Bodyweight training is an amazing thing, it has always been poetry in motion for

me. Some people like to call it working out, but I like to call it RAW
MOVEMENT. It doesn’t get any more primal and basic than bodyweight training
and some people actually consider it to be a more effective training method than
free-weights. With hundreds of benefits from no gym equipment to lower joint
stress to natural range of motion and athleticism, you just can’t go wrong. Moving
external resistance is great, but you get a different and more unique feeling when
you move your own bodyweight through space. Bodyweight training has a high
level of neurological muscle activation that is hard to duplicate with other methods.
The climbing, pulling, dipping, sprinting, holding, pushing and twisting are all a
beautiful thing.

For countless decades people have been getting amazing results off of Calisthenics
training alone:

GYMNASTS

When you think of bodyweight training one of the first things that comes to mind is
Gymnastics. I have talked to many gymnasts and the majority of them haven't
touched a weight in their life (neither do they care), but still possess great upper
bodies due to the advanced exercises on the parallel bars, rings and pull-up bars.
 They have mastered the art of advanced dips, chins, L-Sits and the list goes on.
These people have mastered their own bodyweight and even though they train for
performance they still have great muscle development with strength through the
roof. On top of upper body relative strength, gymnasts have some of the strongest
cores in the world.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PERFORMERS/ATHLETES

Cirque du Soleil athletes/performers are a little similar to the gymnasts with the
way that they are built. They have very deep core strength from years and years of
balancing with handstands and doing advanced exercises like Front and Back
Levers. They also have incredible coordination, balance, explosive strength and
they have nice physiques as well. I was amazed the first time I saw a cirque du
soleil show and I always had a lot of respect for these athletes because they have
really mastered their bodyweight.

CALISTHENICS STREET WORKOUT TRAINEE'S

Type in Calisthenics workouts on YouTube and you will see jacked people training
in parks doing advanced exercises that take a lot of hard work and effort.
Resistance is resistance and hard work is hard work, some of these people possess
more impressive physiques than some of the strongest lifters in your local gym, at
least as far as the upper body goes. Not to mention that a lot of these trainee's are
also very creative and make up a lot of their exercises which is pretty cool to say
the least.

FIGHTERS
A lot of fighters actually do a lot of bodyweight training because of all of the
benefits such as moving better and becoming more explosive while putting on
some muscle in the process. Fighters also incorporate a lot of neck bridging
variations to help them develop a strong neck and help prevent possible
concussions. Here at fitworldexposed we are very big on neck training, not only
because of the safety benefits in combat sports but also because it looks badass.

SPRINTERS

Last but not least, we got the sprinters. Sprinters have extremely well developed
lower bodies and some of them don't do any Squats, Leg presses or Romanian
Deadlifts. They have very well developed glutes and hamstrings from years and
years of high intensity sprinting which is great for hitting those fast twitch muscle
fibers and training in an explosive fashion. You will rarely ever see a good sprinter
with a pancake ass!

As a bonus, many Bodybuilders, Powerlifters, Strongmen competitors, Crossfitters

and even some Olympic lifters incorporate some form of bodyweight training in
their programs because there is so much to be gained from Calisthenics. If you keep
reading below then you will really start to understand why these athletes
incorporate so much of this style of training into their programming.
What are some of the benefits of bodyweight training?

1. Reduced risk of injuries during workouts in many cases

While it is true that every exercise has a risk vs. reward factor, bodyweight training
tends to be very safe compared to a lot of weightlifting exercises. Some of the
reasons are:

-You can move more freely as opposed to being locked in a machine or under a
barbell.
-It’s a more natural range of motion.
-There isn’t any load so you won’t have to worry about spinal compression and
other stressors (although if you round your lower back excessively during exercises
like hanging leg raises then it could be problematic).
-No equipment will fall on you because you are the equipment. Of course, there are
some exceptions like falling on your face during a handstand push-up but in most
cases it is safe if you use good form and don't go till failure.

2. More muscle recruitment = more fat burned (but there are some
exceptions)
I know what you are thinking, more muscle recruitment? Don’t we already get
enough recruitment from weights? Yes you do, but not always. If you compare a
stiff arm cable pulldown to a front lever you will be working many more muscles
and stabilizers with the Front Lever, that's a fact.

There is nothing wrong with stiff arm pulldowns but I am just trying to prove a
point.

Bodyweight exercises activate your whole body in every lift, there is no isolation in
bodyweight training. Every bodyweight exercise is like a full body movement. This
leads to great muscle activation and over time it’ll lead to amazing gains and core
development which can help prevent lower back pain that most people get in the
future.
With so many muscles being activated during an exercise, you can imagine how
much fat is being burned. This is good for everybody because fat doesn’t do much
for you.
3. Anytime, anywhere and its free!
How many times per week would you do a military press? Maybe once or twice per
week? With bodyweight training, a similar exercise to the military press would be a
Handstand Push-up and you can do it anytime and anywhere. This isn’t to say that
military presses are bad because I use them myself but those people with no gym
membership who are really pressed for time might be more interested in this style
of training. If you can’t make it to the gym and you wanted to do 1-arm dumbbell
presses or Bulgarian split squats, you could use your bodyweight and do 1-arm
pushups and pistol squats and believe me, these are tough exercises. Don’t ever
think that just because you don’t have weights that you can’t get a good workout in.
Not to forget that it won’t cost you any money and it will save you time from going
to the gym and back. Nobody should ever have an excuse because your body is the
weight, that’s why they call it body-weight training.

4. Bodyweight exercises help you move better

Take a look at how stiff some bodybuilders and weightlifters are, some of them
can't even touch their toes or scratch their own backs. Do you want to be like this? I
hope not. Bodyweight exercises help you move more smoothly. You’ll notice that
with a lot of bodyweight exercises in your program you will start to feel:
-Less stiff
-More flexible
-Less joint pain

5. Easier on the CNS (Central Nervous System) and less soreness (but there
are exceptions)

The sorer you are, the harder it’ll be to train and you want to come to the gym
feeling fresh. Bodyweight training doesn’t get you as sore than weight training in
most cases. This means that you’ll be able to train more frequently than with
weights. This could lead to more progress and more work being done over time
because we all know that frequency and volume are very important for making
progress.

You can’t make consistent progress if you never feel 100%. Not to say that
anything is wrong with being sore, but you will have more work capacity in
everyday life if you aren’t always sore. Don’t get me wrong, bodyweight training
will still get you sore – I did pull-ups, inverted rows, levers and other bodyweight
moves last night and my lats and core are sore, but you won’t get as sore as with
the weights.

Aside from the soreness, the CNS is something else that should be looked at as well
because a drained and tired CNS could lead to bad workouts and less overall
productivity. Bodyweight training is very CNS-friendly in most cases. If you were
to compare heavy Barbel Rows with a lat emphasis to Closegrip Ring Pull-Ups
then chances are that the Pull-Ups won't have as much of an affect on your CNS
than the Barbel Rows. Deadlifts can take a lot out of you and leave you sore for a
few days and there is nothing wrong with that but most bodyweight exercises tend
to be easier on the nervous system in most cases.

6. Less psyching up
Do you ever get scared to do a certain lift like a Squat, Deadlift or Military Press?
Well I’m not telling you to avoid these exercises because you have to face your
fears but with bodyweight training you don’t need to psych yourself up like crazy
so it’s less intimating to do something challenging – you just do it without even
thinking about it, this builds character while building confidence. Single arm chin-
ups are an extremely hard exercise but you won't need as much psyching up when
you approach the exercise because you can't physically see the weight because you
are the weight.

7. Easier to psychologically push yourself

It’s definitely easier to push yourself to the limits when doing bodyweight exercises
because if the exercise is way too difficult then you could easily stop the set
without having to worry about putting any weight down or anything. If you are
doing a bench press then you have to worry about racking the weight while getting
the weight back up safely. If you are doing a 1-arm pushup and you can’t go up
another inch, you can easily put your other hand on the floor and stop the set. It’s a
lot easier to stop the set during bodyweight exercises and this dramatically
decreases the injury risks.

The trick is not to get too comfortable and still do variations that challenge you.
Bodyweight training isn’t a vacation from the weights; it should be just as hard as if
you are doing it properly.

8. Functional strength with internal resistance

There are rarely any days where we are on machines or pushing weight up our
chest like in a bench press but there isn’t a day that goes by where you don’t move
our body. Bodyweight training teaches you how to move better. It helps you get
flexible, gives you coordination, stability, strength, mental focus and other
interesting feats. I like to call it RAW MOVEMENT. If you have bad lifting
mechanics and can’t even move properly with your own body, then you are setting
yourself up for an injury if you start lifting weights right away because your
foundation will be off. Learn how to move properly with your own bodyweight
before adding extra weight.

9. Easy to program and integrate from a coaching perspective

If you are a coach who just started your own gym then you could understand that
equipment is very expensive. Squat racks, benches, barbels, dumbells and other
equipment of that nature could be pretty expensive and machines are even worse.
Leg presses, lat pulldowns, cable rows and are also extremely expensive if you
choose to have them in your gym.

From a coaching perspective you want to save some money but without
compromising the training sessions of your athletes. One of the best ways to do this
would be to incorporate various bodyweight exercises into their training so that
they can reap some of the benefits of Calisthenics and you won't be go bankrupt.
Buying some dipping and pull-up bars are pretty affordable for the majority of
coaches and you can do countless exercises on them that will deliver amazing
results.

10. Variety
Weight training is fun, but eventually it does get tiring, draining and it could even
get boring to a certain degree. This doesn’t seem to happen as much with
bodyweight training, it teaches you to love your body and the way you move. It is a
style of training that you have to experience for yourself. It builds chemistry with
yourself and it makes you feel good. It has definitely had a serious impact on my
life.

11. Results
Bodyweight training has all of these benefits, but the question is; does it work for
building muscle and strength? Yes it does. In recent articles Olympic gymnasts,
Barstarz and other Calisthenics-influenced individuals showed the world that you
can build a great body with limited equipment. These people have phenomenal
bodies and will put most athletes to shame. The only thing that matters at the end of
the day is results and bodyweight training will provide that as long as you keep
progressing.

The fast twitch fibers are the fibers that have the most potential for growth so if you
think that you will reach your genetic potential with calisthenics by doing 80 rep
push-ups, you won't because that is cardio.

I see the same people on the internet doing the same exercises over and over again
without making the exercises any harder, they just do more reps. This method may
be good for cardio but it won't last long for muscle building unless if you have the
best genetics in the world or you are on drugs. Although it may work a bit at first
because newbies can pretty much make progress by doing anything.

If you really want to make progress with Calisthenics then you have to keep
training those fast twitch muscle fibers with exercises that can only be done in the
3-12 rep range and as high as 25 on the lower body exercises.

BASIC BODYWEIGHT REQUIREMENTS

Bodyweight training stands out from all of the free weights and machines, it
requires creativity and it builds character. Calisthenics teaches you to love your
body and love the way you move. Honestly speaking, as a coach I have noticed that
people get so caught up with moving heavy weights that they have lost sight of
moving their own bodyweight. If you aren't able to do the following exercises
with flawless form then you have absolutely no business even touching a weight in
the first place. No exceptions and no questions asked!

-Pull-Ups x 5
-Dips x 5
-Push-Ups x 20
-Bodyweight Squats x 25
-Inverted Row (45 degree angle) x 10
-Hip Thrusts x 25
-Plank for 1 minute
-Side Plank for 1 minute

This list is actually on the very generous side as well because these are very basic
level 1 bodyweight training exercises. Although if you aren't able to perform the
exercises above then do not be discouraged because we are all trying to get
stronger. We are all trying to improve and even the strongest people in the world
have things to work on.

There are thousands of bodyweight exercises to choose from and they can be
progressed or regressed, but today I will narrow it down to under 20 of my favorite
bodyweight exercises for strength and muscle. These are the most bang-for-your-
buck exercises in my experience and are great for building muscle and strength.
Every exercise will be explained in great detail.
PULL-UPS/CHIN-UPS
The Pull-Up/Chin-Up is by far the best bodyweight exercise of all time and
arguably the best lat builder in existence. Pulling ourselves up has been something
that we have been doing since the dawn of mankind. Climbing trees, mountains and
cliffs has been something that humans needed to do in order to survive. This
exercise works the lats, mid traps, biceps, forearms, core and grip strength
tremendously. EMG studies also show that the long head of the triceps and the
chest also get some activation during this exercise as well which means that it hits a
serious amount of upper body muscles making it the king of upper body exercises
in my books.

I chose the Ring Pull-Up because its a lot safer on the shoulders, elbows and wrists
because your hands could move naturally as opposed to being locked onto a
straight bar. This is significantly harder too, but if you want to do Pull-Ups in the
long run then I suggest you do them on rings, TRX or suspension straps for the
sake of your elbows, wrists and shoulders. Rings or suspension straps may cost
around 5-50$ and I am sure that there are ways to make them yourself or maybe
your local park has some already, but you’ll be saving a lot of money compared to
the people who will be getting or already have tendonitis and have to get surgery.
Some people may not even get affected by doing pull-ups on a straight bar, but why
take the risk? Don't get me wrong either, I still do Chin-Ups, Pull-Ups with various
grips on the straight bar from time to time but I do more neutral grip and ring work.

If you have no intentions in buying rings then you should do them on neutral grip
handles because they will be a lot safer than the straight bar. The neutral grip
handle is basically the handle when your palms are facing eachother and it is a lot
more shoulder, elbow and wrist friendly as well. If you don’t have neutral grip bars
then you could take a D-handle for a Lat Pulldown machine and put it in on the
Pull-Up bar.

If you have no access to rings, neutral grip handles or a d-handle then you can grab
the bar with one hand supinated and the other hand pronated, this will kind of give
you the neutral grip effect. This style of Pull-Ups is known as the commando pull-
ups.

If you still experience wrist and elbow pain from Pull-Ups with the straight bar
then give the thumbless grip a try, it will help alleviate some of the pain. If you
want to do wide grip Pull-Ups then the safest way to do them would be to do wide
grip neutral grip Pull-Up handles (some gyms and Pull-Up bars have this).

Also for another safety and variety issue, you want to switch the widths and grips
that you use every now and then so you don’t get overuse injuries, this tip will save
your elbows and you will thank me in the longrun. This will also allow you to hit
your back from various angles so that you can also get overall development while
preventing possible injuries and variety is the spice of life anyways. I personally
never go more than 4 weeks with the same grip and my wrists, elbows and
shoulders have never been injured in a long time.

Whether you are Bodybuilding, Powerlifting, doing Strongman, Gymnastics,

Calisthenics or a sport of some sort, some Chin-Up/Pull-Up variation belongs in
your program. There are just too many benefits to be sleeping on this exercise.
Pull-Ups are especially good for sports that require a lot of pulling such as rock
climbing, swimming, tug of war and sports of that nature.
A friend once told me that having a Pull-Up bar in his house was like a cheat-code
to becoming bigger and stronger because of the convenience and effectiveness of
the exercise and I agreed with him 100%. Millions of wide and strong backs around
the world have been built solely on Pull-Ups so this exercise is definitely number
one and a must have on the list. Still don't believe me?

Here are some reasons as to why the Pull-Up is the king of all upper body
exercises worldwide in the bodyweight training kingdom:

1. The best lat builder in existence

The lats are the biggest muscle in the upper body if you didn't already know and
they can dramatically change the way your upper body looks. People think that
huge biceps and a big chest will stretch out a t-shirt and they might to a certain
degree but no other upper body exercise will stretch out your shirt more than the
good old Pull-Up. Every upper body muscle is involved to a certain degree when
performing pull-ups. The lats go from your armpits all the way down to your waist
and really give you the illusion of width. The V-taper is something that everybody
wants so this exercise must be taken seriously and should be a staple. If your t-shirt
is a size medium and you want to fit in an extra-large shirt then pull-ups will help
you get there if you get strong enough on them.

2. One of the best bicep builders

Chin-Ups build big biceps and that's a fact. I haven't met somebody who was able
to do very strict Chin-Ups for higher reps who didn't have good arms. If you are
trying to get bigger biceps then these must be a staple. In the past I have met people
who have never done a curl in their lives but built biceps from Chin-ups that would
put some bodybuilders to shame.

3. Amazing forearm and grip developer

Hanging your whole bodyweight from a bar can be very difficult especially if you
are overweight and the forearms have to work very hard to hold you up as well. If
you want to make your grip work even harder then you can fatten the grip on the
bar by using FatGripz or you can eventually work up to One-Arm Chin-Ups.
4. One of the best core exercises that you could do
Your first times doing Pull-Ups you might notice that your abs are sore the next
day, this is because your abs are working hard to keep your body upright while you
are pulling yourself up. If you are very serious about getting a strong core and
putting more emphasis on your abs then try doing L-Sit Chin-Ups, they are brutal!

5. Convenience
At the end of this book I have provided a list of over 20 places to do Pull-Ups from
various poles all the way to trees so you have no excuse. This is good because even
if you train at a gym you can stick to your main movements but on another day you
can dedicate everything to Pull-Ups at home where you try various grips and hit
different areas of your back, it will be brutal.

6. The best exercise for testing upper body vertical pulling strength
Lat Pulldowns don't even come close to Pull-Ups when it comes to testing absolute
vertical pulling power. The Pull-Ups calls way more muscles into play such as your
core as well and they look more badass too.

7. Extremely humbling if you are overweight

If you weigh over 220lb then chances are that Pull-Ups will not be as easy for you
as they are for the person weighing 140lb. This will be a very humbling exercise
for you but don't discouraged if it is really hard for you at first because your body
will eventually adapt and you will eventually get used to the movement.

8. Long head of the triceps activation

This may surprise you, but the Pull-Ups actually work the long head of the triceps
which are basically what makes your arms look big and gives it the illusion of size.
The Pull-up is by no means a tricep exercise but you may still experience some
tricep soreness after Pull-Up sessions which means that it is still getting some work
because it is still somewhat involved.

9. From a coaching standpoint it is very easy to program

Pull-Ups only require a bar or rings so it is a great way for the coach to save a bit of
money while the clients/athletes get phenomenal results. Its a win/win situation
with happiness all over. If you are a coach you can also do fun competitions where
you make two people hang from the pull-up bar at once and you tell them to go up
and down and the person who lets go of the bar first loses. Competition is healthy
and it increases testosterone so make sure that you get your athletes to compete
against eachother.

Kind of off topic, but tug of war is also a great game because it serves as a
horizontal row which compliments the vertical pulling and is a form of manual
resistance that breeds competitiveness.

10. Very fun exercise especially if you can do them weighted or with harder
variations
I personally really enjoy doing Pull-Ups and find that they are one of the funnest
and most brutal upper body exercises to do.

11. Could potentially help improve your Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Rows and
Overhead pressing if you are into weightlifting.
Big and strong lats play a big role in improving your lifts and are important for
providing a stable base. Not to mention that if you are serious about deadlifting
heavy weights then you need strong lats because they help keep the bar close to
your body.

12. Could easily be progressed or regressed for anybody

No matter who you are, there is a Pull-Up variation out there for you unless if you
have a legitimate excuse or injury that doesn't allow you to do them. Pull-ups are
too easy? Try single arm L-Sit Ring Chin-Ups for 10 reps. Pull-Ups are too hard?
You can attach a band to a pull-up bar and loop it through your body so that you
will have assistance for pulling yourself up and the stronger you get, the lighter you
make the band and eventually you will be doing them without a band.

13. It has been a primal movement pattern for hundreds and thousands of
years.
Humans did a lot more climbing back then than we do today. It seems like many
humans have lost the ability to climb and pull themselves up, we have become
weak.

Use the Pull-Up to your advantage at get your primal strength back!
Let alone pulling, who would have thought that after hundreds of years that some
humans wouldn't even be able to hang from a bar or a tree?

The society we live in is made up make us weak and I can almost guarantee you
that in a couple of hundred years that standing up is going to be very rare. This is
due to the fact that humans are seated all day in their cars, in front of their
computers and T.V.'s. Technology does everything for us so it makes sense but we
will eventually suffer in due time

14. Easy to track your Pull-Up progress

Exercises like Pull-Ups are very straightforward and it is easy to track your
progress. Remember that it is hard to keep track of your progress when you have
too many exercises so for now on you will track your vertical pulling power
progress with Pull-ups, simple.

15. Low risk and high benefits if you use gymnastic rings or neutral grip
handles
If you use the straight bar to do Pull-Ups then you will eventually start to
experience pain in your elbows and then your shoulders but if you play it safe and
use gymnastic rings or neutral grip handles then the benefits definitely outweigh
the risks.

16. Countless grips and variations to choose from to help you avoid overuse
injuries and build the lats optimally.
There are so many different variations to choose from, I personally like:

-V-BAR PULL-UP SIDE TO SIDE

This variation is elbow and wrist friendly because it’s a neutral grip and its great
for the lats. I actually feel this version more than the straight bar variation. The way
the exercise works is you’ll put your head over on the left side on one rep followed
by the right side on the second rep. To do this, you will need a VBAR, luckily
many gyms have them. If you don't have access to a gym and you only have a pull-
up bar then you can do them commando style and alternate your head from the left
to right side on every repetition.

-RING PULL-UPS
These are great and probably even more joint friendly than the variation above, but
it’s also significantly harder because the stabilizers have to work harder. I like this
variation because your hands can move freely as opposed to the straight bar.

-SHOULDER WIDTH NEUTRAL GRIP PULL-UPS

These work great for the lats and hit the biceps pretty hard as well. Nothing fancy
with this variation, but it could deliver great result’s nonetheless.

-CLOSE-GRIP NEUTRAL GRIP PULL-UP

Very similar to the first variation that I mentioned, but this time you aren’t going
from side to side, the range of motion on this feels longer and the stretch I get in
my lats when I do this variation is insane. I'm currently incorporating this variation
in my program and it’s sparking some new growth. This is the variation that I
actually use the most in my training and I also get an amazing pump with this
variation when I do it for higher repetitions.

