Coaches

The calisthenics coaches in Bodyweight Sports

In our calisthenics association, many group lessons are provided by (currently) three calisthenics trainers.
From the foundation of Bodyweight Sports, Coaches Dean and Tommy started teaching and since 2018 coach Erwin has also joined. On this page you will discover more about our coaches themselves, but also what it means to be a calisthenics trainer.

Calisthenics coaches are skilled

The hardest part about becoming a calisthenics coach is that you already have to master quite a few calisthenics exercises. Of course, there not much practitioners who take a methodology for teaching an exercise seriously if the trainer cannot even perform it himself. This is why it is almost a requirement for a calisthenics coach to be a skilled calisthenics athlete in addition to being an active practitioner of calisthenics.

The experience of calisthenics trainers at Bodyweight Sports

The founders Dean and Tommy started calisthenics in 2012, they also have a lot of competition experience including several Dutch championships, world championships and dozens of other (inter) national competitions. Calisthenics coaching at Bodyweight Sports goes much further than teaching the sport calisthenics in itself, in our association an athlete can really be prepared for major competitions and the selection team of the club is therefore also a great inspiration and motivation for every future athlete.

Bodyweight Sports coach Dean

I have enjoyed sports all my life. I started playing football when I was 6 and I also played tennis.
I also did several internships during my sports education, which meant that I was active in many sports.
At one point I came up with the idea to start fitness, I did this together with Tommy. It was always very intensive, but I soon noticed that this was not a sport for me.

I am always looking for challenges and boundaries that I can push, because otherwise the sport will quickly bore me. I simply need something that never stops, something that I have a purpose for!
Fortunately, Tommy thought the same way, and we came up with the idea of ​​learning a Muscle-up (via videos), I thought this looked so cool! After a few weeks of practice, this (first) goal was achieved and I was able to perform the exercise. Soon there was motivation to learn other exercises such as a handstand, human flag, etc., so that we suddenly practiced the sport “Calisthenics”.

Soon I wanted to make calisthenics my job. I really enjoy helping people, teaching them and inspiring them. The joy and discharge that someone experiences when he/she learns something does me so good. From that moment on I knew for sure, I wanted to be involved in this sport all day long and help as many people as possible with this. Because I practiced this sport together with Tommy, we tried many things on ourselves but also on others. We came up with the idea of ​​opening a gym and we started providing Calisthenics classes.

We have now provided 7000 hours of Calisthenics lessons to schools, companies and our club members. I prefer to be involved in motivating and coaching people, developing our curriculum and the experience of our club members. The community that has emerged feels like a family, so I can proudly say that our dream has become a reality. To this day I do this with passion, and above all with a lot of fun!

Bodyweight Sports coach Tommy

After many years of practicing different sports such as: football, swimming, gymnastics, free-running, taekwondo and fitness, it has become clear to me what I like to do most. Sports with a lot of power and control, I like to do things that are (almost) superhuman.

When I met Dean, we went to the gym together. We spent a lot of time on the internet looking at how best to perform exercises and looking for the most extreme moves. Soon we came across the Muscle-up, a Pull-up combined with a Dip, on a pull-up bar. This was something I really wanted to learn because it looked so cool and difficult!
After a few weeks we had mastered this exercise and immediately we looked for even more challenge. Calisthenics turned out to be the sport where this can be found in abundance, and from that moment on I never stopped.

As we mastered different calisthenics exercises, I started to enjoy teaching the sport more and more. After trying out different ways and techniques with some friends, it became increasingly clear what the most efficient way of training is. As a result, our teaching style developed in such a way that Dean and I could set up an incredibly beautiful program together. To this day, this program continues to improve and I enjoy it immensely.

Besides running a business, Dean and I are still very active with our training and we regularly participate in major international competitions.
I prefer to focus on nutrition & training, the experience of club members and improving people’s lifestyle. Guiding dozens of people every day to achieve their personal goals is the best thing there is. When you get those sincere thanks for changing someone’s life in a positive way, I always get goosebumps with pride.

Bodyweight Sports coach Erwin

After my CIOS graduation in 2011, I worked in the fitness industry for a number of years. After 5 years I wanted to give more personal attention to people and started my own personal training company. I loved being able to give my clients all the attention and enjoyed doing this in addition to my other full-time job. After 2 years I unfortunately had to end this due to private circumstances.

When I walked into Bodyweight for the first time in the summer of 2017, I was immediately sold. The hospitality, location and sport was exactly what I was looking for! After years of having to come up with creative solutions to apply functional training in various fitness centers, I came to the right place.

When I started exercising again full of enthusiasm, the click with Dean and Tommy was actually exceptionally good right away. Due to the enormous growth in this sports club, there was an opportunity to work here part-time. After being able to provide the Kids Calisthenics classes for over a year, I was given the opportunity to work as a Personal trainer again, of course this sounded like music to my ears and I took that opportunity with 2 hands. The fact that so many people in this place performed achievements that they previously did not think possible made me very proud every day and now I can use my experience again to contribute to this!

Providing group lessons and especially Personal training, offering that extra bit of motivation during training, also in such a cozy club is exactly what I prefer to do every day.

Discover more about the club: