Madonna Arms
Detail-oriented calisthenics with Jack Greer.
I started doing calisthenics by mistake in 2023 and then it took over my entire personality. But that story has already been told, famously by the group for the NY Times and personally by me for Health Gossip.
Currently, I'm interested in what comes next: what's left to do once you've done the foundational work, feel good, feel strong, and want to focus on hyper-specific, technical, visual desires. For other people, those small desires may actually function as the entry point to taking your health more seriously in the first place. Working out used to feel overwhelming because I didn’t know where to start. Now I treat it like I’m a professional athlete.
Also, I want to preface all this by saying that no one needs to do anything with their bodies - it’s a sliding scale of involvement for every self - but it’s cool to feel strong and like you could knock someone out if it ever came to that. You don’t have to go to the park bars with grown men to do this, although that version is the elite 360 experience and I highly recommend. The thing I immediately liked about calisthenics is that the technique is the same whether you’ve been doing this for fifty years or are starting today. The exercises below are tailored for precision and require zero money, space or fancy gear. If they sound simple, it’s because they are. Simple, not easy. Sixty seconds each, it’s gonna be fine.
Below: Jack explains the workout philosophy that got me hooked and indulges my obscure wants and needs, like what do with that area right above the knee and how I became obsessed with shoulders.