THOMAS KURGANOV | Mastering Statics & Dynamics | Interview | The Athlete Insider Podcast #40

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your own coach essentially you know  telling yourself that you have to   do these workouts you know and making  sure that you're not injuring yourself your gorillas welcome to the athletes  insider podcast by gornation my name   is phil and today's guest is one of the most  complete calisthenics freestyle athletes and   uh somebody who is admired by a lot of statics and  dynamics athletes with his skills i'm really happy   to welcome you to the show thomas kurganov  what's up guys thank you so much for the   invitation glad to be here get started man yes  already uh nice that you you are uh for years   early morning right now for me it's uh the the  the end of the work day so opposite schedules   true and uh yeah let's kick off uh who is  thomas kurganov how do you present yourself   um so basically like uh when i'm first like  meeting people or introducing myself i'll uh   tell people that i'm professional calisthenics  athlete and i'm also a personal trainer um and   then if they ask any more like in-depth questions  like what is calisthenics then i'll go like   more in detail about the sport and exactly  what i'm doing and how i'm training people   okay great and uh you're living in the u.s right  i am living in l.a right now california great   and uh i saw like uh i always see this ukraine  flag in your uh in your bio so you're not like uh   uh 100 american can you tell us yeah my my  whole family is actually from ukraine from kiev   um and i'm the first generation born  here in america so it's pretty cool   i have a bunch of family over there  and i really hope to visit one day   um and yeah i know some athletes from over there  i think you also did an interview with melnick   yes um so there's some super strong athletes over  there and yeah that's pretty much where my family   is from okay and the good genetics because i  always see this these crazy ukrainians yeah   yeah so so nice uh but about it what i really  enjoy is uh like your english is perfect uh   so uh this is really good thank you for the people  uh listening to this i think they will enjoy   um people always ask these three questions um how  old are you so right now i just turned 21. okay   cool and how tall are you i'm about five seven  five eight so pretty short five seven five eight   do you know how much this is in centimeters um  i'm actually not quite sure but in weight i know   i am about 61 62 kg 61 62 kg for the us american  uh viewers how many uh what is it that'll be 140   140 okay and in centimeters your height is 170 um  okay just for the european uh okay listeners yeah   great um so yeah um tell us the story how you  got in touch with calisthenics um when did it   come into your life he said rom so um i've been  doing calisthenics total for around six years now   and my calisthenics journey started when i  was about 14 15 years old when i was just   starting calisthenics before i was already like  pretty athletic guy i was really into parkour   and martial arts and pretty much like i didn't  know anything about calisthenics there was not   much videos out and it was just me and my friend  um training at the local parks and in our in our   backyards here with the bars that we had um  and so at first my friend he introduced me   to he showed me what a pullover is and like  once i saw what a pullover was i was like   okay that's cool like i want to learn how to do  that and i learned it after one week and then   he showed me what a muscle up was and we both we  couldn't do it so that was like our mission like   from that moment like we want to get a muscle up  because like we've seen people doing it and it's   super cool and it all started from then like we  would just go to the park training muscle ups   and eventually my friend he went into doing the  bodybuilding and i got so addicted to calisthenics   and like once i got the muscle up i just knew  there was like so many more possibilities for me   um and i knew i was capable of so much more  um so i just i kept training from there on   and eventually i started going to gymnastics  gyms because for the first whole year of my   calisthenics journey i was only doing  reps and sets for the first year   and then i started uh seeing the videos  and stuff with the freestyle and everything   and then i went to the gymnastics gym and over  there um i was learning how to do backflip and   i was trying to do like freestyle on the bars over  there and i met this guy and we started training   together and he was from uh the venice beach  and he was part of the the local calisthenics   uh group over there i believe it was called  venice dynamics and so we started training   together and then eventually he introduced me  to his team and i started training with them   and then they had their first annual competition  of the year in the summer and they invited me to   go compete because i've been training with him and  so i was like cool i'll go see what it's all about   and i was only like 16 15 years old around this  time and so when i came um i participated in just   the handstand challenge and i was too scared  to do the freestyle and because i only had a   few tricks i was not confident myself and  i was a very shy person back then as well   and so after that competition i kind of like  made it my mission that i'm gonna train more   freestyle and i'm gonna get better as an overall  athlete and so then the next competition comes   around i believe it was in santa monica they  canceled the battle of the bars in florida   and i came to watch the battle and i didn't know i  was going to be able to compete um they told me i   couldn't at first and i see a bunch of guys that  are like 17 years old 18 16 like around my age   that are competing so i'm like okay like maybe  i can talk to the guy and maybe i can compete   and so he tells me like can you do a backflip  can you do a handstand then you can compete   i'm like okay so i go to compete and my dad was  there also so he signed a little waiver from me   and it was cool i competed and actually  ended up winning that whole competition   wow and that was for me that was the beginning  of everything that's when i knew like i wanted   to start competing more i wanted to start getting  more involved the community um and i also met a   bunch of people from the community there um and  from that day like we started training together   it wasn't just me anymore and it was  like a bunch of guys and i invited   them over later to my house and that's when  we formed the west coast warriors the team   and for two whole years after that we were just  training and motivating each other as friends in   the community coming up together and that's all it  was it was nothing serious and we didn't have any   really like certain path that we were following  you know it was just for fun um and then after   the two years we added some new members to the  team and we started really having a mission   we started uh to create our website and come  out with programs tutorials different blogs   and merchandise and just try to grow the sport and  help spread the sport in any way we can you know   and now i've been doing calisthenics for six  years yeah so that's how that's how it started wow   that's already a crazy journey so many things  in there so many questions already answered uh   because people always ask for how long do you did  you only do basics because for me it feels that uh   the young generation they want to do like the  planches and the the 360s and the dynamics etc   really really quick after beginning um even  like even in the first training they try but   like after a few months they want to achieve  it and i see a lot of professional athletes   like you with experience that they like did only  basics for a year or like maybe even sometimes two   years so what's your opinion on that for for  also looking on the joints on the tendons etc   i think in terms of what i did i was very  smart um because i would to anybody that's   starting calisthenics automatically i'll  recommend to start out with the basics   reps and sets and you know after doing it for a  year or i think i was doing for a year and a half   i was also involved in uh social media online  challenges like 14 day calisthenics challenge   and those were all reps different sorts of uh  cycles and repetitions for workouts and so that's   what gave me my foundation that's what gave me my  my strength i was able to have already like a good   pooling strength and already a good foundation  for a pushing strength um and so like when i was   transitioning into statics um it wasn't like so  much of like a strain on my tendons and joints   like you were saying you know so i already had  some conditioning um and always i'm telling people   no matter what level you're at if you're already  like super professional you always have to do   the basics and a lot of people they don't think  this because i don't post it all the time on my   social media but i'm always going back and doing  the basics and doing the foundations and working   to make sure that i'm safe and that's what really  allows me to have my endurance and to stay healthy   to perform the super advanced skills and exercises  i can imagine um and uh like you said your goal in   the beginning was the muscle up i like of course  of uh first uh um how's it called the turn uh the   uh pull over pull over yeah that's it yeah and  then the muscle up and after that was it always   the planche or did you know that you want to go  into dynamics and statics like how did it feel   no so at first like it was all just strength based  like repetitions like i didn't know anything about   statics or freestyle like when i was  doing this like i was literally just like   how many variations of reps can i do like  can i do muscle up clap can i do like archer   muscle can i do different variations of pull-ups  and dips and push-ups and you know figuring out   different cool uh like cycles um that i  can do together and add exercises together   like little rep combos almost you could say um but  yeah i didn't always know and then once i started   like getting more involved with the community  like instagram um and going to the beach more   and training with all those guys i got  like the hype and the motivation to   to do all the freestyling stuff because like i was  i was doing parkour before so i kind of had like   a good awareness of my body already and for me it  was a lot of fun just to like jump around and like   do flips and tricks and and twists you know and  being able to go to the gymnastics gyms back then   um that's what really like exposed me to the  freestyle and to the statics i was able to play   around safely under the phone pits and just try  different things and it just started getting up   and up enough after that what's funny is for  me also instagram is a world if you enter it   like before everything is quite normal you  think you're quite strong doing your muscle   ups or clap push-ups or whatever and then you  enter the world of instagram and there are like   people doing i don't know one-hour muscle ups  and like crazy crazy stuff and that's uh the   the reason i think why the new generation is is  wanting to learn skills so fast because they think   everybody can do a full planche everybody every  calisthenics athlete and on the other hand it's   also a good thing if you use it right to set  different standards because you for yourself   due to your friends due to instagram you had  different standards of what's possible exactly   and that's why we started creating like different  programs and tutorials for people because like you   said people now are they're so eager to jump into  that kind of training and you can't tell somebody   no like don't do that like if they want to do it  like they're gonna do it you know so they might   as well have like more information when they start  doing it so they can be safer and they can follow   like the right steps you know so because like  i went through it without anybody teaching me   or like telling me what the right thing was you  know like when i was first starting it was just   looking through every single uh youtube video  there was and there was not much you know and   back then you didn't know what was right or what  was wrong so it was just attempt a lot of attempts   just doing the progressions that you can and you  know trying to gain the strength in any way you   could for me form was not really a concern like  i didn't really care about a technique back then   for the first two years of my static training um  it was just build the strength build the volume   