Check out our full lineup of yoga accessories to help you with your daily meditation practice and fitness goals...
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Check out our full lineup of yoga accessories to help you with your daily meditation practice and fitness goals...
December 09, 2025 17 min read
Many athletes assume their sport is all they need to improve.
Surfers just surf. Runners just run. Climbers just climb.
But over time, that one-sided training creates blind spots. Physical imbalances, weak links, and overuse injuries that plateau progress, increase risk, and maybe force you to stop completely.
Every sport naturally favors certain muscles and movements over others.
Runners overuse the quads and hip flexors, but often lack hamstring control and joint stability.
Climbers develop incredible pulling strength but neglect pushing strength and scapular mobility.
Surfers paddle endlessly but struggle with shoulder imbalances and core compression.
Yogis gain flexibility but sometimes lack raw strength or coordination under load.
Sailors build strong grip and upper-body endurance but often lose mobility and rotation through the hips and spine.
Even with great technique, doing the same patterns over and over eventually reinforces imbalances. That’s when injuries sneak in, and progress stalls.
Instead of throwing weights at the problem, you should supplement with bodyweight training.
Bodyweight training means using nothing but your own body to build strength, control, and prevent injuries.
So what makes bodyweight training different to the gym?
Balanced Strength: You learn to push and pull, rotate and stabilize, across all planes.
Joint Control: You strengthen the stabilizers & joints, not just the prime movers. (Great for knees, ankles, shoulders, wrists.)
Spatial Awareness: Handstands and core drills improve proprioception. This is how your body moves in space.
Resilience & Recovery: Bodyweight protocols are easier on the joints, meaning you can train consistently without burnout.
When you train intelligently outside your sport, everything gets better inside it.
You move with more control. You last longer without pain. And you develop the kind of strength that shows up when it counts.
That’s why every Movement Made coach, from climbers to yogis to surfers, uses bodyweight training to boost performance, protect their joints, and train consistently while traveling the world.
Now, let’s explore how it works across the sports we love.
For a visual example, watch Sondre Berg's handbalancing in action below
Handbalancing is the practice of holding your body upside down on your hands, requiring a unique combination of strength, balance, mobility, and awareness. At the surface, it looks like a static pose, but underneath, it's a constant conversation between every muscle in your body.
It’s not just a circus act or party trick. Handbalancing is a discipline of control. One of the purest ways to test and train your relationship with gravity.
Because few things improve your physical intelligence as fast as being upside down. Handbalancing builds unmatched core control, shoulder integrity, and nervous system coordination.
It demands patience, presence, and deep focus, making it a favourite for athletes, movers, and mindfulness practitioners alike.
Practitioners start with basic drills like:
From there, they progress to freestanding holds, shape changes, and press-to-handstand work. It’s a slow and deliberate path, but one that rewards consistency.
Focusing purely on balancing without structured strength or mobility support can lead to wrist strain, shoulder overuse, and plateaued progress. You may become good at holding, but not necessarily at moving into or out of those holds.
Overemphasis on inverted stillness can also create blind spots in scapular control, posterior chain strength, or breath mechanics. These are critical if you want to transfer skills to other sports like climbing or martial arts.
A structured bodyweight approach supports handbalancing in every way:
Bodyweight strength turns a static shape into a dynamic, adaptable skill. This makes your handstand transferable, sustainable, and stronger.
Sondre Berg (my brother) is one of Europe’s most respected handbalancing coaches. His approach combines curiosity with structure, breaking the skill down into micro progressions backed by mobility, strength, and awareness work.
He uses the Movement Pad to track his hand placement, Fat Bar Parallettes for wrist-friendly elevation, and even uses the Minimalist Gym Rings to take it to the next level. He's able to train anywhere from mountain retreats to studio floors thanks to this.
For a visual example, watch Andry Strong showcase his calisthenics power below
Calisthenics is bodyweight strength training in its most fundamental and powerful form. It includes movements like push-ups, pull-ups, dips, squats, levers, and planches. It scales all the way from beginner-friendly to elite-level static strength.
It’s about building strength through movement, not machines. No weights, no cables, just your body and gravity.
Because it’s efficient, accessible, and endlessly scalable. Calisthenics creates strength you can feel, not just on the bar, but in daily life and every sport you play.
Whether you're a climber needing more core control, a trail runner seeking knee stability, or a surfer looking to build paddle endurance, calisthenics gives you the kind of real-world strength that machines can’t.
It also builds resilience, especially in joints and tendons, through progressive, load-bearing holds and transitions.