-FATGRIP PULL-UPS
In all of my years of lifting, I have yet to find an exercise that humbles me as much
as the FatGrip Pull-up. You think that you have good grip strength? Try these and
watch a 15 rep max turn into 4 or 5 reps. I remember when I used fatgrips for my
pull-ups in the summer of 2013 and then I went back to the regular grip
it felt super easy and I had gotten a lot stronger. This may have been to the fact that
the weakest link in my pull-ups was my grip strength but once I strengthened my
grip I became a stronger puller.

17. Pull-Ups aren't extremely hard to recover from and they are easier on the
CNS than Deadlifts and Barbel Rows
Pull-Ups are a great way to add volume and frequency to your program without
frying your CNS.

18. They are easy on the lower back

I used to think that the best exercises for your back had to stress your lower back to
a great degree (Deadlifts, Bent Over Barbel Rows, T-Bar Rows...etc) but then I
added Pull-Ups in the mix which helped me get more frequency and volume
without hurting the recovery of my lower back.
19. Pull-Ups look badass.
There is no denying the fact that pulling your own bodyweight up and down
countless of times looks really badass.

20. Pull-Ups keep your body honest

The beautiful part about bodyweight training is that it’s a detector of where you are
at in your training. With all of these machines in the gym and even with free
weights such as barbells and dumbbell’s, we get so convinced that we are getting
stronger and stronger. This may be true to a certain extent, but check this out:
If these were some of your stats in September 2010

• Deadlifts: 135lb x 5
• 1Arm Dumbbell Rows: 50lb x 8
• Pull-ups: 10

And these are some of your stats in 2011:

• Deadlifts: 225lb x 5
• 1Arm Dumbbell Row: 85×8
• Pull-ups: 4

Notice how the Pull-ups went down? If all of your weighted exercises are going up
in weight, but your bodyweight exercises are going down then chances are that you
are just getting FAT. You just have more weight to bounce off of you and less
range of motion. The same thing applies if you could bench press more weight but
you can’t do as many dips as you used to do.

21. Improved posture if done properly

Deadlifts and Rows might be some of the best exercises for helping you improve
your posture, but strong lats are also important for standing upright which is
exactly what the Pull-Ups train if you do them properly. You could also

22. Results
They work. I have never met anybody who had a Pull-Up bar in their house who
didn't have a decent back and I have never met somebody who was very good at
Pull-Ups who didn't have a super wide back.
Pull-Ups for Beginners
If you are a beginner or if you just can’t do a Pull-Up then it could get very
frustrating. Luckily I am here to help you out, I’m not going to tell you that it’s
going to be easy but I can give you 3 exercises to help you get your first Pull-Up.

Its true that Pull-Ups are the king of upper body exercises but they can also be hard
for people who are overweight or have weak upper bodies. Since the Pull-Up is a
staple in my Calisthenics program it is very important that you are able to do them!
Don't be discouraged if you can't do one because everybody has to start
somewhere.

GETTING YOUR FIRST PULL-UP

1. Band Chin-Ups. These will help you do pull-ups for higher reps even if you
can’t do one. As you get stronger, you will use a lighter and lighter band.
Eventually you will be stronger and you won't need the band anymore.

2. Chin-up Isometric Holds: These are great for improving your weak points of
the chin-up. Isometrics could build strength too. Try to hold yourself up at the top
for 10-30 seconds for starters. If you notice that you are weak at the top of the
Chin-up then you could try doing isometric holds at the top to help you work on
that portion of the lift that you have trouble with.

3. Inverted row A.K.A. Fatman Pull-up: The final exercise for helping you get
your first pull-up is the inverted row which is also known as the fatman pull-up.
These have a great carryover to your pull-up strength. If you do them with your
elbows tucked you work more of the lats and mid back. If you do it with the elbow
flared out to the side then you are targeting the upper back.

Get strong on these 3 lifts, give it some time, be patient and you will get your first
Pull-Up.

The other big problem with Pull-ups is that you may be able to be doing them with
a full range of motion but most people don't engage their lats in the movement and
pull way too much with their biceps. The biceps are involved to a great degree but
the primary focus of the Pull-Up/Chin-up should be to focus on working out your
lats which are the biggest muscles in the upper body.

One of the reasons why most people don't feel Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups in their backs is
because you can't see your back muscles like you can see your chest so it takes a lot
of visualization and what lifters like to call the "Mind muscle connection". I
compiled a list of 30 tips that can help you learn how to feel your lats properly
during Pull-Ups below.

30 TIPS TO HELP YOU FEEL YOUR LATS DURING PULL-UPS

1. Practice it in some way everyday! Either do research or do a set in a bathroom

stall. If you want to get good at something then you can’t do it once per week. Now
I'm not telling you to do 100 reps per day, but you want to improve in a way that
you don’t hurt yourself. Once you understand the exercise and feel it in the right
places then you could lower the volume and frequency, but when your trying to
learn a technique then it’s good to do it often.

2.Keep your chest up the whole time, you won’t feel as much tension in the back
when your chest is caved in. Keep the chest up from start to finish. People always
say you have to arch your back to feel your back working but a good cue is to keep
your chest up and proud because that helps the back arch even more.

3. Lead with the elbows, the biceps shouldn’t take over and your hands are
nothing more than hooks. Grab the bar and pretend that they don't exist and that the
way you have to initiate the movement is simply by pushing the elbows backwards,
it works!

4. Concentrate and think about the muscle you are working the entire time
(which is most likely the lats). This will put more emphasis on the muscle, don’t
think about anything else while you are doing the set. When you are trying to
master the mind-muscle connection, concentration is key!

5. Stop standing so straight, it’s ok for your legs to be a bit in front of you so you
are pulling at a bit of an angle. You basically want to lean back just a slight bit and
start pulling, this might help you get a better contraction. Most bodybuilders apply
this principle to the lat-pulldown but it also applies for the pull-up as well. Chris
Jones from POG refers this as the "Gangsta Lean".

6. Stop training until failure. Many experienced lifters will tell you that going to
failure on pull-ups could become counterproductive, it’s one of those exercises
where you want to leave one or two reps in the tank. Surprisingly, its also one of
the keys to being strong on pull-ups. If you go to failure then you will notice that
your numbers will drop significantly.

7. Squeeze the lats at the top of each rep, this will help bring more blood into the
muscle and also improve your mind-muscle connection.

8. Stop doing deadhangs and locking out your elbows, for elbow health it isn’t a
smart approach. Keep your elbows 99% locked, never 100% locked.

9. Stretch your lats after every set of pull-ups and for one minute at the end of
the workout. This tip alone helps drive more blood into that area and helped
improve my mind muscle connection. More blood in the muscle might also
contribute to a better pump which is important for helping you learn the mind
muscle connection. Many bodybuilders with very wide backs do this for 10-20
seconds between sets as well.

10. Focus on proper breathing when doing pull-ups, this will allow you to keep
a solid core and it’ll make it easier to maintain a more stable torso.

11. Keep your glutes squeezed throughout the entire set, this will help prevent
excessive anterior pelvic tilt and will help you keep your body more stable.

12. Keep your core tight throughout the entire exercise, this will also prevent
excessive anterior pelvic tilt and help you keep your body solid as well.

13. If you have an anterior pelvic tilt which is a hyperlordosis in your lower back
then do a posterior pelvic tilt before starting the exercise and maintain it
throughout the exercise.

14. Get a full lat stretch at the bottom of the movement while keeping your
elbows soft and not completely locked. The key to pull-ups is to get a good
stretch in the lats during the eccentric component of the movement. People love to
focus on the concentric part of the movement but the eccentric and the stretch is
equally as important, some bodybuilders consider it to be even more important, the
argument is debatable. One thing is for sure, they are both extremely important for
pull-ups!

15. Get your chin above the bar, not everybody might be able to do this, but you
want to try to avoid half reps.

16. DON’T SHRUG. No matter what you do, do not shrug. Shrugging during pull-
ups is the ultimate sin and will result in crappy lat development! This will take a lot
of the tension off of the target muscles and chances are that if you are shrugging
then you are trying to cheat your way up. When you are at the bottom of the pull-up
your shoulders shouldn't be touching your ears either.

17. Instead, keep your shoulders as far away from your ears as possible. This is
a good trick to help you avoid constant shrugging and it’s a cue that will help you
do initiate the movement properly.

18. Keep your chin tucked. Many people can’t get their chins over the bar so they
hyperextend they’re necks. This isn’t good and will lead to forward head posture.
Understand that your body follows your head, so keep your chin tucked. Keeping
your chin tucked could also strengthen could also work some of the muscles in the
front of your neck such as the sternocleidomastoid to a certain degree if you do it
properly. A head in the right place could make a difference in your posture.

19. Keep your shoulders in your back pocket (Depressed).

20. The concentric part of the lift isn’t everything, you still need to pay
attention to the negative and the pause at the top. The pause at the top is very
important for the contraction and the negative part of the lift is important for the
stretch in the lats. The bodybuilders always repeat the same thing which is "stretch
and squeeze". The lats stretch at the bottom and squeeze at the top. I am not a big
fan of doing touch-and-go repetitions and you shouldn't be either.
Do yourself a favor and just do the exercise properly, eliminate the stretch reflex
and stop bouncing from the bottom, the lats love getting a good stretch.

21. Get a coach to critique your form. You could show him/her face to face or
you could take a video of yourself doing it, the point is that you have to get
feedback from an experienced coach who knows to perform and coach pull-ups
properly. He/she might be able to spot out tiny details and flaws in your technique
that you didn't notice such as range of motion and other things of that nature.

22. It wouldn’t hurt to lose some weight too. If you weigh 250lb then chances are
that you will struggle more on pull-ups than someone who weighs 160lb. I actually
saw somebody at the gym not long ago who was over 300lb, he attempted to do a
pull-up and couldn’t even do a dead hang for more than 2 seconds, go figure.

On the flipside, once you have a solid mind-muscle connection with your lats
during pull-ups then being heavy could serve as an advantage to you because its
like your wearing a weightvest so you will get a lot out of each pull-up.

23. Practice your mind-muscle connection with different grips. Try ring pull-
ups, closegrip neutral grp pullups, shoulder width pull-ups and other variations.
You want to learn how to feel your back in a variety of ways, one variation and
grip isn't enough!

24. If you are really having a hard time feeling your lats when doing pull-ups, try
pre-exhausting your lats with 3sets of cable/band straight arm lat pullovers for
high reps and then proceed to doing pull-ups. The pump you will get is
ridiculous and your mind-muscle connection will most likely be a bit better too.

25. Have somebody poke your lats while you are doing your pull-ups. This
might help you feel your lats a little more.

26. Perform pull-ups first in the workout while your energy is high and you
are still fresh.

27. Try band assisted pull-ups. These will help you do higher reps with assistance
and might improve your mind-muscle connection because you’ll be able to focus
on driving with the elbows.

28. Try isometric holds to blast your weak points. These are also a good option
if you don’t have access to a band. Let’s say that you can pull yourself up but have
trouble pausing at the top then you could try incorporating isometric holds at the
top for time to increase your strength in that position. If you want to master the
pull-up then you have to be strong in all parts of the lift.

29. Install a pull-up bar at your house (preferably with a variety of grips). I
have yet to meet somebody who has a pull-up bar at they’re house who doesn’t
have nice lats and good form on pull-ups. This will allow you to be able to practice
them more frequently as opposed to once a week in the gym on a back day. I
recently ordered a pull-up bar with neutral grip handles and it’s good to have
around.

30. Use thicker handles for improving your grip strength. If you don’t have
access to fatter pull-up handles then you could invest in a pair of FatGripz which
will dramatically improve your pull-up grip. Grip strength is an underrated factor
that comes into play when doing pull-ups, you are only as strong as your weakest
link.

Bonus tip: Patience. Don’t try to rush it, it takes time to learn certain things and
you might not get it right away, but don’t get frustrated. Hopefully these tips will
help you because they have made a huge difference for me.

PARRALLEL BAR OR RING DIPS

If the Pull-Up is the king of all upper body exercises then the Dip is definitely the
queen.

If you want triceps that resemble a horseshoe and a fully developed chest with
cannonball front deltoids then you should try dips. I personally prefer ring Dips
because they feel more natural and a more shoulder friendly because your hands
can move freely around the pain and discomfort but its also significantly more
difficult. Some people can't do dips because it gives their shoulders a lot of
problems, for years I was getting injured with Dips and then I stopped doing them.
I then found out about ring Dips and I felt zero pain in my shoulders.

If you Dip with an upright posture it will hit the triceps a lot. If you lean forward it
will target more of the chest muscles. This exercise has been a staple in
Bodybuilding, Powerlifting, Gymnastic and Calisthenics programs for decades on
end and its not going anywhere anytime soon. It’s also very simple and could be
done almost anywhere. If you want to do Dips safely then I would recommend that
you invest in a pair of rings. Sometimes the parallel bars feel too far, sometimes
they feel too close, but with the rings you can adjust them just the way that you
want and work around the pain.You might not even need to use a weight vest or a
dip belt for these because they require a lot of stabilization so you get more with
less weight which is pretty much one of the goals in Calisthenics.

If you are a beginner and you cannot do dips then I would recommend that you get
very good at Push-ups with your hands outside of shoulder width (for strength in
the chest) and diamond Push-ups to strengthen your triceps. Once you are doing
over 20+ reps on each of those then you can try out Dips. If Dips are still hard after
that then just try them without rings on parallel bars and do quarter reps and as you
get stronger try to go a little lower. I must warn you that I would never recommend
that you go too low on dips unless if you want to seriously injure your shoulders. I
personally like to go no lower than when my elbows and shoulders are parallel to
the floor (some of you may not even be able to go that low). If you are looking for
an advanced version of this exercise you can try an L-Sit Ring Dip where your legs
hold the L position while you dip or you could try archer dips.

Dips are definitely a staple but even with the tips above you still might feel some
shoulder pain, in that case let me help you out.
TIPS FOR LESS SHOULDER PAIN DURING DIPS

1. Don’t add weight until you are able to do atleast 15-20 picture perfect reps.

2. Don’t go under 5 reps on dips. For the most part, it isn’t a power movement and
doing so will only give you cranky joints. I like sticking in the 6-12 range in most
cases.

3. Don’t flare your elbows and do Dips extremely wide. You may feel it more in
the chest but this is will cause havoc on the shoulders so it isn't worth it.

4. Control the eccentric, don’t drop down to save energy to move back up. If you
are dropping down then chances are that you are going too heavy. Slow and
controlled reps work best for dips. They don’t have to be too slow, but just smooth
reps.
5. Don’t go too low, for the most part, parallel is fine and some of you might not
even be able to go that low.

6. Learn the difference between contracting the triceps at the top and squeezing
your elbow. You want to feel the dip in the proper muscles, not the joints.

7. Use rings as often as possible for Dips. These allow you to move freely and you
don’t need to use that much weight for them to be challenging. Its always good to
get more out of less weight whenever you can.

8. For extra resistance you can try using bands on your neck or just do harder
variations with rings, archer variations, pauses and things of that nature. The bands
will take off the pressure at the bottom (where your shoulders are vulnerable or
might cause you pain) and add resistance to the lockout to strengthen your triceps.
Stronger triceps and less shoulder pain will give you more happiness all around.
Chains could work too if you hang them low and they touch the floor at the bottom
of the movement

9. Never sacrifice technique for weight, reps or harder variations.

10. Try doing Dips in the middle or end of your workout. This will force you to
drop a lot of the weight because you will feel pre-exhausted so you could get more
out of less weight.

11. Squeeze your core and glutes for extra stabilization. A lot of people do Dips
and rock all around which throw’s their form off. You want to feel stable
throughout the movement to increase the safety of the exercise and also hit your
core more effectively.

12. Stop using momentum, kipping and using other muscles to complete the lift.
Use the proper muscles to do the exercise, if you can’t do that then chances are that
you are going too heavy.

13. Stop Shrugging. This will just put the weight in other areas that we are not
trying to target.
14. Be very mindful of your head position. Forward head posture looks terrible and
many people who do dips perform them with a forward head posture. Try to keep
your chin a bit tucked to avoid this.

15. Always stretch your pecs and triceps after dip workouts. If you don’t stretch
then the tight muscles will catch up to you and hurt you, you have been warned.

16. Don’t do Dips more than 3 times per week. If you have sensitive shoulders and
elbows then limit them to once and maximum twice per week. If you really want to
do them more then slowly work up to it after a few months but don't start doing
dips with a super high frequency if you are a newbie.

17. Never do Dips two consecutive days in a row. This is pointless. A better
approach would be to do them on a Monday and maybe on a Thursday if you want.
This rule is especially true if you have tricky shoulders and elbows.

18. Make sure that you are balancing Dips with a lot of Rows and Curls. Rows and
curls will contribute to shoulder and elbow health. I always say that one can never
get enough rows into his/her program, they are just that effective. As far as curls
go, I like hammer curls a lot for keeping my elbows healthy (hammer curls can be
done with your bodyweight too).

19. If you want to be extra safe, superset dips with a row or curl. This will bring
bloodflow to the elbow joint so your elbows will be less vulnerable for injuries.

20. Don’t do bench dips. Bench dips are the Voldemort of all bodyweight exercises
and you should never even mention or talk about them. These are the exercise that
destroyed my shoulders in the first place, not to mention many other peoples
shoulders. If you can’t do parrallel bar dips then there are many other alternatives.

21. Stop thinking that elbow or shoulder sleeves will protect your shoulders from
bad dip form because they won't.

22. Slowly get the triceps to stretch on the way down, then use them to go back up.
Keeping tension on the tricep is good for preventing injuries. Make sure you are
feeling your dips in the right places.
23. Have a few days per week where you stretch, foam roll, do soft tissue work..etc
This will keep you healthy in the long run, trust me. I used to never do it and then it
caught up to me. For the past year I have been doing a lot of stretching and soft
tissue work on fridays and saturdays for about 45 minutes each time and I feel
great. That doesn’t mean that you will need 45 minutes each time, but you
definitely have to find some time for that kind of work. I also like to use the
lacrosse ball on my pecs, shoulders, triceps and do things of that nature to keep me
healthy.

24. Get elbow and shoulder massages as often as possible. If you can’t afford it
then atleast try to do it once per year at the minimum. Massages can go a long way.
If you want, you could also learn how to give yourself massages and just give your
elbows and shoulders massages throughout the day when you are on the train or
something.

25. If you are injury prone, make Dips a volume exercise where you do a total
amount of reps per week. An example of this would be to do 50 reps of dips per
week or something of that nature. You want to be able to do them in a way that
helps you get stronger, while recovering properly while simultaneously sparring the
joints.

26. Avoid too many straight bar exercises. This could stress out your elbows when
it comes time to do dips. So try to sub in Barbel bench press with Dumbell Presses
every now and then.

27. Remember to de-load. If Dips give you problems, but you still want to do them.
Try doing them for 3 weeks and then replacing them with something like Push-ups
on the 4th week.

28. If you just started doing Dips then don’t rush into high volume or frequency too
soon. Your connective tissue simply isn’t ready and you have to slowly work up to
it.

29. You don’t have to include Dips in all of your programs, it’s ok to take a break
from certain exercises. Stop marrying yourself to certain lifts.
30. Try using fatter handles whenever your have the chance when performing Dips.
Fatter handles in my experience are easier on the elbow than skinny pencil handles
are. There also isn’t anything that skinny in real life that we squeeze so hard either.

PUSH-UPS

It doesn’t get any more old school than the good old pushup. The Push-up is one of
the most shoulder friendly exercises you can do for your shoulders because the
scapula can move freely and it is also one of the oldest exercises in existence. Yes
it true that the Dip lets the scapula move freely as well but the push-up usually feels
easier on the shoulders for most people. The less pain you feel when training the
easier it is push yourself and make progress. If you want to build muscle and get
stronger.

The combination of Push-ups and Dips have built big strong chests and triceps all
over the world, there is a reason why these exercises are still relevant today, they
made it past the test of time. Push-ups are already a very shoulder friendly exercise
but the use of the rings makes the exercise even more shoulder friendly but it also
increases the difficulty of the exercise as well. As a bonus, Push-Ups on the floor
can aggravate peoples wrists but when you are using the rings you are able to keep
your wrists more neutral which will make it easier to push yourself without wrist
discomfort.

Don’t do 50 rep push-ups unless if you're doing cardio or a burn out set. You need
pushup variations that challenge you in the 3-15 rep range. The more advance
variations that I like are:

-1Arm Pushups

-Suspension Strap/TRX/Ring Pushups

-Behind the back clap pushups

-Diamond pushups (Feet on bench)

-Planche Pushup (If you’re more advanced)

-Archer Pushup on Suspension straps

-Chest slap Pushups

-Alligator Pushups

There are many other reasons why push-ups are still and will always be one of the
best chest exercises in existence, here are 20 reasons:

1. One of the best chest exercises for mass, strength, power, and explosiveness
(depending on how you load and program it).

2. Great for overloading the front delts, big shoulders look cool and push-ups are
known to give you big front delts.

3. Amazing triceps exercise, the close grip version is great too and won't give you
elbow pain like most triceps extension exercises.

4. Push-ups are a closed chain exercise which means that your scapula can move
freely which is essential for shoulder health, you don't get that with the bench press.

5. They work muscles around the scapula and the serratus muscles which is never a
good thing because these muscle typically get ignored and people are too lazy to
train them.

6. Push-ups work your core very effectively; it's like planking except your arms are
moving.

7. Your lower back, glutes and hips have to work hard isometrically to help
maintain proper alignment throughout the set. This is important because the push-
up teaches you how to brace your core and stay tight, which is what you should be
doing in every exercise.

