Ever since I can remember I have had sport in my life. Whether it was going rock climbing or horse riding on the weekend to playing sports in school. Almost two years ago I moved from my home Australia where I was used to going to the beach and being surrounded by nature all the time to London where I was surrounded by skyscrapers and millions of people. I became stuck in the daily grind and felt I had no time for myself and my fitness. I lacked motivation, drive and I felt energy less almost all the time. Have you ever craved fresh air and the sound of the wind in trees? I sure have and that’s when I knew I had to make a change.
Fast forward to a year and a half later and I now live in Budapest a city full of parks and a buzzing outdoor life and I have uncovered my passion for fitness once again.
I wanted to work out but not in a conventional way and this is when I stumbled upon calisthenics. Calisthenics or street workout is a physical activity performed in outdoor parks, it’s about training to have full control over your body. The interesting part of this workout is that you have end goals which come in the form of advanced static poses. The reason I love this form of working out is that it’s all natural, there are no supplements of powders just you and your workout.
You can push yourself as hard as you want with calisthenics and make variations when needed. For example, I integrate cardio into my workout by skipping and sprinting I then work on my core strength by doing dips, Australian pull ups, dead hangs and leg raises. Whereas my partner focuses more on strength training by doing pull-ups, dips, push-ups, and L sits. At first, I only did 20-minute workouts and after a month I have built myself up to 40 minutes.
All over the city, there are outdoor workout stations where you can let your imagination run wild with ideas. My partner and I wanted to bring people together and calisthenics was the perfect reason to do so. We now have a group that anybody can join, you can workout with like-minded people and you don’t have to feel like you’re alone on your fitness journey. Fitness brings people together, we now have a community of people who motivate and encourage us to reach our goals.
I think working on yourself through fitness is one of the most important things you can do, you can learn so much about yourself that you didn’t know before, be better equipped to facing challenges in life and have a positive perspective and mental state. I also love being outdoors and breathing fresh air while working out and exploring new places that I never would have before. I want to inspire people to make goals and achieve them, to be more confident and to be happy within themselves.
Article written by Jordan Shephard who is a 20-year-old Australian girl living in Budapest, Hungary. She works for herself and runs her own blog while having a small puppy that distracts her all the time. Her hobbies are yoga, meditation, photography and traveling to new places with her partner.
Jordan from USA