Calisthenics training includes:
Fundamental patterns (push-ups, dips, rows, squats)
Static holds like the planche, L-sit, and front lever
Core-focused drills like hollow holds, leg lifts, and arch progressions
Skill progressions that scale with your strength (e.g. tuck to straddle planche)
Training is often done on bars, rings, or parallettes to reduce wrist stress and allow for better form and control.
Just like any sport, specializing too much can create imbalances.
Many calisthenics athletes become great at pulling, and pushing control, but neglect the legs. Others overtrain the front body and neglect scapular function or spinal mobility.
And while calisthenics improves relative strength, it doesn’t automatically build coordination, dynamic movement, or sport-specific awareness without targeted practice.
Bodyweight training is broader than calisthenics alone. When paired with other movement forms, like handbalancing, crawling, or mobility work, it:
Balances out push/pull/leg imbalances
Improves scapular & shoulder control
Builds explosive strength with minimal joint stress
Transfers into climbing, parkour, martial arts, or any skill-based sport
It also teaches you how to own your bodyweight in every range, not just lift it.
Andry Strong is a world-record holder in the planche, and one of the strongest bodyweight athletes in the world. His method fuses progressive overload with skill mastery using the Minimalist Gym Rings and Fat Bar Parallettes.
Whether it’s planche holds, explosive push-ups, or front lever pulls, Andry proves you don’t need machines to build elite strength. You just need your body, gravity, and consistency.
For a visual example, watch Marie Risvik demonstrate her yoga & mobility flow below
Yoga is more than stretching. It’s a breath-led system that builds flexibility, control, and awareness from the inside out. At its core, yoga teaches you how to move with intention, breathe with purpose, and create space in both body and mind.
It blends mobility, stability, focus, and nervous system recovery making it one of the most well-rounded movement disciplines for athletes.
Yoga helps athletes move better, recover faster, and train longer. It strengthens the deep stabilizers around joints, teaches you how to breathe under stress, and opens up your body’s natural ranges of motion all without external load.
It’s also incredibly restorative. Whether you're sore from climbing, tight from running, or stressed from life, yoga brings balance back to your body and clarity back to your mind.
Yoga training depends on the style. We typically focus on breath-led mobility and accessible strength-building flows.
Typical elements include:
Controlled flows like vinyasa or power yoga
Longer holds like yin or hatha for deeper mobility
Breathwork (pranayama) to regulate your nervous system
Joint prep & alignment-based practice to support all other sports
Our athletes often use the Movement Mat for reliable grip, alignment tracking, and soft transitions during flows or holds.
Yoga creates beautiful mobility and calm, but sometimes lacks active strength or load-bearing resilience. Many yogis have open hips and hamstrings, but limited shoulder strength or dynamic power.
In some cases, excessive passive stretching without strength control can lead to instability or joint issues, especially under stress (like surfing, running, or climbing).
Adding structured bodyweight training:
Builds strength to match your mobility
Improves joint integrity and load tolerance
Enhances performance in arm balances and inversions
Reduces injury risk in backbends or deep hip work
For yogis who want to stay strong, supple, and safe, pairing yoga with calisthenics or handbalancing is the secret weapon.
Marie Risvik blends yoga, mobility, and bodyweight strength in her flows. With a background in dance and gymnastics, she brings precision and grace into every movement, always grounded in functionality.
Her sessions help yogis build stability around flexible joints, improve breath control, and move with more awareness. She teaches regularly on the Movement Mat, using it as a tool to protect joints and optimize form.
For a visual example, watch Francesca Golfetto flow through her Ashtanga sequence below
Ashtanga Yoga is a traditional, structured style of yoga where you move through a specific sequence of postures, synchronized with deep, rhythmic breathing (called ujjayi). It’s one of the most physically demanding forms of yoga. It's a moving meditation that builds strength, flexibility, and stamina in equal measure.
Each practice follows the same series of poses, allowing practitioners to refine technique, build consistency, and go deeper both physically and mentally.
Ashtanga trains the body and the mind. It’s beloved by athletes, dancers, and movement professionals for its ability to:
Build muscular endurance and balance
Increase hamstring and hip flexibility
Improve lung capacity and mental focus
Develop strength through controlled, repeated effort
Unlike flow-based yoga, Ashtanga is highly disciplined. You repeat the same postures daily, which cultivates mastery, resilience, and structure.
It’s also deeply grounding. Many people practice Ashtanga not just for physical benefits, but as a daily ritual of self-discipline and inner clarity.