8. Performing push-ups with your chin tucked can help teach proper head
positioning during exercises such as deadlifts, chin-ups, shrugs and other lifts. This
can also improve the forward head posture that many people suffer from. I can't
stress this one enough because most people perform push-ups with neck extension.
So doing the push-up this way can work certain muscles in the front part of your
neck as well.
9. For people who have anterior pelvic tilt, it's a great exercise to help you correct it
because it teaches you to squeeze your glutes and core as hard as possible while
moving up and down. It teaches body awareness and how to move your body as a
unit, which activates more muscle fibers.

10. They are a great assistance exercise for the bench press, especially if you start
doing weighted progressions. Push-ups with heavy bands can increase your bench
press lockout as well.

11. Push-ups can easily be progressed or regressed from a beginner all the way to
the most advanced lifters.

12. From a coaching perspective, it's easy to program it because there is minimal
equipment required (you might only need a weight vest and some chains).

13. If isolation exercises like chest flies, pec deck and cable crossovers hurt your
shoulders, a good alternative would be a push-up variation that is suited for your
fitness level. I stopped doing isolation exercises for my chest because some
exercises that isolate the chest place too much stress on the shoulders in the bottom
position.

14. Hundreds of grips, hand placements and variations to choose from to suit your
goals and fitness levels. If you want a variation that puts more emphasis on the
shoulders then I highly recommend that you try the handstand push-up.

15. It serves as a good chest activation exercise. Can't feel your chest when you
bench press? Try doing some push-ups before to get a little pump in your chest, this
will help you feel your chest more when you bench press.

16. Easier to recover from than the bench press. The bench press is a good exercise,
but we can't only bench press or else we'd probably get injured. With the push-up
you are able to add extra frequency and volume without destroying our joints.
Push-ups are not as hard on the CNS so that’s one of the reasons why you can do
them more frequently.

17. The learning curve is easier than exercises like the snatch or clean and jerk.
18. From an injury prevention perspective, it's very safe for the shoulders compared
to some other exercises, and you get to reap all of the benefits.

19. You need minimal equipment. People with no gym memberships can easily
load a backpack with books and do push-ups at home.

20. Very humbling. You would be surprised, but there are some people who can
bench press 315lb for reps and aren't able to do 20 picture perfect push-ups. They
may be strong, but maybe not in all of the right places.

With so many benefits, it’s hard to go wrong with this exercise. I love weight
training with a passion, but some people look at bodyweight exercises and laugh
because they don’t understand the benefits. There’s a reason why push-ups have
maintained popularity for so many years, and the same thing applies for the pull-
ups; they work. Include these in your program, it doesn’t matter if you put them in
at the end or the beginning, the important thing is that you keep setting personal
records and keep beating your last performance.

Never underestimate the power of the push-up.

Then of course there are push-ups with a weight vest, chains or bands but I wanted
to label the ones that required minimal equipment. Remember that Calisthenics is
training and progressing without the use of external resistance. Weighted Pull-Ups
and weighted Dips are a weight training exercise just like how squats with weight
on your back is a weight training exercise. Not to mention the fact that if you are
buying this program its probably because you have a lack of equipment or you just
want to get really good at bodyweight movements for results.

One of the problems I have noticed with Push-ups is that some people can't seem to
feel them in their chest no matter how hard they try. If this is you then I have 8
solid tips for you:

1. Squeeze chest for 1 second at the top

This will also help you get more bloodflow into the chest area and will help with
your mind muscle connection.

2. Focus on pushing your hands inwards without actually doing it

The load goes wherever you want it to go, not where it just “happens to go”. To get
the most out of your chest activation, try pushing your hands inwards without
actually moving them just like in the picture below. This is obviously a lot easier to
do with a barbell than with dumbells.

3. It’s ok to have a slight flare in your elbows

If you flare out your elbows too much like the bodybuilders then you might feel the
chest a bit more but you also put your shoulders in a very compromised position. If
you want to still feel your pecs while keeping your shoulders healthy then try to do
them with a slight flare with your elbows to reap all of the benefits.

4. Closegrip puts more emphasis on the triceps and less on the chest
If you want to work your triceps very hard then closegrip push-ups and dips with an
upright body position will do that, but they aren’t the best if you want to work your
chest directly so widen your grip a bit outside of shoulder width so that you can get
some good chest activation with minimal shoulder pain.

5. Control the descent

Many people will only focus on the concentric part of the rep while dropping the
weight down which is a stupid idea because that means that you are using too much
weight and lifting with your ego. Not only that, but if you don’t control the
eccentric on dips then you could get seriously injured. Try to lower yourself down
(without your chest touching the ground to keep constant tension) for 1 second just
to be safe.

6. Do more warm-up sets

More warm-up sets will not only help you avoid some injuries, but you will also
get a better chance to feel your chest before your working sets as opposed to
rushing the warm-ups and just starting with your working weight.

7. Leave your ego at the door

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with failing, but there is something
wrong with going overboard and thinking that you are superman. Going extremely
fast and using bad form will also put you in survival mode so you won’t even be
focusing on your chest, this is what we want to avoid.

8. Do a slight pause at the bottom of every rep

I saved the best tip for last, do a slight pause at the bottom without touching the
floor with your chest. Doing Push-ups with touch and go reps isn't necessarily
wrong but it doesn't really maximize the chest involvement. When you do a slight
pause and eliminate the stretch reflex you forcing the chest to work at the bottom to
push you back up. The chest works at the bottom of the movement while the triceps
work during the lockout.

When going for size you should always do a slight pause on push-ups, dips and any
other chest exercises. This doesn't have to be a crazy pause either, just enough to
eliminate the stretch reflex.

This tip doesn't only apply for chest training but anything else, you don't want to
rely on momentum to do the work. Follow the harder path and reap all of the
benefits in rewards.

Bonus tips: Remember to always stretch your pecs after you train them
There are many pectoral stretches out there, but the important thing is that you
stretch your pecs after you workout and a few stretches on off days could be
beneficial in preventing some injuries down the road.

HILL SPRINTS

Hill sprints are like the king of lower body exercises in the Calisthenics world, the
same way that squats are the king of lower body exercises in the world of weights.

Please tell me what the legs were designed to do? Run. What do you notice when
you take a look at a sprinter? They have strong, fast, muscular, powerful and
defined lower bodies. They may not look like Kai Greene or Jay Cutlers legs, but
who cares? Unless if you have serious issues with your body, you should be
running. It has many benefits, but the big reasons why are that they increase your
testosterone levels (which slowly goes down as you get older) and they burn fat
while building muscle in the posterior chain. You just cant go wrong with certain
things.

Now there are many rumors out there that if you are skinny then sprints will “burn
your muscles away”, this can't be any further from the truth. On the flipside it
depends on how much you are running. If you do 1 or 2 sprinting sessions per week
that last 20-30 minutes then you wont lose size or strength, in fact you will gain
some. If you were running 4 hour marathons a few days per week then I would be a
bit worried.

Sprinting is a primal movement that humans have been doing since the dawn of
mankind thousands of years ago when humans had to hunt and survive. Humans
had to run a lot in order to stay alive from other humans or wild animals. Primal
strength is very important to consider when training because you can never go
wrong with the basics. Whenever you move your entire body at once you activate
many muscle fibers as opposed to being in place and isolating. Sprints are a
posterior chain dominant exercise, which means that they hit the hamstrings, glutes
and lower back, they even hit the quads, core and calves to a great degree as well.

Why else are hill sprints effective for strength and muscle? They hit the fast twitch
muscle fibers which have the greatest potential for growth. Hill sprints are actually
safer than sprints on a flat surface because you can't go as fast and it forces you to
shorten your strides as well (which also makes it more humbling).

Think of the hill sprint as the ring pullup and the flat sprint as the pullup on the
straight bar. They are harder, but easier on the joints, especially the knees.
I used to be “anti-sprinter” for a long time, but then I noticed that I was a loser
because I was trying to avoid running. Sprints are probably one of the best things
that you can do for healthy lungs as well. I am personally not a big fan of doing
sprints for more than 30-45 seconds at a time (in one set of course). When doing
sprints I like to keep the sets short, explosive and very intense.

There are more reasons as to why you should be doing hill sprints, but all you need
to know is that they have to be done. Once or twice per week
Before you sprint you want to make sure that you get a proper warm-up and that
you aren't just going to the hill and sprinting at full speed right away. Just like how
Deadlifting and Squatting with 100% of your load can be dangerous, the same
thing applies to sprinting. I personally wouldn't recommend going 100% all out on
sprints until you are more advanced and have more experience with sprints and
more full body awareness or else the risks are simply too high. Sprinting can be
very technical as well so don't think that just because you could sprint fast that you
are automatically doing it correctly. It is a full body movement and believe it or
not, the arms are heavily involved in helping you generate force. If you just run as
fast as you can without focusing on your form you can seriously injure yourself like
I have done in the past. I was racing somebody on a hill and I didn't want to lose
and I ended up pulling my groin muscle which was very painful and it took me a
good 6 months for it to get back to normal. Go hard but do it smart and safely.

Before your sprinting workout you should do some dynamic warm-ups that consist
of stuff like hip swings, over-unders, light jogs up the hill...etc

To get stronger and put on more muscle it is important that you keep progressing,
how do you do this with the hill sprint? There are many ways to make hill sprints
more challenging, here are 5 options:

-Find a steeper hill (this is my favorite option)

-Try backpedal sprints up a hill (sprinting backwards is hard)

-Weightvest hill sprints (this is an advanced variation for advanced trainees, if

you have very questionable knees then this might not be an option)

-Lateral hill sprints

-Try to beat your time from last session.

BODYWEIGHT ROWS
This exercise is basically a horizontal Pull-Up or a Reverse Push-Up and it is
highly underrated. The photo above is the first progression, but as you get stronger
you basically push your feet more forward. This exercise hits the middle and upper
back depending on where you place your hands. For more mid back and lat work
you want to keep your elbows tucked to your sides and for more upper back
development you want to flare your elbows out the sides.

To make it harder, try putting your feet on a bench while making your chest touch
whatever you are holding on every rep. There are many variations that you could
use to make this a great mid back, bicep, forearm, grip and core exercise.

I like to progress onto:

-Single-Arm Inverted Row (Feet on bench)

-FatGrip Inverted Row

-3-Second Pause Inverted Row

-Archer Inverted Rows

-Front Lever Tucked Row

The big benefit of this exercise is that it doesn’t stress the lower back like most
rowing exercises, if you do this at the end of a workout it will also be very difficult.
If the pull-up is the king of bodyweight exercises then why doesn’t this exercise get
the love it deserves?

HANDSTAND PUSH-UP

Handstand pushups are my favorite bodyweight shoulder exercise. I used to think

that the only way to build big strong shoulders was by doing heavy shoulder
presses and I was dead wrong. I prefer to do these on neutral grip pushup handles
because I feel like I get wrist pain sometimes. Neutral grip handles put your hands
in a safer position and your grip is also working as well so your killing two birds
with one stone. If you don't have access to push-ups handles then its not the end of
the world, just stretch your wrists after every workout so you don't accumulate too
much joint stress. These work some of the opposite muscles that a pull-up do and
build HUGE shoulders.
Coincidentally, it’s an exercise that barely anybody could do. This exercise hits the
shoulders, traps, triceps (they push your whole body), forearms (they support your
whole body) and the core to a great extent.

Vertical pressing exercises target the traps more than horizontal presses do so don't
be surprised if your traps are sore the day after handstand push-ups. Many people
say that this is an easy exercise, but those are usually the people who do 20 reps
with their elbows flared out to the fullest while doing quarter reps, that won't do
anything for results!

Try keeping your shoulders tucked in (don’t flare them out) and try to make your
head skin the floor on every rep, now tell me if they are easy.
The advanced variations that I like to progress on are:

-1-5 Second Pause Handstand Push-Ups

-Diamond Handstand Push-ups

-Closegrip Handstand Push-ups (on push-up handles)

-Freestanding Handstand Push-up (without wall assistance)

-Archer Handstand Push-Ups

-Increased ROM Elevated HSPU

Arnold used to do countless handstand pushups and he said that they contributed to
his shoulder development and strength.

The only problem with handstand push-ups is that they don't do a really good job at
hitting those rear delts but its ok because the next exercise will cover that.

REVERSE RING REAR DELT FLY

The rear delts are very small muscles in the back of your shoulders but are
incredibly important for back aesthetics, shoulder health and your V-taper. Most
people don't do any direct rear delt or upper back work and have huge front delts
but small rear delts, I want what most people don't have, don't you?

Since we didn’t really discuss any direct rear delt exercises, its only right that I
show you one. Some people say that the problem with bodyweight training is that
you can't hit the upper back effectively but this exercise does an amazing job at
targeting these muscles and the contraction you will get from it is amazing. I like to
lift with a very controlled tempo on these so I can feel the upper back working
properly, this is by no means an ego exercise.

The trick with this exercise is to try and pull with your rear delts and not your
biceps (keep your elbows slightly bent). The taller you stand on these, the easier
it’ll be, the more you put your feet in front of you while keeping your whole body
straight, the more challenging it’ll be.

With all of the handstand pushups and other pushup variations you will have some
very developed front and side delts but the upper back and rear delts still need some
form of fly motion for overall development. You will need strong rear delts and
traps to stay you injury free and have healthier shoulders. These are also great for
improving your posture as well which is very important for structural integrity.
Reverse ring flies could be suitable for beginners to advanced lifters. If you are
really advanced and want a challenge, try to do this exercise with your back facing
the floor while pulling with your rear delts and not your biceps. It’s a humbling
exercise if you follow the progressions.

PLANK

The Plank is one of the most classic and popular ab exercises out there that have
really stood the test of time. This is an isometric lift which means that there is no
concentric or eccentric component and there are countless variations to choose
from all the way from beginner to advanced. In other words, you could do them on
various implements (ex: elbows on an unstable surface), you could add weight on
your back or you could even use one leg or arm at a time which adds more of a
balance and oblique component to the exercise.

Last but not least, I like planks a lot as opposed to lifts like windshield wipers
because the learning curve is easy and you can be a novice and get the form down
very fast so its just a safer option for all of those trainers out there looking to
prescribe core lifts to clients who take longer to grasp certain exercises because the
fact that there is no movement involved helps make it easier to understand as well.

SIDE PLANK

We discussed a few ab and core exercises, but the side plank targets the obliques
which are essential for preventing lower back pain that we all get at some point in
our lives. The obliques also help stabilize the lats and spine even more thus making
it feel more stable as well.

Don’t waste your time on the ab machines at the gym, bodyweight gymnastic type
moves are the best for developing rock hard abs and obliques, gymnasts are quite
aware of this and they have some of the strongest cores in the world! Side planks
also recruit other muscles and work on your mental toughness because you have to
hold the position for time, not to mention that obliques are important for improving
your posture as well.

If you could go over 2 minutes then I would progress to a harder variation. Once
this gets easy, try putting your feet on a bench. When the bench gets easy, simply
loop your 2 feet through rings and you body will have to work twice as hard to
keep you stable. If this feels too easy then eventually you can throw on a weight
vest. There are dozens of options for progressions.

Oblique work may sound a bit boring but you need and you should be doing some
atleast once or twice per week.

FRONT & LATERAL LUNGES

Lunging variations are staples in the bodyweight world and are a solid way to train
your lower body hard in a unilateral fashion.

Many athletes use them, but they are still a highly underrated exercise and they get
a lot of hate because some experts say that they are bad for your knees. The truth is
that many people don’t get anything out of these because they go too heavy on
them and their form looks terrible!

Unilateral exercises are great for correcting imbalances and they also stretch the
hips which is known as strength stretching. You get to kill two birds with one stone
with this lift. These are good to do for higher reps (10-20per leg). I like to put a pad
on the ground and my rear leg for stationary lunges so that's a little pro tip for some
of you with sensitive knees.
Key Tips:

-Make sure you that you keep the weight of your front foot on your heel; this
will help protect your knee.

-Don’t go too fast

-Stay upright and don’t hunch

-Keep your balance

-Higher reps work best (10+ each leg)

Getting good at lunges is a good step for those who want to be able to do pistol
squats too. It takes patience, but with enough smart training, you will get there.

The closer that you put your front foot to your body, the more you will target the
quads. The further that you put your front foot from your body, the more that you
will target more glutes and hamstrings. I like to do longer strides because it feels
more comfortable for my knees and my hamstrings get a better stretch. I also like to
do these in the middle or near the end of the workout. So be careful because these
can aggravate the knees if your form gets sloppy, try higher reps without any
weight just to get the feel of the exercise and then add weight or do harder
variations once it gets too easy.

Many woman looking for stronger and nicer legs and better looking glutes need to
get familiar with this exercise in a hurry!

FRONT LEVER
The Front Lever in my opinion is one of the most underrated bodyweight exercises.
It is also one of the most badass looking bodyweight exercises that you can do on
the pull-up bar or rings. The front lever is an isometric exercise done with your
bodyweight where you are hanging off of a bar or rings with your arms straight
while your body is parallel to the floor. This exercise can be modified to different
variations where you are going from a deadhang to a front lever as well. This
exercise can be progressed or regressed for anybody. It is kind of like the
bodyweight version of a lat pullover.

The benefits of the front lever are:

-One of the best core exercise in existence.

-One of the best lat exercises you can do.

-Good lat activation exercise (for people who have trouble feeling their lats
working during pullups or rows).

-Good triceps exercise that works the long head isometrically without stressing
the elbows too much.

-The biceps, forearms and obliques also get some work as well.
-Improves your Deadlifts, rows and pull-ups.

-You don’t need a lot of equipment to do this exercise.

-Looks pretty badass.

Jason Ferruggia from the Renegade club likes this exercise as well and he even said
that the front lever could change the way your lats look in as little as 6 weeks. Juice
and Lord Vital from Beastmode also do them which makes the front lever an
awesome exercise in my books. Lets face it, most people are too lazy to do ab work
(such as myself) but if ab work helped you get bigger lats and triceps then suddenly
ab work doesn’t seem so boring anymore. Not to forget that it was one of Franco's
favorite lat exercises along with pullups and rows. The beauty in this exercise lies
in the simplicity of it, if you have a pull-up bar at home then you are good to go.
Try out this exercise and let me know what you think, I promise you won’t be
disappointed.

As far as the progressions go, once you are comfortable with the tucked front lever
then you could try doing front levers for reps where you start with your body
straight and vertical to the floor and go up (with your whole body straight) until
your body is parrallel to the floor. This exercise is advanced but if you get good at
it then the results could be great.

L-SIT
This is another exercise that is a staple in the gymnastics and Calisthenics circles.
L-sits are an isometric exercise just like the plank and side plank are. This exercise
mostly works the core and it takes a lot of strength to hold such a simple position.
The arms and legs are actually working very hard as well in an isometric fashion. I
like this exercise because it teaches your body to stay stiff which is the way it
should be when you exercise, you would jump into a pushup will loose hips and
abs would you?

The beautiful thing about bodyweight training is how humbling it is, I have yet to
see somebody who could hold the L-sit position for a full minute. If you find that
this exercise is too easy and you want a challenge then you could try incorporating
L-sits into other exercises. Ex: L-sit Pull-ups/Chin-ups or L-sit Dips are great
options.

High Step Up/High Lateral Step Up

The high step up is a phenomenal exercise for building up the quads and glute's.
The high step up is one of the lost single leg exercises that many people don't talk
about today and it is highly underrated but I am a big advocate of high step ups
because of the strength gain, size aspect and all of the unilateral benefits as well. It
is also one of the most knee friendly exercises in my opinion and if you suffer from
a lot of knee pain such as myself then you still might be able to do these absolutely
pain free. This means that you can still use this exercise as one of your lower body
tools to get great results with or without weights.

If it is such a good exercise then why do so many people do them and then stop?
The reason why is because many people who perform high step ups in local gyms
actually go way too heavy with bad form and get nothing out of them.

Let me explain, when you are doing step ups you are working one limb at a time
because it is a unilateral exercise. You have one foot on a box/bench and one foot
on the floor. You are supposed to use the leg on the box to drive yourself up
without the help of the leg on the floor. The leg on the floor is basically only there
for extra stability and more balance. Anyways, most people use the foot that is on
the floor to help out the other leg by pushing on their toes which is basically
cheating. We want to completely eliminate the cheating and work each limb
properly.

A trick to work one limb at a time in an optimal fashion would be to focus on one
leg at a time and when your back foot touches the floor you simply press off your
heel instead of your toes so that there is no way to possibly cheat! Using your back
foots toes to push on the floor is very easy but watch how hard the exercise will be
when you can only push off your heel. It will be very humbling but this is good.
Whenever you do an exercise properly it may be humbling at first but the results
will be worth it because you will be getting a lot more out of the movement.

Another thing is that your back foot shouldn't be on the floor for longer than 2
seconds, it shouldn't be a touch and go either but just enough to cut out the
momentum and stretch reflex and then you go back up, your quads will be burning
after a few reps if done properly.

I like to progress this exercise by simply making the step up box a little higher and
once that gets easy then focus on higher reps. Note: The higher the box, the more
the glutes are working. If you are using a very high box then trust me you won't
even need to hold heavy dumbells or have a barbel on your back because it will be
extremely humbling especially if you use the 2 tips above.
Of course, you don't want to put the box up so high that you end up hurting
yourself either. I also like to Lateral Step Ups because they hit the sides of the
lower body in a different way than the other variation does. Most people train in the
saggital plane which is front and back while neglecting the side to side movements.
Fitworldexposed encourages balanced programs so these are important and they are
incorporated in the programs below.

PISTOL SQUATS

Lets get to the lower body; the pistol squat is a phenomenal exercise for developing
the quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips and calves. Pistols are a unique exercise that
also work on:

-Strength

-Flexibility

-Mobility

-Balance

-Coordination
-Focus/Concentration

Many people can squat 400lb+, but can't even do 1 pistol squat, what does that tell
you? They might be strong, but maybe not in all of the right places. Everybody
needs strength, but don’t neglect the other traits listed above. I personally like to do
20 rep sets on these. If you don’t have the flexibility then try standing on a block.
These can be EXTREMELY hard on your knees if you work into them too fast, try
to ease into these for a few weeks or months and then you could try doing it from
the floor but if you already have very questionable knees then I would skip this
exercise altogether.

