Rare: If You Want To Start Using Calisthenics To Build Muscle GTFIH!!

[bustermac]

Great leg plan post, Waldo.

[Waldo56]

How's training going Waldo? Haven't heard much from your side of things in a little while.

Been meaning to rep you for a while but I can't get off spread it seems.

Training is good. Mostly making pretend progress by switching things up here and there (making CNS gains) and taking weight off the bar (losing weight). I've been cutting since April and am just about done (~10% BF @ 188 lbs), into the final week now before I taper into a surplus. Cutting motivation is high and I'm running a huge deficit as I finish up, have to really be judicious with my workout energy. Ready to be done cutting for a long while and be done with this pretend progress. Should be back into surplus territory in a month, planning to bulk until next spring, looking to get up to 205-210.

Going to start seriously working on the human flag here soon and switching my upper body pulling focus to the front lever, which hasn't fared much better than maintaining where I was at at the end of my last bulk.

[dumbelle]

Just wondering what your opinion would be on treating one of the routines as a circuit (repeated however many times) instead of 'rest-pause-reps' for each exercise then moving on to the next exercise once that is complete. I've never really done circuit training but I feel like it would be pretty easy for bodyweight stuff and then my energy can be distributed a bit more evenly throughout the exercises.. just wanted to see if someone a bit more knowledgeable had some insight on this for me. thanks!

[Waldo56]

Just wondering what your opinion would be on treating one of the routines as a circuit (repeated however many times) instead of 'rest-pause-reps' for each exercise then moving on to the next exercise once that is complete. I've never really done circuit training but I feel like it would be pretty easy for bodyweight stuff and then my energy can be distributed a bit more evenly throughout the exercises.. just wanted to see if someone a bit more knowledgeable had some insight on this for me. thanks!

The point of rest pause reps is to take a muscle that has barely recovered from failure/the edge of failure right back to that point, over and over and over, ditching all the easy reps that lead up to that point. Rest-pause reps have a STRONG training effect.

A set of 10 reps to failure then 9 sets of 2-3 rest pause reps afterwards has a training effect similar to 10 sets of 10 reps, 100 total reps, despite only doing 28-37 reps in a fraction of the time.

Because of the monster effective volume, standard rest-pause work is more of a bulking only technique. Repeated failure of each muscle is great for prompiting growth, but also heavily taxes your recovery ability. (cluster reps, a form of rest pause work, are an exception, they are usually done when working in extreme low rep ranges to eek an extra rep or two out, leading to faster strength gains, they tend to be useful whether maintaining, bulking or cutting; cluster reps are for example doing 2 reps of your 3RM, pausing 10 seconds, and doing 2 more reps, getting an extra rep out of a 3RM set).

Circuit training OTOH is a great way to burn up more cals in exchange for slower strength progress. Circuit training is more of a cutting or maintaining technique, over time it will really build your work capacity (circuit training is one of the core prinicples of Crossfit).

[mitrandil20]

Circuit training is very demanding cardio wise - I did some basic routines last year for my basketball trainings (squat, lunges, single leg deadlifts, push, pull, abs, shoulders). But I would hear the words of someone more expert than me.

Finished doing:
dips 3x8
pyramid pullups 1-5-1 very demanding
negatives hspu 3x5: it's insane the amount of strength required just for the negatives, and I didnt even do them that well
elevated pike press 2x8
lateral raises 3x12 @12kg
pyramid hollow floor leg raises 1-10-1
pyramid single leg deep calf raises 1-10-1, 9-1-9 with 12kg this second set. My calves are hard to build, so I need to hit them hard more times a week.

I anticipated the upper part today instead of tomorrow, because I won't be able to do it. lower body remains on friday.

@waldo: great journal you have, inspired me a lot!

[CodeMajic]

Try faster walk-backs seeing as you're more interested in conditioning as opposed to max speed. Do your sprint, lightly jog (it's downhill so no real effort) back to the start point and go again immediately. Doing 2 of 3 'sets' of 3-5 walk-backs will get your heart thumping out of your chest, battery acid pumping through your legs and fire burning your lungs; just make sure you don't eat too near to the workout or you will be feeding the gardens between sprints. I did 3 sets of 5 60m walk-backs yesterday on flat ground (almost jogging back to the start) and was on the ground for 10 minutes about to pass out afterwards. Felt awesome and horrible at the same time.

