The art of true living in this world is more like a wrestler’s than a dancer’s practice.
Marcus Aurelius
I decided to do the School of Calisthenics review not only because calisthenics is a popular and established way of working out but also due to an increased search for bodyweight workouts and courses/programs throughout the recent lockdowns as gyms and boxes closed their doors all over the globe. With that in mind, we decided to do our first calisthenics program review, and to start things out we will bring you our honest review of the School of Calisthenics.
What Is The School of Calisthenics?
School of Calisthenics is an online calisthenics program co-created by Tim Stevenson and David Jackson. Although they have distinct backgrounds, I find they complement each other with their respective expertise. Below, I will leave you with a brief description of both.
“Tim is a Co-Founder of the School of Calisthenics and has been a professional strength and conditioning coach working in elite sport since 2008.
He was part of the ParalympicsGB team at the Rio 2016 games, and throughout his career, he has supported athletes to win significant medals at European, Commonwealth, World, and Paralympic championships.
He is a UK Strength and Conditioning Association Accredited coach and has a Masters of Research in Exercise Physiology. In addition, being a Director at the School of Calisthenics, he is also the Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach and Physical Preparation consultant for British Para-Swimming, a lecturer in Sports Science at Nottingham Trent University, and is a qualified sports massage therapist.”
“David ‘Jacko’ Jackson was a professional rugby player for 14 years until his career was cut short due to a head injury.
Jacko is now a UKSCA Accredited Strength and Conditioning coach supporting Paralympic athletes and also works with them using his performance lifestyle experience, sports nutrition, and psychology qualifications.
He is a certified Performance Enhancement and Corrective Exercise Specialist and has trained athletes to win major medals on the world stage. If he didn’t already have enough qualifications, he also has a Masters in engineering and a PGCE in teaching.“
Now with an idea of who’s behind the School of Calisthenics, let’s take an overlook at what they have to offer before we take a deep dive into the different aspects of the School of Calisthenics programs.
So the School of Calisthenics has to offer you multiple online programs available with different types of difficulty, workshops, retreats, classes, coach education, and an active online community.
Suitable For Whom?
First and foremost, if you have any physical or other issue that you think is incompatible with the practice of calisthenics, please get in touch with your physician before making any decision concerning this or any other calisthenics program.
With that said (and assuming that you don’t have any issue practicing calisthenics), I find that the School of Calisthenics programs are adapted for all types of practitioners. Instead, they’re beginners, intermediates, or experts.
So, if your main doubt is whether you can adapt to the physical effort and intensity of the programs, that should not present a problem.
School of Calisthenics Programs
Now that we have a clear idea of who and for whom the School of Calisthenics programs are intended, let’s examine what each program offers.
As you can see in the image below, they’re divided into three groups: foundation calisthenics, specific programs, and bodyweight workouts.
Foundation Calisthenics is a group composed of beginners’ programs. Here, you can find different programs made to meet different beginners’ needs.
Below is an overlook of the different Foundation Calisthenics programs.
Moving on to the second group, Specific Calisthenics Movements is a group of programs designed to learn some more advanced calisthenics moves like muscle up or human flag.
Again, I provide you with an image of the programs in this group.
Last but not least, let’s take a look at the third and final group, Bodyweight & Calisthenics Workouts.
If you’re wondering which type of workout you should follow, this program provides guidance and assistance. It’s adapted to all kinds of athletes, regardless of their level and goals.
Here’s another image that helps you visualize what the third group consists of.
School of Calisthenics Pricing
With a clear image of the different programs, let’s look at the different memberships and pricing.
There are two types of membership (Standard and VIP), which could be paid in monthly or annual fees. The annual cost is generally less expensive.
You can also buy the programs individually, with the price changing, attending the programs you’d like to acquire.
If you opt for a membership, you will have a 7-day free trial, whether you choose the Standard or VIP Membership.
Bellow, you have an image of the price and programs included in the School of Calisthenics Standard Membership.
Below, you have the pricing of the monthly and annual fees for both Standard and VIP Membership, as well as the number of courses within each module.
In case you only want to buy a specific course within the Standard Membership, it is possible. It’s a once-in-life buy, and you have access for life to the program(s) you bought.
Below, you have the different courses and prices.
Here are the programs within the VIP Membership that you can buy individually and their pricing. Again, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime buy, and you have access to the program you purchased for life.
School of Calisthenics Coaching
At the School of Calisthenics, you have access to classes (off and online), workshops, retreats, and 1-on-1 coaching. Let’s see how you can benefit from the coaching and its pricing.
Workshops
This first image shows the online courses, their length, and price. The second and third images show two different workshops and their respective prices.
Retreats & Workshops
This second image shows the three different types of retreats you can expect in the School of Calisthenics: Movement + Mobility, Beginners Calisthenics, and Calisthenics Progressions.
Below you have some additional info concerning the three retreats.
Online 1-on-1 Coaching
With online 1-on-1 coaching, you can get the most out of your calisthenics sessions with all the professional help and support from an experienced coach from the comfort of your home.
Below is an image to help you visualize what consists of online coaching. Unfortunately, by the time of this post, this option was out of stock, as you can see in the image, which shows the popularity of this option.
Classes
If you live in the UK, you can always try a class, usually delivered by calisthenics coach Josh Cooke. Here’s a brief description of what you can expect from the classes:
“We’ll start the process and journey towards things like handstands, levers, human flags, and muscle-ups, but we’ll also be covering things like your first pull-up, push-up, and dip as foundation bodyweight movements, which the ‘sexy stuff’ is built upon.
We want to help you move better (increasing mobility and control) while having fun getting strong and learning some new skills!
So, whether you are working on your handstand, your first pull-up, or even working towards something like a human, it will help you progressively along that journey.
We strip it right back to the basics and beginning, so welcome new beginners every week to the class.
Hope to see you there!” Josh Cooke
School of Calisthenics Review – My Honest 2 Cents
The reason I chose the School of Calisthenics program to review in the first place, dropping the possibility of writing about other more popular calisthenics programs (with whom I will take much bigger commissions in case of conversion), is simple.
- First, I am using the School of Calisthenics program; hence, I can speak from my own personal experience. I already have an established weekly routine, but I wanted to learn advanced moves like the Human Flag and Muscle-up with my brand-new gymnastic rings! : )
- I pay a monthly fee of only 9.99£, which allows me to enjoy the programs I want and access other content within the membership without additional cost.
- I had the chance to have a 7-day trial (that you can quit at any time), which allowed me to explore various programs and courses within that period.
- The quality I recognised in the programs and in the coaches was another reason that helped me in my decision.
So far, I’m glad about the results I’m getting; therefore, I’m happy with my investment, and I’m thinking of moving soon to an annual fee (Standard Membership in my case) to reduce the financial investment.
So to conclude, I recommend the School of Calisthenics programs.
It’s not expensive (in direct comparison with other similar programs), it’s pretty complete, and it has two professional and passionate coaches/co-founders who are very good at what they do.
And there you have it, my honest review of the School of Calisthenics product.
Do you think I missed something? Do you want to add something or give me your thoughts on the subject? Don’t hesitate to drop me a line in the comment section below, and I’ll gladly reply!
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Pompeu Pedrosa,
Founder of Against the Ropes.