5 Mistakes People Make When Starting Calisthenics and How to Avoid Them
In this guest post, Rick Donohoe from Calisthenics 101 will present to you 5 mistakes that beginners to calisthenics often make.
Pull-up Form Variations
There are many ways that you can vary the form of the standard pull-up.
In this post we shall explore some of these options and offer the benefits and drawbacks to each variation.
The Clean Explosive Bar Muscle-up
In some disciplines the goal of a muscle-up is to make it efficient, so that you can do as many as possible in a short amount of time. With calisthenics, this is the opposite. The goal is strength; you have to use more strength and power from the upper body. This is what my current […]
Lever Push-ups
The next progression after Close Hand Push-ups is the Lever Push-up. With this exercise, we shall start putting more weight through one arm, thus getting us closer to the one arm push-up. Muscles Worked Primary Triceps brachii Secondary (Synergists) Pectoralis major Deltoid anterior (front) Stabilizers (Fixators) Rectus abdmonis Obliques Pectoralis minor Serratus anterior Quadriceps Gastrocnemius Soleus […]
Handstand Push-up Tutorial
Once you can perform Pike Push-ups with your hips directly above your shoulders, you are ready to start working on handstand push-ups. Another prerequisite for this is that you can comfortably get into a wall handstand and hold for at least 30 seconds. Muscles Worked Primary Anterior deltoid (front) Triceps brachii Secondary (Synergists) Pectoralis major, clavicular (upper) Deltoid […]
Pike Push-ups
A pike push-up involves lowering your head from a downward dog position until it touches the ground, then pressing back up to the start position.
It is a great exercise to put more emphasis on the shoulders and start building the strength required for a handstand push-up.
Decline Push-ups
The first progression after full push-ups towards the handstand push-up, is the decline push-up. By elevating your feet, more weight will go through the upper body, which will condition your body ready for the next progression.
Close Hand Push-ups
The first progression after full push-ups towards the one arm push-up is the close hand push-up. By moving your hands closer together, it puts more emphasis on your triceps, which will need to grow stronger in order to perform a one arm push-up.
Pull-up Tutorial
Before beginning these progressions towards your first pull-up, I advise that you work through the beginners calisthenics tutorial in particular the inverted rows will help you make good progress with the pull-up progressions. If you’re looking for more detailed information on pull-up form and which to use for specific goals, then check out this post on pull-up […]
Introduction to Calisthenics – Short Bridges
After reading the tutorials from this introduction to calisthenics, if you only add this exercise to your workouts, then it will have been worth your time. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8nZVHxpAh0&width=450&height=253&rel=0[/embedyt] Paul Wade of Convict Conditioning describes the bridge as the most important exercise and I have to say that I agree with him. Alternative Names Glute bridge […]