EDIT: Thought I'd show you guys my 'nice' hill (there is a steeper beast than this I use for sprints). Google maps doesn't really do it justice, it's an absolute mofo.

My legs are burnin just looking at that hill lol.

[cdegn]

Been meaning to rep you for a while but I can't get off spread it seems.

Training is good. Mostly making pretend progress by switching things up here and there (making CNS gains) and taking weight off the bar (losing weight). I've been cutting since April and am just about done (~10% BF @ 188 lbs), into the final week now before I taper into a surplus. Cutting motivation is high and I'm running a huge deficit as I finish up, have to really be judicious with my workout energy. Ready to be done cutting for a long while and be done with this pretend progress. Should be back into surplus territory in a month, planning to bulk until next spring, looking to get up to 205-210.

Going to start seriously working on the human flag here soon and switching my upper body pulling focus to the front lever, which hasn't fared much better than maintaining where I was at at the end of my last bulk.

'pretend progress' - hahaha. Strength gains are strength gains, can't complain there. How long have you been cutting for? Seems like it's been a while. Looking forward to see how you go with your bulk, planning on keep it slow and lean I see.

Where are you at with front lever training? I was getting reasonably close on a surplus before chit happened. I assume your progress will be much faster when your back on a caloric surplus?

[meremortal]

Been working at a saddle to handstand press for about 4 weeks now, do it after my workouts so it probably would have progressed faster if I did it before them but its not a priority to me. Anyways I was wondering if you guys have any tips for keeping balance while doing the pressing part. Here are my fail attempts :P Thanks

[Waldo56]

'pretend progress' - hahaha. Strength gains are strength gains, can't complain there. How long have you been cutting for? Seems like it's been a while. Looking forward to see how you go with your bulk, planning on keep it slow and lean I see.

Where are you at with front lever training? I was getting reasonably close on a surplus before chit happened. I assume your progress will be much faster when your back on a caloric surplus?

Been cutting more than 4 months now. Yeah going to take it slow. Now that its my 3rd time around bulking and having tracked my calories daily for nearly 2 years, I've got my calorie needs really pegged. Hard to really bulk slow at first due to the calorie needs uncertainty and lacking the experience to deal with, for lack of a better term, the waves, the multiweek gain-plateau-loss cycles that occur when bulking. I feel confident that I can run a 300 cal surplus for a long time; previous bulks I've run a 500 cal surplus.

I've been at the advanced tuck front lever seemingly forever. Haven't even really gained time since March, stuck at around 15 sec. I also do lower-pull back up reps, can do 6-7. I think my form has improved a bit, knees a bit further out, but that's about it. I expect that progress will pick up a lot once in a surplus. I'm also going to start focusing on it more, to this point this year my main pulling focus has been pulling high and explosively. I'm going to start doing more rep based work for the front lever; bodyweight rows (doing a toes to bar and then rowing in that position) and possibly ice cream makers. Build the muscle mass and strength progress comes easy.

[AlainnNeart]

Found out that my school gym will have this :



pretty excite

[cdegn]

Been working at a saddle to handstand press for about 4 weeks now, do it after my workouts so it probably would have progressed faster if I did it before them but its not a priority to me. Anyways I was wondering if you guys have any tips for keeping balance while doing the pressing part. Here are my fail attempts :P Thanks

That's a straddle handstand press, not a saddle, hahaha. I'm not good at handstand stuff but from what I've seen/read the key is to get your hips over your shoulders before 'pressing' up. Once you're a bit stronger you can do it with straight arms. Looking good though!



This guy does it quite quickly, try finding where your hips are over your shoulders and pause there briefly before raising your legs up. You can also do a straddle back down, find the point and go back up for reps to build more strength/stability.

[mitrandil20]

I watched videos of Adam Raw: the guy is a beast with pistols.

