Calisthenics for Beginners | In Depth Step-by-Step Guide to Building Strength and Muscle

Summary

In this comprehensive guide, Leo introduces beginners to calisthenics, a bodyweight fitness discipline. He explains the four main categories: weighted endurance, static, and freestyle calisthenics. Emphasizing the importance of foundational strength to prevent injury, Leo outlines essential exercises for each category and provides tips for warming up and progressing safely. He also discusses workout splits, training styles, and the transition into skill training, encouraging consistency and patience for long-term success.

Takeaways

• 🙌 Leo expresses gratitude for the support he's received and addresses a highly requested topic: starting calisthenics.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Calisthenics is a bodyweight fitness practice with four main categories: weighted endurance, static, and freestyle calisthenics.
• 🏆 It's essential to build a strong foundation before attempting advanced skills to avoid injury or progression stagnation.
• 🔑 The four main movements in calisthenics are vertical pushing, vertical pulling, horizontal pushing, and horizontal pulling.
• 🤸‍♂️ Essential exercises for each movement category are provided to help beginners build a balanced strength routine.
• 📈 Leo offers advice on programming your own calisthenics routine and progressing in the sport.
• 🔔 Sponsored by ProSupps, a European retailer for sports nutrition where Leo shares a discount code for viewers.
• 🔥 The importance of warming up and stretching, especially for wrists and shoulders, is emphasized to prevent injury.
• 🧘‍♂️ Various stretches are detailed to improve flexibility and mobility, which are crucial for calisthenics exercises.
• 💪 Exercises for each movement category are explained in detail, including progressions and regressions to suit different levels.
• 📝 Leo provides a template for a push/pull/leg workout and discusses the importance of progressively overloading workouts for growth.
• 🎯 Skill training is discussed, with recommendations on when to start and the importance of having a strong foundational strength.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video by Leo?

The main focus of the video is to address the highly requested topic of how to start calisthenics as a complete beginner, covering foundational exercises and warm-up routines.

What are the four main categories of calisthenics mentioned in the video?

The four main categories of calisthenics mentioned are weighted endurance, static, and freestyle calisthenics.

Why is it important to build a strong foundational base in calisthenics according to Leo?

Building a strong foundational base in calisthenics is important to prevent injury and stagnated progression, which could discourage training completely.

What are the four main movements that make up all of calisthenics?

The four main movements are vertical pushing, vertical pulling, horizontal pushing, and horizontal pulling.

What is the significance of warming up and stretching before calisthenics exercises?

Warming up and stretching are crucial to prevent injury, especially since calisthenics exercises rely heavily on wrists and shoulders.

What is a recommended warm-up exercise for wrists mentioned in the video?

A recommended warm-up exercise for wrists is a series of wrist poses with different hand positionings, starting with short one-second holds for 10 to 15 reps in each position.

How can one increase their wrist flexibility as suggested by Leo?

One can increase their wrist flexibility by doing wrist stretches before every session, aiming to maintain at least 90 degrees of wrist extension comfortably.

What is the role of the shoulder dislocate stretch in calisthenics training?

The shoulder dislocate stretch helps increase the range of motion in the shoulders, which is immensely helpful for skills such as the handstand and back lever.

What is the importance of the standing hamstring stretch in calisthenics?

The standing hamstring stretch increases lower body mobility and flexibility, preparing the body for exercises like the pistol squat and the Turkish get-up.

What is the significance of scapular positioning during push-ups as highlighted by Leo?

Scapular positioning is significant during push-ups as it helps maintain good shoulder health and prepares the body for skills such as the planche.

How does Leo recommend progressing from knee push-ups to standard push-ups?

Leo recommends progressing from knee push-ups to incline push-ups and finally to standard push-ups as you get stronger.

What is the role of the dip exercise in calisthenics as explained in the video?

The dip exercise is a beginner-friendly push exercise that supports the entire body weight with the upper body, making it a staple in any calisthenics routine.

What is the significance of the pike push-up in developing calisthenics skills?

The pike push-up is significant as it helps train the proper shoulder position during handstands and increases the range of motion of the push-up.

Outlines

00:00

🙌 Introduction to Calisthenics

Leo begins the video by expressing gratitude to his audience and introduces the topic of the day: how to start calisthenics as a beginner. He explains that calisthenics involves using one's body weight for resistance and outlines four main categories: weighted endurance, static, and freestyle calisthenics. Leo emphasizes the importance of building a strong foundation before attempting advanced skills to avoid injury or stagnation. He mentions that he will cover the four main movements in calisthenics and provide essential exercises from each category, as well as information on programming one's own routine.

05:01

🔥 Warming Up for Calisthenics

Leo discusses the importance of warming up and stretching before starting any calisthenics workout to prevent injury. He details specific stretches for wrists and shoulders, such as wrist stretches with different hand positions and shoulder dislocates using a band or stick. He also mentions a standing hamstring stretch to increase lower body mobility. Leo suggests performing easier progressional exercises based on the workout of the day to further warm up and increase muscle elasticity.

10:03

💪 Horizontal and Vertical Pushing Exercises

In this section, Leo teaches the audience about horizontal pushing exercises, starting with the foundational calisthenics exercise, the push-up. He provides detailed instructions on how to perform a push-up with proper form, including scapular positioning and avoiding elbow flare. Leo then introduces variations of push-ups, such as knee push-ups and incline push-ups, to progress towards a standard push-up. He also discusses vertical pushing movements like dips and pike push-ups, explaining how to perform them with correct form and offering progressions for increased difficulty.

15:03

🌟 Pulling Exercises and Core Training

Leo covers vertical pulling exercises, highlighting the pull-up as one of the best upper body exercises in calisthenics. He explains how to perform pull-ups with proper form, including scapular depression and core activation. He also suggests supplemental exercises like dead hangs and scapular strikes to build strength for pull-ups. For horizontal pulling, Leo introduces inverted rows, detailing how to perform them with correct form and offering variations like elevated leg rows. He also discusses the importance of core training in calisthenics, suggesting exercises like hanging knee raises and pike lifts for core strength.

20:05

🦵 Leg Exercises in Calisthenics

Leo focuses on leg exercises for calisthenics, starting with the pistol squat for quad development and the Nordic hamstring curl for hamstring strengthening. He provides progressions for these exercises, such as single-leg box touches and sliding hamstring curls. Leo also introduces calf exercises like single-leg calf raises and suggests that as one gets stronger, incorporating weighted exercises may be beneficial. He emphasizes the importance of progressively increasing the difficulty of exercises to continue growing stronger.

25:05

📝 Creating a Calisthenics Routine

Leo talks about different workout splits for calisthenics, including the push-pull-leg split, full-body split, and skill split. He discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each and provides guidance on creating a routine that suits one's current level. Leo also covers different styles of training in calisthenics, such as high-intensity training for strength and higher rep training for hypertrophy. He provides a template for a push-pull-leg workout and advises on rest times and progressively overloading workouts for continuous improvement.

🚀 Conclusion and Future Skill Training

In the final paragraph, Leo wraps up the video by reiterating his gratitude for his audience's support. He mentions his plans to release more in-depth guides and skill tutorials for calisthenics in the future. Leo encourages viewers to stay consistent and patient in their training, assuring them that with time and dedication, they will see progress.

Keywords

💡Calisthenics

Calisthenics refers to a form of exercise that primarily uses one's body weight for resistance, rather than external weights or machines. It is central to the video's theme as the speaker, Leo, discusses how to start calisthenics as a beginner. The video covers various calisthenics exercises, emphasizing body weight resistance as a means to build strength and fitness.

💡Vertical and Horizontal Movements

Vertical and horizontal movements are categories within calisthenics that define the direction of the force applied during exercises. Vertical movements involve pushing or pulling while the body is vertical to the ground, such as handstand push-ups. Horizontal movements occur when the body is horizontal or near-horizontal to the floor, like planche push-ups or front levers. These concepts are integral to understanding the structure of calisthenics training as explained in the video.

💡Progressions

Progressions in the context of the video refer to the gradual increase in difficulty of exercises to match one's improving strength and skill level. Leo mentions progressions as a way to safely advance from beginner to more advanced calisthenics movements, such as moving from knee push-ups to standard push-ups.

💡Warm-up and Stretching

Warm-up and stretching are highlighted as essential preliminary activities before engaging in calisthenics to prevent injury. The script describes specific stretches for wrists and shoulders, emphasizing their importance due to the reliance on these joints in many calisthenics exercises.

💡Foundational Base

A foundational base in the video script refers to the initial and fundamental strength and skill level that is necessary before attempting more complex calisthenics movements. Leo stresses the importance of building a strong foundation to prevent injury and stagnation in progress, which is a key message for beginners.

💡Skill

In the script, 'skill' is used to describe advanced calisthenics movements that require a high level of body control and strength, such as the handstand push-up or front lever. The video aims to guide viewers from basic exercises towards developing these skills by building a strong foundation.

