Bar Brothers System Review - My Journey
During the last years, the Bar Brothers have been getting really big, their community spreads around the entire globe & nearly anyone doing Calisthenics seriously has heard about them at some point.
In 2015 they launched "The System," which is a 12-week Calisthenics workout plan. I've been following the Bar Brothers for a while now and did Calisthenics previously myself before.
How I Came Across The Program...
But during the past months, I got a little bit lost in trying too many schedules & training plans at the same point. It was leading to stagnation; combined with a random Injury at my finger, I lost my front lever & could only do half the amount of pull-ups & dips. At this point I decided to get away from my schedule & start something new!
Three months ago, I've purchased the bar brothers workout plan and started following it. Now I'm here to share my thoughts about the program with you guys!
What Is "The System"
The System is a 12 Week Calisthenics program, which was made to be done only using a bar. Already this concept seemed really interesting as you don't need all that fancy equipment to do the exercises.
Therefore, the program can be done nearly anywhere, which leaves less room for excuses. The advantage over learning Calisthenics yourself is that you've already got a full workout structure.
Calisthenics consists of quite a lot of different exercises, and it can be more challenging to target specific muscle groups without the right knowledge. So if you don't want to read through all the different exercises & learn anatomy, the smartest way is to follow a program designed by others.
Besides that, you are going to do 6 workouts that take no longer than 1 hour every single week, including cardio, strength, explosive strength, & technique.
What Do You Get
When purchasing the program, you are going to find more than just a basic training program. What I liked a lot is that the BarBrothers family has made an entire video about the equipment, fitness apps, and everything you need to get the most out of the program. Without such a video, it would be annoying if you had to find all the equipment & instructions online.
Despite that, there are three different videos about nutrition helping you on pre-workout shakes/natural weight gainer shakes & explaining the body types. If you need more help with nutrition, the BarBrothers also have a full program regarding nutrition.
One doubt I've had, especially coming from Calisthenics & street-workout, is that I've often seen the tendency for people to harm their bodies due to overtraining or the neglection of warm-up.
Fortunately, the BarBrothers program includes proper warm-ups and also a cardio day, which helps you to strengthen your tendons while preparing your body for the impact!
Each of the images on the right are screenshots for a different section. In every section you are going to find multiple videos
Click on the images to view them in full size!
What I've enjoyed is that the program is exceptionally detailed, whereas you get six different videos only for one week. Despite that, the BarBrothers have made in-depth videos on every single exercise that you will find, which you often won't get with other programs & books.
To me, especially their muscle up tutorial was standing out & it helped me a lot to perfect my muscle-up technique. (Remember that this tutorial is in their add-on, called "Freestyle Moves"!!!) On the side, you can watch a video of my muscle-ups after two months of training. Remember that I've been doing Calisthenics prior to this program, but I did fix my technique a lot!
Since the muscle-up is quite complicated, injury is likely if you are a beginner, especially around your shoulders & elbows. So please don't cheat & do chicken wing muscle-ups guys!
I also want to point out that you are not going to get access to all the programs that the BarBrothers have made. But after purchasing The System, you can get the other programs for a special discount.
The System Accelerator
This is an add-on to The System, which you should probably get once you went through the 12 weeks of the program. It provides you with further & more advanced workouts to get your strength & physique to the next level.
The System Freestyle Moves
If it isn't all about the physique for you, the Freestyle Moves might be a big bonus to keep you motivated. The BarBrothers are going to teach you
BarBrothers Nutrition
In this program, you will get all the nutritional advice that you ever need to boost the process of your transformation. Fortunately, even in "The System," you will find three different videos explaining nutrition which are:
- Homemade Pre Workout Shake
- Natural Weight Gainer Shake
- Body Types
But if these three videos aren't enough for you, I recommend you to get their Nutrition Program!
How The Bar Brothers Program Affected Me:
To cut it down short, the program mainly helped me to get back in shape while learning advanced elements surprisingly fast. The high volume helped a lot to build a foundation in muscular endurance & strength.