If pistols hurt your knees then you could still get great results with hill sprints, step
up variations and Bulgarian Split Squats. Although if you want to still do pistol
squats with less knee discomfort then you can pistol squat onto a higher box in
order to shift more of the emphasis onto the hamstrings and glutes.

RING CHEST FLY

The Ring Chest Fly is like the dumbell fly but with the use of your own
bodyweight on rings or a TRX. The thing with chest training that most people don't
understand is that push-up variations and dips may be enough for your chest
development if you have good chest genetics but for most people you will have to
add in some sort of fly because the function of the pecs is to draw your arms across
the midline of the body and this is exactly what the fly does.

The combination of various pressing and dip variations with flies is a good recipe
for very developed pectorals. This is one of the best chest exercises but some
people may experience some shoulder pain from this one even when they use good
form, if that is you then you could just stick with presses.

Once this exercise gets easy then you could put your legs up on a bench or you can
start experiencing with 1-5 second pause repetitions at the bottom of the movement
(your chest will burn like hell).

TRX HAMSTRING CURL

Strong hamstrings are essential for athletic performance and preventing injuries, I
love TRX hamstring curls because they can be done from beginner to advance with
your bodyweight, they are very humbling. Its good to incorporate a lot of squats
and lunges in your programs, but remember that knee flexion and hip extension are
the functions of the hamstrings so you still have to train those functions because all
of the squatting variations in the world will never be enough.
If you're a beginner then you could keep your glutes on the floor with this lift, but
as you get more advanced you could have your glutes off the floor and then
eventually you could be doing paused high reps with one leg at a time with the
opposite leg close to your stomach and not on the floor: hamstring death.

BODYWEIGHT TRICEP EXTENSION

Since I haven't mentioned any exercises to hit the triceps directly I thought I would
throw one in. The bodyweight tricep extension is a great exercise for isolating your
triceps. I got the idea of this exercise with Hannibal for King and his triceps are one
of his best bodyparts and he does this exercise in many of his videos. He did the
exercise on the straight bar which can be problematic for those who have
questionable wrists and elbows but a more elbow-friendly variation that is also
significantly harder is the ring variation.

Why would you want to isolate your triceps you ask?

All of the pressing exercises that I listed above (Push-up and Dip variations) are all
great for building the triceps, but if you really want to maximize tricep
development then you should do some direct work for them (just like how you
should add in a fly for optimal chest development).
Push-Up and Dipping variations are great but they call a lot of other muscles into
play so you can't strictly focus on the triceps. When you are a beginner I wouldn't
recommend any direct tricep work because they will grow just fine through pushing
variations but after you get a bit more advanced then it might be beneficial to add
in some extensions if you really want those horseshoes to grow.

Extensions have a pretty bad reputation and they can destroy your elbows if you
aren't careful but one way to make all extensions a lot more elbow friendly would
be by doing them on rings because your elbows can move more naturally and work
around the pain.

The more upright you are standing the easier it will be. If you get to the point to
where your body is parallel to the floor then you will be humbled. This may isolate
the triceps but it also hits the core very well so be sure to brace up. Too easy? Try
doing it with one arm at a time and eventually work your way up to higher reps.
You can also try doing them with an underhand grip for a bigger tricep stretch if
you want to try out new things in the longrun.

For overall safety and injury prevention purposes I would also recommend that you
change your hand placement on ring extensions every now and then to prevent
overuse injuries.

One month you can do them with a supinated grip and the next month you can try a
neutral or pronated grip. If these hurt your elbows no matter how you do them then
just drop them because it won't be worth it. In that case you can just stick to upright
Dip and closegrip Push-up variations based on your levels of strength.

BODYWEIGHT BICEP CURL

The ring Bicep Curl is pretty much the same principle as the ring tricep extension
except its for the biceps. When you first start training your biceps will get a great
growth stimulus from chin-ups but as you get deeper and deeper into the game you
might need to add in some curling variations for optimal bicep growth.

Once you get to the point where you can do these with your back parallel to the
floor with ease then try doing them with one arm at a time for more of a challenge,
most people can't do it for paused high reps (20+) so don't laugh at this movement!

SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE (preferrably on a step)

The exercises that I have mentioned above for the lower body are all great, but
none of them really hit the calves optimally that well in my opinion and we don't
want to walk around with skinny calves so its important that we incorporate some
calf work. More importantly, calf training is good for preventing unwanted ankle
injuries so make sure that you are isolating those lower legs unilaterally for the best
results!

Single leg calf raises on a box seem to get the job done just fine. The problem with
calf raises on the floor is that the range of motion is too small and the stretch you
get in your calves with the floor variation sucks compared to the one on an elevated
platform. You obviously want to make sure that the box or platform is stable and
you can even hold onto something if you want to strictly work on your calves
without having to compromise and train your balance.

Something that is very important to know is that if you are doing exercises where
you have to really balance yourself and you are putting a lot of your energy into
that then the exercise automatically becomes less effective for hypertrophy
purposes.

In my experience, calves also respond well to high, smooth and controlled

repetitions. I also can't overemphasize enough how important it is for you to get a
good stretch at the bottom of calf work, it is paramount!

Just to keep everything in proper balance, you also want to make sure that you do
some shin raises so that you don't develop any ankle pain (which is what some
people who only do calf work tend to experience).

BONUS

THICK HANDLE ATTACHMENTS FOR BARS OR TRX

Since I didn't really mention any way for you to get bigger forearms and a stronger
grip I thought it would be nice to end the list on a good note. If you want bigger
forearms and a stronger grip then you need to get familiar with thick handle
training. Training with handles that are anywhere from 2-3 inches will force you to
hold on to the bar or rings very hard and your grip strength will improve.

Many parks have swingsets with very thick handles and they can be great because
the handles over swingsets are usually made very thick. If you don't have access to
any thick handles then you could purchase some FatGripz which will make any
handle fatter, they are very convenient and durable.

My favorite exercises to include Fat Gripz on would be:

-TRX Pull-Ups

-TRX Inverted Rows

-TRX Dips

-TRX Push-ups

-TRX Chest Fly's

-TRX Rear Delt Fly's

-TRX Tricep Extensions

-TRX Ring Curls

-TRX L-Sits

It is a lot easier to put FatGripz on TRX handles than it is to put FatGripz on

gymnastic rings so if you own a TRX then it could help a lot. Of course, you don't
have to use the FatGripz on all of these exercises if you don't want to.

It really all depends on your goals and if forearm size and grip strength is really a
priority for you or not.

CONCLUSION
So there you have it, my top 25-bodyweight exercises with some bonus tips. With
the power of bodyweight training you have no excuses to not be strong. The world
is your gym. Nowadays there is a rumor out there that you have to belong to a big
fancy gym with barbells and machines to be strong, it might be true to a certain
extent, but there are many ways to get strong. Even if you don’t have rings and Fat
Gripz, you could still manage and get by, but they are good investments if you are
serious.

Remember that if you are a beginner then you must learn how to move and control
your own bodyweight before you start moving external objects. Even when you are
advanced you still want to include bodyweight exercises to keep your joints healthy
for the long run.
 THE PROGRAM
RULES:

-THE REST PERIODS FOR EXERCISES BETWEEN EACH SET OF LEVEL 1-

4 ARE ALWAYS ONE MINUTE TO MAKE LIFTS HARDER WHILE
IMPROVING YOUR WORK CAPACITY.

-EACH WORKOUT SHOULD BEGIN WITH SOME FOAM

ROLLING/LACROSSE BALL WORK (FOR SOFT TISSUE HEALTH AND
PREPARATION), JUMP ROPE (TO PREPARE THE WHOLE BODY AND
GET SOME BLOODFLOW), DYNAMIC WARM-UP WORK (LEG SWINGS,
ARM SWINGS..ETC), ACTIVATION DRILLS SUCH AS GLUTE BRIDGES
FOR GLUTE ACTIVATION AND BAND WORK SUCH AS TERMINAL KNEE
EXTENSIONS, BAND PULL-APARTS, BAND DISLOCATIONS AND
MONSTER LATERAL WALKS.

-EACH EXERCISE MUST BE EXECUTED WITH SOLID AND FLAWLESS

FORM. IF YOU TRAIN WITH YOUR EGO THEN YOU WON'T SURVIVE
THE NEXT LEVELS AND YOU WILL ONLY BE CHEATING YOURSELF
AND YOU WILL GET INJURED WHILE GETTING WEAKER BECAUSE
YOU WON'T BE PRACTICING/INGRAINING THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE.
YOUR ECCENTRICS DON'T HAVE TO BE SLOW, BUT THEY SHOULDN'T
BE SUPER FAST EITHER, CONTROL THE MOVEMENT AND DON'T LET IT
CONTROL YOU.

-YOU MUST STAY AT A LEVEL FOR A MINIMUM OF 4 WEEKS AND

THEN ONCE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL
THEN YOU CAN MOVE ON.

-YOU CAN'T SKIP ANY DAYS IF YOU WANT OPTIMAL RESULTS.

-IF YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A HILL OR IF IT IS RAINING ON YOUR

CONDITIONING DAY THEN YOU COULD USE THE JUMP ROPE AS YOUR
CONDITIONING, BUT A HILL FOR SPRINTING WILL GIVE YOU OPTIMAL
RESULTS FOR CONDITIONING AND LOWER BODY MUSCLE
(ESPECIALLY IF ITS A STEEP HILL). YOU COULD ALSO DO SPRINTS ON
A FLAT GRASS SURFACE BUT UNDERSTAND THAT THE INJURY RISKS
DO GO UP SIGNIFICANTLY SO IT CAN BE A BIT RISKY FOR MY LIKING.

-FOR SPRINT DAYS, JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET A TOTAL OF 5-15
MINUTES OF SPRINTING TIME. YOU SHOULD WARM-UP PROPERLY
AND TAKE ONE MINUTE BREAKS BETWEEN SPRINT INTERVALS.

-AS FAR AS THE EQUIPMENT IS CONCERNED, YOU WILL NEED

GYMNASTIC RINGS/TRX/SUSPENSION STRAPS, DIP BAR, PULL-UP BAR
AND A BLOCK. THE BLOCK WILL BE USED FOR EXERCISES LIKE STEP
UPS AND BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUATS. IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THIS
EQUIPMENT THEN YOU CAN EASILY GO TO A PARK CLOSE TO WHERE
YOU LIVE AND IT WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE WHAT YOU NEED.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, MOST PARKS HAVE PULL-UP AND DIP BARS
WITH DIFFERENT HANDLES AND HAND PLACEMENTS TO CHOOSE
FROM. ONCE THE EXERCISES GET MORE ADVANCED THEN YOU CAN
SIMPLY BRING YOUR RINGS OR TRX TO THE PARK, SIMPLE.

*Note: Over 90% of the exercises in the programs were explained above in the
previous chapters, but there still may be some exercises here and there that were
not mentioned, but nonetheless many of them are self-explanatory, but you can
search them up if you don't understand as well.

LEVEL 1
EXERCISES PER BODYPART

MID & UPPER BACK: RING INVERTED ROWS, TRX REVERSE FLIES

LATS: CHIN-UPS

CHEST: PUSH-UPS

ABS: PLANK, SIDE PLANK

SHOULDERS: PIKE PUSH-UP, HANDSTAND HOLD

LOWER BODY: BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT, HAMSTRING PLANK,

LOW STEP UP, LOW LATERAL STEP UP, HIP THRUST

TRICEPS: PARTIAL RANGE DIP/ISOMETRIC HOLD/BAND ASSISTED

BICEPS: RING BICEP CURLS

CONDITIONING: HILL SPRINTS

MON: PUSH/QUAD DOM/ABS:

TUES: PULL/HIP DOM/OBLIQUES
HILL SPRINTS
THURS: PUSH/QUAD DOM/ABS
FRI:PULL/HIP DOM/OBLIQUES
REST
REST

Monday: Push/Quad Dom/Abs

Handstand Hold w/wall assistance 3x 30sec-1min
Pike Push-Up 3x4-8
Elevated Push-up 3x5
Closegrip Diamond Pushup 3x8
Bulgarian Split Squat 3x15
Step Up (Box at mid shin) 3x15
Lateral Step Up (Box at mid shin) 3x15
Plank 3 sets of 1 minute

Tuesday: Pull/Hip Dom/Obliques

Chin Up 5x 3-6
Ring Inverted Row 5x 5-10
Ring Bicep Curl 3x10
Hip Thrust 3x12
Bulgarian Split Squat (Posterior Chain emphasis) 3x12
Side Plank 3x1minute

Wed: Sprints
Thursday: Push/Quad Dom/Abs
Handstand Hold w/wall assistance 3x 30sec-1min
Pike Push-Up 3x6
Elevated Push-up 3x6
Closegrip diamond pushup 3x6
Bulgarian split squat 3x15
Step Up (Box to mid shin) 3x15
Lateral Step Up (Box to mid shin) 3x15
Plank 3 sets of 1 minute

Friday:Pull/Hip Dom/Obliques
Chin-Up 5x5
Ring Inverted Row 5x8
Ring Bicep Curl 3x10
Bulgarian Split Squat (Posterior Chain emphasis) 5x12
Hip Thrust 5x12
Side Plank 3x1minute

LEVEL 2
EXERCISES PER BODYPART

MID & UPPER BACK: RING INVERTED ROWS FEET ELEVATED, TRX
REAR DELT FLIES

LATS: PULL-UPS

CHEST: CHEST DIP, RING PUSHUPS

ABS: FEET ELEVATED PLANK, FEET ELEVATED SIDE PLANK

SHOULDERS: CLOSEGRIP PIKE PUSH-UP (PROGRESSION TO

HANDSTAND), CLOSEGRIP HANDSTAND HOLD

LOWER BODY: BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT (FOOT IN TRX), TRX LEG

CURL, KNEE HEIGHT STEP UP & KNEE HEIGHT LATERAL STEP UP,
1LEG HIP THRUST
TRICEPS: PARALLEL BAR DIPS

BICEPS: NEUTRAL GRIP RING BICEP CURLS

NECK: MANUAL NECK RESISTANCE

CALVES: SINGLE LEG CALF RAISES (ON A BLOCK OR STEP)

CONDITIONING: HILL SPRINTS

MON: PUSH/QUAD DOM/ABS

TUES: PULL/HIP DOM/OBLIQUES
SPRINTS + (NECK + CALVES)
THURS: PUSH/QUAD DOM/ABS
FRI:PULL/HIP DOM/OBLIQUES
REST
REST

Monday: Push/Quad Dom/Abs

Closegrip Handstand Hold 3 x 30sec-1min
Closegrip Pike Push-Up 5x5
Parallel Bar Dip (Chest emphasis) 3x10
Ring Push-ups 3x10
Elevated Closegrip Diamond Pushup 3x12
Bulgarian Split Squat (rear foot in TRX) 3x20
Step Up (Box knee height) 3x20
Lateral Step Up (Box knee height) 3x20
Elevated Plank 3 sets of 1 minute

Tuesday: Pull/Hip Dom/Obliques

Neutral Grip Pull-Up 5x10
Ring Elevated Inverted Row 5x10
Neutral Grip Ring Bicep Curls 3x10
TRX Hamstring Curl 4x10
Single Leg Hip Thrust 4x12
Elevated Side Plank 3x1minute

Wed: Sprints
Thursday: Push/Quad Dom/Abs
Closegrip Handstand Hold 3 x 30sec-1min
Closegrip Pike Push-Up 5x5
Parallel Bar Dip (Tricep emphasis) 3x10
Ring Push-ups 3x10
Elevated Closegrip Diamond pushup 3x10
Bulgarian split squat (Rear foot in TRX) 3x20
Step Up (Box at knee height) 3x20
Lateral Step Up (Box at knee height) 3x20
Elevated Plank 3x1minute

Friday:Pull/Hip Dom/Obliques
Neutral grip Pull-Ups 5x10
Ring Elevated Inverted Row 5x10
Neutral Grip Ring Bicep Curls 3x10
TRX Hamstring Curl 3x10
Single Leg Hip Thrust 3x12
Elevated Side Plank 3x1minute

LEVEL 3
EXERCISES PER BODYPART

BACK: RING INVERTED ROWS FEET ELEVATED (ELBOWS FLARED),

TRX REAR DELT FLIES (BACK ALMOST PARALLEL TO THE FLOOR)

LATS: RING PULL-UPS

CHEST: RING CHEST DIP, ARCHER RING PUSH-UP, RING FLY

ELEVATED

ABS: TUCK FRONT LEVER HOLD , SIDE PLANK (FEET ON RINGS)

SHOULDERS: HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS

LOWER BODY: SHRIMP SQUAT, STEP UP & LATERAL STEP UP (BOX

AT MID THIGH HEIGHT), SINGLE LEG TRX CURL, 1LEG HIP THRUST
ON TRX

TRICEPS: RING TRICEP DIPS

BICEPS: TRX BICEP CURLS (BODY PARALLEL TO FLOOR)

NECK: MANUAL NECK RESISTANCE

CALVES: SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE ON BOX

CONDITIONING: HILL SPRINTS

MON: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES

TUES: PULL/HIP DOM/ABS
SPRINTS + (NECK+CALVES)
THURS: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES
FRI:PULL/HIP DOM/ABS
REST
REST

Monday: Push/Quad Dom/Obliques

Handstand Push-up 5x5
Ring Chest Dip 3x10
Archer Ring Push-Up (Feet Elevated) 3x10
Elevated Ring Chest Fly 3x8-15
Bulgarian Split Squat (Back foot in TRX) 4x20
Step Up (Box at mid thigh height) 4x20
Lateral Step Up (Box at mid thigh height) 4x20
Elevated Side Plank (Feet on TRX) 3 sets of 1 minute

Tuesday: Pull/Hip Dom/Abs

Ring Pull-up 5x10
Elevated Ring Inverted Row (Elbows flared upper back emphasis) 4x12
Rear Delt TRX Fly 4x12-15
TRX Bicep Curls (Parallel to ground) 3x10-15
TRX Hip Thrust 4x15
Single Leg TRX Hamstring Curl 4x15
Elevated Side Plank (Feet on Trx) 3x1minute
Wed: Sprints

Thursday: Push/Quad Dom/Obliques

Handstand Push-up 5x5
Ring Tricep Dip 3x10
1Leg Elevated Closegrip Diamond Pushup 3x10
Bulgarian Split Squat (Back foot in TRX) 4x20
Step Up (Box at mid thigh height) 4x20
Lateral Step Up (Box at mid thigh height) 4x20
Elevated Side Plank (Feet on TRX) 3 sets of 1 minute

Friday:Pull/Hip Dom/Obliques
Ring Chin-Up 4x10
Elevated Ring Inverted Row (Elbows flared upper back emphasis) 4x12
TRX Rear Delt Fly 4x12-15
TRX Bicep Curls (Parallel to ground) 3x10-15
TRX Hip Thrust 4x15
Single Leg TRX Hamstring Curl 4x15
Elevated Side Plank (Feet on Trx) 3x1minute

LEVEL 4
EXERCISES PER BODYPART

MID & UPPER BACK: RING INVERTED ARCHER ROWS FEET

ELEVATED (ELBOWS FLARED), TRX REAR DELT FLIES (BACK
COMPLETELY PARALLEL TO THE FLOOR)

LATS: RING ARCHER PULL-UPS

CHEST: RING CHEST ARCHER DIP, ELEVATED ARCHER RING PUSH-

UP, RING FLY ELEVATED

ABS: FRONT LEVER HOLD, SIDE PLANK (FEET ELEVATED ON

RINGS)

SHOULDERS: CLOSEGRIP HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS

LOWER BODY: SHRIMP JUMP SQUAT, STEP UP AND LATERAL STEP
UP (BOX AT HIP HEIGHT), SINGLE LEG TRX CURL, 1LEG HIP
THRUST ON TRX

TRICEPS: RING TRICEP ARCHER DIPS

BICEPS: TRX SINGLE ARM BICEP CURLS (PARALLEL TO GROUND)

NECK: MANUAL NECK RESISTANCE

CALVES: SINGLE LEG CALF RAISE ON BOX

CONDITIONING: HILL SPRINTS

MON: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES

TUES: PULL/HIP DOM/ABS
SPRINTS + (NECK+CALVES)
THURS: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES
FRI:PULL/HIP DOM/ABS
REST
REST

MON: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES

Closegrip Handstand Push-Up 5x5
Ring Chest Archer Dips 4x10
Foot elevated Ring Archer Push-ups 4x12
Foot Elevated Ring Chest Fly 4x15
Shrimp Jump Squat 5x20
High Lateral Step Up 4x25
Side Plank (Feet Elevated on Rings) 3x 90 seconds

TUES: PULL/HIP DOM/ABS

Archer Ring Pull-Ups 5x10
Ring Inverted Archer Rows with feet elevated (Elbows flared) 5x10
TRX Rear Delt Fly (Body parallel to floor) 4x12
Single Arm Bicep TRX Curl (Body parallel to floor) 3x12-15 (each arm)
Single Leg TRX Hamstring Curls 5x10 (each leg)
Single Leg TRX Hip Thrusts 5x10 (each leg)
Front Lever Wide Grip Overhand Hold 4x15-30 seconds
WED: SPRINTS + (NECK+CALF WORK)

THURS: PUSH/QUAD DOM/OBLIQUES

Closegrip Handstand Push-Up 3x5
Ring Tricep Archer Dips 4x10
Foot elevated Ring Archer Push-ups 4x12
Foot Elevated Ring Chest Fly 4x15
Shrimp Jump Squat 5x20
High Lateral Step Up 4x25
Side Plank (Feet Elevated on Rings) 3x 90 seconds

FRI: PULL/HIP DOM/ABS

Archer Ring Chin-Ups 5x10
Ring Inverted Archer Rows with feet elevated (Elbows flared) 5x10
TRX Rear Delt Fly (Body parallel to floor) 4x12
Single Arm Bicep Neutral Grip TRX Curl (Body parallel to floor) 3x12-15 (each
arm)
Single Leg TRX Hamstring Curls 5x10 (each leg)
Single Leg TRX Hip Thrusts 5x10 (each leg)
Front Lever Close Grip Underhand Hold 4x15-30 seconds

BONUS:
PAST LEVEL 4...
Once you get to level 4 then what happens? Did you beat the game? Is it all over?

