here's my transformation after learning how to work out like a bodyweight bodybuilder hey
everyone Daniel Vadnal here for Fitness FAQs here's five reasons why you're not building
muscle with calisthenics doing only compound calisthenics is flawed for building muscle I
used to be a compound exercise Zealot when I first started working out doing anything other
than pull-ups push-ups dips and rows was seen as a waste of time I was brought up in the early days
of calisthenics thinking that compounds are all you need to build physique and strength
after several years of following this compound Dogma it was clear that I wasn't getting the
arm growth I wanted it's impossible to exhaust all of the muscles in our body equally in multi-joint
movements with compound exercise there's always going to be muscles which are fatigued before
the rest resulting in good growth in some areas and poor growth in others I found myself doing
tons of pull-ups to grow my biceps tons of dips to grow my triceps I get exhausted from doing
just compounds my back and chest look good but I never never reached my muscle building potential
elsewhere if you choose to do only color snacks please isolate to bring up lagging body parts
if you're struggling with arm size it's not rocket science isolate doing bicep curls and
tricep extensions will transform your physique if you've only ever done compounds I found my
arms getting bigger and bigger without too much extra effort when isolating by doing just a few
sets of arm isolation this greater weekly volume is guaranteed to make a difference it is possible
to slate muscles using calisthenics with some creativity with body weight bodybuilding keep
in mind the core demands are greater CU you've got to stabilize throughout the movement you'll
need a pair of gymnastics rings to expand your exercise variety when it comes to targeting
specific muscles by adding isolation alongside your compounds expect your physique to become
well-rounded with calisthenics body weight exercise isn't optimal for building muscle
long term the problem is with time most people outgrow the exercises with their body weight
alone just look at how the Jack guys in New York train they're achieving Crazy physiques by just
doing body weight exercises for tons of reps granted they tend to do multiple hour workouts
to get enough volume to exhaust their muscles the insane pump is likely making them look bigger on
camera which skews our standards this isn't to say you can't build muscle with High Reps it's just
inefficient and miserable compared to moderate reps the lactic acid which comes from a set
of 30 push-ups feels disgusting these metabolic byproducts impede your mental and physical drive
to continue pushing to the Limit with 30 plus rep sets most people don't enjoy training with High
Reps and they're just not going to push themselves hard enough also the average person doesn't have
good enough cardio to handle High rep sets being limited by the lungs instead of the muscles when
you can't breathe and get that painful lactic acid most people give up before they should the science
suggests when training with High Reps it becomes even more important to train close to failure
when doing say 30 plus reps intensity relative to fail out especially for bodybuilding really
matters now if you're leaving three plus reps on body weight exercises the intensity relative to
failure is poor that's the reason why you're not building muscle with calisthenics if you don't
want to spend all day doing reps just add weight weighted car's thanks is the answer for building
an incredible upper body here's how to effectively overload the key compound body weight exercises
you'll need a dip belt with plates or you can just add weight to a backpack the vertical plane for
pulling includes chinups and Pull-Ups for your back and biceps the vertical plane for pushing
includes dips and Pike push-ups for your chest and shoulders the horizontal plane consists of
the inverted row and pushup to hit the pulling and pushing muscles respectively these movements are
comprehensive for targeting the entire upper body with weighted Cal snacks thanks to going heavier
you can now challenge yourself in the entire bodybuilding rep range you can do sets of five
by going heavier to build strength and muscle simultaneously you can do the classic 8 to 15
reps with moderate weights for Max efficiency the choice is yours the benefit of weighted Cal
STS for bodybuilding is you're using full range of motion and the intensity can be increased for life
all that's left for you to do is to progress the basics and stay the course hybrid training is when
calisthenics and weights are combined in order to reach your full genetic potential hit the gym
to by using free weights cables and machines the exercise options are endless you can effectively
Target every single muscle in your body natural razors for side delts is an example for shoulders
incline bench press to Target the upper chest for a bigger upper shelf deadlifts to overload
our spinal Erectors for complete back Aesthetics here's how to mix calisthenics and weights in your
workout program do calisthenics for all your compounds and weights for isolation a pull day
would be front lever pull-ups inverted rows and finishing with dumbbell curls this method works
great because it adds size without impeding your calisthenics recovery number two mix
calisthenics and weights in every workout a push day would be dips barbell overhead press incline
bench press and push-ups by mixing calisthenics and weights in one workout you're more able to
evenly progress in both domains option three is alternating between a calisthenics and a weights
workout if you train up a body four times a week two workouts are calisthenics only and the other
two are weights only the advantage of this setup is you can dedicate 100% of your focus to either
calisthenics or weights you've also got something to look forward to two in the next workout lastly
you can start with weights and finish with calisthenics each workout a leg day would
be hack squats rdl's [ __ ] squats and Nordic hamstring curls starting with weights for Pure
overload finishing with calisthenics because just your body weight is going to be harder
due to already lifting with the order of Weights followed by K snakes you can get a huge stimulus
relative to the fatigue by ending with body weight exercises for bodybuilding an explosive technique
is not the best idea for building building muscle people train explosively to make the movement
efficient this aggressive technique maximizes strength for those with performance goals if your
goal is to increase 1 RM strength this makes sense for recruiting the most motor units by using fast
negatives and abusing the stretch reflex between reps there's no question you'll be stronger as a
result for people who want to build muscle as a priority the drawback is increased injury risk
fast speed and heavy weights for low reps invite greater stress on the joints and tendons without
careful over and listening to one's body when going heavy many people find themselves constantly