and then after that once i started getting seeing  a lot of progress with my strength i started   focusing a lot more on the technique and cleaning  everything up making everything look pretty   that makes sense makes sense definitely um  people asked how long did it take from your   first workout ever to the first um yeah  let's call it 80 clean full planche hold um so from my first full planche hold to like my  clean full planche no from the first workout ever   like in uh like starting calisthenics  really with uh sets and reps as you said   um to the first uh full planche the clean clean  one okay so my first workout um i would say after   the whole year and a half of doing like reps and  sets um for me to get my first straddle planche   hold it took me just like a few months like three  months and and then it was actually took me way   longer to get from straddle to full planche like  for me that was like a big gap for some reason and   so i think it took about six to eight months from  straddle to full so in total i would say about   you know over a year and a half okay if i  understand it right one in the uh one year   and a half of uh reps and sets around  there plus three a month of straddle   so you could say like two years yeah okay  okay and then like a few months again for   the full pledge okay because that's this is  really important because a lot of athletes um   and this is why the community said please ask the  questions specifically like this because otherwise   if i ask how long did it take for you to  learn the full planche then maybe you say   from the surgical planche i took uh i don't  know six months or something and six months   sounds really short you know like but i understand  yeah so in total from the beginning of my journey   to answer that question from the beginning of my  journey to a full planche hold i'll say it took   around two years okay cool that's around  two years yeah almost answers that's cool   um yeah i'm asking myself uh as i as i  said in the beginning already uh for me   if i think of of you as an athlete as i think  of somebody who is really complete who is like   really strong in aesthetics and dynamics and  that's not say let's say quite rare or like   it's something that's really special um what what  did what was necessary to make you that person   um did you just train more than everybody else did  you was it the your focus what what's the reason   in your opinion to that um that's a good question  so i think it's just the balance of training and   what you're focusing on for me like at the start  of my journey i was i was really focusing on   strength like that was my like that was why i got  into doing calisthenics um i was really appealed   by the strength aspect and that's why i was doing  the reps and sets um after i got introduced to the   freestyle it kind of fed that like crazy wild  side of me like that loves to do parkour and   martial arts and all this crazy stuff you know so  that's why i love to do both and like i knew from   the beginning like if i were just to like have uh  figure out a balance of training both then i could   progress with both you know so i would go  to the gymnastics gyms and whenever i'm not   training freestyle or learning new moves i'm i'm  training statics i'm i'm working out the reps you   know i'm doing the basics and i'm trying to get as  strong as i can um and so over the years like i've   realized a lot of different methods of training  and i think the best the best thing for me is   to understand what is periodization  training what is specialization and how to   differ differentiate your workouts between form  training um or how to balance your workouts for   form training endurance training and strength  training okay so in understanding how to balance   all of that in your in your schedule will allow  you to be a complete athlete because for me like   um sometimes what i'll do is i'll be focusing  for like one month or a few weeks on like   one aspect to get really strong right in like  maybe like full planche or a maltese or in   some kind of a strength element right and then  i'll put all of my focus there and then i'll   have my secondary focus on the freestyle or on  some other skills right so my main uh priority   is what i'm focusing in those weeks the the  planche or whatever and then after that i can   switch my focus after i see a good amount of  progress so what that allows me to do is to to   really focus all of my energy and effort onto  like one skill or a few skills and that way   i can see a lot of progress versus like um  i'm focusing on everything at the same time   you know and then i'm only seeing little progress  in in all the things you know what i mean   so for me yeah i would say that's what it is okay  and that's something um if i can tell for the for   the viewers that's something that i see a lot  of times in these interviews with professional   athletes that they do some kind of maintenance  work that's how they call it for um different   elements um they don't do them regularly or they  just do them from time to time but they focus on   one aspect and that's what you just said uh when  and which seems to work otherwise you wouldn't   be there uh sitting in front of trophies so  uh yeah yeah and and now like you know now   like when i'm training like like i said it's  just whenever i'm i'll pick like however many   times i'm gonna be training my freestyle um in the  week and then whenever i'm not training freestyle   i'm training statics every day like really hard  you know and a lot of things that i like to pass   on to my clients as well and people um that are  trying to you know progress faster is um a lot of   my training is i'm not going 100 percent in in  all of them you know so i'm doing kind of like   uh 60 or 70 to allow myself to be able to train  the next day or the next following days in a row   you know so that allows me to get more workouts  in by the end of the week versus i'm going 100   in one workout and then the next two days i  can't do anything you know so at the end of   the week is only three workouts versus like  every day i'm doing workouts so that allows   me to progress like way faster and focus on a  bunch of different things you know because you   people don't realize but you can get a lot of  done in one week you can do so much you know   and you don't need