Hell no!

Once Phase 4 becomes easy for you then you are finally able to say that you are
somewhat advanced in Calisthenics, not Cirque Du Soleil good but still good.
Of course there are other variations that you can use to make the exercises harder
and if you know the next progression to the exercise and are knowledgeable on
Calisthenics then you could actually create your own level 5 if you want.
For the others who want to keep progressing but don't know what to do past the
stage 4 level then you have 3 options.

1. Find out and research more advanced variations to level 4 to create your
own level 5. This is a great option if you are very serious on REALLY learning
how to master your own bodyweight with minimal equipment and minimal
expenses required. If you want to be able to do everything imaginable with your
own bodyweight then I would go with this one. If you think that you have mastered
the bodyweight world just because you have made it to level 4 then you have a lot
in store for you. There are some extremely hard bodyweight exercises that I can't
even do unless if I dedicate years and years to getting to those feats of strength. I
haven't done these exercises but some good exercises and ideas for you to
incorporate into level 5,6,7,8,9,10 and so on would be forms of these:

EXERCISE IDEA'S FOR LEVEL 5 AND BEYOND

MID & UPPER BACK: Single Arm Inverted FatGrip Ring Row (Feet elevated),
Behind the Back Clap Inverted Rows, Rear Delt FatGrip Ring Fly (Feet elevated on
bench)

LATS: Single Arm L-Sit Ring Chinups/Pull-ups with FatGripz, FatGrip Ring
Muscle Ups, Behind the Back Clap Pull-up (on bar), FatGrip Sternum Ring
Chinups, Ring Front Levers, Front Lever Pull-Up Combos

CHEST: L-Sit FatGrip Archer Ring Dip (Chest emphasis), One Arm Push-Up (on
one foot elevated on high bench), Planche Push-ups, Triple Clap Push-Ups (feet
elevated on bench), Single Arm Dips

ABS: Single Arm Front Levers, Dragon Flags, Human Flags, L-Sit On Rings with
FatGripz, Windshield Wiper variations

SHOULDERS: Closegrip Handstand Push-Ups (without wall assistance),

Clapping Handstand Push-Ups

LOWER BODY: Pistol Squats (advanced), Single Leg Glute Ham Raises, Back
Levers

TRICEPS: Single Arm Dips, Single Arm Diamond Pushup (on one leg with foot
elevated), L-Sit Archer FatGrip Ring Dip (Tricep emphasis), Triple Clap Diamond
Push-ups, Double Clap Single Arm Closegrip Push-ups
BICEPS: FatGrip TRX Single Arm Bicep Curl (feet elevated high)(Supinated,
Pronated or Neutral grip), Single Arm Front Lever Curl

FOREARMS: Use thicker FatGripz on all of the exerices listed above

FINGER STRENGTH: Ring Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups with 1,2,3 fingers, 3 Finger

Push-Up variations

TRAPS: Upside Down Shrugs (On gymnastic rings)

NECK: Neck Bridge (Front, Back and Side Variations)(Only for the advanced)),
Neck holds on a dip bar, Head Handstand Variations

CALVES: Single Leg Calf Raise Jumps (without upper body assistance)

CONDITIONING: Extremely Steep Hill Sprints, Sand Hill Sprints, Lateral or

Backward Hill Sprints, Hand Walking, Advanced Crawling Variations (up a hill),

EXPLOSIVE: High Box Jumps (double and single legged) (on soft padded box)
As you can see the progressions can pretty much go on forever and you will pretty
much be occupied for a lifetime! This is good because it means that there is always
room for improvement.
The FatGripz are a great way to make all of the bodyweight exercises because of
how hard it is to hold the rings/bar and how hard your grip has to work even harder.
FatGripz should be incorporated after level 8 in my opinion.
The exercises listed above are not in one level in particular but I just mentioned
some exercises that you will see past the level 4 stage if you choose to go that
route.

2. Buy a weight vest when you find level 4 isn't challenging enough for you and
go back to level 1, but with a 20lb weighted vest.
The best of both worlds: WEIGHTED CALISTHENICS.

This is how it goes, lets say you go back to phase 1 with a 20lb weightvest, you
will do all of the exercises in phase 1 with the weightvest for a few weeks (or
months) and when you are ready to advance then you will do phase 2 with your
20lb weightvest and then phase 3 and 4 with the 20lb weightvest.
Then once you have completed phase 4 with a 20lb weightvest on all of your lifts
then you will go back to phase 1 and do it all over again but with a 40lb weightvest
until you get to phase 4.

This is a way for you to have unlimited progressions so that you can't complain and
say stuff like "the program is too easy" or "weighted calisthenics is for sissies"
because doing phase 4 with an 120lb weightvest for all of the lifts is extremely hard
and it will take you years and years to get there but that's good because that means
that you will basically have training goals for the rest of your life.

This is in my opinion the best option for those who are really trying build as much
muscle as possible with Calisthenics. Technically it is bodyweight training with
added resistance but hopefully you get my point.

I personally train with weights a lot, but I still incorporate a ton of weighted
bodyweight exercises into my programming such as weighted dips, pull-ups, glute-
ham raises, back extensions, single leg calf work, neck work, abdominal exercises
and stuff of that nature.

So the goal is basically to keep progressing and progressing until your weightvest
has no more weight to hold. Some weightvests can go up to 80lb but I am sure that
there are others that can go up to 150lb so you will be good for a lifetime, literally.
For you super strong people who have maxed out their weightvests, you can try to
put heavy chains on you in addition to the weight vest to add even more resistance
or you can just buy a heavier weightvest. Another option would be to just buy a
cheap dipping belt and strap weight on that way, the choice is yours but the
important thing is that you get stronger.

There is no denying that if you got you can do neutral grip pull-ups, Dips, inverted
rows and push-ups with an 120lb weightvest for 10 repetitions that your upper body
will be close to its genetic potential. As for the lower body, if you could do
Bulgarian Split Squats, Glute Ham Raises and Single Leg Hip Thrusts with an
120lb weightvest for 10 repetitions then you will have some huge legs too.

Don't think that these feats of strength are impossible either because a quick
YouTube search will show you that it is possible, it just takes hard work.

3. Add Isometric holds at the hardest part of every repetition of your exercises.

This is probably the cheapest way to do it because you won't have to buy a
weightvest and you won't have to invest time into customizing a new program but it
is still a very effective method because it will get you a lot stronger while also
adding more time under tension which will build some additional more muscle
mass in the process because time under tension is one of the most important factors
when it comes to muscle building.

A lot of the biggest bodybuilders out there (even the ones who aren't on drugs) tend
to train in a way that their sets are anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute which is
pretty long if you ask me, but it could still deliver great results nonetheless and it is
an extremely humble way to train so be ready to be humbled.

The way it works is that once level 4 feels easy for you then you will go back to
level 1 but you will add a 1 second isometric hold on every repetition where the
exercise is the hardest.

On chin-ups you would hold the position at the top where you chin is above the bar
for 1 second on each repetition. On Dips you would hold the bottom position for
one second where your elbows and shoulders are parallel to the floor for one
second. On Single Leg Hip Thrusts you will hold the top position where your glutes
are squeezing hard at the top for one second.
...etc

You obviously don't want to do one second pauses where the exercise is easy (ex:
the top of a push-up or dip) because the whole goal of pause training is to make the
exercise harder.

Once you have done level 4 with 1 second isometric contractions at the hardest part
of the movement and feel like you are ready for the next level then go back to level
1 and do it all over again for a few weeks but with 2 second isometric holds at the
hardest part of each repetition. The progressions never end and you will never need
weight because you will just do longer isometric holds. Imagine if you were able to
do 10 second isometric holds with ring pull-ups for 10 reps? Or Handstand Push-
ups with 5 second Isometric holds at the bottom? That is super strong and it will be
a very humbling experience!

FINAL NOTE FOR ADVANCED PROGRAMS

-All 3 options above are all great for building strength and muscle but it all depends
on what kind of strength you want. If you want the strength to be able to do
anything with your body then you should definitely go with number one and keep
progressing to harder variations. This is the option that a true Calisthenic enthusiast
would take. This option also teaches you to be more creative because you might be
making up some exercises here and there or you can just go with some of the ones I
wrote above.

-Number 2 is a great option for doing calisthenics with extra load which could
serve as a good option for bodybuilding purposes. Technically it is not really
considered "Calisthenics" training anymore, it is more like "bodyweight training
with external resistance".

-Number 3 is another great way to build size and strength with the basics. This will
build a lot of size because of the added time under tension which the bodybuilders
preach to be important for mass.
 COMMON CALISTHENICS QUESTIONS

What kind of body can I expect from Calisthenics?

As far as the body you can expect, I would say something like a gymnast but it
depends on how you train, your diet and your genetics should also be taken into
account. I generally say a gymnast because the gymnasts are known for their deep
abdominal core strength and if you are doing exclusively bodyweight exercises
then your core strength will go through the roof if you follow the right
progressions. Also gymnasts don't have the biggest upper back, traps, legs and
calistehnics doesn't really deliver those muscles that well, but thats just the kind of
physique you'll attain from bodyweight training in most cases.

If I am doing an experiment where I am trying to see how much muscle I

could build without ever touching a weight. I don't really care about strength
and I am more into aesthetics. What are some bodybuilding tips that you
could give me for my Calisthenics program?

You basically want to take bodybuilding principles such as:

-Progressive overload with moderate reps 5-12

-Time under tension

-High Frequency

-High Volume

-Lower rest periods

-Pump Work

and just plug them into your Calisthenics program. Time under tension is very
important according to bodybuilders and they are big advocates of that method.
You should still do some work in the lower rep range like sets of 5 or even 3 so that
you could get stronger because lets say that you could do One Arm Chin-Ups for
3x3 right now and in a year from now you are able to do 3x10, your lats will be a
lot bigger.

Once you are done with the strength work then do some higher rep work with low
rest periods and then at the end of the workout you should incorporate some pump
work just to get some more blood in the muscles. Some good pump work exercises
in Calisthenics for bodybuilding purposes at the end of a workout would be
bodyweight tricep extensions, ring curls, calf work, rear delt raises or stuff of that
nature.

Why do you recommend neck work in the program and how exactly do I train
my neck on conditioning days?

Glad you asked, the neck in my opinion is one of the most neglected muscle groups
and it could actually help save you from accidents and concussions if you get it
strong enough. As a bonus it looks really badass and the neck is showing at all
times so its important that it looks good.

I am a simple man so I don't recommend any exercises that are too crazy. I
personally like neck curls and neck extensions with your own manual resistance for
high reps or with manual resistance from a buddy if you have someone who is
willing to do it.

Although if you have a lot of experience with Calisthenics and you have been
training intelligently for long then you could start trying out advance exercises like
neck bridging variations or neck holds on a pull-up bar.

How do I do conditioning in the wintertime?

If you are a warrior then i would recommend that you just dress up warm-up and
run up the hill anyways to build discipline and mental toughness. On top of that the
snow will force you to take even slower strides which will make the exercise even
harder which is good for you because that means that you won't have to bring a
weightvest or anything like that.

If you have no intentions of doing conditioning work in the wintertime then you
could do some high intensity jump rope work at home with short rest periods. Jump
roping is very good for also building the calves so don't be surprised if your calves
grow a bit as well. On your conditioning day don't forget to also train your neck
and calves as well to have a complete physique.

Can I use a straight bar instead of a Pull-up bar?

If you only have access to a straight bar then its not the end of the world but the
injury risks for your shoulders, elbows and wrist do increase, its your call though. I
would invest an extra few dollars to get a Ring pull-up bar set or a pull-up bar set
with various neutral grip handles attached. If you don't want to spend money then
you could always go to a park close to where you live and look for neutral grip
handles somewhere.
If you have no choice but to use the straight bar then a relatively safe variation is
the one known as "commando style pull-up" where one hand is holding the bar with
an overhand grip while the other hand holds the bar with an underhand grip. This
variation is somewhat similar to a closegrip neutral grip pull-up, make sure to
switch your hands on each set. To make pull-ups even safer you can try doing them
with a thumbless grip.

I live next to a park, should I just workout there instead of at home?

There is something about training outdoors that is beautiful. You get some sun
which is good for Vitamin D, you get fresh air and you feel more free and less
isolated outside as opposed to being in a crowded room. I would recommend that
you train in your park on nice days but when it rains then you could train at home.
Just dress warm up on cold days to make sure that you don't get sick.

I want to be able to do a one-arm Push-up, what are the necessary steps I must
take to achieve this goal?

Ever since the Rocky movie came out many decades ago, many people are curious
about the one arm Push-up. Many want to be able to perform that feat of strength
but don’t know how to approach the progressions. Let me first say that it’s a great
exercise, especially if you are really limited with equipment. It works your chest,
tricep, shoulder and core stability.

First things first, you have to have the strength to do regular Push-ups and lots of
them. Once you are able to do 30+ reps with good form then you can move on.

The second step is to being able to do a Push-up with a medicine ball on on hand,
but still close to your body. If you don't have a medicine ball then you can use a
soccer ball or basketball too.

The better you get at one arm pushups with a medicine ball close to your body, the
more you can put the ball further and further away from your side.
The next step after you can’t put your arm any further away from your body would
be to start deducting fingers. Once you are able to do 3 finger one arm medicine
ball push-ups then you could try to do your first one arm Push-up. Basically the
hand touching the ball is just assisting you and as you get stronger you ask for less
help from your other hand until you are eventually doing the exercise with one
hand on the ground with the assistance hand behind your back.

Another great way to do a one arm Push-up would be to incorporate one arm
Push-up isometric holds in the places that you are weak. Remember to keep
your core tight, chin tucked and don’t sag your hips. It should look like a Push-up,
but just with one arm. When you get to the one arm Push-up you may only be able
to do them with your legs far away from eachother, but a good goal to shoot for
would be to try to eventually get to 10 one arm Push-ups with your feet together.

There are many other ways to get to a one arm push-up with the use of bands or
even partial reps. Pick one method and stick to it, the results will be good. I chose
the medicine ball method because that’s the method I used to do one arm Push-ups
but all methods are effective if you follow the proper steps.

If I already train in a gym or have some heavy barbels and plates at home then
can I incorporate some Calisthenics in the mix?

The answer really depends on your goals and desires. If you want to master
bodyweight training then the external loads might not be necessary and you would
be better off just doing harder Calisthenic variations. If your goal is to simply get
stronger and build muscle then I would incorporate Squats to strengthen your lower
body because bilateral movements can do a good job for packing on size
(especially for the lower body).

Sprints, Step Up Variations, Glute Ham Raises, Pistols and exercises like that are
great but if you want to build lower body muscle as fast as humanly possible
without taking drugs then I think that the Squat would be your best bet. You can
still get great legs without doing heavy back squats but it would take longer.
Advanced bodyweight exercises do hit the posterior chain hard but I would be lying
to you if I told you that Deadlifts weren't a good posterior chain exercise.

As far as the upper body is concerned I don't think it would be that necessary
because you will get very far with Pull-Up/Chin-Up, Dip, Push-up and Inverted
Row variations. I have met people who mostly only do advanced Pull-ups and Dips
for their upper body training and they are jacked. Although I do think that one of
the biggest disadvantages of Calisthenics training is that it doesn't do a lot for your
traps. The traps are one of those muscles that love and respond very well to holding
heavy weight and eventually the Calisthenics starts to do nothing for your traps.

In this case you can also add in some Snatch Grip Shrugs or High Pulls to build up
your traps. These are one of my favorite trap exercises and they are very effective.
Besides the Squat, Deadlift and Snatch Grip Shrug I think that you won't be
missing anything else. Heck, you can still get great results if you don't own weights
but since you have access to them then why not?

In conclusion, you don't have to marry yourself to one style of training because
weight training is very effective so why not reap all of the benefits? I can't judge
though because it depends on what your goals are.

Where is the best place for me to attach the rings/TRX?

There are many places that you can attach the TRX/Rings but I think that some of
the best places would be a tree or something in your house that is high and sturdy.
This program involves very minimal equipment so if you have to find a way to
screw something into the ceiling so that you can hang your rings or TRX then so be
it. Strong people find ways to make things work for them. If you train in a park
then you can simply loop the TRX or Rings over swings, monkey bars or even a
soccer net. You have to understand that even though the program says
"Calisthenics", you still need bars to hang from and stuff of that nature.

What are some of the benefits of Calisthenics training for the elderly?

Lately I have been hearing people say “Older people need to lift weights for
physical health”. This statement is true, but I argue that the bulk of their training
should consist of bodyweight training for the following reasons.

1. Bodyweight training can be a lot easier on the joints. You can get a lot of
benefits from bodyweight training because you are getting more from less weight.
Bodyweight exercises also use a lot of stabilizers and are a lot safer than machines
where your body is put in a fixed plane of motion. Everytime you are getting more
from less weight you are doing yourself a huge favor and you also aren’t only
training with the ego, which brings me to my next point.
2. Reduced ego pressure. I don’t know about you, but at 70 years old I won’t be
so focused on lifting heavy and with my ego, but more focused on technique and
just trying to stay as healthy as possible while getting stronger, bodyweight
exercises can do that for you. Generally speaking, the ego pressure on bodyweight
exercises is less high then on exercises like the bench press.

3. Easier to recover from workout to workout. Since bodyweight exercises can

be a lot easier on the joints, you will be able to recover properly and hit your
muscles with more volume and frequency as well.

4. Less risk for injuries. There is no point in getting hurt when you are trying to
get healthy. Exercises like push-ups will always be safer than the bench press. It is
also safer because if you want to end the exercise then you simply stop, you don’t
have to worry about racking the weight. You can push yourself exactly how you
want, literally.

5. Less soreness. As you get older, your muscles will take longer to recover. Its not
uncommon for people over 40 to only squat or deadlift 1-2 times per month. The
lower back takes very long to recover too, but with the power of bodyweight
training, you will be able to recover faster because you won’t be as sore and the
exercises are also easier on the CNS in my most cases.

6. More convenient. Some older folks may find it is a workout to simply get to the
gym, but what if I told you that you can train at home and still get awesome results.
You might only need a TRX suspension straps, a pull-up bar and a bench. You can
make amazing progress with minimal equipment. Don’t get too caught up in the
hype, just because a gym has fancy equipment doesn’t mean that people are getting
results. What creates results is the effort that you put into training.

7. They produce great results. Lets talk the most important factor; results.
Bodyweight exercises can do that for you in most cases depending on what your
goal is.
Bodyweight training seems to have a lot of benefits but are there any
Calisthenic exercises that you don't recommend and that could actually be
very dangerous?

Yes, I love bodyweight training and I always preach about how exercises like Pull-
ups, Push-ups, Inverted Rows, Dips, Planks, Back Extensions and other Calisthenic
exercises are great, but below I will talk about the ones that I dislike very much. I
see many people do these exercises and the majority of them get injured. These are
what I like to call high risk and low reward exercises (atleast in most cases). Here is
my top list:

1. Bench Dips

Bench dips are the exercise that destroyed my shoulders and caused me to take a 6-
10 month break from pressing, I like to call them the Voldemort of bodyweight
exercises. My shoulders are a lot better now but it was still a painful experience
now that I look back on it. These put your shoulders in a very vulnerable position
for an injury and you would be better off just doing regular dips on parallel bars or
rings. If you are too weak to do Dips on parrallel bars then you could get good at
push-ups, do band assisted dips, machine assisted dips or other options. The
important thing is that you avoid bench dips, trust me on this one.
2. Vince Gironda Dips

These are Dips done with an extremely wide grip with you elbows flared out as
much as possible. Yes its true that you will feel it a lot in the chest, but they destroy
your shoulders in the process. Just do regular chest dips instead with a forward
lean, you will get similar results with less injuries.

3. Extremely Wide Pull-ups/Chin-Ups

I love pull-ups and chins, but some people do them so wide that the range of
motion is too small which doesn’t make them the best exercise for the lats. Not to
mention that the straight bar and a really wide grip are pretty bad for the shoulders.
If you want to do wide grip pull-ups then a smarter alternative would be to do a bit
outside of shoulder width with a neutral grip so you can still go wide, get more
range of motion so you will get a better stretch in the lats while sparring the
shoulders a lot more. Another option would be to go a bit outside of shoulder width
but with the rings, thats another option.

4. Behind the Neck Pull-ups

I never liked this exercise, you can pretty much get the same results from other
pull-up variations without the downsides of the behind the neck pull-up. It puts
your shoulders in an unnatural position and it is true that many people get great
results from them but the majority of us don’t. Most people only get shoulder
injuries from behind the neck pull-ups and the only positive thing that I could think
of about this exercise is that it looks a bit cool, but that's it.

5. Sit-Ups (with back on a hard surface)

Sit ups can be a good exercise, but most people do them on the hard floor which
hurts the tailbone and could cause a lot of damage in the long term. The ammount
of pressure put on the disks can be just as bad as doing Deadlifts with sloppy form.
You would be better off doing them on a decline bench, softer surface or doing
something like Planks instead. Not to forget that this exercise really tightens up the
hip flexors which are already tight from sitting down all day, not the best idea if
you work a 9-5 office job.
6. Crunches (with back on a hard surface)

Crunches on a hard surface are kind of like sit-ups on a hard surface, they are bad
for your lower back. You would be wise to eliminate this exercise altogether or
research a more joint friendly way to do it.

