Top 5 killer calisthenics ab exercises for faster results

by Calisthenics Academy | Aug 21, 2018 | build muscles, calisthenic exercises, calisthenics, calisthenics abs, Calisthenics Motivation, More

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When we hear the word abs, the first thing that pops in our minds is Zac Efron’s rock solid, beach-ready abs. No? Just me? Fine, but one reason he was able to attain those are from the most important ab exercises.

But wait, Ab exercises have too many benefits.

These are not only for aesthetics. Benefits are well spread into function. Having strong abdominal muscles assist in providing good posture, balance, translates into your sport and provides power for your compound movements. It’s overall good balance in our system.

Especially in calisthenics, the number of skill work requires you to have superb ab muscle strength and endurance. But why do it on a bar?

Hanging on the bar requires you to work your abs even more.

If your form is correct, the simple act of hanging already puts stress on your abs. Your core works to stabilize you on the bar and part of the core is the abdominal muscles. Gravity is not your best friend for these types of exercises. Plus, you’ll have stronger grip and forearms for hanging around.

Bar ab exercises are challenging and will definitely build your towering 6 pack. Just remember that form is everything and shift to an easier progression or similar exercise first if you can’t do the proper form yet.

Top Exercises to Maximize your Ab Gains

If you’re going to train your abs, might as well use the top exercises to maximize your ab gains in no time! Here they are:

KNEE UPS

This is the entry point in your bar journey. The easiest in this list but still a contender among all of the ab exercises. Your lower abs will do most of the work and contraction so prepare for upcoming pain the next day.

How to Perform

1. Grip the bar with hands slightly more than shoulder width apart.
2. Make sure your arms are straight and shoulders, back, hip, legs fall in a straight line.
3. From this position, bend your knees and lift your knees up towards your chest. The closer to chest, the better.
4. Come down slowly to the first position.

Coaching Pointers

1. Contract your abs and hip flexors from the starting position to the end.
2. Let your lower back slightly round as your lift your knees.
3. Throughout the exercise tilt your hips forward to engage your core.
4. Don’t use momentum. Lift and comedown slowly as possible.
5. Resist the rocking motion you’ll feel when your doing the movement.
6. Please Don’t forget to breathe. You’re still a human.

LEG RAISES

This is like the harder version of the previous exercises. Instead of bent knee, keep the legs straight. Aim to reach the top of the bar with your toes. The increased leverage puts more stress on the abs. Your upper and lower abs will work together to execute the movement. You should also perform mobility exercises prior to your attempt since mobility is required for the exercises. Don’t be lazy now!

How to Perform

1. Grip a hanging bar with hands placed shoulder width apart
2. Make sure your arms and back are straight.
3. Keep your legs straight and close. Keep your feet off the floor.
4. From this position, lift your legs straight up till the feet touch the bar.
5. Come down in a controlled manner.

Coaching Pointers

1. Contract your abs and hip flexors from the starting position to the end.
2. Let your lower back round as your lift your legs.
3. Throughout the exercise tilt your hips forward to engage your core.
4. Don’t use momentum. Lift and come down slowly as possible.
5. Resist the rocking motion you’ll feel when you’re doing the movement.
6. Perform mobility exercises so you can reach the top portion of the movement.
7. Please Don’t forget to breathe. You’re still a human.

WINDOW WIPERS

This is an advance and quite a challenging ab workout. Lower and upper abs will do work but your obliques will also come to play as you move your legs side to side. You can train this movement on the floor if hanging is too difficult for you. This is a difficult exercise, but don’t leave it be because window wipers can wipe your way to a strong and complete rock solid abs.

How to Perform

1. Grip a hanging bar with hands placed shoulder-width apart.
2. Make sure your arms and back are straight.
3. Keep your legs straight and close. Keep your feet off the floor.
4. From this position, lift your legs straight up till the feet are above the bar.
5. The back is rounded and almost parallel to the floor
6. Now twist your lower back such that the legs move slowly towards each side as much as possible.
7. Feel the side abs, back rotators, upper and lower abs tense while lifting and moving the legs.

Coaching Pointers

1. Contract your abs and hip flexors from the starting position to the end.
2. Let your lower back round as your lift your legs.
3. Throughout the exercise tilt your hips forward to engage your core.
4. Don’t use momentum. Lift and come down slowly as possible.
5. Resist the rocking motion you’ll feel when your doing the movement.
6. Perform the movement with control.
7. Please Don’t forget to breathe. You’re still a human.