to destroy yourself like what  i like to do is low intensity high volume training   where i'm having a low intensity in my workouts  i'm not going like too crazy or intense but i'm   doing a lot of sets a lot of volume um to increase  the strength and to get a lot of repetition in and that's totally against so let's this common   knowledge or like a message that is around  everywhere you have to go give 100 in every   workout you have to go all in um and that's i've  noticed the most strength gains when i actually   don't do that when i'm like more consistent with  my workouts and but less intense you know and   i'm doing like for example more harder variations  or i'm adding weight or something like that more   resistance that allows me to see more strength  at the end of the day and without me completely   tireding myself out and fatiguing either so  you're not sore after every workout no sometimes   sometimes i am so like if i'm for example gonna  do like uh on my really hard freestyle and static   days so when i'm training freestyle really hard  no matter what as soon as i'm done with like two   three hour freestyle sesh we go into a few hour  static session right after so after those kind of   days where you're training for like four or five  six hours in the day yeah you're gonna feel it   but for me it's not every session like that  you know okay um those days where i'm going   really hard for like six hours a day is mainly  the days that we're training with the community   on sunday at the beach and this is usually once  a week um where everybody comes together at the   beach and we're all training and motivating  each other and that's why the day lasts so   long you know for six hours but it's really  cool yeah do you have somebody who uh do   does this uh periodization for you or is it  yourself who plans uh everything yeah just   myself yeah i'm doing it based off of how my body  is feeling always listening to my body and what my   goals are what my next goals are okay because i  was just asking because because there are still   athletes for example tony garcia he has uh he's  a coach himself but he also has like coaches   to plan everything for him this is why i was  interested yeah i don't have a coach but i've   kind of developed uh such a good understanding  of my body over the years that i'm kind of just   my own coach at this point and that's where  like the discipline comes you know it's it's   a lot more than motivation you know because not  every single day you're gonna have motivation you   know that's when you're gonna have to come out  with the discipline and the determination and   to be on top of yourself to be your own coach  essentially you know telling yourself that you   have to do these workouts you know and making  sure that you're not injuring yourself or you're   going too hard or too crazy you know so it's  really important to be aware of all those things   when you're training especially as a  professional athlete every day really hard true   can you take us in in a normal week  in your normal schedule for a week   yeah so um for my week um i'll i'll try  to do some kind of like workouts like   every day you know like i said like if i'm  too sore um then i'm i'll take a rest day   but a lot of times i won't rest completely i'll  do like i'll train some other skill or some other   aspect that i'm not feeling sore in or i'll do  cardio or you know like i said go back to the   basics go back to the foundations and do those  um but throughout my week i'm also doing um   online training so i'm trying to like really like  pass on a lot of the information that i also know   and help others um through my instagram a lot  of people have reached out with tons of messages   about similar things that you're asking about how  to you know structure the workouts and how to you   know train like uh with all these drills and  exercises safely and so i'm just figuring out   different ways on how to communicate with people  um how to train my by myself here and um recently   i haven't been training too much with my teammates  um so it's just been myself grinding at home here   and occasionally going to the beach but uh yeah  man that's that's pretty much what i'm doing   throughout my week and yeah so a lot of statics  at home because i guess you can't do any uh   freestyle at home i can do freestyle recently  the weather has been like not good it's been   raining a little bit here and the wind has just  been crazy so i haven't been doing too much   freestyles in that case um but whenever it's like  that i always can do statics in my room every day   i'm doing them and outside in my backyard i have a  setup with a bar and i have some rings and all my   parallettes so i'm always doing training there um  as you can see from the videos the static videos   true okay then that's good news so uh yeah you  have a lot of friends these times with with a good   workout park in the in the backyard i guess a lot  of people want to train with yeah sometimes yeah   sometimes we go to like the the local parks here  they're not too far away there's like a few here   in the valley and in la um but because of this  whole virus thing um you know people have been   trying to limit going out and stuff so it's more  of just my teammates whenever we can get together   um that's when the real the real hype and the  motivation comes because we're always pushing   each other you know when we're training together  so yeah okay um do you have like a few um things   advices for the people who want to learn  the planche some stuff that uh looking   back on your experience on your journey is  was crucial to to having this planche today um yeah so definitely something i mentioned before  about the listening to your body and not training   100 for each workout that's something that i  didn't know before when i was when i was training   and that caused me to have like uh several  injuries um like i had like a really bad shoulder   injury um for like five seven months um and it  was either impinged or i had like some kind of a   little micro tear but um from that like from those  injuries like i learned like what to do you know   correctly and i learned how to listen to my body  and not to just kill myself and destroy myself   and i learned that it's also okay to sometimes  take a step back and understand when you're over   training