Just after one month, I was able to hold my full frontlever again for more than 5 seconds. To be honest I didn't even practice specifically for it, it was just the strength that I gained from doing the program!
Other than that, there were also visual changes, although I do want to mention that my aim wasn't to get as big as possible.
Since I do Parkour I can't afford to weigh more than 70KG, as I need to stay explosive and jump as far as possible. Currently I weigh 67.4kg at 171cm and I gained 2.7kg of muscle during the 12 weeks.
As a tip, it is essential to combine both their strength training programs with nutrition plans, since proper nutrition makes you progress at least 50-100% faster!
Please don't expect being able to do perfect muscle ups & advanced elements after just 12 weeks! I've been doing calisthenics in advance & used the System to build back my foundation! But the 12 week program will prepare your body to perform these skills while boosting muscle growth!
Training outside in the snow; that day I fergot my housekeys, so I started training outside in my clothes from school (that's why I wear the shirt & jeans)
My Frontlever after 9 Weeks of Training
Benefits Of The Program & Calisthenics
You need far less research
By following a set training schedule that has been tested by many others, you won't need to go through all the struggles that especially beginners within calisthenics face.
The execution of all the exercises is explained, and you will learn a lot about how to create your training schedules on the go, by copying the structure that the BarBrothers use and simply taking harder exercises.
Fewer Injuries
Furthermore, injuries are far less likely to occur if you follow the tips & advice of the program on execution. At the start of the process, you won't have a lot of body awareness. Particularly bodyweight exercises will lead to injury when done incorrectly since there is no machine restricting your range of motion & movements.
Easy to follow
Instead of figuring out how to create a training program, or testing out thousands of different routines on YouTube, The System is going to be far more straightforward.
You will receive one routine, for each training day that takes one hour and get every detail you need to know about execution, rest & sets. Additionally, it takes less effort to start your training if you exactly know what you're doing in advance!
BarBrothers Family!
Once you purchase The System, you can become part of the BarBrothers Family. They are a very tight network that expands all over the world. You likely end up finding a training partner close to you, which makes training far more fun & engaging.
No/Less Equipment
In a section further down, I'll go more into detail about equipment, but basically, Calisthenics requires no Gym Membership. In fact, even in terms of equipment, there is not a lot that you need, besides a place to do pull-ups & dips.
After finding a random bar near a forrest I decided to do my training there. Even trees can be perfect for pull-ups!
Functional Strength - Transfers into everyday life
Another considerable benefit of Calisthenics is that you do functional strength exercises, which allows you to develop far more coordination and balance, transforming your everyday life.
Your posture is going to improve a lot over the 12 weeks, while your muscles become less stiff. (Only if you perform the exercise at their full range of motion!!!)
More Engaging & Fun
Especially when it comes to advanced elements, such as the Frontlever, Backlever, Handstands, or even the Planche Calisthenics, will start to get more fun.
Learning freestyle moves will build up a lot of strength & coordination without you realizing that you are even working out. But even Pull-ups, Dips, and training with your bodyweight offer you a new stimulus, which you might enjoy more.
Cheaper
Doing Calisthenics is totally for free. As long as you have the motivation to train outside, it is likely that you have a playground or even a street workout park near where you live. All the exercises can be done there; while you do also have the option to spend some money on a pull-up & dip bar if you don't want to train outside.
More Inspiring
People tend to forget that Calisthenics tends to inspire others more than regular training. If somebody spots you training outside in winter, they are likely to become more motivated to train themselves.
The mindset "if you can do it; I can do it" is very popular amongst people doing Calisthenics, which will help you to surround yourself with people that share the same mindset!
History Of The Bar Brothers
If today isn't your first day of doing Calisthenics, you've likely heard of the Bar Brothers before. In fact, they are quite famous on YouTube and known for having athletes that went to crazy transformation.
On their YouTube Channel, you will find videos from more than eight years ago, when Calisthenics was still far smaller. If you haven't heard too much about them yet I recommend you to check out their videos to gain a better understanding of who they are and what they do.
Since their channel has grown a lot, they have started to release merchandise and courses. I've seen quite a few people before wearing & representing the BarBrothers family.