[sciatictiara225]

hey at the very beggining of this page 2 different routines are listen #1 push pull and legs workout and #2 an upper and lower workout. i was wondering for a beginner which workout should i do? should i pick one of them or should i do both on the same day or should i alternate? what shouldi do. thanks

[CodeMajic]

hey at the very beggining of this page 2 different routines are listen #1 push pull and legs workout and #2 an upper and lower workout. i was wondering for a beginner which workout should i do? should i pick one of them or should i do both on the same day or should i alternate? what shouldi do. thanks

Are you new to calisthenics training? If so, Id do the upper and lower split. Once your joints and muscles are strong enough do the p/p/l training.

I'd recommend trying this out:

Upper
Lower
Off
Upper
Lower
Off
Off

If you're new to training the doms will suck so just stick with this training for 3-4 weeks then progress to something like this:

Push
Pull
Legs
Off
Push
Pull
Legs
Off

I've been at it for awhile and I get my best results from the upper/lower splits done 6 days a week. There are literally endless different calisthenics training programs, the trick is to find out what your body responds to best.

[sciatictiara225]

Are you new to calisthenics training? If so, Id do the upper and lower split. Once your joints and muscles are strong enough do the p/p/l training.

I'd recommend trying this out:

Upper
Lower
Off
Upper
Lower
Off
Off

If you're new to training the doms will suck so just stick with this training for 3-4 weeks then progress to something like this:

Push
Pull
Legs
Off
Push
Pull
Legs
Off

I've been at it for awhile and I get my best results from the upper/lower splits done 6 days a week. There are literally endless different calisthenics training programs, the trick is to find out what your body responds to best.

thanks ill have to give that a go later tonight. ive got three months till i get my license back so just trying to build a solid muscle base to prep me for the gym. hopefully thisll do it.

[CodeMajic]

thanks ill have to give that a go later tonight. ive got three months till i get my license back so just trying to build a solid muscle base to prep me for the gym. hopefully thisll do it.

Maybe you'll get hooked and never want to go back to weight training! Also I wouldn't worry about the static holds or advanced movements just yet. Stick with the basics: push ups, pull ups, chin ups, pike presses, handstand presses, australian pull ups, squat jumps, uphill sprints,lunges, calf raises...stuff like that. All of the compound exercises at the gym have their equal in calisthenics. Good luck!

[meremortal]

That's a straddle handstand press, not a saddle, hahaha. I'm not good at handstand stuff but from what I've seen/read the key is to get your hips over your shoulders before 'pressing' up. Once you're a bit stronger you can do it with straight arms. Looking good though!

This guy does it quite quickly, try finding where your hips are over your shoulders and pause there briefly before raising your legs up. You can also do a straddle back down, find the point and go back up for reps to build more strength/stability.

Thanks for tips, I will start to try doing reps going up and down. What I was more asking was after getting to a handstand how to be able to press without losing balance. I thought i was already doing the same thing as the guy in the video, unless i'm doing something wrong??? Its after getting to a handstand i can never do a full press without balance lost.

also will measly rep after recharge for your help

[Dup15]

Does anyone have an opinion on doing one-arm negative pull ups to increase overall pull up numbers? For ex. you do a regular pull up, but for the negative portion, you let one arm go and try to go down as slowly as possible? Progress on Pavel's FP is slow, so I'm looking for alternatives.

story time:
I decided to use my rings and try to do some ring dips today. Holy cow, shaky arms of peace. I sucked bad. It goes to show that just because somebody can bench a lot it doesn't necessarily translate to the strength AND coordination to do something like ring dips.

Lol, so much this.
Since I still have a gym membership and usually go there for extended cardio days, I tried them out one day and failed miserably. Couldn't even do a regular ring push up.

[Chris Partlow]

story time:

I usually rely on bench press and overhead press to keep my triceps up to par. I haven't benched for a couple of weeks due to a busy schedule, getting sick, etc., although I've fit in a lot of chin ups, pullups and leg raises.

I decided to use my rings and try to do some ring dips today. Holy cow, shaky arms of peace. I sucked bad. It goes to show that just because somebody can bench a lot it doesn't necessarily translate to the strength AND coordination to do something like ring dips.