and you're going too hard and for me  it's sometimes good to do like a deload week   where i'm just for the whole week i'll plan every  single day of doing like basic exercises and rehab   so rehab is another important thing and i will  argue that people should be doing the rehab   if not just as much but more than their training  you know because that's actually like what's going   to make you able to train harder and gain the  strength you know without the injuries safely   quickly efficiently so i'm always rolling out um  with the ball i have the ball lacrosse ball and   i'm doing that and i have the roller um and for me  i don't recommend to stretch too much just because   like when you're doing statics a certain amount of  tightness is needed in your body you know to have   the strength so if you're too loose then it might  cause for for some kind of injury or displacement   you know so it's good to just find a balance you  know it's it's really about listening to your   body and kind of just figuring out what workouts  what drills what exercises are gonna work best for   you you know because there's a million things  out there that you know are gonna help you but   might not be the best for you you know everybody  is different and every every different method is   going to affect somebody differently you know so  you kind of have to listen to your body and figure   out the best method for you okay that's my advice  nice um number one question that we received and i   i was uh surprised by that um it was on youtube  and on instagram was about your uh planche form   and people were interested in uh your  like your extreme holo let's call it um   can you tell us more about it why do you do  that um is it like it will be uh how to call uh   by by on purpose it will be done on purpose  so you will have your thoughts yeah so   yeah it's on purpose like what i'm doing is on  purpose like i can do whatever planche form i want   i can do i can do retracted i can do neutral i can  do way too much protraction but right now the best   for me is just uh not over exaggerated but kind  of like still a good amount of protraction um   for me it all started when my my teammate  nikki makes he showed me a video on youtube   um that i believe is deleted now but i think it  was either air i think it was gagi from italy   um and he was teaching eric ortiz uh or somebody  like that um how to do like the retroversion and   the protraction with the form and like everybody  was gathered around a circle and like they were   speaking italian and spanish so i had no idea  what was going on but um i could see like and   there was subtitles so i was i was watching and i  was learning and like when i understood like what   i needed to do like i just i tried to do it in uh  just a tuck and going into an advanced tuck and   i realized that because i had like you know two  years of already like planche strength i was able   to like go into it for a few seconds for a few  seconds just to feel like what is going to be to   to have that form with the back right and before  when i was training i never liked my form i never   liked that my my scapulas were like sticking  out like that but i didn't know how to fix it i   didn't know what i was supposed to do um because  i was just going and leaning and trying to hold   and after seeing that i converted all of my  trainings to only doing it with protraction and   retroversion and so for six months um it took me  six months basically to go from that my old form   to a new form of like with protraction full  planche and throughout those six months it   was a journey like each month like i would be able  to hold my back but my legs would be too low or my   hips would be too low or it's too high you know so  i was experimenting and then finally like the more   repetition i did it um in all of my workouts i  stopped doing like the old way and i just started   doing the basics and the advanced tux with the  clean form and that's really what what helped me   and the best the main thing of why i'm having my  form how it is today is because i'm training like   how i'm training my form in the beginning of my  training i'm training you the same at the end   when i'm dead tired when i'm fatigued my form  is the same i'm training it the same in all my   workouts so even if you need a more rest you know  but eventually after you keep doing it every sesh   your body is gonna adapt and that's gonna be the  only way that you can do it you know like it's   hard for me to go into a bad form now nobody  has seen these scapulars since months then   yeah because for me it was a really interesting  and i before the interview i asked some people who   are really strong in planche as well um i asked  their opinion about it but because there are well   were also one or two people who are asked when  will he fix his form and for me it was like okay   i learned when uh doing planche it is  important to not have the scapula looking out   it's different styles like i'm not gonna say it's  a right form or it's a wrong form like people have   really strong plans that are not doing the form  like me you know and they can do everything the   same so it's just a different style of planche  for me i believe it's more than the form   i believe it's it goes into the strength and  like you know because when i'm doing like my   presses and my push-ups and everything when i'm in  a hollow body i feel like i can contain and i can   use more of my body for my strength um you know  when i'm doing my presses and stuff so when i'm   retracted like for example um when i'm going for  my press i don't feel like i can use as much of my   my shoulders and like you know i feel like it's  more load on uh unnecessary muscles and it will   cause it might cause for injury you know i don't  know for sure but before like i had the injuries   and when i switched to the form like i haven't  had really any injuries so you know it allowed me   like when i have protraction um when i'm getting  tired and i lose some protraction i can still do   my things i can still press i can still do the  push-ups because i know how it felt like to go   all the way synced in you know so it allows  me to have more room to work with essentially   interesting um so to count  your injuries in your career   the severe uh shoulder injury what else did  you have uh as injuries um i broke