7. Box Jumps (on a hard surface)

Box jumps are a great exercise for building explosive power in the lower body, but
jumping on something like a brick or a wooden box is a bit too risky for my liking.
The knees can take a lot of abuse when jumping on these hard surfaces and it isn’t a
smart approach for the long run if you are trying to progress injury free. Not to
mention that if you miss the box and don’t make it then it could scrape your shins
and leave them very bloody (which has happened to me in the past when I
attempted to jump over a part bench with one leg in my basketball days). A smarter
atlernative would be to do box jumps on a padded box. The padded box is very
knee friendly and if you mess up and don’t make the jump then the padded box
won’t scrape your shins.

8. Box jumps on unstable surfaces.

Not only are box jumps on a hard surface not safe for your knees, but jumping on
high unstable surfaces is a perfect way to injure yourself. You could slip and fall on
your lower back and have a career ending injury all because you were doing an
exercise with high risk and low rewards. If you’re going to jump on something,
atleast make it a stable surface. A good alternative would be to get a high padded
box for your box jumps to reap all of the benefits without the risks.

9. Kipping Pull-Ups

Kipping Pull-ups were popularized by CrossFit and are a very dangerous exercise if
you don’t know how to Kip properly. The kipping pull-up is actually a very
advanced exercise, but many people would be better off just doing regualr pull-ups
with or without resistance. Unless if you do Crossfit, there is really no reason to put
your joints through so much pain. The kipping pull-up is very dangerous for the
shoulders (especially the rotator cuffs) if done incorrectly. Not only that, but
kipping pull-ups aren’t even good for the lats and last time I checked, one of the
main objectives of the pull-up was to build up the lats.

10. Kipping Dips

Crossfitters have also popularized the Kipping Dip which is basically like a kipping
pull-up but only for dips this time. The Kipping Dips are very dangerous for the
shoulders as well and the movement isn’t very controlled unless if you are very
advanced. Most people won’t get anything but injuries from Kipping Dips and
would be better off sticking to regular dips on gymnastic rings or parrallel bars for
safety purposes. The dip is already an exercise that has a reputation of hurting
peoples shoulders so why make it even more dangerous?

Why do gymnasts have more jacked upper bodies than I do even though I
have been doing Calisthenics for a few years?

Everybody who has watched the Olympics knows that the gymnasts have great
bodies and can also put on one hell of a show. One thing that really stands out is
their incredible core strength. It is extremely hard to do a Maltese or an Iron cross.
These feats of strength take a lot of dedication and decades of practice to really
master. On Fitworldexposed, I try to promote bodyweight training as often as
possible to remind people that there are no excuses. There are many bodyweight
masters out there and the gymnasts are very high on the list. We can learn a lot by
watching the gymnasts perform and looking at their lifestyles as well. Many
gymnasts don’t even touch weights and some of them have upper bodies that will
make bodybuilders want to jump off a bridge. Here are 5 reasons that I came up
with as to why gymnasts have such great upper body development.

1. They compete

Competing is a healthy part of life and it can also increase your standards when you
are against others. Competition can also increase your testosterone and push you to
your limits. I’m not telling you to start competing in gymnastics (although it
wouldn’t be the worst idea if thats what you are into), but understand that people
who compete could be stronger than people who don’t because they are fighting for
the first place. When you train and don’t compete, it’s a different ball game. Of
course, there are many different ways to compete, I used to have a gym partner and
we would always go head to head and try to outlift eachother. Competition is
healthy and it makes people feel alive. The main reason why competing is good is
because it gets you out of your comfort zone, it also gives you a reason to train
hard.

2. They practice a lot and treat strength as a skill

Practicing a lot is similar to the GTG (Greasing the groove) which is great for
getting good at movements while also building up a lot of frequency and volume
throughout the week. Also, if you want to get good at something like a handstand,
one day per week like in the bodybuilding magazines isn’t going to cut it. If you are
trying to get better at pull-ups then practice them often and follow the next tip
below as well.

3. Most gymnasts don’t train till failure

Similar to the olympic weightlifters, most gymnasts aren’t training until failure
which helps them train more frequently in a fresher state. Training to failure is very
popular in bodybuilding circles, but it could also make you a lot more sore which
wouldn’t benefit the gymnasts because they are trying to train and practice as often
as possible in a fresh state.

4. They perform different forms of bodyweight exercises which are proven to

build muscle + there is a lot of T.U.T. (Time under tension)

Bodyweight training is generally easier to recover from than weights in most cases.
You can’t do closegrip bench presses everyday, but gymnasts do a lot of dips on
the dip bars and are able to recover just fine from session to session. Top that off
with the fact that bodyweight exercises are great proven muscle builders and that
they aren’t going to failure, this is a great recipe for upper body strength and size.
No wonder the gymnasts have such nice arms.

There is also a lot of time under tension which we all know is very important for
putting on muscle mass. Its not uncommon for gymnasts to be doing extreme tricks
and advanced moves on the rings for over 30 seconds without stopping.

5. They follow the bodyweight progressions

I recently wrote an article called “The reason why most people don’t get much out
of Calisthenics” and mentioned how people don’t follow through with the
progressions and eventually give up. It’s a lot easier to grab a heavier weight than it
is to progress into a more advanced bodyweight exercise. Remember that the
results will be amazing if you are able to follow through with the progressions, not
to mention that you will have a bulletproof core to show for it, so work hard but be
patient.

Conclusion

Gymnasts are just a small piece of the puzzle, there are other people who have
amazing bodies without even touching weights such as Calisthenic street trainees,
rock climbers, some sprinters and the list goes on. This article was just to shed a bit
of light on the fact that you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of bodyweight
training. You may say that some gymnasts are lacking lower body size and strength
and that you can’t get nice legs without weights, but a quick look at the legs of
sprinters will change your mind. Weights are great, but at the end of the day
resistance is resistance and you can still get great results with your own
bodyweight. Start applying some of the gymnast principles to your training and
watch your body grow.

With so many benefits to bodyweight training, why is not as popular as weight

training with external loads?

The fitness industry is a big industry, especially since the last 10 years. More and
more businesses are getting affiliated with this industry because there is a lot of
money involved and with things like Bootcamps, Crossfit, Bodybuilding and
Powerlifting, they are trying to find new ways to put their hands in our pockets.
I will give you 3 big reasons why Calisthenics isn't super popular.

1. HARDER TO SELL GYM MEMBERSHIPS

Its obvious that if more people are training at home, in parks, or outside then it will
result in less money for the public gyms. Public gyms are great and I go to one
myself, but not everybody can afford to pay 300$+ per year. Gyms don't want you
to know the power of Calisthenics, they just want you to buy their memberships.

2. HARDER TO SELL GYM EQUIPMENT

When you have people training in their homes, in parks or outside then chances are
that they aren’t investing money in expensive barbells, dumbell’s, kettlebell’s,
squat racks and expensive machines like 2000$ leg presses. The fitness industry
wants you to buy these expensive products and while they do have a lot of value
and I do use them myself, not everybody can afford them. Even if some people can
afford them, not everybody is willing to spend so much money when they are just
trying to get in shape. The fitness industry is prepared for people like this, so they
have pull-up bars, gymnastic rings, neutral grip push-up handles and other
bodyweight equipment. but it doesn’t profit as much as the weights and machines
do.

3. PEOPLE START TO REBEL AGAINST WEIGHTS

I don't know what it is about bodyweight training, but the people who are really
good at it start to rebel against weight’s and say stuff like “I built my body without
weights” or “You don’t need weights to get big”. Then next thing you know, you
have hundred’s and thousands of people in park’s or training at home which results
in less money for the fitness industry which is exactly what they don’t want.

CONCLUSION

The magazines and media will tell you all kinds of things, but don’t think that you
have to belong to a fancy gym to be big and strong. It could definitely help, but I've
personally seen people get huge with nothing but bodyweight exercises. Don’t
expect that you will look exactly the same way as somebody who is doing heavy
squats and deadlifts, but you can still have a healthy and respectable body.
Resistance is resistance and if you are following the proper progressions and
getting stronger with a good diet then that’s what matters.

I heard that weighted Calisthenics could potentially be dangerous, what are

your thoughts on adding external resistance to bodyweight exercises?

I always preach about the importance of bodyweight training and how you can get
a great body without touching a weight, but a very controversial topic on the
internet is whether weighted calisthenics is good or not. Calisthenics is training
without external loads and only the use of your bodyweight with exercises like
Dips, Pull-ups and Sprints. So the question is; is weighted calisthenics a good idea
or not?

YES/NO
I’m giving you another black and white answer today and I will explain why.

YES, WEIGHTED CALISTHENICS IS A GOOD IDEA:

Weighted calisthenics is a great idea if you are able to maintain proper form with
the added resistance. It can be a great way to challenge your muscles if you aren’t
interested in doing a harder variation of the exercise. Adding weight is only one
way of progressing a pull-up. Other ways could be Single arm pull-ups, isometric
hold pull-ups, L-sit pull-ups, Fatgrip Pull-ups and the list goes on. Adding weight
isn’t the only way to progress, but it is a very popular way and for a good reason
too.

With weighted calisthenics, it is easy to track your progress. Sometimes it could get
hard to remember your records on 3 second pause pull-ups. So yes, I am all for
weighted Calisthenics as long as you aren’t sacrificing form or range of motion for
weight. It’s also a good idea if you start with light weights at first to get your
connective tissue ready for the stress. I’ve seen people jump straight from pull-ups
with no weight to pull-ups with a 45lb plate. This jump is way too big, you would
be better off starting with a 5lb plate and slowly working your way up, that would
atleast be my approach.

At the end of the day it really depends on what your goals are. If you want to really
master moving your body through space then I wouldn't recommend weighted
Calisthenics. If you don't care about mastering your bodyweight and you just want
to get jacked then give weighted calisthenics a try.

NO, WEIGHTED CALISTHENICS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA

This is for the people who are doing pull-ups and dips with a lot of weight but are
sacrificing form and range of motion. This is also for the people who can’t do a lot
of reps with they’re own bodyweight but want to add weight. I’ve seen people who
weren’t even able to do 8 proper pull-ups or dips, but they want to add weight right
away. This is a bad idea and if you do this then you are setting yourself up for an
injury because your connective tissue won’t be strong enough or prepared for the
stress. Not only will you be setting yourself up for an injury but you won't even be
getting stronger or bigger because your form is off.

These people would be better off by doing bodyweight exercises until they could
atleast get 15 picture perfect reps and then maybe they could think about adding
external resistance

Generally speaking, I wouldn’t add weight to a bodyweight exercise unless if I can

do 15 picture perfect reps, no momentum, no cheating and the proper muscles
working with no forced reps. Once you are able to do that for exercises like pull-
ups and dips for example, not only would it be a good idea to add weight, but your
connective tissue will be a lot more prepared for the external loads.

Conclusion

So yes, weighted calisthenics is a great idea but just as long as you don’t sacrifice
form for weight and slowly work up to it. I am all for weighted calisthenics, it
could be with chains, bands, weighed vests or even a backpack. Remember to lift
with the proper muscles and not your ego for maximum results and the least
amount of injuries. Be on the lookout because I will be writing an article about the
difference between training with bands, vests and chains.

I have been doing Calisthenics for a few years and my friend noticed that I
have a bad forward head posture, how can this be fixed?

When it comes to fitness and health all the way to how people will judge your
physical appearance, posture is essential. With all of the use of computers
nowadays it’s not uncommon to have a forward head posture which looks terrible
on men and women. The reason why it looks terrible is because the muscles are not
in the right places. Unfortunately there are many activities that lend themselves to
the forward head posture such a biking and other day to day tasks.

Not only will better posture reduce your chances of getting injured, but it will also
make your shoulders, back and chest look 100x better.
Luckily, the way to solve this isn't as hard as you may think. It will take a lot of
awareness and hard work but you will be rewarded with better posture. The first
drill that I would recommend would be chin tucks against a wall. This drill will
help you get your neck back into its proper place. It's a very simple drill that you
can do throughout the day. Try doing one set of one minute holds throughout the
day and week. Don't force anything, just try to imagine that your chin is being
pulled into the wall. I love this drill and use it myself. Your body follows your head
and if you have forward head posture then it messes everything up.

Below I will show you 3 common exercises that people usually perform with a
forward head posture and I’ll be showing you how to fix these mistakes.

DIPS
The forward head posture in dips is very common especially in the bottom position.
You want to keep your head somewhat neutral even when you are in the bottom
position, it will take some practice but it will definitely be worth it.

PUSH UPS

Most people do push ups with a forward head posture which is a shame because it's
an exercise with so many benefits. People who watch videos of people in the army
doing push-ups think that the right way to perform the movement is with the neck
hyperextended and looking at the leader but this is wrong. In theory, the best way
to perform the push-up when trying to improve forward head posture would be to
look down at the floor with the head neutral to the spine.

PULL UPS/CHIN UPS

Last but not least, the Pull-Up/Chin Up. If I had a dollar for everytime I saw
somebody do a Chin-Up with their chin hyperextended over the bar, I'd have a lot
of dollars. The problem with this exercise has a lot to do with the name. "Chin up"
means that you have to get your chin over the bar but some people who can't
perform this exercise properly will use a forward head posture to try and finish the
rep. This is such a common mistake but it can easily be fixed by leaving your ego
at the door and using the strength of your lats to get your chin above the bar. You
want to focus on keeping your chin tucked when doing chin ups and pull ups. The
exercise should actually be called "Chest-Up" because keeping your chest up really
the important thing to remember when you are performing this movement.

It's funny because it was actually hard to find pictures of people who had proper
head positioning when doing dips, push-ups and pull-ups on Google. Search it for
yourself and you will notice that most people perform these exercises with a
forward head posture without even knowing it. It doesn’t stop there, we didn't even
get to the weight training exercises like Deadlifts, Rows, Shrugs and other lifts. I
hope you learned something and try to apply this principle to all of your lifts, from
planks all the way to curls. If you are cautious and start now then you will be fine.

What are other ways to make bodyweight exercises harder without adding
external loads?

Weight vests are one of the best tools for training out there but not everybody can
afford them and the same thing applies for bands and chains. Of course, a backpack
with weights could work but it could also feel a bit awkward. Let’s discuss more
affordable and effective approaches to make bodyweight exercises more
challenging. Check it out below:

1. BETTER TECHNIQUE (BETTER R.O.M., SQUEEZE, RIGHT

MUSCLES WORKING…ETC)

There is no point in trying to make the exercise harder if your technique needs
work, this is common sense. Get better contractions, a pain free range of motion
and things of that nature and you will be on the right track.

2. HARDER VARIATIONS OF THE EXERCISE WORK WELL

If you can do a regular push-up for 15 reps then try to elevate your feet on a chair
to make the exercise harder. If you are able to do handstand push-ups for high reps
then maybe you can try to do diamond handstand push-ups. Pull-ups feel too easy?
Try archer pull-ups, you get the picture. One thing that is important is that you
should never skip progressions. If you can do 15 push-ups, then chances are that
you can’t do handstand push-ups. You will have to get proficient with push-ups
with your feet elevated first.

3. ISOMETRIC HOLDS FOR 3-5 SECONDS WHICH ARE ALSO KNOWN

AS PAUSED REPS

I love isometric holds because they bring more blood into the muscle and they’re
humbling as well while testing your strength. Don’t have access to a weight vest for
pull-ups? Are you able to do 15 perfect reps? Try pull-ups with a 3-5 isometric hold
at the top (and bottom if you want) of each repetition. I also like this method
because it prevents you from using any momentum. It’s hard to cheat with
isometric hold training but the harder it is, the more you will get out of the exercise.

4. LESS TIME BETWEEN SETS

If you are only waiting one minute between sets then the exercises will be a lot
harder than if you wait 2-3 minutes between sets. This could be a tool that you use
to make your workouts last less time and make the exercises harder. Bodybuilders
are very big advocates of short rest periods and I have been experimenting a lot
with short rest periods and have been seeing some good progress so far.

5. CHALLENGING YOUR GRIP WITH A THICKER BAR

If you do pull-ups, rows, push-ups, l-sits, dips and other bodyweight exercises
while holding onto a thick bar you will notice that it humbles you. I know people
who are able to do 10+ pull-ups with a 45lb plate, but it’s can't even get 10 reps
with a 2.5 inch bar and no additional weight. If you’re in the park and you find a
swing set with a thick handle then you can do pull-ups there if you want a
challenge. These will increase your grip strength and also increase your forearm
size.

6. DOING THE EXERCISE AT THE END OF THE WORKOUT

Think that less time between sets is hard? Try doing an exercise at the end of a
workout. I kind of got this from the old school “pre-exhausting” bodybuilding
philosophy. You don’t have to do this, but it’s just another tool in the toolbox so
it’s there if ever you need it

Why is bodyweight training so hated on and underrated?

There is one reason why many people aren’t taking bodyweight training seriously
and are judging it’s effectiveness.

They aren’t following the proper progressions to advance their calisthenics,

they get impatient and go back to the weights. It’s a lot easier to grab a heavier
dumbell or add more weight to the barbell than it is to progress to a more advanced
bodyweight move. Most people aren’t ready for that kind of commitment so they
just forget about bodyweight training altogether. It sucks for them because they are
missing out on a lot. Hopefully you aren’t. The message is that I highly recommend
that you follow through with the progressions of bodyweight training, the results
will be worth it. With all of A.D.D. out there it’s hard to focus on one thing,
nobody wants to put the time and work in. It’s easier to add weight to your shoulder
press than it is to go from handstand pushups to diamond handstand pushups.
Gymnasts are living proof that if you keep striving on advancing your progressions,
you could reach greatness.

Don’t give up because it’s too hard, embrace and strive for new challenges to push
yourself to the limits.

There are many terms in the lifting world such as "GTG (Greasing the
groove)" and "The ladder method", would you mind explaining what they
are?

GTG (GREASING THE GROOVE)

This was a term invented by Pavel Tsatsouline that basically means that you take
one exercise and make it a priority by performing it many times throughout the day
and throughout the week (while still doing your other workouts, but the GTG
exercise is the big priority). GTG doesn’t mean that you’re only doing pull-ups for
a month, not at all. It means that you will be doing the exercise several times per
day while still doing your other program in the gym or at home. This is convenient
if you have a pull-up bar at home because you’re not going to go to the gym or the
park to do 2 or 3 sets of pull-ups. This is a very effective method and you would be
surprised to see how well it works for bodyweight exercises like pull-ups. When
doing GTG, you want to remember a few key points.

-NEVER go until failure (leave one or two reps in the tank). This means that if you
are able to do 5 or 6 perfect reps then you should only do 4 reps.

-DON'T do GTG for longer than a month (you will most likely get some overuse
injuries by then).

-GTG can work for weight training exercises, but I rather do it with bodyweight
exercises because I find it more convenient. Bodyweight exercises are also easier
on the joints and easier to recover from. I feel like I am always in a fresher state
with calisthenics and I also don't get as sore as I would with weights. My favorite
exercises to try the GTG method with would be pull-ups, dips, push-ups, levers,
inverted rows or handstand push-ups.

-Have 1-3 rest days when you are on a GTG program.

-If you are doing GTG for pull-ups, don't be scared to change the grips up every
few days for extra variety (same thing applies for other exercises as well).

-Depending on how many other exercises you do besides pull-ups, you might want
to lower your volume and frequency just a bit. If you are doing tons of pull-ups
GTG style then it wouldn't be the best idea to do even more pull-ups during your
actual gym workouts.

-Don't do GTG with more than one exercise. It's either pull-ups, chin-ups, push-
ups, dips, inverted rows, or handstands, but not all of them. Maybe you could do
GTG for pull-ups in September and GTG for push-ups in November. One thing at a
time. If you put your focus with GTG on too many exercises at once it makes it
harder to concentrate on one thing. "Jack of all trades, master of none".

-For safety purposes, always include a lot of rowing exercises in your

program because if you do too many push-ups or pull-ups and not many rows then
it'll affect your posture and you will probably get injured. If you are limited with
equipment then inverted rows are your best bet.

GTG is also great for people with busy schedules. If you work a busy job and you
are always on call then I suggest that you buy a pull-up bar to hang up under a door
in your house with various grips. This style of training would probably be more
suitable for you. Also, for fathers or mothers who have kids and don't have time to
train, GTG is a great way to still train, but just in a more spread out fashion.

GTG is a very effective method for building muscle and strength. Put in the work
and the results will be worth it. I have a pull-up bar at my work and I do GTG at
work and my pull-up numbers are definitely increasing. GTG sends signals to your
body that you have to get stronger on that lift. It also makes sense because you
don't get good by doing something once per week, you have to practice. If you have
a hard time feeling your lats during pull-ups then doing GTG with pull-ups can
help a lot.

THE LADDER METHOD

The ladder method is a great way to increase your total workout volume in a
session. Here’s how it works. Let’s say that you take the Pull-up for example:

You are able to do 3×12 Pull-ups.

With the ladder method, you cut your total amount of pull-ups in half which means
you will be doing 3×6 (instead of 3x12). Now 3×6 with ladders is more than it
looks like. One ladder looks like this:

1 pullup + 2 pullups +3+4+5+6=21 total pull-ups. This is 1 ladder. (10-25 second

break between pullups) and 2-3 minute rest between ladders.

If you do the math, 3 ladders will equal to 63 pull-ups. If you would have done the
regular ammount of pull-ups with 3×12, you would have only gotten 36. You
almost doubled the volume with the ladder method. Now you get a better idea of
how it is so effective for building up volume.
Before you start doing ladders, there are a few key things that you must know:

-Ladders work very well with bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, dips, push-
ups, inverted rows…etc

-Never take ladders till failure, every rep has to look clean and perfect

-Only pick one exercise to do your ladders with

-Lower your total workout volume when incorporating ladders

-Don’t do ladders for more than 4 weeks, your joints might not be able to
tolerate them.