The added stability makes it tough. Just practicing a straight arm support hold above the rings will help, when you can do that for periods of 30 seconds with your palms turned out in front of you, dips will come much easier

Thanks for tips, I will start to try doing reps going up and down. What I was more asking was after getting to a handstand how to be able to press without losing balance. I thought i was already doing the same thing as the guy in the video, unless i'm doing something wrong??? Its after getting to a handstand i can never do a full press without balance lost.

also will measly rep after recharge for your help

It sounds like you need to get better at the actual HSPU. Do them with your back against the wall, but make sure you body forms a straight line from your arm up through your legs. The weight should be on the palm, only use the fingers for balance. Doing them with some sort of raised platform on either side of you is best, like a chair or bench, since you should be lowering down until your shoulders are as low as your hands, not just your head

Does anyone have an opinion on doing one-arm negative pull ups to increase overall pull up numbers? For ex. you do a regular pull up, but for the negative portion, you let one arm go and try to go down as slowly as possible? Progress on Pavel's FP is slow, so I'm looking for alternatives.


Lol, so much this.
Since I still have a gym membership and usually go there for extended cardio days, I tried them out one day and failed miserably. Couldn't even do a regular ring push up.

You need to have your other arm on something to support it, a towel, a weighted rope, whatever. One arm pullups are awful for tendonitis, if you're not doing muscle ups and rope climbs using only your arms yet, I wouldn't worry about a one arm pullup

[meremortal]

^
Thanks Chris will start to strengthen handstand push ups after doing my handstands, problem is right now i am doing OHP 3x a week at gym so my delts are pretty fried, but i hope there will be carryover to the handstand version. Will update with video when I accomplish them.

[Busch12]

Quit lifting a little over a year ago for stupid reasons. Was at work doing CPR a couple days ago and was sucking wind pretty quickly. Realized, **** I need to get back into shape. Subbing and starting beginner routine today.

[bustermac]

Anyone else aware of Timber Brown? I'm impressed.

[meremortal]

Anyone else aware of Timber Brown? I'm impressed.

was impressed how easily he held onto bar with one arm

[cdegn]

Don't care if this has been posted already; everyone needs to see Entcho.

[Haveboards]

Cali brahs


Does anyone have experience with this injury.

I can only describe it as intense pain for any pushing movements. I don't know how it happened originally and have been trying to train through it.

I get shooting pain in my right shoulder now when doing hspu, ring dips/deep dips or planche push up type of movements.

I have no pain on any pulling movements. I plan to see a physio for advice.


Was making great progress but will have to back off pushing movements for a while.

Anyone have similar experience? What did you do??

Cheers

[Haveboards]

Don't care if this has been posted already; everyone needs to see Entcho.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to cdegn again.

[cdegn]

Cali brahs


Does anyone have experience with this injury.

I can only describe it as intense pain for any pushing movements. I don't know how it happened originally and have been trying to train through it.

I get shooting pain in my right shoulder now when doing hspu, ring dips/deep dips or planche push up type of movements.

I have no pain on any pulling movements. I plan to see a physio for advice.


Was making great progress but will have to back off pushing movements for a while.

Anyone have similar experience? What did you do??

Cheers

Have had that exact thing happen to me; talked to my cousin who's final year in physio and came to the conclusion that it was a rotator cuff problem, likely due to a muscular imbalance. I did a band routine everyday (including at warm-up and warm-down of workouts) and the problem was gone entirely within just over a week and haven't had any problems since. I think this was the video I used (ironically enough because my problem was caused by muscular imbalance from overuse of my right arm from hitting/spiking playing volleyball):



Some days I used the band, other days I didn't and instead focussed on the rotation while keep the musculature in alignment. Give it a try.

[meremortal]

Don't care if this has been posted already; everyone needs to see Entcho.

insane level of strength and coordination, plus he has a sick physique

[meremortal]

Does anyone have experience with this injury.

Anyone have similar experience? What did you do??

Cheers

This injury often means you have a shoulder imbalance, probably doing to much pushing compared to pulling. also likely you need to strengthen your rotator cuff, youtube or google should bring up tons of good exercises. best of luck and take an easy on the shoulder for a week or two.

[kfcbrah]

How is everybody's progress going? I've decided that I'm going to focus on strength only, starting tomorrow. I'm still small as phuck, but I don't care.

To all you calibrahs doubting yourself, stop thinking and start doing. Thinking means nothing until you actually start putting in the work! Keep trying everyday and you'll see progress on the long run! Slow motion is better than no motion.