my toe   in battle the bars um doing double fly away  i had i broke my hand from doing a super 540   karate chopping the bar and um i don't think there  was like some minor injuries here and there but   those are the main ones and then my shoulder which  was the biggest one for me okay yeah um people   also asked what is your favorite workout when you  train statics or is it free so what's more fun um i'll say for me like because like i'm a complete  athlete for me is the most fun when i'm doing both   together yeah when i'm doing both together but  honestly like when i'm by myself i really enjoy   doing like statics like just going really hard  like because for me it's almost kind of like a   meditation it's kind of like a therapy as well you  know i could just express myself and go as hard as   i want without worrying about what anyone is going  to think you know and and for me that's kind of   just like a a good zone to get into um and i don't  feel like really stressed you know when i'm doing   statics like i'm just going as hard as i can like  i don't have to think about like if i'm gonna fall   off of this giant or i'm gonna do some crazy [  __ ] but i enjoy i love doing dynamics like for   me it's the adrenaline that's what uh gets me to  love doing the dynamics um it's different feelings   you know like when you do the dynamics like you  feel like you're flying you feel like you have the   adrenaline is crazy but when you're doing statics  you feel like you have the power you feel like   super strong you know and you can just you know  it's different feelings and it's two feelings that   i'm forever going to be in love with and  that's why i love calisthenics so great   let's switch to competition preparation  how does it this look like for you so competition preparation is is very  important like i would say like when i'm   when i'm training for competition um i've  tested out different actual like methods   um i've tried being like super stressed about it  and like taking it like super super serious like   every single day like every week you know like  i'm thinking about it every night i go to sleep   um but i've also tried methods where i'm just  kind of laid back i'm relaxed my workouts have not   really changed you know i'm just doing my normal  workouts training how i am not thinking about it   too much you know just going with the flow and  i realized that the best for me is a mix of both   is a mix of worrying about it a little bit and  taking it serious obvious of course and at the   same time being kind of laid back about it and  chill about it and not stressing too much over   it because that's what kind of that's when you  get in your head you know and that's when you you   start second guessing yourself and overthinking  um and for me like i'll just be like i know like   if i have a date for a competition i know that i'm  gonna be the most that i possibly can be prepared   for that date you know so like whether it's like  a month or two before like that's when i'm gonna   really start doing more endurance training um but  other than that the training doesn't really change   it doesn't really change i'm still doing like all  of my combos maybe like if i know that i'm gonna   do specific combos i'll do more repetitions of of  that combo over and over again but other than that   it's just more endurance training and more cardio  training like for um for about the bars when it's   like 45 seconds break 45 seconds break uh the best  thing for me and which might help some athletes as   well is doing uh burpees and jump roping kind of  cycles um and i i like mixing those workouts with   statics so like it's the best feeling for me you  get completely burned out and it feels like you're   in the competition like you're competing you know  because like 45 seconds you're going as hard as   you can burpees like max out and then instead  of resting for 30 minutes how you would in the   competition i'm going and i'm doing a static  hold so it's it's kind of like that's what   the endurance is and just in a few weeks you can  tell like a huge difference from doing that kind   of training you know i don't do it all the time  because it's hard on your body it's it's hard on   your body it's a lot of neurological you know so  and it's not really fun to be going like that hard   all the time like i said you know you kind of want  to enjoy your training and have fun with it so   yeah interesting i didn't expect that the  word burpee would fall into in this interview   so uh big time bro burpees are amazing for me  okay wow um yeah somebody was asking and that's   uh something that um i see in this interview  you're like balancing uh aesthetics and dynamics   you're balancing your uh mental work and the  preparation for for the competition etc so you   seem like a really balanced guy and somebody  was asking you seem really happy and relaxed   in your workouts what's your philosophy for life  what's my philosophy for life um big question but   maybe you have some some thoughts on it i mean  really like just my goals for calisthenics is   to inspire people and to like you know to get more  people involved in fitness and movement and in the   community and to help people understand that just  because i'm doing like all these crazy advanced   things it doesn't mean that you know they can't do  it you know so like that's why i'm also doing like   i'm trying to do more into my coaching and into  my training to get more people exposed into my   methods of of working out and training and you  know the more people that can you know start you   know joining calisthenics and just being aware of  what we do you know that makes me really happy you   know when i like teach somebody and uh or inspire  somebody and they do something that like i did or   like they tell me that you know they accomplished  it because they watch me then for me that that   builds more motivation for me so like when i'm in  my workouts like i'm thinking about like how can i   how can i progress myself i'm always thinking how  can i be better than i was before but always how   can i like inspire other people that are watching  me you know and i want people when they watch me   to to see that i'm having fun you know like  it's not like a chore for me it's not like a   work like when i'm doing calisthenics like yeah  it's my job but it's it's it's what