💡Push-Pull-Leg Split

The Push-Pull-Leg Split is a workout routine structure mentioned in the video, which divides training days based on whether the exercises are pushing, pulling, or leg movements. This split is recommended for its efficiency in focusing on one type of movement per session, allowing for more intensive training.

💡Isometric Holds

Isometric holds are a type of exercise where the muscle contraction does not result in a visible change of position, but rather in increased tension. In the video, Leo suggests using isometric holds to target specific ranges of motion where one might be struggling, such as at the top of a pull-up.

💡Negatives

Negatives, in the context of the video, refer to the lowering or eccentric phase of an exercise, which is performed in a controlled manner to build strength. Leo mentions negative dips and pull-up negatives as a way to focus on the specific part of the movement that is most challenging.

💡Overload

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise to cause further adaptation. Leo talks about the necessity of overload in calisthenics, suggesting that as one gets stronger, the exercises should be made harder by either increasing reps, sets, or moving to more challenging progressions.

💡Skill Training

Skill training in the video refers to the practice of advanced calisthenics movements that require a combination of strength, flexibility, and body control. Leo provides guidelines for when beginners might be ready to start skill training, such as being able to perform a certain number of push-ups, pull-ups, and dips.

Highlights

Leo expresses gratitude for support and discusses growth on YouTube.

Introduction to the topic of starting calisthenics as a beginner.

Definition of calisthenics as a form of fitness using body weight as resistance.

Explanation of the four main categories of calisthenics: weighted endurance, static, and freestyle.

Emphasis on building a strong foundational base before pursuing advanced skills.

Importance of not skipping basic exercises to prevent injury and stagnation.

Description of the four main movements in calisthenics: vertical and horizontal pushing and pulling.

Instruction on how to perform a proper push-up with correct form and progressions.

Details on how to perform a dip for vertical pushing strength.

Introduction to pike push-ups as a progression towards handstand push-ups.

Explanation of the importance of warming up and stretching to prevent injury.

Demonstration of wrist stretches to improve flexibility for calisthenics skills.

Guidance on shoulder dislocates to increase range of motion for handstands and back levers.

Description of standing hamstring stretches to improve lower body mobility.

Recommendation for further warm-up exercises based on the workout routine.

Discussion on the importance of core training in calisthenics and how to perform it.

Instruction on how to do pull-ups with correct form and progressions.

Details on how to perform inverted rows for horizontal pulling strength.

Explanation of the role of unilateral exercises in building leg strength in calisthenics.

Guidance on how to perform pistol squats for quad development.

Introduction to Nordic curls as an intense hamstring exercise.

Recommendation on how to progressively overload workouts for strength gains.

Discussion on different training styles in calisthenics: strength and hypertrophy.

Advice on creating a routine with a mix of exercises for well-rounded progression.

Template provided for a push-pull-leg workout to guide new trainees.

Emphasis on recording exercises to identify and correct form mistakes early on.

Encouragement for beginners to be consistent and patient in their calisthenics journey.

Transcripts

hey guys it's Leo here and I just want

to start this video by saying how

thankful I am I want to support you guys

have been giving me and it's kind of

crazy to see how far I've grown about

posting much of anything on YouTube and

I just want to use this video to address

one of the most highly requested topics

which I've been getting my comments

which is how to start calisthenics as a

complete beginning

and for those who are new to this

calisthenics is a form of Fitness where

you're using your body weight as

resistance and there are four main

categories of calisthenics which is

weighted endurance

static and freestyle calisthenics

and they're each unique in their own

ways and they're not limited to one

pathway or the other however regardless

of whichever pathway you want to take I

find that is essential for you to build

up a strong foundational base before

pursuing those cool and advanced skills

I know this may sound like a bummer to

some but trust me skipping these stuff

may lead to injury or even stagnated

progression which may discourage you

from training completely now that you're

not watching the basics is important

let's go over the four main movements

which make up all of calisthenics so

first we have vertical portion of

vertical polling which means you're

pushing and pulling while your body is

vertical and you're vertical into the

ground for example a skill switch is the

handstand push-up would be considered a

vertical pushing skill lost something

like that why not pull that would be

consider empirical pulling skill on the

flip side we also have horizontal

pushing and horizontal pulling which

means you're pushing and pulling or your

body is horizontal or near horizontal in

relation to the floor

for example something like a plan should

be a horizontal pushy skill while front

lever will be a horizontal pulling skill

in order to gain complete and balanced

strength while training calisthenics

it's important to implement all four of

these movements into your routine

and I'll also be providing you with

essential exercise from each of these

categories later in the video a lot of

information about how to program your

own routine and progress in calisthenics

as these topics can be quite long to fit

into one video I've tried my best to

Sunrise each of them to help you guys

get started off on the right foot

and if you guys want I can also post

more of that videos about each of these

topics in the future by the end of this

video you have a basic calisthenics

templates built upon a lot of knowledge

on how to personalize it to your current

shrug here I have a list of all the

content which will be covered in this

video so you can easily refer back to it

in the future I also like to say that

this video is a pretty long and detailed

one so feel free to take breaks and

watch it multiple times as needed now

before we start I want to take a moment

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[Music]

