incorporating dynamic and isometric squat and lunge patterning and variants from System Athletica Mix 12 Cyn & Justin Stevenson Song: Funky Beats by Groove Gangsters, mix & choreography by Cyn Stevenson Follow Rico Group Fitness Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rico-Group-Fitness-179205145490969/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricogroupfitness/ www.ricogroupfitness.com.au www.ricogroupfitness.net