21 Thing You Need to Know About Calisthenics by Matt Schifferle

21 Thing You Need to Know About Calisthenics by Matt Schifferle

21 Thing You Need to Know About Calisthenics By Matt Schifferle My name is Matt Schifferle and I’m the founder of the Red Delta Project, an online resource ​ ​ dedicated to helping you get in the best shape of your life through bodyweight training and diet­free healthy eating. Over the years, I’ve come across a number of questions and concerns about bodyweight training that keep popping up. Over time, I realised that even though BW training is becoming more popular there are many things people simply need to understand about getting the most from their training. Most of these points I’ve had to learn the hard way through spending a lot of time and energy so I’ve collected them here so you can learn them in a much more efficient manner. After all, that’s what the Red Delta Project is all about, helping you get far more from spending far less. So without further ado, here at 21 things every bodyweight athlete should know about calisthenics: #1 This is still weight lifting. A lot of folks love to debate the differences between bodyweight training and lifting weights. Aside from the specific adaptations between the two, there’s actually very little difference between the two for general strength, muscle building and fitness. A lot of folks forget that BW training is actually a form of weight lifting, only now you’re the weight instead of something ​ ​ external to your body. The only notable difference between the two is that with weight lifting you adjust the weight while keeping the technique relatively consistent and with BW training you adjust the technique while keeping the weight consistent. Weight Technique ​ ​ ​ Weight Lifting Adjustable Consistent ​ ​ Bodyweight Training Consistent Adjustable ​ ​ #2 Understanding a broad range of technical progressions and regressions is essential. Imagine walking into a gym and all they have is a pair of 10# dumbbells and a 300# barbell. Do you think you could do much with such limited range of resistance? What are the chances those weights would offer the perfect level of resistance to challenge you enough to make progress? While that weight selection might seem like a poor hotel gym, that’s exactly the situation many people find themselves in when practice BW training. Knowing only 2 or 3 push up variations is just like only having 2 or 3 weights in a weight room. All basic BW exercises have an unlimited degree of technical adjustment to perfectly accommodate any fitness level. Understanding how to adjust the basics is beyond the scope of this book, but the book Convict Conditioning is a great place to understand how to adjust the ​ ​ difficulty of the basic moves. #3 It’s still important to schedule your training. Consistency is the foundation of your training success. Keeping to a consistent training schedule is mandatory to ensure your results will happen. Just because you can train at any time, doesn’t mean you don’t have to schedule your workouts. A workout that doesn’t get written down in your own calendar usually doesn’t happen at all. At best they happen in a haphazard fashion and it’s nearly impossible to get very far with such inconsistency. #4 A gym is still important. Speaking of consistency, being able to train anywhere is great, but I still recommend setting up a reliable training space. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, just a space with maybe a solid floor and a pull up bar but it should be a space dedicated to your training. When your training consistently happens in a few choice spaces you’ll be able to focus more and avoid distractions. Speaking of distractions keep them to a minimum when training in your designated space. Turn off the TV and only use electronic devices for workout related apps like timers. The less you’re distracted the more quality your workouts will have and thus so will your results. #5 Most of your progression will come from small changes that are almost invisible to an observer. A lot of your progression will be between your ears. It will involve how well you can engage your muscles or maybe the mental focus you bring to your workouts. Progress doesn’t always have to be through using a higher level technique or doing more reps. If anything, you may make the smallest technical adjustments, like slightly twisting your arms as you push into the floor or keeping your abs tight during a hand stand. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make a big difference in your performance or how your technique looks. If the exercise feels stronger you're well on your way towards making those larger, more noticeable improvements happen. #6 Don’t worry too much about targeted muscle training. A lot of weight lifting devices and techniques are designed to target specific parts of the body, such as the upper chest or different muscles in the shoulder. I get a lot of questions from former lifters asking me how to replicate this approach with BW training. The fact is, BW training doesn’t do a very good job of replicating these sorts of moves and that’s a good thing. You don’t need 4 different shoulder exercises and 6 different chest moves. Classic moves, like the ones in Convict Conditioning will ​ ​ make full use of every major muscle in your body. I look at it like this; exercises that chop up a muscle and target specific areas don’t so much as hit those areas with more focus as they neglect the other areas. When you focus on the front of the shoulder that means the side and rear are not getting much attention. Why settle for this approach that only fills up your glass 30% when you can do things like handstands which require tension in all of the muscles in the shoulder? Why settle for 30% with 3 different moves when you can get 100% with just one? #7 Bridges are your foundation. Almost every classic BW exercise makes some use of your back and posterior chain. Being able to effectively control the tension in your back is critical to all of your moves including push ups, squats and even abdominal exercises. Basic bridging is one of the best ways to learn how to use the muscles on the back of your body as a cohesive unit. They also improves muscle control, promotes flexibility and efficiently reverses just about every issue that comes from sitting for long periods of time. It’s a shame that push ups and pull ups are some of the basic staples but bridges are seldom a focus. The irony is that the more you bridge bridge the better your push ups and bridges will become. Again Convict Conditioning is ​ ​ a great resource to get started with bridging. #8 You’re better off without the push up handles. I’ve gotten a lot of flack for my opinion on this, but giving up the push up handles is one of the best moves I’ve ever made in my BW training. A lot of folks will claim putting a flat palm on the floor is unsafe or unnatural but these reasons are nothing more than excuses to hide personal weakness. I should know as I did just that for many years. No that I’ve built up the strength and resiliency in my hands and wrists I can’t believe I ever messed around with those handles. Now I look at them as a runner would look at a pair of crutches. It’s not just the push ups that suffer but a host of other moves. A lot of other BW exercises, including bridges and handstands, are better done with a flat palm and they will be heavily compromised if your hands are not strong enough to do them without handles. You don’t have to immediately give up hand and wrist support. Doing pressing moves on blocks with the fingers over the side is a great transition form handles to flat palms. #9 Straight pull up bars are the way to go. I used to seek out those fancy ergo pull up bars that have all sorts of grip positions. Now that I’ve progressed my technique I find I much prefer the simple straight bar. Most of this is down to the ability to progress your pull up technique. Ergo bars typically force your hands to be in specific positions and specific widths. This isn’t bad, but it makes the small technical progressions you need to make a lot more difficult. So if you’re in the market for a pull up bar or looking for home gym equipment look for the simplest straight bar set up you can find. You’ll get a lot more out of it in the long run. #10 There is rarely ever an official right or wrong way to do an exercise. Everyone has their own opinions on the correct ways to do a pushup or squat. Many of these tips are good, but most of them are not absolutely 100% necessary all of the time. Understanding this will give you a lot more freedom to adjust your technique to accommodate your own physical abilities and individual needs. A good example is the old rule of never letting the knees flex beyond the toes in a squat. I followed this rule for years and constantly struggled with nagging knee pain. It wasn’t until I let me knee track as far forward as I liked that the pain went away and my legs become a lot stronger.

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