before doing any type of exercise is

important to warm up and stretch

properly to prevent injury since the

majority of calisthenics exercises are

relying on your wrists and shoulders I

always make sure they're properly worn

them up before any type of upper body

workouts

my wrists I like to do a series of wrist

poses with different hand positionings

and you should ease into these wrist

structures with short one second holds

for 10 to 15 reps in each position

as you do these exercises you should

feel your wrists start to loosen off and

you should try to go deeper and deeper

with each rep you should make it your

goal to be able to maintain at least 90

degrees of wrist extension comfortably

as it plays a big role in most

counseling skills and exercises as a

beginner your wrist flexibility may not

be the best but by doing these

structures before every session you can

improve it over time up next we have

shorter dislocates which helps you

increase the range of motion and the

shoulders and will help immensely for

when you start skills such as the

handstand and a back lever

to do the stretch use a band or a stick

and lock out your arms keep your core

and chest tight and slowly bring the

band over your head and behind you then

reverse the movement this movement

should not be Russian should take at

least five to eight seconds to complete

one rep to make the stretch easier you

can hold the sticker band wider and as

you slowly gain Critter flexibility over

time you can make the grip narrower

the next stretch we have is a standing

hamstring stretch and it will increase

your lower body mobility and flexibility

prepping you for skewishers of the lsit

and the thistle squat

British trash keep your back straight

and exhale the air from your stomach and

slowly Bend forward maintaining a

straight back and reach down for 10 to

15 reps as the hamstring starts to

loosen up you should try to reach lower

and lower and perform cold glass after

the stretches I also like to warm up

further easier progressional exercises

based on what I'll be doing that day for

example if you're going to be doing a

push workout you can simply do a few

reps of knee push-ups or any progression

that is in YouTube

the purpose of warming UPS is just get

the blood flowing into your muscles and

increase muscle elasticity you should

not be feeling tired or fatigued after

your warm up

[Music]

while this is in no way I completely

stretches that you can do there are a

few vital ones which you should

Implement into your normal stretching

routine when training

now that you guys understand the

importance of stretching and warming up

I'll be teaching you guys to exercise in

each of those categories

imagine this video

starting off with horizontal pushing we

have one of the most versatile and

foundational exercises in calisthenics

which is the push-up to perform the

push-up place your hands a little

overshooter width apart and go into a

plank position

your core and glue should be activated

to prevent your hips from sagging as you

lower yourself make sure your elbow does

not flare out and aim to get your chest

as close to the floor as possible before

going back up

another thing to keep in mind is slow

your shoulder blades naturally retract

backwards as you go down and then

protract them as you come back up with

scapular positioning and push-ups is

often overlooked but by properly

retracting and retracting your push-ups

it will help you maintain good shorter

Health in the long run and also a pepper

scapula for skills such as a planche to

make the push-up easier for you you can

first start doing them on your knees and

when you get stronger you can work your

way up to an incline push-up and finally

a standard push-up as you get better

with the standing push-up you can start

increasing the difficulty by doing

different variations for example placing

your hands closer together will load

more of your inner chest and triceps

while keeping the hands closer to your

waist level will favor your interior

down towards you can also play around

with the tempo of your push-ups such as

increasing the time of the negative and

also implementing isometric holds this

will help you target the specific range

of motion where you struggling the most

if you want to gain explosive strength

you can also do these variations of

push-up explosively but just remember to

always control that negative which is a

lowering portion of the push-up if you

want to further increase the load of the

push-up or fix any imbalances that you

might have Archer push-ups are a great

way to do so as I allow you to train

each round separately for extra layer of

difficulty all these variations of

push-ups can also be done on the decline

support more load on your entire upper

body due to gravity up next we have a

vertical pushing movement where you're

pushing towards the floor which is a dip

and a dip is only beginning to push

exercise where you're supporting your

entire body weight with your upper body

which is what makes a staple in any good

calisthenic routine the dip can be

performed on two P bars or if you don't

have access to one you can also use two

chairs to perform the dip keep your core

tight and fully extending out your arms

and also the pressure shoulders so that

your shoulders are as far from your ears

as possible

and then slowly lower yourself and bend

your arms into their approximately at a

90 degree angle before going back up if

you have good show to my body you can

also go slightly below 90 degrees but

don't overdo it as going too deep may

lead to injury or shoulder pain now you

should also notice the tempo of work I'm

doing Snips I'm always controlling the

negative portion of that dip before

trying to explode back up during this

will help you build fast switch muscle

fibers which will increase your

explosive power over time and this rule

applies to most basic calisthenics

exercises so keep that in mind when

you're doing them now if you're showing

your dips you can also do Bandit dips

and banner dips will help you reduce the

load of the actual dip and you can

adjust the difficulty of it by either

using a thicker band to make it easier

or thinner band to make it a little

harder and we also have negative dips

where you'll be shuffling the motion

where you're struggling the most and

like all negatives you keep doing the

negatives you will eventually get the

positive now while dips to cover the

strength building of vertical pushing in

the downward position we also have to

train our vertical pushing strength in

the overhead position this can be done

with the pike push-up which is the

earlier progression of the handstand

push-up the perform the pipe push-up get

into a standard push-up position with

your arms shoulder width apart then

slowly bring both arms back and towards

your legs now once you get into this

position make sure you elevate your

scapula doing so will help you train the

proper shoulder position during

handstands and will increase the range

of motion of the push-up now slowly

descend and lean forward slightly making

sure you're not flaring your elbows out

during the process

once your nose is close to touching or

touching the floor remember to apply the

rule mentioned before and push up as

explosively as possible once you reach

the top make sure your return is scapula

to the elevated position before

continuing the next rep the difficulty

of this exercise can be increased by

moving your hands closer to your feet

and vice versa however the closer your

hands are to your legs the more

compression and hamstring flexibility

you will need to maintain the pipe

position during Pike push-ups on the

decline will help alleviate this issue

but will also increase the overall load

on your upper body as you get stronger

you can do pike push-ups on parallels to

increase the range of motion of the push

increasing the angle of the decline will

also increase the difficulty

one thing to keep in mind when you're

performing probably push-ups is to melt

down your hand and hip position as even

a slight change can significantly

increase or decrease the difficulty of

the push-up by keeping your form

consistent it prevents you from

accidentally doing harder easier

variations of the exercise every workout

making it much easier for you to gauge

your progress

[Music]

now up next we have pull moments grouped

into vertical and horizontal pulling for

vertical pulling we have one of the best

upper body exercises which is the

pull-up not only will mastering the pull

up open up a new world of skills for you

but it is also one of the best exercises

for building a strong Physique in

calisthenics to perform a pull-up start

from a dead hang with your hands

slightly wider than shoulder width then

pull up as explosively as possible as

you're pulling up make sure to depress

your scapula and maintain that

depression your core should be activated

to prevent any swinging during the

pull-up once your chin clears a bar of a

neutral head position make sure to

control The Descent all the way down

into a dead hang before starting your

next row neutral grip pull-ups are

generally easier for most people and

they will help those who feel joint pain

in their elbows on the other hand

supinated grip will help you target your

biceps tomorrow however I would

recommend you master the pronated grip

as it is the hardest of the three and

will carry over strength needed for the

other group variations now because we

simply do not do much overhead building

in our day-to-day lives I find that most

people struggle with pull-ups when they

begin calisthenics

however you can bridge this Gap over

time by doing progressional and

supplemental pull-up exercises when

you're first starting out dead hands

would be a great supplemental exercise

to increase your grip strength as many

people's forearms give out before their

back and bicep does in addition that

that hangs you can also Implement

scapular strikes as it will increase

your shoulder stability the pull-ups and

also lead you on the right path for the

front lever along these other mental

exercises you should also include

progressional exercises such as the

pull-up negative and abandoned pull-up

by strengthening The Eccentric range of

motion with pull-up negatives you will

eventually gain a strength to do the

concentric portion of the pull-up the

negative pull-up can be started by

either jumping or stepping up to the

topmost portion of the pull-up and then

dropping down to a complete that hang

before starting your next negative as

most people struggle with the upper

range of motion of the pull-up you

should also do isometric holds at the

top as it will shrimp in that specific

area of motion band assisted pull-ups

are another great exercise to build out

traffic pull-ups as it allows you to

practice a full range of motion of the

pull-up with a reduced body weight when

doing band pull-ups you should follow

the same form used as a normal Polo but

try not to use a momentum did from the

band to shoot the pull-ups up next we

have horizontal pulling movements which

came sharpened with inverted rows to

perform the roll place your hand

shoulder width apart and extend your

legs until they are in line with your

body you should also be engaging your

core to prevent any swinging as you pull

up make sure to retract your scapula and

imagine pulling your elbows back rather

than your arms try your best to keep

your chest as close to the bar as

possible before descending back into a

passive hang with a scapula of

Attraction if you do not have access to

a parallel bar inverter rows can also be

done on rings and under a stable table

doing rows on rings will allow you to

transition between grips during reps and

reduce the stress on your wrists you can

decrease the difficulty of the inverted

row by first doing them with bent legs

and increasing the height with the bar

or rings will also make the movement

easier if normal rolls are too easy you

can also do rows with elevated legs to

make it harder similarly to pull ups a

supinated grip will have a larger

balance on your biceps while a pronated

grip will put emphasis on your lats and

forearms

foreign

intensive core training is not necessary

when doing calisthenics this is because

most calisthenics exercises are compound

exercises which really utilizes your

core in one way or another rather than

having specific training days dedicated

to core it is sufficient to fit them

into the end of your workout once or

twice a week I would also like to be

completely honest with you guys and say

that ever since I've learned to hold out

of it I have not specifically trained

core to this day now despite not

actively training on core it was not a

limiting factor in my skill work as most

skill progressions already force you to

use your core one way or another in

addition to this I would also like to

say that spamming core workouts will not

give you visible six-pack abs and I am

tired of seeing those five minute ab

workout videos on YouTube while training

as men make them look slightly bigger 90

of it comes down to your body fat

everyone has abs and it comes down to

whether or not you have a low enough

body fat for them to show as a beginner

learning to be able to maintain an

elsewhere is a solid gold to have this

is because if you're able to maintain an

elephant hold you will already have the

core shrimp prerequisites for most

advanced skills such as planche instant

push up in front of your to begin

hanging knee raises are a great exercise

to build up the course trying to feed it

for the elephant when doing the hanging

knee raise use a supinated grip with

whiff that is comfortable too then lift

your legs up in a controlled manner

until you hear your abs contract before

dropping down to the starting position

when doing the knee races make sure

you're not treating yourself by leaning

backwards before each rep it also means

hitting your core activation in addition

to this your arm should be completely

locked out throughout the home movement

as you get better at knee raises you can

also extend your legs to the full out

position at the top and eventually get

strong enough to complete the whole

razor with extended legs in addition to

raises you should also Implement

isometric holes where your legs or knees

are parallel to the floor

this will help you specifically train

the Ellison position and also gradually

increase your whole time up next you'll

see the pike lifts which will strengthen

your compression power which is a major

component in the LSU this exercises are

pretty intensive one so don't get

discouraged if it takes you a while to

get I'll provide you guys a different

progression of variations so don't rush

your process and Pick A variation for

your current level as compression shrimp

is often neglected in calisthenics

turning it early on would prevent

roadblocks later down the line to start

sit on the floor of the legs extended in

front of you then Place both hands to

the side of you from here raise your

legs up as high as you can while I'm

taking sure your butt remains in contact

with the floor when doing this make sure

you're powering the movement with your

hips and not rocking back and forth with

momentum your legs should be locked out

the whole time and once you can no

longer go any higher lower them to the

original position as hamstring

flexibility plays a big role in this

exercise I would highly encourage you

also do hamstring stretches in between

sets the level of compression can be

made easier by moving your hands back

and harder by moving them forward in

addition to this you can also lean back

a little more to make it easier just

make sure as mentioned before you do not

rock back of course the difficulty can

be further increased by doing the raises

one leg at a time to reduce the amount

of core strength needed with the l-sit

training covered we have one last

exercise for core which is a hollow body

hold the hollow body hole will help

aesthetic skills such as levers and

handstands it will also increase overall

core stability while performing the

hollow body hold make sure you're

engaging your abs while maintaining a

flat lower back extend your hands behind

you and think of pressing your lower

back against the floor while keeping

both of your legs and shoulders off the

ground the difficulty of the hollow body

hold can be decreased by shortening The

Leverage from your legs keeping your

hands to the side of you rather than

behind you while throwing the leverage

of your upper body making the hole

easier if you find that the hollow body

hold is too easy for you you can also

Implement arm circles which will

increase the amount of stability needed

along with more core engagement

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which is one of the hard parts of train

as our legs are already accustomed to

our body weight from everyday usage

because of this the only way to put more

load on them with your body weight

calisthenics is by training them

unilaterally or by using different

leverages both of these require a decent

amount of flexibility and Mobility but

don't worry just like before I will

include easier progressional exercises

that you can follow along and use our

Stepping Stones starting off with quad

development we have the pistol squat and

the pistol squat is a great exercise as

it allows you to load your entire body

weight onto one leg and will also help

you improve your overall balance and

stability to perform the pistol squat

down with your feet hip width apart and

extend one leg out in front of you

slowly lower yourself down on the other

leg while keeping your back straight and

your core engaged you should try to lean

your body weight towards the leg you're

training with and also extend your arms

out in front of you for balance once

your thigh is parallel to the floor push

yourself back up to the starting

position if you find out your hamstring

flexibility is limiting you you can also

first start doing single leg box touch

eventually as you gain flexibility and

trim you can extend your legs and hands

out in front of you using a wall as

assistance the extent of which you

extend your legs it also affect how hard

the exercise is the shorter you extend

your legs the more difficult to balance

would be in addition to this doing

pistol squats on the elevated surface

can also help reduce the hamstring

limitations as it will allow your

opposing leg to drop past horizontal

next we have the Nordic curl which is an

extremely intense hamstring exercise as

a concentric portion of the noise occur

is extremely difficult even for elite

athletes we will mostly be focusing on a

negative portion of the movement the

start kneel down on a map where soft

surface with your feet anchored or under

something you can use a friend to hold

you down but if you don't have any

friends you can also use a stable couch

or bed once you're anchored slowly lower

your upper body down to the ground while

keeping your core engaged with your back

straight you should be using your

hamstrings to control the negative and

also try your best to lower down as

controlled as possible once you reach

the bottom catch yourself with your

hands and from here engage your

hamstrings to curl back up using a

push-up for assistance if you find this

exercise is too difficult you can do it

with a slight hinge at the hips a larger

hinge will reduce the leverage on your

hamstring is making the movement easier

while maintaining a straight hit

Position will make it significantly

harder in addition to this the amount of

power used to push up from the negative

will also dictate how hard the movement

will be if you do not have a setup to do

Nordic curls and find them too difficult

you can also do sliding hamstring curls

as an easier progression exercise this

exercise requires a slider or a glove on

a smooth surface start by lying down on

your back with your arms on the side of

you for balance and then elevate your

hips and Brace your core down with your

feet on the sliders slowly curl legs up

towards your body and once your feet are

close to your body extend them back out

to the starting position similarly to a

Nordic curl the difficulty can be made

easier by using more posterior pelvic

toe and vice versa as your hamstrings

get stronger you can also eventually do

the curl with one leg not too sure if in

our calves we have the single legged

cabarets to perform a single leg Calvary

stand on one leg with your hands on a

wall or a stable object then slowly

raise up into the ball of your feet

while raising your hands to stabilize

yourself when you get to the top you

should feel a stretch and hold it for

one and two seconds then slowly lower

yourself back down to the starting

position if performing them on one leg

is too difficult you can also first

together with both legs and to increase

the difficulty of the cavalries you can

do it on an elevated surface and

additionally perform a horde at the

bottom of the eccentric before going

back up as a beginner these body weight

leg exercises are great for building leg

strength however as you progress in your

calisthenics journey and become stronger

you may want to consider incorporating

weight and Barbara exercises into your

leg routine this is because calisthenics

light exercises will only get you so far

since you're limited to your own body

weight meaning you will easily thought

so your goal is to build strong and

Define legs you will eventually want to

add weight to these calisthenics like

exercises or switch it out completely

for a weightlifting measurement

now that you have a large collection of

exercises under your belt I'll teach you

guys how to program a routine to suit

your current level there are many ways

of splitting your workout over the

course of the week each one of his own

unique benefits and drawbacks the most

common split is the push-pro leg split

which is what I utilize myself as the

name suggests you're explaining your

workout days based on whatever exercise

you're doing is categorized as a pushing

pulling or a leg movement for this split

you would typically do five workouts

throughout the week and if you wish this

book can also be rearranged into your

own schedule as long as you're leaving

at least one or two days of rest between

each category of movement this split is

great because you're only focusing on

one type of movement per working day

allowing you to push harder and also

have shorter individual workouts

the next fit we have is a full body

split which is for those who do not have

a lot of free time for the split you

will be doing a full body routine two to

three days out of the week and while

you're saving a lot of time with the

split it also have some drawbacks since

you're trading your whole body and one

day it is very common to not be able to

push to the fullest as you will

accumulate fatigue due to a large number

of sets you will have to do in addition