i love it's   fun you know i'm doing this every day because i  enjoy it as soon as it stops being fun as soon   as something is not fun for me i'm gonna stop  doing it i'm gonna switch it like if competing   is not gonna be fun for me anymore i'm gonna stop  competing like you know like for me it's all just   about a balance and how i'm feeling so if i'm  happy in what i'm doing i'm gonna keep doing it   great yeah that's uh the reason why you look so  happy that's uh nice um do you play do you plan   to compete again this year uh yeah um um i really  want to compete so we're having our competition   in ecuador in the street fit uh september it  should be september if everything goes well   um we're hoping for it to be a huge championship  but i'm realizing that i don't want to compete   so much and so often anymore like i want to just  choose like like the main competitions the ones   that are going to be uh the most important for  me that i want to go to and just do maybe a few   a year um because that will allow me to just  focus and progress more um and allow me to work   on myself more as well um and some of the actual  competitions that i'm really hoping to compete   is if they have it this year burning gate yes it  would be my dream it would be my dream to compete   in an only status competition tons of people have  been messaging me too like bro you got to do this   and i watched the video like i watched the  the youtube video like over and over again for   motivation like to this day like you know there's  it blows my mind some of the stuff that i see you   know there's like some of the strongest athletes  in the world there so it's just to be on that   stage would be incredible and you know spain the  madrid competition and moscow world championship   those are just some of the ones that are on  my list so okay so picking out the best ones   the best the ones that fit you the best and  uh yeah competing exactly definitely okay cool   um yeah i think one of the last questions is uh  coming to diet uh slash nutrition um can you tell   us more how it looks like for you um for my diet  and nutrition i'm not i'm not going too serious   with it like i'm always like eating good quality  foods and i'm thinking about what i'm eating   but i'm not like counting my calories or like my  macros or anything or i'm not like too serious   about like writing it down or anything like for  me a lot of times like what i'll do is sometimes   intermittent fasting um in a way what i do it how  i do it is um i won't eat for like the first three   four hours of the day and i'm waking up usually  at like 8 a.m so i'll be eating around like noon   like one o'clock sometimes and for me like that's  when i feel the best you know and um if i'm not   going to be having breakfast then i'll just go to  straight to a lunch and then i'll have like some   healthy snacks or whatever throughout the day and  then my main dinner so it's either three or two   meals a day um but yeah other than that i'm just  always trying to be conscious of eating quality   food maintaining the the meat uh the protein with  the carbs and the vegetables and i'm actually   always having like uh fruit like every day okay  fruit every day is really good like i've realized   that um in the morning is the best for me like  it kind of just acts as like a little pre-workout   energy boost to get the day going you know and the  fruit so yeah man great uh do you take smoothies   smoothies okay smoothies same as fruits i guess  yeah i love doing the smoothies uh and i'll   put like some supplements in there too you know  like chia seeds hemp make it good true and then   smoothies you can eat so much mass and and like  so easy nobody would eat two bananas and apple i   don't know everything but in a smoothie it's easy  exactly exactly uh your opinion on supplements   uh supplements i'm not a big fan on supplements  um only i'm a fan on like natural supplements like   herbs like herbs and stuff like i'm taking stuff  like that and homeopathic remedies those are the   best for me i don't like um for pre-workout like  occasionally when i'm like super dead and i need   it like i'll take like a few sips of a bang and  i'm already like crazy you know because before   like i used to drink like a monster you know and  i wouldn't even feel it i wouldn't feel nothing so   it's it's pointless to me and like all the all the  stuff that they put in there extras is not really   good but occasionally i don't see a problem with  it um i used to do this is actually funny because   when i was first starting calisthenics and doing  reps and sets i was also doing a little bit of   weight lifting and because i just wanted to  get stronger bigger i was like 100 pounds like   so small so anything i could do you know and  i was drinking three protein shakes a day   along with my meals bro like and it was chocolate  you know so i was you can imagine how bloated   i was feeling you know like it was  not good and that's really what   made me change into that kind of philosophy of  uh being more healthy with the herbs that's i   think like when i when somebody tells me this  i always have to think of the um the toilets   on a fitness convention you know they always  smell like like these are the people that drink   it every day like every day three five protein  shakes i don't know this is what i imagine right   the body is not made for this it doesn't digest  like i literally feel like 10 pounds heavier like   at the end of the day yeah it's great but not  good heavier even though you wanted to gain mask   okay exactly cool um yeah the last question of  is uh yeah what are your goals for this year what   can we expect from you 2021 um my goal is for this  year so i'm pretty sure people have uh like known   this already but i've been lowkey about it um i'm  really just trying to level up my big dynamics   and my power moves um for the past like  two months i've been grinding on the 720.   