Practitioners train Ashtanga in a “Mysore” style (self-led) or guided class, typically starting with:
Sun salutations to warm up
Standing poses for balance and strength
Seated forward folds and twists for mobility
Backbends and inversions for resilience and control
Breathwork and gaze (drishti) for focus and nervous system regulation
It’s practiced on a yoga mat, often without props which is why a high-grip, alignment-focused mat like the Movement Mat makes a noticeable difference, especially during long holds and sweat-heavy sessions.
Ashtanga creates tremendous mobility, flexibility, and mental focus. But done in isolation, it can miss some key physical elements, especially if you’re doing other demanding sports like climbing, running, or surfing.
Common imbalances from only doing Ashtanga include:
Underdeveloped pushing strength (e.g., lack of overhead or scapular strength)
Wrist strain from repeated Chaturangas without strength progressions
Lack of dynamic control under load or in unstable conditions
Overuse injuries in hips, shoulders, or lower back
Strategic bodyweight work:
Builds complementary strength (especially in shoulders and scapula)
Reinforces control in transitions and balances
Strengthens the wrists, elbows, and joints through slow, load-bearing drills
Improves overall power and resilience without compromising mobility
Bodyweight strength training allows Ashtanga yogis to move stronger through their sequences, and to apply their practice more effectively in sports that require strength under load or unpredictability.
Francesca Golfetto brings unmatched elegance and grace to Ashtanga. With a background in ballet and years of professional performance (Royal Ballet, Zurich Opera House), her teaching blends technical depth with mindfulness.
Her sessions fuse tradition with body awareness, helping students move with strength, control, and presence. She trains on the Movement Mat, using its grip and alignment markers to refine her practice and build longevity.
For a visual example of trail running, watch the video at the end of this section
Trail running is the art of moving across natural terrain. From forest paths to alpine ridges using your body’s strength, awareness, and endurance to adapt on the fly. Unlike road running, trails demand reactive balance, ankle control, and core stability to manage steep inclines, rocks, mud, and everything in between.
It’s a test of both body and mind requiring stamina, coordination, and attention to every step.
People train trail running for many reasons:
It builds aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health
It connects you to nature and a deeper sense of rhythm
It strengthens the legs, lungs, and willpower
It challenges your mental focus and adaptability in real time
For many, it’s more than a workout. It’s a way to explore the outdoors, build resilience, and find peace in motion.
Most trail runners build their base through:
Weekly mileage on mixed terrain
Hill repeats to build uphill endurance
Downhill technique for shock absorption
Strength training for calves, glutes, and quads
Breathing and cadence control for long-distance pacing
But beyond the runs themselves, the smart ones supplement with targeted bodyweight drills to fill in the gaps.
Exclusively running trails can lead to muscular imbalances, especially in:
Ankles and knees from repetitive impact
Hips and core due to undertraining stabilizers
Lower back from poor posture or stride compensation
Feet if barefoot strength and control are lacking
Trail runners often rely too heavily on forward motion and neglect lateral strength, joint control, and reactive balance. The very things trails demand when the terrain shifts.
Trail running and bodyweight training are a natural pair.
Bodyweight protocols improve:
Single-leg strength for technical ascents and descents
Ankle and foot control for stability on uneven ground
Core strength to maintain posture during fatigue
Joint resilience for long-term injury prevention
Think sissy squats, split squats, pistol squats, hamstring curls in Minimalistic Gym Rings, and reactive balance drills. You don't have to use gym rings - so it's all done using nothing but your bodyweight and a Movement Pad for grip and joint safety on rough surfaces. But to target more muscle groups and implement a higher resistance, our minimalistic portable gym rings are a highly effective supplement.
This approach keeps trail runners powerful and pain-free, no matter how wild the terrain.
Sunniva Brufladt is Movement Made's designer and multifunctional creative soul. However, she's also a mountain mover, blending endurance, minimalism, and sustainability into her training.
She doesn’t just run trails however, she also incorporates mobility, handstands and bodyweight exercises like weighted pull-ups, pistol squats, and lunges into her workouts.
For a visual example, watch Dr. Yaad climb below
Climbing is more than just pulling yourself up a wall. Whether it’s bouldering, sport climbing, or trad, climbing is a full-body challenge of tension, coordination, and timing all while managing fear, fatigue, and friction.
It’s about moving upward with as little wasted effort as possible, reading sequences, solving puzzles with your body, and learning how to generate force efficiently from fingers to feet.
People train climbing for:
Developing insane grip and core strength
Improving spatial awareness and flow
Mastering technique, tension, and breath under pressure
The rush of solving physical problems and trusting their body
Climbing builds confidence, body intelligence, and explosive coordination. And for many, it becomes more than training, it becomes a lifestyle.
Climbers usually train by:
Repeating routes (problems) on indoor walls or real rock
Doing grip strength work on hangboards
Practicing movement drills (drop knees, lock-offs, flagging)
Building pull strength through weighted pull-ups or levers
Incorporating flexibility and injury-prevention work
It’s a highly technical and strength-heavy practice that evolves as climbers push into more difficult terrain.
Climbers tend to develop pulling dominance, leading to overuse injuries in the shoulders, elbows, and fingers. Common problems include:
Poor pushing strength (leading to imbalance and postural issues)
Neglected scapular control (affecting shoulder stability)
Tight hip flexors and hamstrings (limiting high steps and drop knees)
Weak antagonist muscles (increasing risk of elbow and shoulder injuries)
In other words, climbing makes you strong in one way, but vulnerable in others.
Bodyweight training complements climbing by:
Strengthening the antagonist muscles — pushing, bracing, and rotating
Building scapular control and shoulder balance through push-ups, hollow holds, and controlled mobility drills
Enhancing core compression and body line awareness for overhangs and technical moves
Supporting wrist, elbow, and finger resilience through joint-friendly loading
Movements like archer push-ups, hollow body holds, pike compressions, and hanging leg raises become essential supplements, especially when done on tools like the Movement Pad or Parallettes to reduce wrist strain and improve alignment.
Climbers who cross-train bodyweight unlock new levels of control and stay injury-free longer.
Dr. Yaad is a licensed medical doctor, and has been training calisthenics for over 15 years. He’s able to achieve things like the maltese, planche, front lever and so on…
While he mainly focuses on calisthenics, he also trains bouldering (a form of rock climbing)
He blends his bodyweight training with medical expertise to allow him to climb without injuries, and dominate the wall.
Here's a video of Dr. Yaad climbing below.
For a visual example, watch Brage's pre-surfing warm-up below
Surfing is the art of catching and riding waves using a surfboard. It demands quick reactions, explosive pop-ups, powerful paddling, and smooth coordination between upper and lower body, all while reading unpredictable ocean conditions.
It’s not just about riding the wave. It’s about having the strength, timing, and fluidity to get there and stay there, over and over again.
Surfers train for:
Paddle endurance — long sessions need strong shoulders and core
Explosive pop-ups — transitioning from prone to standing instantly
Dynamic balance — adjusting body position constantly
Resilience in the water — managing fatigue, wipeouts, and breath control
Surfing builds athleticism and flow. But many surfers neglect what actually supports their time on the board.
Most surfers… just surf.
Some might do gym work or paddling drills, but often their training is unstructured or doesn’t translate well to the board. The result?
They plateau, tire out too fast, or get stuck in poor movement habits.
A better approach is land-based bodyweight training that builds board-specific strength, control, and recovery.
Relying on surfing alone creates gaps like:
Shoulder overuse and imbalance from constant paddling
Poor hip mobility and tight thoracic spine — limiting carving and pop-ups
Underdeveloped core strength — which limits control during turns
No movement variability, leading to burnout or chronic stiffness
When you only train in the water, you miss out on key strength, risk injuries and your progress slows.
Bodyweight training improves surfing by:
Building paddle power through prone scapular lifts, push-ups, and shoulder stability drills
Increasing hip mobility and spine rotation for turns and board control
Training explosive power for smoother pop-ups
Reinforcing core compression to stay compact and agile during maneuvers
Enhancing balance and reactive stability through crawling, squats, and inverted holds
All without needing a gym or bulky equipment.
Surfing becomes smoother, stronger, and safer, especially on long sessions.
My brother Braga, and a lifelong surfer trains for surfing like an athlete trains for competition. He blends calisthenics, core drills, and dynamic mobility into short, effective bodyweight workouts that prep him for the water.
You’ll typically see him using natural rubber bands to warm-up before surfing:
For a visual example of sailing, scroll to the bottom of this section
Sailing is the sport of controlling a boat powered by the wind. Whether you're cruising, racing, or navigating tough seas, it demands total-body coordination, balance, and endurance. You're constantly adjusting ropes, trimming sails, bracing your body, and reacting to dynamic conditions, all while keeping your focus on wind, water, and movement.
It might not look like a workout, but sailing is full-body effort, especially under pressure.
Sailors need to train for:
Core strength — to stay upright and braced on moving decks
Shoulder and grip endurance — to manage ropes, sails, and repeated movements
Postural control — to avoid rounding and fatigue during long sessions
Fast decision-making + spatial awareness — staying alert while navigating chaos
Proper training helps prevent fatigue, improve performance, and reduce strain, especially when sailing in unpredictable or high-intensity conditions.
Many sailors skip training altogether, or only focus on cardio or light mobility.
That’s a mistake.
Long hours at sea can create serious issues without support from land-based training, especially in the core, spine, and shoulders.
Elite sailors supplement with functional strength, breath control, and reactive balance work, all things bodyweight training delivers better than machines.
Sailing without training leads to:
Postural fatigue — rounded backs, tight hips, compressed breathing
Shoulder strain and joint issues from rope work and repeated trimming
Weak reactive stability — slower movement when the boat shifts
Reduced endurance and resilience — especially in rough conditions or long races
When you don’t train for the movements sailing requires, it shows and often hurts.
Bodyweight training improves sailing by:
Developing core rotation and bracing for dynamic stability
Building shoulder mobility and scapular control for trimming and balance
Training isometric holds and low squats for balance under motion
Improving breath capacity through movement-led breathwork
Creating awareness and resilience with crawling flows and rotational drills
And since most sailing is done in compact spaces (boats, docks, ports), bodyweight training fits the environment perfectly. No gym required, just tools like the Movement Pad or Parallettes to train on the deck or dock without stress.
You build the strength to move when the boat doesn’t stay still.
Stian Berg (me), COO of Movement Made and lifelong sailor, treats sailing like a full-body discipline. I combine breath-led mobility, core control, and joint stability in short bodyweight circuits that I can do from anywhere (yes, even the boat).
My dryland prep includes shoulder prehab, pull-ups, deep squat drills, and spinal rotation sequences. All designed to build resilience and keep me sharp while navigating on open water.
I personally use Natural Rubber Bands to warm-up my muscles & joints, Parallettes to build shoulder strength without compressing the wrists, and the Minimalist Gym Rings to train pulling movements while on the go.
For a visual example, watch Theo Necker perform his acrobatic flow and movement mastery below
Acrobatics is the art of controlling your body through space, often dynamically, sometimes explosively, and always with full attention. It includes flips, rolls, handstands, partner lifts, and flowing transitions that challenge balance, precision, and timing.
Acrobatics isn’t just for performers. It’s a powerful physical discipline that sharpens your ability to move with control, recover from unexpected movement, and own your body in every plane.
People are drawn to acrobatics because it’s:
Playful and expressive — it reconnects you to the joy of movement
Mentally engaging — requiring full presence, timing, and creativity
Physically complete — combining strength, mobility, agility, and rhythm
Social — many acrobatic disciplines involve partner work and communication
For athletes in other sports, acrobatics improves the ability to adapt, stay loose under pressure, and generate explosive power with precision.
Acrobatics is trained through:
Fundamentals — shoulder rolls, cartwheels, backbends, and forward rolls
Balance work — like handstand presses and inversions
Partner flow — acroyoga, lifts, and counterbalance drills
Dynamic movement — like breakdance patterns, flips, and floorwork
It’s not about brute strength, it’s about understanding momentum, stacking joints, and flowing through chaos with intention.
Gear like the Movement Pad offers critical joint support for dynamic practice, while Fat Bar Parallettes give athletes the grip and elevation needed for inverted drills and controlled balances.
Without supplemental training, acrobats can experience:
Overuse injuries in the wrists and shoulders
Lack of structural strength in the deeper stabilizers
Inconsistent movement quality due to missing foundational conditioning
Shortened training life span due to excessive joint stress
Acrobatics alone is high-impact. To sustain it, athletes need a structure that reinforces form, mobility, and recovery, which is where bodyweight protocols shine.
Bodyweight training supports acrobatics by:
Building joint resilience through mobility and scapular drills
Increasing midline control through core compression and hollow holds
Developing dynamic balance through crawling, inversion, and reactive patterns
Teaching breath control and proprioception under movement
Helping prevent injury and increase recovery between sessions
When combined with intelligent programming, bodyweight work ensures acrobats can perform longer, move cleaner, and recover faster.
Theo Necker is a master of fluid, grounded strength. With a background in breakdance, capoeira, handbalancing, and acroyoga, Theo teaches acrobatics as a movement art, blending bodyweight strength with creative exploration.
He trains with crawling patterns, core drills, and press-to-handstand sequences, often integrating flow states into strength training. Theo uses the Minimalist Gym Rings to build pulling strength and Parallettes to explore press mechanics and reduce wrist strain.
His style shows that bodyweight mastery isn’t just practical, it’s expressive.
Join us at Movement Made Festival in Norway in August to meet these coaches in person, try their workshops, and learn how to train for your sport in a smarter, sustainable way. Dive into bodyweight training methods specific to your passion, and get stronger, more balanced, more capable.
It's perfect for all levels, ages, and walks of life so don't miss out on this once in a lifetime event.
Learn more below
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