Meet Our Masters - Mathew Harvey, Western Australia

1. What got you into Calisthenics? What were you doing before? Did you have to sacrifice for a career in Calisthenics? I got into Calisthenics very early on in my life. I didn’t call it Cali back then though. I was just - how many pull ups can i do, or lets do pushups every day. Then there was the beach handstand competitions and learning to do flips. Throughout my life i have pursued sports, such as Mountain Bike racing and in my early 30s i started doing Crossfit. Very soon i found i was riddled with injuries, aches and pains and while i was getting somewhat strong i wasn’t feeling very good. I finished Crossfit and refocused on bodyweight training with a emphasis on rehabilitating my injuries. This went well and before too long i felt younger and healthier than ever before. I was hooked. Professionally I spent the majority of my adult life working as a Marine Scientist. After about 15 years of sitting at a desk (mostly) i decided enough was enough and i wanted to share my experience of rebuilding my body and returning to a pain free life. I quit my profession, became a PT and focused on teaching Cali and bodyweight strength and flexibility training.. That was 3 years ago now and I’m not looking back. 2. Are you from a sporting background? Not really. As a youngster i had juvenile muscular dystrophy (think Forrest Gump braces and shoes). This didn’t really lend itself to a sporty disposition during my childhood. As an adult i stayed active with BMX and eventually mountain biking. 3. What is it about Calisthenics that appealed to you? What motivates you to do it every day? 1. Endless progression possibilities. 2. The combination of strength, mobility and skill that requires focus and stillness of mind. I’m very motivated to progress every day. I’m currently 37 years old, this leaves me maybe 20 -30 years of progress. And i’m going to push as hard as is healthy for each one of those day, months and years to see how far i can take the bodyweight progressions. 4. What equipment is used in Calisthenics, and what does some need to give it a go? Are there particular physical attributes? Is it all upper body strength? I tend to use a floor, a wall, and a bar. I also use the Roman (gymanstic) rings. To give Cali a go you need your body and the floor you are standing on. The best and only physical attribute that is needed to begin Cali is to be alive and have a body. Cali training can be anything you want. I use it as a all round strength and flexibility system. Training legs, core and upper body regularly. 5. What is your favorite element/style of calisthenics, The joy of Cali is there is so many different ways to enjoy progress. Currently i really enjoy focusing on hand balancing due to the inherent difficulty in learning these skills. 8. Is Calisthenics mostly practiced in urban spaces, or are the good places in nature to practice (rocks, trees for examples?). Do you feel connection to the natural world, or have an opinion on climate change or other natural world issues? Working for most of my life as a Scientist my opinions on climate change are aligned with the large body of scientific evidence. Yes humans are changing the climate. Of course i feel connected to the natural world. I am the natural world. This is not a separate thing. I am lucky enough to work full time in a bodyweight gym teaching Cali, for the last few years i train at Movement Co 

9. Can you describe some of the common moves in Calisthenics, and maybe give an example exercise readers can try at home to give them a taster for Calisthenics Calisthenics is for everyone. If you want to start. Sit down, now stand up. You just did a squat. Do that 10 times, take a rest and go again. Or lay on the ground push up into a plank, now lay down again. You just did a pushup. Maybe you are a little bit stronger. Walk your feet up a wall with your hands on the ground. Set a timer for 1 min. Stay there. It's hard. You will get strong. Cali is so accessible and easy to start and once you build the foundations of strength the movements get more and more diverse and interesting. 10. How would you like to see tour country's Calisthenics scene progress? I’d like to see simple and effective bar parks built in every suburb and education on how to use simple equipment readily available to all that wish to learn. 

11. Any big plans for the future? Teach other Personal Trainers how to coach Calisthenics in a productive and safe manner. Moving the the fitness industry ‘normal’ of pseudo body building based gyms filled full of machines and broken bodies into a more bodyweight dominate culture propped up with education.