it's the hardest so far it's been like the  hardest trick for me ever that i've trained   um mentally you know so um i'm making a lot of  progress and i'm i'm going in the right direction   and um i'm not just gonna stop there i'm hoping  this year i can unlock uh other things like the   super 540 and i can get my uh super 540 clean  again and just start incorporating more like   risky big tricks into my into my combos to to take  everything to the next level because i know every   i know the top athletes they have been grinding  man like we've all been grinding and pushing each   other on the social medias and and you know in  the dms as well and we're just waiting for for the   comps to come so um just gonna keep training hard  man and uh grinding for that next big competition   and hope to take it to that next level  great yeah nice at the end we always   have some quick questions quick answers  uh what do you prefer pizza or burger   burger burger okay are you a dog or a  cat person um i'm a dog but i love my cat   he's my brother he's in the room so  yeah you can't say i can't hate on him   great uh do you have a favorite location  for holidays um yeah i will say cancun okay great um who are the athletes that you look  at or that inspire you for your workout um   just to name off the top of my head some athletes   uh daniel lazins eric ortiz roger steve um so many  quater malnic um there's just so many my teammates god i have to think there's too many those  are just just a few but a lot of guys are   inspiring me right now um a bunch of guys from uh  mexico um they've been tagging me in like their   freestyles and statics and stuff so i've been  getting motivated from their motivation by me   so it's just a constant cycle of you know  it's positivity i love this community great   and that's what i love about catalonics is really  this international thing a because you're sitting   in america there's somebody listening in mexico  or india or wherever i'm sitting in germany and   it's like so international um which is something  really positive in my opinion because it has power   and it doesn't matter you know for like all like  the top athletes like trying to you know like uh   get to the top or whatever we're all still you  know sharing information with each other and you   know like i'm not really like the type of person  to like be like oh no i don't want to tell you   like some some of my secrets or knowledge so that  you can be better than me you know like no like   the more people that can learn that and experience  it and then be better than me the better you know   because we want people to uh take this sport to  the next level that's why i'm a big advocate on   teaching kids um calisthenics because they're the  next generation like if i know like melnick um   he started so young he had a planche when he was  11 years old you know like imagine kids starting   calisthenics from like so young and then you know  that would just be a whole different world true   that's true do you have a favorite  book um i'm not big on reading but   recently some of my friends have been reading the  book breathe all about different types of breath   works and methods like that um so i'm thinking  about uh reading that book because i'm always   interested in like meditation and different ways  of like breathing and stuff like that to help   for like anything really you know great i just  have to smile because uh two interviews before   it was uh matthias binazzolla matteo dio uh he  also recommended the book that he didn't read so   it's funny if somebody begins i'm not a big  reader but i always know something is about to   come but yeah i'm big on movies i'm big on music  okay yeah that's the next question what's your   favorite movie um my favorite movie i'll i'll say  like my favorite series um harry potter okay cool   yeah that's good um yes uh do you have a  favorite calisthenics event you've visited   yes um will say the craziest  event will probably be   okay the top two hong kong and new york call out  okay yeah yeah still uh yeah the hong kong 2019   super final and then a few months following the  call out six okay craziest competitions of my life   sure great uh yes and then the last question  what's your message to the calisthenics community   my message to the calisthenics community hmm  tough one um i'll just say uh my message is to um   follow your dreams never to sell yourself short  like if you have goals you know like try to   never never stop reaching your goals like the  best thing for me is to kind of um establish   like a long-term goals medium-term goals and a  short-term goals and that way you can find out   what you need to be doing in the short term and  the now to be able to get to your medium term and   to your long-term goals and yeah man it's like  if you have a dream like don't stop chasing dad   because i've already accomplished several of  my dreams that i never thought that i would be   able to just from like being consistent being  disciplined and following my passion you know   so anything is possible if you put your mind  to it listen to your body don't over train   um yeah man that's it calisthenics for life  be active stay moving stay healthy uh mental   health is important um i'll argue that um you know  mental the mind is if not more important than the   physical aspect of the sport you know so keep your  mind healthy do the things that make you happy   take time for yourself don't get too into  one one thing and get too sucked in you know   because it's really easy to do that so keep  your mind open always and yeah do what you love   great that's my message wow that's uh an own uh  motivational video we can do out of this that's   awesome hey i appreciate the interview man thank  you for the invitation again it's really been an   honor to be to be here with you you're welcome  really and for the people who are interested   in uh in your coaching because yeah you're also  doing online coaching right yeah i'm doing online   coaching through whatsapp and i'm also here in  la doing one-on-one coaching for anybody that's   in the valley here okay great so for everybody  who is interested in that they contact you via   instagram or youtube or instagram instagram okay  we will put all your socials in the description   so everybody who wants to reach out to you uh he  can find you and uh yeah big big thank you thomas   for taking the time thank you again thanks so  much have a great rest of your night yes you   too and uh thanks for everyone listening to this  um and uh yeah we really appreciate the support   give us a thumbs up share this interview if you  took one or two things from thomas uh to to to   let to share it with your friends and yeah thank  you guys thank you for having me much love bye.