5 Exercises to MASTER Calisthenics

Today we see 5 fundamental exercises to start mastering calisthenics.

They are essential exercises especially for those who already have a minimum of experience with basic exercises, which should be part of your routines.

Before starting I suggest you have a look at

www.andrealarosa.fit to see my training programs

in order to strengthen your body and get it used to bodyweight exercises.

All of these programs have the exercises that I'm showing you

and the workouts will be able to make you improve these exercises and always take you to a higher level.

So let's start with one of the first exercises

essential to train the triceps a little in isometry

the core

and get the body used to the isometric position that however

as you know it is essential in bodyweight exercises.

On the parallels, arms fully extended, the elbow must be locked, then arms not bent, the weight is on the triceps.

Core engaged, keep the legs straight, lift them up to form a 90 degree angle with the abdomen.

Shoulder possibly in line with the wrist.

The more you throw yourself back, the more there is a risk of falling and we don't want this.

The quads are active to keep the legs straight, and if you point your feet, you will also activate the calves.

So this exercise is essential to learn how to be a single block, a piece of marble, as they say, strong.

Breathe constantly while always keeping your abdomen active.

For anyone who is unable to do an L-sit, I recommend to work a lot on the L-sit with bent legs and reach a high timing,

and in the meantime work on stretching so for example a simple pike

then from here, legs stretched, we go down keeping the back flat if possible.

A fundamental exercise to improve and learn the L-sit is this one.

Then on the ground, hands at knee height, more or less, from here activate the abdomen by raising the legs.

It is a little quick tip for those who want to train the L-sit or they just need to learn it.

Second exercise.

If you don't do this exercise, you can't even call it calisthenics training...

pull-ups.

Pull-ups are the key exercise to mastering the calisthenics, to improve the pulling strength.

Obviously I showed it in classic grip but you can also do it in supine grip.

The goal is to perform controlled pull-ups reaching the bar at chest height.

Obviously, at the beginning it is also fine to work in assisted way,

so with an elastic band under your feet, it's fine to train them on a low bar with your feet on the ground.

If you are not used to the movement you can start with isometries on the bar, and then do an eccentric, so a negative, a slow descent.

Once you master the pullups you can also work more explosively, going to perform them at chest heigh.

Third exercise of the day to master calisthenics

(if you don't do it, it's useless to talk about calisthenics)

Push ups

Fundamental to improve the push exercises,

working on the triceps, the chest, the anterior deltoid, according to the variation of the exercise.

Obviously there are a lots of variations,

so they can be done on a low bar, on the ground, on parallels, with hands on a rise, feet on a rise.

There are so many variations so if you are interested in improving all these variations

improving pushups in general, preparing the body for any calisthenics exercise

I remind you of visit www.andrealarosa.fit.

The ultimate goal of this exercise

as I see it, is to be able to quietly work on explosive pushups, then on clap pushups.

A very interesting solution is to do them with your hands on parallel so that after the pushup you go down a little more than you should.

For those who cannot do pushups because they are beginners

you can do them with your hands on a rise, in this case on a bench since we are at park.

Very useful for accustoming the body to the movement of pushups

It is easier and you will feel it less on the chest and triceps.

Once you master the pushups in every variation, you will have good pushing force and you will almost certainly be ready for the dips.

So fourth fundamental exercise to master calisthenics: dips.

Keep attention on the movement, so the sternum is not open because otherwise we go to overload it too much, so keep it closed.

Shoulder in line with the wrist or slightly forward.

From here go down, go and break the 90 degree angle.

They can be performed on parallels, on a single bar, prone grip, supine grip, on a small elevation with the feet on the ground so that they are assisted.

If you are interested to the variants of dips you will find a video on the channel, at the following link.

Now, last fundamental exercise to master calisthenics, and this will surprise you...

pistol squat.

So legs can be trained easily even bodyweight.

The fact that you can't have good legs with bodyweight training is a legend.

Simply the calisthenics athlete, who trains to achieve certain advanced gymnastic or isometric elements,

might give less importance to the legs and during the week

they train the upper body more, but in any case if you want you can do great things even with the bodyweight training.

There are many exercises and the pistol squat is the fundamental one to start training them.

How to approach the pistol squat?

First of all, have a good basic preparation, so a good basic mobility, a minimally trained muscle.

So a minimum of activation is needed, with bodyweight squats, lunges etc.

There are obviously specific preparatory steps.

The first propaedeutic that I can show you quickly is to perform the movement stopping halfway

a little more or a little less, based on your movement control.

You will only need a bench, a step or a rise, in order to help you to lean it by touching your glutes and then rise.

This way you get your body used to that type of movement.

Another fundamental propaedeutic to approach the pistol squat is to perform it in assisted with the hand on a wall or on a pole, in order to control your balance.

These are the fundamental exercises that I felt I could recommend.

So in summary: L-sit, essential to accustom the body to isometry, always maintaining the core engaged.

Pull-ups, starting with isometries, adding a slow descent, supine grip, hammer grip, explosive variation etc.

Pushups: here too there are many variations.

For the beginners there are pushups with hands on a rise

and for the more experienced there are explosive pushups and many other variations in between.

Then we have the dips: even here you can perform dips on parallels, on a bar, prone grip, supine grip, on a rise so assisted, with the feet on the ground etc.

And then we saw a fundamental exercise for the legs to start training them in a more specific way: pistol squat.

I remind you one last time that if you are interested in improving basic bodyweight exercises, no matter your level, you can visit www.andrealarosa.fit.

If you liked the video please leave "a like", share it with your friends, let me know what you think about leaving a comment.

Obviously I showed you the first exercises that came to my mind, the fundamental ones, which are at the basis of the calisthenics training.

Obviously there are plenty of other exercises when you get to a more advanced level.

See you soon.