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

Bought the first edition, read it cover to cover and it's a fantastic resource, in depth, technical and comprehensive book. Its only flaws are it needed better proof reading. There are quite a few spooling mistakes or prunting errors!The second edition has made great in-roads into correcting those flaws.It has also been completely rewritten and the book has developed into something even better, more comprehensive & thorough in every area. Training plans and progressions, development charts, referencing, the whole nine yards.One of the other great things about it is, if you have any questions about anything, something you don't understand or something's not quite working out for you, all you have to do is ask and the author, will answer those questions and queries and he'll do it really quickly. Usually via the Reddit forum.He'll also tell you where the mistakes are! I think there are 5 in total. One of them being the drawing I pointed out that didn't look quite right. These things matter! Excellent Book.

Overcoming Gravity is the body weight equivalent of Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" on barbell training, and Thomas Kurz''s "Stretching Scientifically" on flexibility training. It teaches you everything you need to know in a systematic manner.Steven Low has a very neutral and simple writing style, and he is very careful to make it clear when he is stating his own opinions and preferences. While not the most "exciting" writing style, it is easy to read and understand, which is important when we are dealing with these complex topics.The first 300 or so pages are theory on how strength training works in general, things to consider when doing body weight and ring training, how to structure a program based on your current skill set, and so on.The book aims at the beginner, but has plenty of juicy material for the advanced athlete.The last 300 pages are instructions and progressions for a wealth of different exercises. The best thing about this part of the book is the overview it gives you. You'll always know how to find easier/harder exercises for your current needs. The "worst" thing is because it covers so many exercises, it doesn't go into much detail. I currently struggle with the Muscle Up transition, and the book provides very little detail on what to do here in specific. BUT! There is a whole new chapter in this second edition teaching you "Methods of progression", which has made it much easier for me to think up my own assistance exercises.All in all, this book is much recommended. If you are into exercise, don't skip this one. It is one of THE base books to have. With that said, it won't be "the final book". I can warmly recommend doing further research on specific exercises and goals you are currently trying to master.Not a perfect book, but easily a 5 out of 5.

Extremely comprehensive, I’m only about a quarter into it. I’ve been lifting weights for over a decade, I recently fancied a change and decided to cancel my gym membership to burn the bridge and commit myself to seriously making an effort with Calisthenics.Based on reviews this is far and away the best book available on the subject of body weight training. It offers a real detailed insight into just about every aspect of the subject and most importantly it details how to progress from one stage to the next which is crucial with body weight workouts because it’s not as straightforward as simply adding plates to the barbell. I’ve started to implement some of the principals and seeing a slight improvement in my workouts, I plan to review progress after one year to decide if I will stick with calisthenics or revert back to good old free weights. My only criticism of the book is that the writing style is quite boring and it’s hard for me personally to focus, that’s why I am only a quarter of the way through despite being a fast reader. There’s so much info that you can only really digest it properly in small chunks. Definitely worth the price though and probably a must for anyone serious about body weight training instead of traditional weights.

Only one world for this: extraordinary. Only had it a day and I'm already highlighting and annotating pages.For those who haven't heard of it, this has for years been THE bible of bodyweight training, and this second edition tidies up and restructures many quibbles from the first book. The organisation and arrangement of topics is superlative; I started reading at the start, but was able to dip into my currrent focus (pullups) without trouble. My only complaint was not enough margin space to make my notes in! Yes, it's a big, dense book, but remains readable. When reading, I'd suggest a ballpoint and highlighter will be essential; you'll be returning to key points again and again.I'm not a gymnast but I train bodyweight, and that's who this book is aimed at - enthusiasts. Working on the principle of progressive resistance - gradually building up your skills in one exercise before "levelling up" to a harder one - it shows you a path upwards that starts easy, but leads (if you want to reach the higher levels) to master moves like one-armed planches and thigh-slapping pullups. Perhaps 0.0001% of readers will ever get to those upper levels - but that's not the point. It also teaches a great deal of muscular function, the "why" of the moves as well as the "what". It's hard to describe, but it feels more like a trainer standing next to you than reading a book. From understanding comes confidence, and that's important when you jump up to an overhead bar for the first time.Finally: it's rare to find a book that feels like such a labour of love. Reading it you feel a genuine warmth for the author; thousands of hours go into a work like this. I just don't buy books that aren't on Kindle, yet I bought this one.