I started training calisthenics in 2019, and I've learned the strict bar muscle-up, slow
bar muscle-up, ring muscle-up, and handstand so far.
Since 2020 is about to come to an end, I want to reflect on what I've learned so far and
see if I can still perform them
because what's the point of learning a skill and forgetting it, right?
Furthermore, I want to challenge myself and see if I am capable of performing these skills
in one single take.
Whenever I successfully learn a variant of the muscle-up, I stop training it right away
and move on to different pull exercises at higher levels.
I am pretty sure I can still do the strict bar muscle-up since it's all about the raw
pull strength, but I am not so sure about the slow bar muscle-up and ring muscle-up
because I haven't trained the false grip for quite a while.
It will be interesting to find out whether the false grip is something you will lose
if you don't consistently train it, or it is a skill for life once you learn it.
As for the handstand, I actually have been consistently training it because I know I
still need to do some push exercises regularly to balance out the heavy pulling from the
front lever, the one-arm pull-up, and rock climbing.
I don't have big goals for push strength, so I didn't attempt to bench press or anything
like that.
I am mostly in maintenance mode for my push strength with handstands.
Anyways, I decided to head to the park, and this happened.
When I replayed the footage, I noticed that I might get complaints about my form of the
muscle-ups, so I decided to do a few more times individually with a better form.
Since I don't have rings and obviously there are no rings in the park, I had to try the
ring muscle-up in the gym separately on another day.
Obviously if slow bar muscle-ups don't give me problems, I will have no issues doing the
ring muscle-up.
When I first learned the ring muscle-up, I did not realize I had to turn the rings out
at the top, and if you are one of the people who complained about it, I turned the rings
out at the top this time.
In any case, I am happy that I am still able to perform what I've learned for the past
1.5 years, and it's also great to know that you only have to learn the false grip once.
In the end of 2019, I posted an Instagram story of my goals in 2020.
Looking back, I was a bit too ambitious, and I only accomplished the first one, so where
am I for the other three?
When I started training for the front lever, the best I could do was the very basic tuck.
I stopped training the front lever and decided to focus on weighted pull-ups.
Eventually, I successfully trained for the 77% extra bodyweight pull-up by pulling up
my wife.
Based on the data, I should be able to do a full front lever or at least a full straddle,
right?
Unfortunately, when I got back and tried the front lever again, it only got me to the advanced
tuck.
It's unbelievable to me how people are able to do the full front lever that easily based
on the data.
I have tried so many different things for the past few months, I think I made every
possible mistake, and currently I am progressing to holding a perfect form straddle half lay
for a few seconds.
By the way, if you still think the form is not perfect, comment below and let me know
why.
I can also hold a full straddle for a few seconds, but I am not going to show it because
I know you guys will complain about the form.
There are so many things I learned that I couldn't find on the Internet to progress
from the advanced tuck to the straddle half lay.
It's not as simple as just doing that exercise and doing this exercise and eventually you
will get it, type of thing like all the front lever tutorials put up by the talented calisthenics
athletes.
Anyways, I will have to save this for the future video when I eventually achieve the
front lever.
As for the one-arm pull-up, Overcoming Gravity actually ranks it one level higher than that
of the front lever, so I didn't even think of attempting to train for it for a long time.
I didn't give it a try until there were enough comments telling me I should train
for it.
After trying it out, I actually think the one-arm pull-up is easier than the front lever,
and currently it feels like I am closer to achieving it.
Oh.
Again, I think I made every possible mistake, and again there are so many things I learned
that are not available on the Internet.
And again it's not simply doing that exercise and doing this exercise and eventually you
will get it, type of thing like all the one-arm pull-up tutorials put up by the talented calisthenics
athletes, and again I have to save what I learned for the future video when I eventually
achieve the one-arm pull-up.
As for climbing an outdoor V7, we all know what happened this year, and I choose to postpone
this project and focus on training in the gym mainly because I know gyms can be regulated
but outdoors cannot.
On top of that, the V7 I am targeting actually looks like a V8 to Paul Robinson.
It's a much steeper climb. It requires a lot more strength, a lot more techinique. It's
a decent amount of moves. The last move looks like a tough last move, so V8, maybe V9.
So it is most likely that I wouldn't be able to send it anyways even if I had gone
there every single weekend this year.
If anyone knows an easier outdoor V7 that is within one-hour driving distance from San Diego,
please let me know.
I am currently juggling too many things at the same time, and I don't have the bandwidth
to drive 2~3 hours just to fail a few times on a V7, and then drive another 2~3 hours
back home.
Anyways, I've been focusing on training on the MoonBoard this year because I heard
that MoonBoard grades are supposedly aligned with outdoor grades.
The current max grade I can climb on the MoonBoard is only V6, so my plan is to climb at least
a MoonBoard V7 first and then think about climbing an outdoor V7.
Here are my goals for 2021.
For calisthenics, my first goal is the one-arm pull-up, and I think this should be very doable.
My second goal is the front lever.
I hope this is doable, too, but I know how difficult it is to progress from a straddle
half lay to a full straddle, and I kinda dread the progression from the full straddle to
the full front lever.
My third goal is the press handstand.
This is a very distant goal of mine, but recently I had a chance to work with Eric, who is a
talented young gun, on the press handstand.
He is super knowledgeable, and he runs a YouTube channel called "FrinksMovement TV" with
a lot of great videos, so definitely check him out.
For climbing, my first goal is to climb a MoonBoard V7, and I think this should be doable
as long as I keep grinding on it.
My second goal is to climb a gym V8.
I think if I am patient enough, I will eventually encounter a set where there's a V8 that
I can do because it suits my style.
My third goal is to climb an outdoor V7.
I set this goal last year without any intermediate goals, and it was a bit unrealistic.
Hopefully, it will be closer to becoming a reality this year.
Thanks for watching all the way to the end.
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