to this you'll most likely wake up the

next day with your entire body feeling

sore so please keep

the next Loop that we have is what I

like to call a skill split which will

extend past a week with blocks of time

allocated to shrunk building specificity

and deloading this type of split is

meant for more advanced athletes and is

quite a long topic so I will go more

into detail about it in a future video

now with that out of the way let's also

discuss the different styles of training

in calisthenics your main goal is shrimp

then you should be trading with high

intensity which means you should be

doing harder exercises with less reps

around one to five reps and longer rest

times around three to five minutes

another style of training is I've heard

the free training or you're training to

build muscle mass when training for

hypertha free your workouts will have

more Reps for set will shorter rest

times typically around 8 to 12 rep sets

with one to three minutes of rest in

between sets however it is important to

note that while both of these training

Styles promote muscle growth trading

purely for hypertrophy will not help you

gain translation later down the line you

may want to distinguish a two depending

on your own goals but as a beginner it

is best to have a good mix of both chef

and hypertrophy training and routines to

ensure that you progress smoothly and

maximize your results this can be done

by mixing varying levels of the

exercises into your routine and also

trying out different rep ranges and now

when it comes to creating your own

routine you should be implementing

exercises from all the different types

of movement we mentioned earlier in this

video for example if you're creating

your push routine you should be

including exercises from both the

horizontal and vertical movement

category this will ensure that the

structure gain is well rounded and also

prevent any hiccups from trading for

skills later down the road and here I

have a list of all the exercises that we

mentioned in this video in order of

increasing difficulty so you can easily

plug them in into this template or use

them in your own personalized routine

now here's a template for a push pull

and leg workout which you can follow or

use as guidance when creating your own

routine after properly stretching and

warming up you will start off a set of a

higher intensity exercise which will ran

down later on into easier progressions

to ensure that you get an adequate

amount of volume back completing the

more challenging professional exercises

in the beginning of your workout when

your energy levels are the highest you

can focus on building shrimp towards the

next progression after that you will

move on to a less intense regressional

exercise with a higher rep range

followed by any accessory work for the

corresponding exercise whether you

choose to do accessory work here it

would depend if you're struggling with

an exercise or of a specific portion of

an exercise for example if you find

yourself struggling getting to the top

three pull-ups you may want to do some

isometric codes in the upper portion as

for the rest times aim to be resting

around 35 minutes for more challenging

sets as these will need more effort and

require more time for your muscles to

recover for the lesson 10 steps resting

for one to three minutes should be

sufficient however if you feel like you

cannot complete a quality set and then

provided rest times it is okay to rest a

little longer as long as you stay in the

five minute range

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as you get stronger it is important to

progressively overload your workouts and

make them harder so you can continue to

grow stronger and gain muscle with

normal weightlifting this can be done by

simply increasing the weight you're

using or calisthenics you do this by

trading more difficult exercises and or

by increasing your reps and sets a

general rule of thumb is that once you

reach around 10 to 12 rounds of an

exercise it would be safe to increase

the difficulty of it by doing a harder

progressional exercise in the case of

the beginners have they shown here you

replace the five to eight rep

progressional exercise with a more

challenging progression of exercise once

you hit the 10 to 12 rep range the

previous challenging progression

exercise would then be replaced with a

harder progression exercise on a

complete side note I will also recommend

that beginners record the sets when

starting a new skill or exercise when I

first started calisthenics I remember

doing exercises completely wrong for a

couple of months before someone finally

pointed out to me by watching your

recordings you can identify areas for

improvement and make adjustments early

on in your training rather than waiting

until later on when bad habits are more

difficult to break now as you progress

in your Constance journey and begin to

focus on skill training having a solid

foundation of strength and control and

basic movements is crucial while there's

no set number of reps that will

automatically qualify you for skill

training it's important to have a

certain level of shrunk to properly

perform the movements as a general

guideline the good goals have before

starting skill training is to be able to

comfortably perform at least 20 push-ups

12 pull-ups and 15 dips this will ensure

you perform skills safely and with

proper form and also set you offer

success as you progress to more advanced

moves in the future I will be releasing

more in-depth guides about skill

training a lot of skill tutorials so

stay tuned if that allows it all

um electron investment include

everything I've learned throughout my

years of training calisthenics a lot of

things I wish I knew when I first

started as a begiver and once again

thank you so much for the massive amount

of support you guys have been giving me

and the journey ahead will be a long one

but please just stay consistent and

patient with yourself and it will only

be a matter of time before everything

falls into place

peace

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