sore or dealing with injury using a strength lifting technique when you want to build muscle is
flawed here's how to fix it technique for building muscle is about making each rep as difficult as
possible by using a controlled Eccentric pausing between reps and employing full ROM any exercise
becomes harder this strict form should be consistent across all your exercises optimizing
the stimulus to fatigue ratio you're now getting more Tang on the muscles and relying Less on
momentum you're likely using a posture which makes leverages worse positioning your body so that the
exercise feels harder and actually less efficient by making lighter weights feel heavy you'll get
more bang for your buck for hypertrophy nobody cares how heavy your Lifting for building muscle
your body doesn't even care technique and effort relative to failure does matter the weight lifted
is just a tool to challenge yourself in the 5 to 30ish rep range expect your performance to
be much lower when using super strict bodybuilding techniques compared to normal choosing a training
technique in accordance with the goal of muscle growth can't be highlighted enough look at how
the best bodybuilders work out and apply that to Cal's thanks instead of lifting heavy for the sake
of it find this sweet spot of difficulty where you can experience a muscle pump and get a bit sought
doing random workouts guarantees you won't build muscle social media is to blame the temptation to
do all these new exercises is hard to resist doing something new is exciting it's fun and it gives us
a huge surge of dopamine in the moment choosing novelty is like junk food sticking to a routine
is like healthy food we're trading short-term pleasure with novelty over long-term progress with
routine the idea of muscle Confusion by changing exercises all the time is outdated getting sore
muscles from a new exercise doesn't mean your workouts are productive for muscle growth it pains
me to see consistent hardworking people short change their results with constant variety the
truth is most people can't stick to a workout routine because they lack discipline it takes
restraint to avoid distraction self-awareness to delay gratification and clear goal setting to stay
the course Progressive overload is the answer for building muscle with Cal thanks by having a
workout routine that you follow for 6 to 12 weeks you leave room to make real progress keeping a
workout log is the biggest muscle building hack by having objective numbers facts about your workouts
you are given something real to beat in the next workout by writing down your exact sets reps and
weights for each workout I guarantee you'll build more muscle it doesn't matter if you track your
workouts on a phone app or write it down on paper old school just do it accountability of effort is
built in with a workout log it's the best way to coach yourself to success when a workout log is
used correctly you're more likely to train at the correct dose and intensity to build muscle
you're able to do a little more than last time and are motivated by seeing the upward trend
of improvements in your workouts whenever I'm too lazy to keep a workout log there's a few problems
which occur I stay in the comfort zone and get complacent my workouts look the exact same and
my results do too there can be less of an Impulse to push the comfort zone if we're vague about what
we've done previously problem two is the novelty trap I spoke about earlier I start doing random
workouts and exercises because I can't put my progress in perspective with a workout log I avoid
distraction and get more enjoyment from trying to improve the same exercises training intuitively
doesn't work for everyone if you're a maniac like me you'll just keep going and going until failure
this mental model gives us peace of mind when it's not clear exactly what we did last workout failure
is a foolproof way to know there's been enough effort to grow but it comes at a cost there's
no way you can consistently improve workout after workout for 6 to 12 weeks by going balls
to the wall all the time keeping a workout is a non-negotiable if you're serious about building
muscle being calculated with small progress over time is the best approach workout logs
allow people who under or overdo things to train optimally this allows you to hit The Sweet Spot
of volume and intensity over the course of your workout phase time must be respected if you want
to build muscle it's not one hard workout that matters rather slow and steady gains over months
is what creates change if your workout consists of mainly straight arm isometric exercises this is a
problem for hypertrophy isometrics are designed for specific strength in calisthenics being able
to hold the body horizontal Against Gravity the science is clear mid-range isometrics are
ineffective for building muscle we just have to look at the body type of your average calisthenics
specialist in Statics phenomenal performance with holds but often lacking muscle size we have to
remember the goal of straight arm isometrics it's to get stronger in the exact excise he the excise
science principle specificity applies isometrics strengthen the range held and have negligible
impacts on physique basically you'll get a nice front lever or planche when doing mid-range
isometrics but don't expect to become bodybuilder big instead do Cal snakes through a full range
of motion I'm someone who wants to build muscle and master calisthenics I understand full range
of motion is where the magic happens therefore when doing straight arm excises I just make them
bodybuilder friendly make sure that you're doing five reps or more when training straight arm color
snakes through full ROM be sure to train with a high intensity leaving only a few reps in the tank
every set ensures you're working hard enough to grow the muscle damage from the Ecentric negative
should be emphasized if you want to build muscle mass with calisthenic skills milk that lowering
phase like your life depends on it by just doing your negative slower the physique changes will
be night and day with Caln training full range of motion calisthenics skills is more fun in my
opinion having movement in the mix is an enjoyable way to train calisthenics while also gaining mass
you won't be setting World Records in static holds but you'll get more size and some strength
in closing the most important principles for building muscle with calisthenics include weighted
calisthenics to make body weight exercises harder while also mixing in weights at the
gym use a full range of motion with bodybuilding tempo for a better stimulus on the muscles with
less fatigue Progressive overload is a must for getting bigger keep a workout log so that you're
actually increasing reps and weight lifted over time including compound and isolation exercises is
the best for getting a complete physique from head to toe by following today's video you can build
muscle with calisthenics don't forget your calorie Surplus and sleeping like a baby see you next time