I follow the Barstarzz online for a couple of years now. I am 100% behind anyone who is interested in helping people gain strength and improve their quality of life, because they are one of the most positive physical culture groups out there. Edward Checo invited me to take a look at their and share my thoughts with him.

I want you to know more about the group and what they do. They are the guys who are always working out on the playground.

For starters, here’s the fairly jaw-dropping introduction to the video:

Very strong stuff.

Once you have gained the strength to start practicing some of that madness, the DVD isn’t going to teach you to do all the stuff you just saw, but they put a premium on creativity, which will be up to you once you have gained the strength to start practicing some of that It will teach you what the Barstarzz considers the fundamental areas of strength training prior to getting more creative on your own.

What is on the DVD?

From man-on-the-street-raw-trainee to performing some pretty solid feats of strength is the progression.

I will use the pushup for an example. Everyone knows what a pushup is. The pushup segment of the DVD pretends you don’t, and takes a couple of steps backwards to help someone work up to the pushup proper. The first half of the pushups come first.

The progression goes through the pushup to the one arm pushup. One arm clapping. It was something I had never seen anyone else do.

The dip, one legged squat, muscle ups, and similar movements follow the same progressions. Each is taken beyond the completion of the full movement to something more extreme.

There are segments on suggested warm ups and programming options.

What I like

I believe these guys are passionate about helping others grow stronger, healthier, and better in their lives.

They can do it on their own.

The progressions are hard to misinterpret and they are good teachers.

The members are generous with their time and talents and they talk things over, compare notes, and offer encouragement to newcomers.

The DVD was shot in New York. I like the idea of people getting strong in the park with minimal equipment.

What I wish was better

The on-the-street instruction makes the sound poor at times. You can tell when a woman is walking off camera with a baby in a stroller because you can’t hear what’s being said. It is not a big deal because the exercises are demoed for you. You are going to hear a lot of street noise.

I don’t think there is a way to make watching an exercise demo exciting. I was bored by watching a guy do a lot of kneeling pushups. I am not suggesting that the demos are unimportant, just know that you will be watching a lot of them.

I don’t follow programs in my training. I wouldn’t try to follow a set template to the letter. I do not make as much progress that way. I would not discourage someone who benefits from a template and structured programming from trying it.

I can’t do the things they can do, so feel free to ignore what I said. I feel obligated to mention that it is not what I do for myself when I review a program. I don’t want any confusion there.

The Barstarzz are legit. I am proud to be Edward’s friend and a big fan of their work. If you want to follow in their footsteps, they have made a high-quality product that I believe could benefit you in your training.