Conclusion

Ladders aren’t mandatory, they are just another tool in the toolbox for when you
want to increase your volume. Another benefit of training with latter's is that they
are good for people who want to get a high volume workout in a short amount of
time.

I have a girlfriend and I want to get her to start training but she is scared of
the idea of the gym and weights because she thinks that she will get bulky. I
want to train with her, would Calisthenics be a good idea?

We always hear the same old training myth’s when it comes to female training:

“Weight training will make me look bulky”

“I don’t want to look like a man so i’ll just run on the treadmill”

“I just want to tone up”

“I’ll do high reps to burn off the fat”

…etc
The list goes on and on forever. I will be explaining why women should be
incorporating calisthenics into their program. It’s one simple reason that could
really make a huge difference in a woman’s body physically and also change the
way she thinks about her training.

Bodyweight training exercises such as Push-up’s, Pull-up’s, Dips, Planks,

Inverted Rows and other exercises look a lot less intimidating to woman but
they still produce great results.

I know you are thinking, “What the hell is he talking about?”, but let me explain.
There are many women who don't attack a bench press or squat and other
weight training exercises because they fear that they will get bulkier which is
probably the biggest myth in fitness if I had to only pick one. Lifting heavy
weights actually burns more calories and builds muscle faster and more effectively
than treadmills and other low intensity machines.

“Muscles” are also one of the key words that women are afraid of . Women like to
link the word muscle to masculinity, but the truth is that women should not be
scared of getting more muscular. So as a result of all of the myths, we have women
all around the world who are scared to even touch a heavy weight. It’s like some
women are strong but just aren’t willing to push themselves on the weighted
exercises.

Back to the calisthenics statement above, I think that women would really benefit
from calisthenics because they won’t be as scared to attack exercises like Push-ups,
Pull-ups, planks, dips and other bodyweight exercises because there is no weight.
In calisthenics, you are the weight and I also doubt that women are scared of
themselves so it would be a great way for women to get results and increase the
intensity without always second guessing what they are doing. Then when they see
that they are getting great results with the bodyweight exercises, they will finally
start to understand that you have to lift something somewhat heavy to make
progress. If a woman weighs 130 and she has to do pull-ups then it will be
somewhat hard for her but she won't be as intimidating as doing something that
requires a heavy weight in her hand.
The funny thing is that women wouldn’t even be able to look like men even if they
trained 10 times harder than men, it’s just physically impossible. Men have higher
testosterone levels, it’s not good or bad, but just the way it is.

On top of that, everybody should be able to perform basic exercises like dips,
push-ups and pull-ups before even focusng on weights anyways. You have to
build some sort of foundation and if you just start off your first year of training
with exercises like the bench press when you can’t do a proper push-up then it
defeats the purpose. Focus on the fundamentals and then you can advance to other
methods.

Conclusion

Let’s throw all of the myths about female training out of the window and for all
you women out there, start working out with more intensity, you won’t get “bulky”
unless if you are in an incredibly high caloric surplus, I promise you.

If you are confused about which bodyweight exercises you should be doing, focus
on the basics like Push-ups, inverted rows, Pull-ups, Bar dips, plank variations, hip
thrusts, sprints and others. Don’t be scared to train hard, embrace the challenges
and the results will be great.

I have a 9 year old child who is very hyper and active and I am just curious to
know if Calisthenics would be an appropriate activity for him to partake in for
overall health and safety?

There are many debates on the internet of whether children should be training or
not. My simple answer in most cases is yes. Kid’s should be moving and exercising
as opposed to playing videogames at home. Parks and playgrounds were built for a
reason.

More specifically, children should be doing Calisthenics instead of weight training

so that they could build a solid foundation while they are young while
simultaneously sparring their joints. There is no approximate age for when lifting
weights is best, but it wouldn’t be the best idea to have a 4-11 year old kid to start
doing deadlifts and military presses, thats for sure. I would NEVER recommend
heavy exercises like weighted squats, deadlifts and military presses to a child under
10, there is just too much spinal compression for somebody at such a young age
and it definitely isn't worth the risk.

Calisthenics are easier on the joints and some children actually do some
bodyweight training without even knowing it. Exercises on the monkey bars,
running and climbing are all forms of bodyweight training and are great for
children. If you happen to have a child or a very young trainee then it would be
smart to start them off with the basics while they are young and to help them build
that foundation too. Exercises like push-ups, planks, inverted rows, running,
bodyweight squats, jumping, monkey bar work and climbing are a great place to
start.

The important thing is that the child is having fun and enjoying what he/she is
doing.

Kids who are active when they are young and play a lot are likely to be stronger,
better coordinated and more athletic than kids who stay at home playing
videogames. Start good habits at a young age so it becomes second nature. Training
at young age is like learning a new language, the younger you start, the better off
you will be. You want to learn the basics when you are young so that when you get
older then you will already have more experience than the average kid and you will
be one step ahead.

What if I can't afford gymnastic rings, a TRX system or a pull-up bar and I
want to do Pull-ups and Dips?
Look, nothing in life is just going to land on your lap and sometimes you will have
to improvise a bit, luckily I was able to compile a list of 40+ places for you to do
Pull-ups and Dips. One of the other things that I like about Calisthenics is that it
teaches you how to be creative and we all know that pull-ups and dips are the kings
of upper body exercises so lets get places where you can do these exercises. The
list is no particular order but hopefully you can find somewhere to do pull-ups and
dips close to where you live if you don't have the funds to buy the equipment.

Pull-Ups

1. Pull-ups and Chin-ups on a stable tree branch could work too. Out of all of the
places to do pull-ups, this probably one of the most convenient places to do them
because tree's are everywhere.

2. Pull-ups or Chin-ups could be done on street lights (Just make sure you avoid the
police because you don’t want to get a ticket).

3. Go to your local park and you could do Pull-ups or Chin-ups on the monkey
bars. If you live close to a park then your best bet would be to do your calisthenics
bible program there.

4. You could also do Pull-ups or Chin-ups on a soccer net, they usually have
thicker handles so you can also work on your grip.

5. Swing sets are also a decent place to do Pull-ups or Chin-ups and the handles are
usually thick too so you can get some grip work there as well.

6. Pull-Ups can also be done in bathroom stalls (please don't be this desperate).

7. Basketball rims, just make sure that you don’t break the rim.

8. Pull-ups can also be done under bleacher seats if you walk around and go to the
back of them.

9. Pull-ups can be done under staircases if there is any room between the steps for
you to place yours hands.

10. If you happen to find a stable rock that isn’t too high because you want to get
down safely then it could be a great way to do pull-ups.

11. L-Sit Pull-ups and Chin-ups could be done under dip bars in the park (these are
very humbling).
12. Pull-ups can be done under a barbel in the squat rack if you belong to a gym
that doesn't have a pull-up bar.

13. Pull-ups and Chin-ups can also be done under a fence if the pole is high
enough.

14. Pull-ups can be done over a door if you have enough of a strong grip and if you
have enough room to fit your hands.

15. In extremely desperate cases, you could do pull-ups on a statue!

16. Pull-ups and Chins can also be done on a vertical and stable ladder.

17. If you know where to find ropes then you could do rope pull-ups. Warning:
these can be hard on your elbows if you aren’t experienced with pull-ups.

18. Pull-ups and Chin-ups could also be done on the subway poles if you are
extremely desperate as well.

19. Chin-ups and Pull-ups can be done under the bus stop shelter.

20. You can do L-Sit Chin-Ups under saw horses as well (unless if you are very
tall).

21. Some people have a piece of wood on their ceiling, if you do then make sure
that it is stable enough to support your bodyweight.

22. Some shelters have a lot of bars which could be use for pull-up variations.

23. If you are lucky enough to have a stable sewage pipe that could hold your
bodyweight then consider yourself lucky!

I am now going to discuss a different variation of the pull-up variation called the
inverted row, but it is also known as the Fatman Pull-up so I decided to add this to
the list. What you must understand is that pull-ups are a great exercise, but in order
to have a balanced back and prevent injuries, you must include some rowing
variations just to make sure that you have all of your bases covered. A program
without horizontal pulling is a recipe for disaster.

24. Fatman Pull-ups can be done in the park.

25. Inverted rows can also be done under a table as long as it is stable enough to
support your weight.

26. Inverted Rows can also be done hanging from monkey bars, you can even put
your feet over the bars to make it easier.

27. If you have a stable stick, you can put it between two chairs and do inverted
rows.

28. If you have two saw horses then you can perform inverted rows. You might
also need a stable bar or two, but these are pretty affordable.

29. You can do inverted rows under Dip bars in the park as well.

30. Inverted Rows can also be done under a stable hammick, these will feel like
ring rows and they will be challenging. Just make sure that the hammick is stable
enough to support your own bodyweight.

Dips

1. Many parks have parrallel dip bars, hopefully yours does too! If it doesn’t then
keep reading below.

2. Dips in the corner of a kitchen counter.

3. Dips can be done in the corner of a fence. If the corners feel a bit awkward or
pointy then you can put a shirt over it or skip this idea altogether.

4. L-Sit Dips can also be done on bike stands if they are up high enough.

5. Dips can be done between 2 stable tables as long as they are both the same
height.
6. If ever the escalator stops, then you could try doing dips like that but if it feels
too wide then don't even bother unless if you want screwed up shoulders.

7. If you happen to see any gymnastic rings hanging in a park or anywhere else
then dips can be done there.

8. L-Sit Dips can be done between two benches (these are NOT bench dips). Bench
dips are when the bench is in back of you but the L-sit dip between 2 benches is
when you are between the two benches, there's a difference.

9. Believe it or not, you can actually do Dips on a straight bar, they are a lot harder
and they are an advanced variation, but sometimes you have to make due with what
you have. So technically you can do straight bar dips with a lot of the ideas I gave
you for pull-ups.

10. If you are on a balcony with a corner that is high and stable enough then you
can do Dips, just be very careful if you are on a high balcony, this one is for very
desperate trainees.

11. If you have access to 2 saw horses then you can do Dips.

12. No Dip bars in your gym? Take 2 barbells and put them in a power rack.

13. You can do Dips between bunk beds, the cool thing about this is that you can
adjust the bunk beds the way that you want so if you want to do closegrip Dips for
your triceps then you could do that.

As you can see there are many places to do pull-ups and dips so now you have no
excuses!

Are advanced exercises like Planches good for building muscle or not?

Honestly, no.

Yes it is true that the isometric holds do build some muscle, but it is not an optimal
exercise is maximum muscle mass is the main goal.
One of the big reasons why is because the more an exercise has to do with balance,
the less effective it is for building muscle. This is the reason why you rarely ever
see extremely big people doing Planches.

The best exercises for building muscle are the basic movements like Pull-Up and
Dip variations. They are so effective that pretty much every bodybuilder
incorporates them into their programming. Planches, not so much.

I am not bashing the planche by any means because it is great for balance,
coordination and building up your core strength as well but it was never really
meant to be a muscle builder and I doubt it ever will be. Yes it is true that a lot of
bodybuilders can't do planches but even if they were able to do them, they still
wouldn't do them because they aren't a good muscle builder.

For option #2 above where I should use a weightvest for all of my exercises,
does this also apply for jump rope work and hill sprints as well?

It is not as mandatory as with the exercises on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and

Friday but if you can incorporate the weightvest on sprints and jump rope work
safely then yes you can but just increase the weight in very small increments if you
do so that you don't injure yourself. Weighted sprints and conditioning is kind of
like weighted calisthenics in the sense that your form has to be solid and you have
to slowly ease into it. Get a coach to also look at your form and if it sloppy then
you will know that you have to take a few steps backwards.

I am a Powerlifter and I just read your book and it seems like there is a lot to
be gained from the incorporation of Calisthenics in my program. My sport is
Powerlifting which is all about increasing my Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift.
What are some Calisthenic exercises that could help assist these lifts (if there
are any)?

To increase your Squat, Bench and Deadlift, you have to practice those lifts often,
that’s first off.

You can’t get better at speaking English by speaking in french. The only problem is
that once you get passed the beginner phase, you can’t only do the big 3 because
you will get injured pretty quickly. You need some “assistance” and "accessory"
exercises that will help improve your lifts. The reason why you can’t always do the
big 3 is because a lot of heavy barbell work could wear and tear you down pretty
fast if it’s all you do especially if you are strong. When you are very strong the max
attempts will take a lot out of you.

A smart approach would be to do the main movement at the beginning of your

workout (Squat, Bench or Deadlift) and then assist it with other exercises that
aren’t as hard on your joints and CNS. Dumbell exercises are great for this but
bodyweight exercises are also perfect for this because they could help you add
extra frequency and volume without destroying your joints, hurting your recovery
and they still give you a good training effect.

Below I will show you how bodyweight exercises could increase your big 3,
starting with the squat.

SQUAT:

-Hill Sprints: These develop your explosiveness and your posterior chain strength
which are extremely important for squats. Jim Wendler once said that Hill Sprints
helped his squat out and Jason Ferruggia said that it's rare that people who do a lot
of sprinting don't hit PR's when they get back to squatting heavy.
-Glute ham raises: These develop your posterior chain and are a staple in many
Powerlifting circles. Many lifters actually do their Glute Ham Raises before Squats
and feel a lot stronger. Its good for knee flexion and hip extension so you are
killing two birds with one stone as well. The only problem with this exercise is that
it requires a glute-ham bench but if you are a powerlifter then you might have it in
your gym.

My gym doesn't have a glute ham raise machine but you can do them with the lat
pulldown, Pete Rubish style.

Another option if you don't have access to one would be to find a way to hook your
feet under something stable so that you can try to replicate a glute ham raise
machine. This method may not be exactly like the original GHR but it could still
get the job done. These are easy on the joints and the spine so you could do GHR's
three times per week and not run into any recovery issues.

-Back extensions 45 degree and horizontal: Back extensions are great for hitting
the posterior chain as well. If you are a powerlifter then your gym most likely has
this but if you don't have access to it then you can easily just put your feet under
parallel dip bars and your hips over the dip bars to replicate a horizontal back
extension. Remember that when you are powerlifting you have to try to strengthen
the weakest link in the chain. Sometimes people will have very strong legs but it is
their lower back that will give out first, if thats you then throw in some back
extensions.

-Plank variations are essential for squats because it’s hard to lockout a heavy
weight with a weak core. Obliques are very underrated for locking out heavy
weights as well so you can do some advanced Side Planks where your feet are
attached to a TRX if you are ready for it.

BENCH PRESS:
-Ring Dips: These will develop your triceps like nothing else. For more emphasis
on the chest simply lean forward a bit and for building up your tricep's just stay
upright. If you have a weak lockout then focus on your triceps but if you have
trouble getting out of the bottom then you should try ring dips with a chest
emphasis to strengthen your chest. A bigger chest will also make the range of
motion a little smaller which doesn't seem like much, but every inch and pound
counts when you are powerlifting.

-Pull-ups: To bench press heavy weights you will need a strong foundation, in
other words, big and strong lats could help improve your bench press if you do
them properly.

-Push-up variations (Ring, Handstand, Explosive): Push-ups are great for adding
more volume without destroying your shoulders. The Handstand Push-up could
actually serve as a great assistance lift for the bench press as well because
everybody know's that increasing your relative vertical pushing strength will
automatically increase your horizontal pushing strength. This is the reason why
lifters will notice that when they increase their Military Press their bench press
increase automatically. It's funny because benching heavy won't have a big
carryover to your vertical presses.

-Wide Grip Inverted Rows on Rings: These will train your upper and mid back
which is very important when trying to bench heavy weights. Since your lats will
get stronger from pull-ups I would recommend that you do inverted rows with your
elbows flared out to the sides so that you will work your upper back. Inverted Rows
on rings with the elbows flared out is a very humble movement but it will get your
upper back bigger and stronger in the process.

Deadlift:

-Glute ham raises: These are a staple for many powerlifters because they
strengthen the posterior chain without loading the spine. These are great for
assisting your squat but they are great for assisting the deadlift as well since you
need strong glutes and hamstrings for power.

-Back extensions (45 degrees and horizontal): These will add some volume and
frequency to your training without destroying your joints in the process.

-Front Levers: Front levers are kind of like straight bar pullovers and they teach
you how to engage the lats for the deadlift. Some people actually consider this
exercise to be the deadlift of the calisthenics world! These also work your core to a
great degree along with the long head of the triceps. The combination of increased
lat, core and tricep strength will definitely assist you during the deadlift. The role of
the lats in the deadlift is to help keep the bar as close to you as possible and the role
of the core is to stay tight throughout the movement for heavier loading potential
and protect the lower back. These are two things that the front lever helps you to a
great degree, don't sleep on this exercise!

CONCLUSION

Calisthenics could increase your Big 3 lifts, but you have to focus on getting
stronger with progressive overload if you really want to see a difference. Never
underestimate the power of bodyweight training.

Why do you preach and talk so much about Calisthenics?

If you have been keeping up with the website then you know that I have a passion
for bodyweight training which is also known as Calisthenics. The website is called
Fitworldexposed to expose all of the myths to the fitness world, but our other
objective is to show people that you don’t have to belong to a gym to be big,
strong, healthy and in shape. A gym could definitely help and I go to the gym
myself, but not everybody has the time or money, so what are they supposed to do?
Some people have kids, some people work 50 hours per week while others live an
hour away from the gym. Everybody has their own situations. The point that I am
trying to make is that health is like an education, it should be accessible for
everybody. It won’t fall on your lap, but everybody should have the access to get
strong. You don’t have to have a lot of money to be strong, you can’t buy
health and strength, you have to work for it.

There are many people who tell me that they can’t be fit or in shape because of the
lifestyle they live, but you could be strong with minimal equipment and not that
many hours per week. The results may not be optimal because you only get what
you put in, but it’s better than nothing. The funny thing is that these people will
say that they don’t have time for training, but they spend countless hours on
facebook, twitter, instagram, playing videogames, watching T.V., checking e-
mails every two seconds, waking up late everyday and hanging out with people
they don’t like but they don’t have time to take care of their own body?! At the
same time I can’t judge, if thats the way people want to live their lives then there's
nothing I can do about it. I can only motivate and inspire so many people with my
energy. Just don’t get mad about the way you look, feel or perform if you aren’t
putting in the work and effort. You could never complain about things that you
aren't working for.

I’m here to tell you that training doesn’t have to be a chore, it could be fun and
actually enhance your life if you are doing an activity that you love. The big reason
why I promote bodyweight training so much is because it’s free, but it still
produces amazing results if you put in the effort and work. Bodyweight training
helps you move better, improve creativity and improvisation while building
chemistry with your own body. There are no weights, you are the weight.

Type on Youtube stuff like “New york calisthenics”, “Ghetto workout” or

“Barstarzz”, you will see people who train in bar parks instead of gyms. Some of
them probably can’t afford it and some of them probably can, but that isn’t the
point. A lot of these people got big and strong without the gym, they have great
bodies and incredible levels of strength. At the end of the day effort is effort and
nobody could take your hard work away from you.

I want fitness and health to be more accessible, i’m tired of people saying that they
can’t train and they complain about how they are weak and don’t have the body
they want. There are no excuses, you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Why are Pull-ups and Dips so effective and could you provide a list of Pull-Up
and Dipping mistakes so that I do the movements properly without injuring
myself?

Pull-ups and Dips both share something that most exercises don't have, it is moving
the whole body through space at once. When performing Pull-ups and Dips your
whole body is moving up and down which activates many more muscles than being
seated on a machine, the full body tension and neuromuscular activation with these
two exercises are unmatched and no machine can ever compare, ever. These are
some of the reasons why the two exercises have been popular for so long and why
they are considered the Squat and Deadlift of the upper body.

I will show you many mistakes that people make with these lifts and I will provide
tips to minimize the risk of the injuries while getting stronger on these lifts as well.
1. Adding too much weight too soon. I always say that you should be able to do
15-20 picture perfect reps on pull-ups or dips to finally have the right to add
weight. This will make sure that your joints are finally prepared and that you aren't
just rushing it.

2. Using too great of a range of motion. The range of motion on Dips shouldn't be
too extreme, but some people really push it, parrallel is fine for the most part. Pull-
ups require a good range of motion, but some people take it to another extreme and
lock out their elbows. Your elbows should be 99% locked, they should still be soft
at the bottom position.

3. Neglecting the ring variations. Ring variations of Chins and Dips give your
wrists a lot of freedom so they could work around the pain, they are also harder
which is good because you won't need as much weight to get the job done.

4. Using handles that are too skinny. Skinny handles aren't the best thing for the
elbows and the pain will most likely catch up to you in the longrun so why take the
risk?

5. Sacrificing form for more reps. For strength or size, it is better to do 5 picture
perfect reps than do 10 sloppy reps, remember that.

6. Making Pull-ups and Dips a power exercise in the 1-3 range. I've come to the
conclusion that pull-ups and dips aren't the best options for power exercises
and there are better alternatives. 1 rep maxes for pull-ups and dips usually just lead
to cranky elbows and beat up shoulders. I personally like to stick in the 5-15 rep
range with these exercises, but there are always exceptions.

7. Hyperextending the neck throughout the movement. This is so common,

especially in the Dip. Try to be very mindful of your head positioning when
performing these movements. You want to keep your chin tucked in and don't
hyperextend your neck on chin-ups like most people do to get your chin above the
bar, use your lats to get up there.

8. Not keeping the glutes and core tight. Most people swing and aren't squeezing
their core and glutes during the movement. Keep your core tight to prevent a shaky
set.

9. Not stretching lats and biceps after chin workouts and chest and triceps
after dip workouts. Not stretching the muscles you train could lead to tightness
and it'll catch up to you overtime.

