kipping is a major sin in the calisthenics culture it should be avoided at all costs during your
calisthenics journey swinging around everywhere is a clear sign someone does not have sufficient
power to dominate a movement the use of momentum is often seen as cheating and compensating to
make things easier more importantly it's almost impossible to measure progress when form is sloppy
and inconsistent those who rely on keeping simply improve by getting better at keeping
unfortunately this momentum method does not have a useful carryover to real-world strength training
here's what does calisthenics is a trained discipline which shines through the use of strict
fall this means each rep should be completed by using your own body's false production it's truly
empowering knowing you are entirely responsible for making an exercise or skill possible yes this
is harder yes this is going to be a hit to the ego yes you're going to have to step back at first
not keeping is going to reduce the overall output as far as reps and performance are concerned
but when the form is pure have confidence knowing you're
undoubtedly getting more powerful and strong over time regardless if the goal is building
muscle or strength with calisthenics compound exercises are absolutely king
compound training involves exercise which involve multiple large muscle groups the push-up
embodies everything that makes calisthenics a well-respected form of resistance training
using just our own body weight we can effectively target all the major upper body pressing muscles
we're talking the chest or pecs shoulders or delts and the arms being the tricep muscles
there are countless variations in terms of hand placement possible with the humble push-up
modifying the technique during horizontal pressing is going to emphasize different muscles to a
greater or lesser extent if you're looking for a challenge consider training unilaterally doing
this increases difficulty significantly which is awesome for home workouts you're now going to be
pressing a greater percentage of your body weight making all kinds of muscle and strength gains
don't over complicate the push-up choose a variation which feels comfortable
and accomplishes the goal you have in mind
next up we have the squat of the upper body the vertical dip this exercise trains similar
upper body muscles as the push-up the major benefits include the vertical pressing motion
pushing the entire body weight and long-term progressive overload thanks to the position
relative to gravity dips tax the upper body without the core becoming a limiting factor
this calisthenics compound benefits significantly from external loading due to the low skill
requirements involved for technical perfection adding weight is a guaranteed road to successful
progressive overload simply manipulate the weight added to suit your strength level and desired rep
range the classic acronym kiss keep it simple stupid is something i tell myself constantly
keep pushing keep focused and keep compound exercises a primary feature in your workouts
it doesn't matter if you've been training for one day or 10 years
partial range of motion equals partial results the body always seeks comfort and loves nothing more
than to stay the same and remain in homeostasis it doesn't want to change short range of motion is
used by all experience levels when the body seeks the easy option training under these conditions
only exposes working muscles to joint positions it's already good at the result of habitually
using short range immersion is less muscle mass and a fraction of the potential strength gain
self-coaching involves mentally focusing on proper execution or admitting reality by reducing the
volume and intensity what full range of motion means is going to be different based on the
exercise and one's level of mobility a universal rule for all exercises is getting a full stretch
and squeeze of the working muscles this involves a joint repeatedly moving from being maximally
opened to maximally closed simply take the joint through its full available motion in a way that's
suitable for your anatomy and your body now concerning calisthenics strength skills there's
definitely a smarter way to train isometric holds here's a nice framework to structure your daily
training from you're going to need to perform a max attempt to serve in calculating training times
a higher intensity isometric is more demanding and challenges maximum strength
which equals shorter hold times as the intensity is high the volume required to stimulate and adapt
is comparatively low a low intensity isometric can be sustained longer which results in biasing
more strength endurance obey the inverse relationship between intensity aka hold
duration and volume aka total training time and your isometric game is going to be on point
okay so you want to build muscle by body weight you're going to need to understand rep ranges
and volume if your main objective is winning the hypertrophy invest time in the 6 to 30 rep range
the moderate rep range is preferable for building muscle thanks to efficiently accumulating volume
6 or greater reps is generally accepted as the minimum number
to create sufficient mechanical tension for hypertrophy purposes the intensity is high enough
to induce tension in the working muscles but not so extreme to overly tax the nervous system
moderate rep ranges up to 30 are perfect because this hypertrophy principle
becomes even more prevalent the up to 30 rep range might come as a shock to some of you hear me out
just because we're doing calisthenics it doesn't mean we can't borrow from our bodybuilding bros
take for example isolation training doing sets of 6 is illogical from a performance and
practical perspective low reps on isolation creates unnecessary joint strain without
sufficiently stressing the muscles in question don't make the ego mistake often made by gym rats
rather when isolating for muscle gain don't be afraid to go higher on the rep spectrum
yes it's possible to go above 15 reps and build mass
the key with calisthenics is getting a large amount of recoverable training volume
each session stick to the 6 to 30 rep range for successful body weight bodybuilding the main way
to increase maximum strength with calisthenics is training in the one to five rep range
lower reps bias high amounts of mechanical tension which is a key driver in neural development
invested here is going to optimally improve the software of the body aka the nervous
system for top end strength the sweet spot for regular training is the three to five rep range
why is this a sweet spot well the intensity is still legitimately high while allowing sound form
to be maintained additionally the injury risk is generally lower when strength training for
multiple reps compared to maxing out on singles or doubles with that said during training one or
two rep sets should be used sparingly reserve this for peaking periods or when absolute max
strength is desired remember rep ranges fall on a spectrum with no extreme cutoffs doing
six reps won't mean zero strength gain just like doing 31 reps isn't going to mean pure endurance
most people associate shorter rest times with working harder which intuitively means more
gains right wrong for compound exercises resting anywhere from three to greater than five minutes
is generally recommended for isolation exercises one to three minutes is more than enough
being adequately recovered for each upcoming set is the only way to accumulate volume
without compromising intensity and technique not resting long enough results in having to
drop the reps use an easier progression or lighten the load at the end of the day
just use intuition and feeling leaning towards resting more is better than less adopting a
training mindset over a testing mindset is the calisthenics secret for sustainable strength
it's in our dna to want results right now and our lack of patience can become an issue i know
you too have also fallen into this trap before trying things which are too advanced what we don't
see on social media is peak performers spend the majority of their time building strength
instead pick a progression of variation a setup and an intensity which challenges you and you only
this way perfect form is going to be possible and your body is actually going to respond repetition
over and over with a training mindset is going to outperform a testing mindset in the long run
as you know the calisthenics commandments would be incomplete without talking about
the scapula strengthening the supporting muscles surrounding and interacting with the scapula
has a direct impact on calisthenics mastery an easy analogy is comparing the scapula's
role to that of building a house if we want to build a house on a foundation of mud and twigs
the size of the building is going to be limited as the house is going to move and eventually collapse
a shaky foundation scapular reduces how much torque or rotational force can be
generated the shoulder and upper body as a whole a solid foundation is going to support
a bigger and stronger building our shoulders when it comes to calisthenics are no different
don't just pay this seriously important aspect lip service follow through and actualize what your
body is truly capable of yeah but what about your skinny legs mate training the legs is satisfying
in its own right through establishing goals for this area too those involved in calisthenics who
want a body which is capable from head to toe should never skip leg day pick your method of
choice through the use of body weight training or adding external resistance we need you building
muscle and getting stronger legs for lifetime longevity and being a functional everyday human
at the very least you're going to be forced to improve mobility in the lower body if
the intention is advanced calisthenics without adequate lower body range of motion moving freely
isn't going to be possible don't stress about bigger and heavier legs reducing calisthenics
performance relative strength is going to improve when handling your own body weight
thanks for watching be sure to share this video with a friend
this type of calisthenics knowledge needs to be mainstream