Once you join the program, you can become a part of the family yourself, (if you make enough progress & keep going!) and spread the word to others.
The two most well-known members & creators of the BarBrothers are Lazar Novovic & Dusan Djolevic, which have been in the game for a long time now. Both athletes have had impressive results from doing Calisthenics and created a big movement within Calisthenics.
Their Calisthenic Program "The System" is all their knowledge put together into a 12-week program.
About Equipment
There is not a lot of equipment necessary to be able to follow the program. Furthermore, you are going to find a video about all the equipment that you need.
Owning a door-pull up bar will get you through most of the program. Overall, the requirement are minimalistic, although tools such as dip-bars or parallettes can definetly be beneficial.
The best aspect of Calisthenics, in general, is that you are going to save a whole lot of money that you would spend either on a gym membership or expensive equipment.
In case you don't even have access to the essential equipment I've got a couple of alternatives, that you can use in the start;
Door
When I started with Calisthenics, I didn't have access to a Pull-up bar all the time, and my alternative was to take a very stable door, then place a towel on the top edge. Now you nearly close the door to the point where you still have a place for your hands to grip the top of the door. This type of pull-up might be more challenging for your forearms but is still a decent alternative if you don't have access to a pull-up bar right now.
Two Chairs
To perform regular dips, you can take two chairs and place them at shoulder-width apart; use them similar to a dip station in case you don't have one.
Water Bottles/Backpacks
If you don't have weights, you can put some 2l bottles into a backpack and wear it. At the start, the additional weight of up to 10kg is going to be more than enough even if you're more advanced.
If you plan on spending money on equipment, this are the best options;
- Door Pull-up Bar (Starting at 20-30$)
- Pull up & Dip Station (Starting at 120$)
- Rings for Advanced Athletes (Starting at 20$)
Bar Brothers The System Pricing
Now that you're almost set up to begin your journey towards a new physique & gaining functional strength there is one essential question, that I didn't cover yet;
So how much money is the BarBrothers 12 week program worth it?
Not a lot at all if you stick to it, but if you follow the program every single day, the results that you will get are worth the program's price of 97$.
Get 50% Off The System
This offer is ending soon & only available through this link
Get Your Money Back
If you don't get the results that you expect or don't like the content that the BarBrothers provide you with, you have the option to get your money back for 60 Days! So you have more than 8 weeks to decide if it works for you or not! But please don't expect to go through a massive transformation within eight weeks! Even with an effective training program and the right nutrition reaching the level & physique that the BarBrothers have is very unlikely.
Before and After Pictures
For a visual reference, it is always good to see how much muscle mass people have gained throughout the twelve-week course. Consider that there are different body types, which means that some people might gain weight faster than others. Just watch the video below & you will see some of the results that people have made. Remember that some of the before & after pictures have a timespan bigger than 3 months!
So Is It The Right Choice For You?
Before purchasing the program, you should make sure that you don't have any significant injuries, especially around your upper body. The System is not the right choice for you if you can't afford to spend 1 hour on training for 5-6 times per week. But if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a gym membership and don't mind training outside every now and then the System is going to be one of the best bodyweight training programs you can get.
Primarily if you aim to increase your muscle size as quick as possible by doing calisthenics, The System stands out from other programs. Still, you will gain functional strength and learn new movements!
Last but not least, you should bring enough motivation to push through the 12 weeks. If you're still not sure if it's the right choice or not, you can leave a comment & I will answer your questions. Other than that, remember that you can always get your money back for up to 60 days!
The System - Pros & Cons
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Pros
Cons
My Rating 4/5
Of course, "The System" is not the perfect Calisthenics Program, but it is still by far one of the best programs out there. The emphasis on building muscle makes it very rewarding to complete the program. Furthermore, you can see that The BarBrothers have put a lot of work into keeping you motivated at your bad days. Being part of their family will help you to develop a new lifestyle, although you should consider that the program will take up time to follow along entirely.
Hopefully you enjoyed my in-depth Bar Brothers The System Review! if you still have any questions left you can always ask in the comment section below!
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