10. Choosing variations of the exercise that are hurting you. I personally don't
do wide grip dips or wide grip pull-ups, since they hurt me as well. I stick with
closer grip dips and closer grip pull-ups. These actually hit the biceps and triceps
very well in case you didn't know. The range of motion also feels longer too.

11. Too much leg swinging and momentum. This isn't crossfit, use the proper
muscles to get you up and down, stop relying on momentum or else you won't build
any more muscle or get any stronger.

12. Not changing the variations often enough. Some people will do widegrip
pull-ups for 5 years straight without even noticing it, I like to stick to a grip for
about 3-8 weeks and then change it up to another grip.

13. Changing the variation too often. Some people change their grip too often.
When you do this you are not teaching your body how to progress a movement
because you are always changing it. To get good at something you have to do it
often, but you have to find the balance and not overdue it.

14. Too many dips and pullups, not enough rowing. Many of us got caught in
the trap of thinking that pull-ups and dips are all that we need for a good upper
body, but you can get injuries down the road if you aren't including a ton of rowing
variations. You should also being more rowing than vertical pulling for overall
health.

15. Not changing up your rep range from time to time. People will do the same
old 3x8 or 4x6 over and over again. Sometimes it's ok to try a new rep range.
Maybe something like 3x12-15 for pull-ups and dips could change things up and
spark some new growth if you aren't strong in that rep range.
16. Always taking your sets until failure. If you want to get good at these two
exercises then try to avoid training till failure. Not only will going to failure stall
your progress but going to failure means that you keep going even though your
form gets sloppy. Sloppy form can lead to injuries if you aren't careful. It would be
wiser to do 10 clean reps instead of 12 sloppy reps. Trust me, most people who are
really good at pull-ups and dips always go atleast 1 rep short of absolute failure.
Not going to failure is also easier on your CNS as well so you aren't burning
yourself out.

17. Not focusing on the mind muscle connection and the contraction. The
MMC and the contraction are extremely important when trying to put on muscle
and make the right muscles do the work. You want to feel the proper muscles
working otherwise you are just spinning your wheels.

18. Not tracking your PR’S and trying to beat your last performance. If you
did 10 pull-ups and 10 dips last week but aren’t striving to get 11 this week then
you aren’t maximimizing your time in the gym or at home. You have to try to beat
your last performance or atleast attempt to. Even if you do 10 pull-ups again this
week but with better form, thats still a PR. Keep progressing and you will see
results. Sometimes you have to fix your form and take a few steps back but as long
as you are progressing you will be fine.

19. Not taking a break from Dips and Chins from time to time. Some programs
would benefit from not having chins or dips just to give your body a little break
from those movements. You don’t want to get overuse injuries so sometimes you
have to play it safe. Elbow tendonitis is very common and many people get them
from doing the same movements over and over again. Although if you are doing
Pull-Ups and Dips on rings then they will be a lot easier on your shoulders, elbows
and wrists than if you were abusing those 2 exercises with the straight bar.

20. Not getting coaches to critique your technique on Chins and Dips. If you
want to improve anything then it’s important to get somebody to critique you.
Make sure that the coach you are asking knows a lot about training and actually
know's what he/she is talking about.
21. Going extremely wide on chin-ups and dips. Wide grip Chins and Dips aren’t
the best idea in the world for people who have injury prone shoulders. Some may
be able to do them pain free but most people will get some sort of pain from wide
chins and dips done for long periods of time. A bit outside of shoulder width will
work just fine on pull-ups and some bodybuilders like Dorian Yates actually say
that the closer grip gives your lats more range of motion and a bigger stretch which
could result in more growth.

22. Not respecting the variation. Some people will be doing tricep dips with a
straight posture but once the set starts getting heavy then they will start doing a
forward lean just to get all the way up, this is not good and if thats the case then
maybe you are not going to get the results you are looking for.

23. Resting too long at the bottom of the pull-up or at the top of the dip. If you
are taking over 10 seconds to continue the exercise then chances are that you are
resting in that position. Its like when people are doing squats, but they stay at the
top position for 30 seconds, rest when the set is done, not when you are in the
middle of it.

When do you recommend stretching?

I personally never recommend stretching at the beginning because stretching when

you are cold can only make things worse. I recommend that you warm-up properly
with some foam rolling, lacrosse ball work, dynamic work and activation drills as
well and stretch the muscles that you just trained after your workout.

I am very convinced that Calisthenics is one of the best ways to train for
results and great health, but can you give me a list of some of the possible
disadvantages of bodyweight training?

Everybody knows that I have a passion for training. I will always love weightlifting
but lately I’ve been loving bodyweight training. Weightlifting does have its
disadvantages but today I want to talk about the disadvantages of bodyweight
training.
1. LOWER BODY TRAINING FOR MASS

Go watch all of the videos of people who train with strictly bodyweight
movements, you will notice that they have phenomenal upper bodies from all of the
chins, dips, pushups and other exercises but their lower body won’t be as
impressive as far as muscular development goes. They still have developed lower
bodies and they are definitely explosive from all of the box jump variations
(bilateral and unilateral) and hill sprints, but they lack mass. Let’s say if you
REALLY want to add a few inches to your legs with bodyweight exercises, it will
be very hard and you will start to stall after a while. You will make progress with:

-Pistol Squats

-Glute Ham Raises (unilateral or bilateral)

-Bodyweight leg curls (unilateral or bilateral)

-Bridge variations

-Lunges

-Cossack squats

…etc

for a while but it leg mass might stall after a while (unless if you are very heavy).

These are all great movements, but eventually you will have to add weight to see a
difference. Pistol squats won’t build up the legs like squats with a barbell on 2 legs
and that’s the truth. You can’t do pistol squats and expect to get the same results as
someone doing a back squat, that’s ignorant. The legs are very strong muscles and
eventually in your bodyweight quest you will get to a point where you need to add
some sort of weight in order to build more size. It might not be for a long time, but
the day will eventually come. Although this does not apply to the upper body.
At the same time it all depends on what you want because if you are able to do 20
single leg glute ham raises, 20 single leg TRX hamstring curls, 30 Pistol squats,
fast sprints on an extremely steep hill and box jumps on a high box then your legs
will still have jacked legs. I just think that you won't get to your lower body genetic
potential without Squatting, leg pressing and Romanian Deadlifting heavy weights.

2. POSTERIOR CHAIN STRENGTH AND POWER WITH

CALISTHENICS CAN ONLY GO SO FAR.

This rule is pretty similar to the one listed above, you will make a lot of progress in
explosiveness in power with:

-Box Jumps (unilateral or bilateral)

-Hill Sprints

-Sprint variations

-GHR

…etc

These are amazing exercises, but eventually after years and years, the results might
not be optimal. You would need some sort of weight for RDL's, Olympic lifts or
other free weight exercises if you really want to reach your potential. If this wasn’t
the case then you would see a lot more athletes training without the barbell, but that
simply isn’t the case.

3. GRIP STRENGTH STARTS TO LAG AFTER A WHILE FOR

EXTERNAL LOADS

Your grip strength for external loads is something that will eventually start to lag.
It’s true that you can easily add thick handles or FatGripz to your pull-ups, inverted
rows and other exercises; this will improve your relative grip strength. When it
comes time to carrying heavy objects then I don't think that your grip strength will
be as good as it could be even though you might be able to do one arm pull-ups
with 3 inch fatgripz. Want to be very strong at carrying heavy objects? Practice
carrying heavy objects, it's that simple. Want to hang onto thick bars for longer
periods of time? Do pull-ups with fat handles.

You can’t have one without the other. For well-balanced grip strength, you need to
be able to lift your own bodyweight and external loaded objects as well to
maximize and get to your grip strength potential.

4. TRAPS WILL START TO LAG AFTER A WHILE

When you think about trap exercises and bodyweight exercises, what comes to your
mind? There are a few movements such as the handstand shrug, inverted shrugs
and upper back ring exercises would work too but eventually your traps will start to
lag because the traps need some heavier resistance to grow at their full potential.

The traps love and respond very well to holding heavy weights. You can make
progress with a lot of these exercises but sooner or later you will need to throw in a
weighted exercise for optimal results and maximal trap growth. The traps are meant
to handle very heavy weight so if you want to get them bigger or stronger then
you’ll eventually need more than your own bodyweight.

You can build some amazing traps with the use of barbels and reach your genetic
potential for trap development without Calisthenics but it doesn't go the other way
around. Some of the best trap exercises are Rack Pulls, Snatch Grip High Pulls and
Dumbell Shrugs.

I guess that big traps and calisthenics just don't go that well together.

Conclusion

So there you have it, there may be some disadvantages here and there but guess
what? Weights have their own disadvantages too, every style of training is going to
have some flaws here and there.
I heard that you seriously brought up the width of your lats by doing high
volume Pull-Ups, can you explain your story?

I remember it like it was yesterday, I was studying for finals at school and my
stress was going through the roof. I barely had time to sleep, but worst of all I
couldn’t find much time to train due to the heavy workload of essays, assignments,
tests and orals.

When you are in the training game it is good to always have some sort of goal.
Improving my compound lifts and getting a thick and wide back were at the top of
my priority list as far as training was concerned. I then thought to myself, “What
can I do during this stressful school period to make the best with the time I have to
get closer to my goal?”

High Volume Pull-up and Chin-Up Variations.

Luckily I had a pull-up bar in my room with many different grips and handles to
play with. The plan was to do 300 pull-ups or chin-ups a day for a full week. It
didn’t matter if it was underhand, neutral grip, over and under grip or overhand, as
long as I got 300 pull-ups a day for a week. Since I was very pressed for time I
would do my workouts with Pavel’s GTG (Greasing the groove) style which meant
that I would spread the workload throughout the day. I would wake up and do 50
chin-ups, then if I saw any kind of bar that I could hang from throughout the day
then I would do more, then before bed I would do however many I was missing.
After a few days I noticed my back was getting a lot wider and it felt good.

After the week was finally over I thought that I was going to have more time on my
hands so I would be able to get back to the gym but I actually got even more work
to do for school but I didn’t stress and I told myself, “What will happen if I do 300
pull-ups a day for another week?”. I did them again for a second week and believe
it or not I even did it a third week. That means that I did a total of 6300 pull-ups in
only 21 days which is a lot of volume. The crazy thing was that I didn’t even get
any elbow pain from repeating the same movement over and over again. This is
probably due to the fact that I was using good form, wasn’t doing them weighted,
wasn't training till failure, was changing the grips and wasn't doing any other
exercises besides some dips here and there so I managed to recovery pretty well. At
the end of the 3 weeks I got a few things:

-More mental toughness and discipline from doing the same thing over and over
even though sometimes I didn’t want to.

-Wider lats which gave me a nicer v-taper. Don't get anything mixed up, you
won't automatically get a v-taper from high volume pull-ups but I definitely added
a bit of size in that area because I basically did a 3 week pull-up specialization
program.

-Bigger arms as well. The chin-up and pull-up work the biceps to a great extent
but did you know that the triceps have to contract with the lats during pull-ups?
They aren’t the main muscle you should be feeling but they still get some work
which is why I would wake up with sore triceps on some days from doing a lot of
pull-ups. My forearms also got a little bigger as well.

-My back also got a bit of thickness even though I was only doing vertical
pulling. There is a myth out there that Pull-Ups and Chin Ups are only good for
back width (which may be true to a certain extent) but you can still get a bit of
thickness as well but don't count on it too much. In my training experience and the
experience of many other lifters as well, back thickness comes from a lot of rowing
and deadlifting.

Since there is no Deadlifting in the Calisthenics programs that I provided then you
will be getting your back thickness from the inverted row variations and the Rear
Delt Ring Flies can help as well but the rows will give you the most bang for your
buck.

What valuable lesson did I learn through my experience?

I learned about the importance of high frequency and volume for muscle growth.

If you want to be good at something, which in this case is to bring up my lats, how
will I see maximum progress by training them only once per week? In one year we
might get sick a few times, have weeks off from school or work, possible de-loads,
rest weeks and the list goes on. Lets just say that the average gym rat trains 45
weeks out of the year (it might be less but I am being a bit generous). This means
that if you follow the rules of some of the bodybuilders and the “experts” and
follow split routines where you train a muscle group once per week then you will
only be hitting your legs 45 times per year or your back 45 times per year.

45 workouts might sound like a lot but if you put it into perspective there are 365
days in a year and you trying to bring up a muscle group but only hitting it 45 times
in a year which is nothing. I don’t care if you are doing one very hard workout for
that muscle group per week, the frequency is still very low for a drug free lifter. I
think that a muscle should be hit atleast twice per week if you want to bring it up
and this could even go up to 3, 4 or even 5 days if done intelligently.

On the flipside, we have to be realistic and understand that you can only bring up
so many muscle groups at once. I'd say that you can only really focus on one or two
muscle groups at once during specialization programs. Will the other muscles still
grow and get some good stimulation? Sure, but not every muscle group can grow at
a super fast rate. You have to think about priorities. When you try to do too much at
once you end up becoming the jack of all trades and the master of none. The same
thing applies for maximal strength and size, you have to pick one for a few weeks
or even months if you want to see some big improvements.

Back to the frequency topic, who’s going to have bigger legs, the person who does
lower body workouts 45 times per year or the person who does them 90 times per
year? The answer should be obvious. In this article I will explain to you with many
examples of how frequency is one of the most important factors when trying to
build muscle. I will go from the neck all the way down to the calves and explain in
further detail.

NECK AND TRAPS

Take a look at most fighters, freestyle wrestlers, grapplers and you will see most of
them have impressive traps and an impressive neck. The reason for their neck
development is not only because they train them often, but because they need a
strong neck to survive in the fighting environment. From a young age they have
been doing a lot of neck bridges and things of that nature and slowly increased the
frequency and volume overtime to the point where their necks had no choice but to
get bigger and stronger.

SHOULDERS

Take a look at people who have been swimming for a long time and you will notice
that they have broad shoulders. My mom is one example and I have met people
who used to compete in swimming who had great shoulder development as well as
wide lats. Different ways of swimming hit your delts in different ways and kind of
simulate front, side and rear raises to a certain degree. Type on google;
"professional swimmers" and you will see that most of the swimmers have very
developed deltoids.

LATS

Take a look at rock climbers and you will notice that they have great lat and
forearm development. The reason for their wide lats is that the sport of rock
climbing mostly involves vertical pulling. Pull-ups and Chin-ups are coincidently
the best lat builders in existence so it makes sense why they have such developed
backs. To climb a mountain would be equivalent to doing hundreds of pull-ups.
Along with wide backs they also have very strong relative grip strength from all of
the holding and pulling they do.

MID BACK & UPPER BACK

Tug of war athletes have huge mid back and upper backs due to all of the
horizontal pulling they do. The rock climbers above have big lats from all of the
vertical pulling movements but doing tug of war is like doing a seated row, it is a
horizontal pulling movement based sport so it makes sense that these competitors
will have thick backs as well.

BICEPS

Arm wrestlers have huge biceps (obviously), they also have good forearms and
good grip strength to go along with it. It is basically like a manual resistance curl
and your biceps will definitely blow up if you are doing arm wrestling several
times per week with strong people. Also if you compete you will eventually go up
against stronger people which will mean that your biceps will have to a find a way
to adapt, can you guess what happens after?

TRICEPS AND CORE

Gymnasts are known for their infamous triceps and also their strong abdominal's.
They also have great bicep development from all of the straight arm work they do.
One of the reasons why their triceps are so big is because they do a lot of work that
simulates a dip so they do a lot of work on their hands which means that the triceps
and core have to support their whole body. Gymnasts train several times per week
so it makes sense why they are so jacked. Bodyweight exercises aren’t as taxing
and as hard on the CNS as exercises like the Deadlift so the exercises done by the
gymnasts can be done with a high frequency and volume (most of the exercises).

FOREARMS

Construction workers have huge forearms because they are basically using their
hands all day long. They are carrying heavy things, molding, screwing, chopping
and all of the frequency adds up overtime and the body has no choice but to adapt
to all of the workload, this will result in bigger forearms.

GLUTES AND HAMSTRINGS

Sprinters are known for having good hamstring and glute development, the reason
for this is because sprinting is a hip dominant sport. The more you lean forward
when you run, the more your hamstrings and glutes work. The more upright you
are the more your quads work (just like in the front squat).

QUADS

Cycling is a quad dominant sport and the top cyclists definitely have the legs to
show for it. The quads respond very well to different rep ranges and if the volume
and frequency is high enough then they will grow as long as you keep progressing.

CALVES
Ballerinas are known for having huge calves and everytime I go to see dance shows
I am always fascinated by the calf development of dancers who spend a lot of time
on their toes. Being on your toes a lot will build up a lot of frequency and the
calves coincidentally respond very well to high volume training. Arnold's calves
were his worst body part and the way he brought up his calves was with high
volume training.

Conclusion

I just wanted to share my experience because it was funny how I pretty much broke
all of the rules in the book and made progress. After those 3 weeks I was finally
able to see my lats from the front view which was an amazing feeling. Do I advise
the readers of this site to be doing 300 pull-ups per day? Hell no, but I have no
regrets on the whole experience either. All I am saying is that sometimes it is ok to
break the rules and just test your mental toughness to see what you are really made
of (as long as you do it in a smart way and don't go too overboard).

Most importantly, remember that as a drug-free lifter you can't bring everything up
at once, you must specialize. What I am trying to say is that if you have any lagging
bodypart then hitting it once per week is not enough.

If you look at the Calisthenics program above then you will notice that every
muscle group gets hit twice per week which is great for making progress. If you
want to make your lats (or any other muscle group for that matter) a stronger
muscle as fast as possible then you have to do some specialization work. If you
want bigger lats then do pull-ups 3x per week. Frequency is key.

I might have access to a weighted vest, but out of curiosity what is the
difference between training with a weight vest vs. bands vs. chains?

A lot of people are curious to know what the difference is between training with a
weight vest, chains, and bands. They’re all great tools to use with your training
(especially with calisthenics). Let’s go over the 3 of these tools.

WEIGHT VESTS
Weight vests are a great tool for pull-ups, dips, inverted rows, push-ups and other
body weight exercises. Let’s go over using a 50lb weight vest on push-ups. The
resistance will be 50lb on the eccentric, pause and concentric phase of the exercise.
Which makes sense because the weight is around your body. When you are using a
weightvest, the weight is the same throughout the whole exercise. Weightvests also
aren't the most convenient thing to carry around and travel with because they can
get pretty heavy.

CHAINS
Chains work a bit differently than weight vests do, although this depends on where
you put them. If you wrap chains around you then it’s similar too a weight vest. If
you’re doing push-ups with chains on your neck then you will notice that the chains
will be on the floor at the bottom of the rep. Doing this will make the eccentric and
pause easier compared to the concentric part of the repetition which is also known
as the lockout. So it basically makes the exercise easier for the chest and harder for
the triceps.

This is good for people with shoulder injuries too because the bottom position is
where your shoulders are the most vulnerable. You can also do this with pull-ups
and dips, just put the chain around your lower body. Quick note, if you put chains
around your neck when you are doing dips with a chest emphasis you will feel
more of the weight in your chest as opposed to just strapping a plate to a dipping
belt. This is due to the fact that the load is placed in a different place.

Chains can be pretty heavy and can be just as annoying to carry around and travel
as the weightvest is.

BANDS
Bands are pretty comparable to chains except they are lighter and easier to carry
around. It’s a lot more convenient to put 50lb bands in your bag than 50lb chains or
a 50lb weight vest. Let’s discuss doing push-ups with a band around your neck.
Hold the other parts of the band with your hand then the eccentric and pause will
become easier. This will cause the concentric part of the rep to become harder.
Although the eccentric phase with a chain or two would be a bit heavier on your
neck. Basically the chain is pretty similar to the band, its really the weightvest that
is the outcast out of all three of the options.

CONCLUSION

Once again, there is no piece of equipment that is better than the other, these are all
just tools and you use the right tools for the right job. If you want to put emphasis
on your tricep lockout then you wouldn't use a weightvest because the weightvest
keeps the resistance the same throughout the whole movement. If you want to
improve your lockout then you would use chains or the bands.

At the same time, you can use a weightvest and chains or a weightvest and bands, it
all depends on your fitness level and your goals.

What do I have to do to get bigger and stronger forearms from Calisthenics?

Well at first your forearms will get a lot of work and good stimulation from pull-
ups, inverted rows and curling variations. Once you get a bit more advanced and
you are well passed level 4 and can do it with ease then you can start incorporating
FatGripz or thick handles into your training. These are basically grips that you
attach to your pull-up bar, rings or TRX suspension straps to make the handle
thicker so that when you hold onto it your grip and forearms will have to work a lot
harder.

Once you have FatGripz 2.0 I guarantee that you will be good for a very long time
but if you are extremely serious about getting bigger forearms and a stronger grip
then you can eventually graduate to FatGripz 2.5 and eventually FatGripz 3.0 (if
your hands can even hold it).
 OUTRO
That's it folks! No more excuses! Training doesn't have to be as complicated as
people make it sound and you can still get solid results without ever having to
touch a weight. Although, I don't think you can reach your maximum leg and trap
potential as far as size is concerned, the positives of Calisthenics definitely
outweigh the negatives. I layed out all of the progressions and I think that I have
given you enough progressions to pretty much last you a lifetime. A cool benefit is
that you will save a ton of money through the years as well because gym
memberships are getting expensive.

Aside from the training, you want to make sure that you get enough sleep and that
your stress levels are as low as possible. Your nutrition is also very essential when
trying to build muscle so make smart food choices and cut out the junk food that
has no nutritional muscle building value.

Weight training isn't the only way to get big and strong, people all around the world
have been getting phenominal results with the use of Calisthenics and you can too!
Weights may be popular in your country or city, but there are places in the world
where Calisthenics is actually the norm! Get strong, no more excuses!