“After more than twenty years of powerlifting, and all of the associated nagging injuries, this program was exactly what I needed to get back in touch with my body and start moving well again. It's exactly the right kind of challenging; the moves and regressions let me work where I am, with an eye towards what I can eventually accomplish, but never leave me beaten up.”
“I've had a niggling shoulder injury for years, and have to be careful about the strength training I do. I was looking for something that was bodyweight based and included building strength through a good range of motion, so decided to try out Integral Strength. I've since bought Sequences, Vitamin, Mobius, and more, because I love the system and approach. As far as Integral Strength itself goes, I've just started on my second time through the programme, and I'm still progressing (I took a break after the first time through and worked on Sequences and others). My shoulder has improved, my strength and control have improved, and overall I'm really impressed with the results. I just need to get some rings so that I can try that version next time!”
“I'm having a lot of fun with Integral Strength. It is very eye opening and humbling to see where there are flaws in foundational movements, yet really encouraging when the next time you get around to doing a move you found challenging a couple of days later it feels more manageable / smoother / controlled / achievable. As with all GMB programs I would definitely say keep the mindset of 'think like a beginner' and go at the pace of the program. Really dive into the process and let yourself suck at some movements; don't beat yourself up about barely pushing out a couple of pressups on your knees despite training for the past few decades or whatever it may be. Show up, give what you've got today, reflect and review, do the same again tomorrow.”
“I am in my mid-sixties and have kept fit throughout my life mainly due to my occupation but also for fun. As the years creep on, you forget you are not so young, try and do something you did ages ago and injuries occur. Flexibility is not so good and movement has decreased. I find Integral Strength has been invaluable for improving my mobility, whilst at the same time challenging me to maintain and even improve my strength. An excellent, balanced and well-paced programme that I would highly recommend. I am going through it again for the fifth time and I never get bored.”
“Before starting the program I did Elements, Mobility, and Mobius and I thought I was pretty strong, but boy I was wrong. Proper L-sit, Ring top support and Reverse sit backs these are hard. But I love doing them challenges me every time. Few days ago tried bar muscle ups and I did few again after long time. Funny thing is I was not training for them.”
“I have done both versions of Integral Strength (before and after the updation on Praxis). I love the program so much that I keep coming back to it, whenever I feel like I am slipping or lack motivation.I love how simple but super effective the workouts are . Every time I complete Integral Strength I feel stronger, more flexible, and extremely motivated. Workouts are super simple and very effective.”
“Alternative, but not entirely accurate title: Sweet, sweaty progress. More on that later.
This is a difficult program for me to review because I am injury-prone. More on that later as well.
I started Integral Strength because I was working on some specific movements and was not comfortable with my strength. Sadly I don't remember exactly what I was working on, but I think it was oriented around floor flows, so leg strength at the bottom of the range of motion, pushing strength, core strength, etc.
IS started gently (on lesson 2. Lesson one is an assessment, and that cannot be called gentle). This is good. As someone who has a long history of trying too much too soon, a regulated approach was necessary. The assessment was eye-opening. I used to do 10+ strict, dead-hang pullups. Now I did 1+. I used to do regular toes-to-bar movements. Now, well, I did not. This is good information! If I had started on a pulling lesson thinking I had a few pullups ready when I needed them, I probably would have tried to hard to make that true. Bad start. Instead, I was a little dejected by my lost gainz, but that's a small price.
Progress came, and it came slowly. The first 20 or so sessions were relatively easy, which gave me the space to be very thoughtful about how well I was performing a movement. Are my shoulder blades staying down? Are my arms extended? Is my hollow body staying hollow? Sometimes. But that sometimes became more like generally, then dang near always. Now it's safe to move on.
I will say that the middle workouts really ramped up in difficulty for me. I did not have an assisted partial pigeon squat down before the workout asked for it unassisted. But that was ok; I had the experience to recognize that I wasn't ready, and to simply work more on the assisted. Then move forward.
So, is it sweaty? Not for me, generally. But my motivations are slow, uneventful increases. There are moments, of course: hollow-body mountain climbers at higher speed get the ol' heart pumping, as to jumps. But for me, these are lagniappe, a little something extra, rather than the main event. If you need to peg the ol' needle at the end of a workout to feel good about it, you can probably find a way to do that in many of the Push portions. Or go for a run or whatever. I'm generally good with just the prescription, at my pace. And I'm still getting stronger.”
“I have been with GMB for about 3 years, starting with Elements and am on my second round of Integral Strength. I've exercised off and on for the last 20 years, but having just hit 50, I feel (and look, I am told) fitter than at any point. More specifically, using Integral Strength, I feel that my whole body is better "connected" meaning that when I move, I move fluidly as a single, integrated unit.
The programming is great as I don't need to think about it, just follow the program, take your time and listen to your body, e.g. is my right knee feeling wonky? what if I move my foot just a little? Is my weight more on the ball of my foot or am I centred? and next thing you know (well, after a few weeks/months!) you are doing pistol or shrimp squats slowly and under control. Pull-ups used to be challenging for my elbows, but the progressive GMB method means that I have slowly built up the tendon strength and am moving solidly towards my goal of 10 strict, quality pull-ups.
I travel for work and being able to do bodyweight exercises frees me up from having to find a gym and I can usually find someplace for pull-ups, hang rings or just focus on other exercises. Most of all, the GMB community is chilled, very helpful and educational, without all the noise you get from some of the fitness people on social media. The explanations are very clear (at least to me) and when I do have a question, I get an answer within max 2 days. Definitely worth it!”
