How to START CALISTHENICS [SUB ENG]
Hey guys, today we will see how to start Calisthenics.
I’m going to show you a few basic exercises, that will help you start this type of workout.
We can divide calisthenics exercises in 4 different groups:
Pulling exercises; Pushing exercises; Core exercises; Legs.
Let’s start with 3 of the most common core exercises.
1° exercise is the Hollow Body Position.
lower back on the floor, high back doesn’t touch the ground.
Core activated (squeeze your abs, gluteus and quads).
Legs closed together and you hold the position.
Nothing is relaxed, every muscle is activated (abs, gluteus and quads).
While doing the exercise, breath consistently.
Hold the position from 10 seconds up to 1 minute.
If it is too difficult, just tuck one leg.
If you do the one leg variation, remember to alternate the tucked leg between each set, so you won’t work in asymmetrical way.
That was the 1° exercise
2° exercise is the Arch Body.
This time we will have abs on floor, legs closed together while squeezing the gluteus.
3° exercise is the Elbow Plank.
Shoulders must be perpendicular to the floor.
Just right above the elbow.
Not more forward, not back.
Natural Width.
Remember to keep your abs and gluteus activated. (Legs must be closed together.)
Squeeze the gluteus!
Please, don’t relax your shoulder blades.
This is wrong.
Remember to push actively with your elbows against the floor. (Protracted scapula.)
This is correct. Just hold the position.
This is wrong.
Remember to keep your posterior pelvic tilt.
Squeeze your gluteus.
This is correct.
Let’s move to the pushing exercises.
2 of the most important exercises are Push ups and Dips.
Let’s see how to do a push up quickly.
Shoulders/arms must be perpendicular to the floor.
Slowly going down.
Chest to the floor and push back up.
It is important to not spread your elbows or we risk a shoulder impingement.
It puts too much stress to the shoulder joint.
Also do not keep your elbows too much near your torso.
Of course it is better to keep elbows close to the body than spread out.
But I do personally prefer to keep them at 45° so that the joints can follow their natural movement.
Every repetition must be controlled.
If it is too hard, you can do it with knees on the floor.
Start as a normal push up position and just bent the legs until you touch with the knees.
2° pushing exercise: Dips.
Dips on parallels.
Start from support position with completely straight arms (elbow locked out).
Remember to push actively against the parallels.
This is wrong.
Shoulder must be far from the ears.
From this position, just do the eccentric part of the Dip while keeping the proper technique until you reach 90° with your arms.
If going back up, it is too difficult, you can work on the eccentric part of the exercise only. (8 seconds, then 12 second and so on).
Do this until you will get used to the movement.
Once you get used to the movement, you can start doing a few Dips repetitions.
Every repetition must be 100% controlled.
A good exercise to improve your dips without putting too much stress on your body, is Assisted Dips.
I can show you very quickly the movement, all you need is a bench.
The pattern movement is very similar to the Dip exercise.
Let’s move to the pulling exercises.
1° exercise is: Australian Pull ups.
Push with your heels on ground, open up your chest and pull yourself up.
This is a great exercise to do a lot of volume work and get used to higher repetitions.
Of course, you need to find a bar with the proper height.
The 2° pulling exercise to improve your pull ups, is the isometric position at the bar with chin above the bar. (Pronated and Supinated grip)
Just hold the position.
Just hold the position, like 8-10 seconds.
When it will become easy, you can add another 8-10 seconds with 90° arms.
Extra iso
Remember to work both on pronated grip and supinated grip.
Let’s move to the leg exercises.
We will see 2 of the most important exercises for legs.
Remember to train your legs, it is important to keep them trained.
1° is an isometric exercise, so you have to hold the position 10, 20, 30 seconds up to 1 minute.
Is the Wall Sit.
Feet hip width apart.
90° with your legs.
Just hold the position and push with your heels.
2° exercise is: Reverse Lunges.
Good to combine it with the wall sit.
We are going to see the Reverse Lunges
because it is easier to do the correct movement and to avoid to pass the toe of the foot with your knee.
From here, I do a step back and do a lunge.
Remember to push and put the weight of your body over the heel of the steady leg.
So, these were just a few basic bodyweight exercises to start Calisthenics.
There are many other great exercises to strengthen your body and to improve your bodyweight exercises.
Once you get used to these exercises (pull ups, dips and push ups)
if you are interested, you can go on my website www.andrealarosa.fit (link in the description)
Where you can find different Calisthenics Programs good for every level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) with all my favorite basic exercises.
The Beginner program is great when you are able to do a few pull ups, dips and push ups, it includes a lot of different exercises with my style of training.
The Advanced program is great for all the people who are already able to do a Muscle up.
These are 4 weeks programs with 4 workouts per week, it includes a leg day per week too!
So the programs are Full Body!
These programs are suitable for almost anyone, you just need a couple of bars with different heights, parallels and a jumping rope to warming up.
The programs inlcudes photos to understand the execution of the exercises.
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See you to the next video!