WINDMILLS

Another excellent core building exercise that targets your abdominals, obliques and hip flexors. This is like a leg raise but instead of going straight up, it moves side to side.

How to Perform

1. Start by hanging from bar with overhand grip.
2. Make sure your arms and back are straight.
3. Bring legs up by creating a circle starting from left around to the right, then returning to side you started.
4. Repeat bringing legs up from the right circling to the left.

Coaching Pointers

1. Contract your abs and hip flexors from the starting position to the end.
2. Let your lower back round as your lift your legs.
3. Throughout the exercise tilt your hips forward to engage your core.
4. Don’t use momentum. Lift and comedown slowly as possible.
5. Resist the rocking motion you’ll feel when your doing the movement.
6. Perform mobility exercises so you can reach the top portion of the movement.
7. Please Don’t forget to breathe. You’re still a human.

KNEE RAISE KICK OUTS

It basically what it is named. As you knee raise, you kick out. This additional movement to the knee raise brings additional stress to your abs, making the move a lot harder than it already is. Bring this to your work out when knee raises becomes too easy.

How to Perform

1. Grip the bar with hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart.
2. Make sure your arms are straight and your shoulders, back, hip, legs fall in a straight line.
3. From this position,bend your knees and lift your knees up towards your chest. The closer to chest, the better.
4. Extend your legs away from your body to create an L position for a brief moment.
5. Come down slowly to the first position.

Coaching Pointers

1. Contract your abs and hip flexors from the starting position to the end.
2. Let your lower back slightly round as your lift your knees.
3. Throughout the exercise tilt your hips forward to engage your core.
4. Don’t use momentum. Lift and come down slowly as possible.
5. Resist the rocking motion you’ll feel when you’re doing the movement.
6. Please Don’t forget to breathe. You’re still a human.

Now that you have an arsenal of exercises for your abs, plan and set out your routine.

Treat your Ab Workout like any other Workout.

This means that you don’t have to do your ab workout everyday and only with high reps. Just like other parts of your muscles, the same principles apply to your abdominal muscles when creating a routine. Train with proper rep ranges, sets, difficulty and rest periods..

And if you’re aiming for that luscious 6 packs, eat well as you train. That goal relies more on your caloric deficit. But no worries, we got you covered regarding your eating.

Try it out and let us know in the comment section below what you think.

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“Stick with it! It is hard at first, especially if you are stuck on a lower-level, high rep exercise. But persevering is worth it! Finally reaching each goal is so exciting.”

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The Best Calisthenics Exercises For Pain From Desk-Damaged Physique

by Calisthenics Academy | May 30, 2018 | calisthenic exercises, calisthenics, More

Is your desk work causing you physical discomfort lately? Are you experiencing pain, or yet a desk-damaged physique?

If you have it, this means you might be doing a bad posture for so long. A desk-damaged physique can be because of that slouch position while working in front of your computer, or even because of sitting all day long. We are all guilty of this every once in a while, but office workers are much more prone to this due to the nature of their job. However, it’s not yet too late to correct that posture.

Learn how to restore desk-damaged physiques with calisthenics!

What is Calisthenics?

Calisthenics is a type of exercise which improves the overall body strength of a person. The said exercise originated in Ancient Greece and was used as strength training. Others also call it as bodyweight training.

However, compared to bodybuilding to which it is often confused with, calisthenics or bodyweight training does not require any equipment since it involves gymnastics exercise. You can perform the exercises by simply following step-by-step forms and guides.

If you want to know how to restore desk-damaged physiques with calisthenics, you should know that this particular exercise is also found in other art forms. These include pole dancing, martial arts, street workouts, etc. These art forms incorporate the movements from calisthenics and turn them into something new and much more dynamic, providing more options for you to choose from.

Benefits Of Calisthenics

How can calisthenics help you? It has a lot of medical benefits for those who practice the said exercise. There are hundreds of benefits you can get from doing calisthenics, but here are the top three most noticeable ones:

1. Improve overall strength and endurance

Since calisthenics is a body strength training, it improves the overall strength and endurance of one’s body. The effect is even said to be similar to cardiovascular exercises, such as running, jogging, and so much more. At the same time, doing calisthenics can provide relief, especially if you are experiencing aches and pain due to your desk-damaged physiques.

2. Full Body Activation

As compared to bodybuilding exercises which involve the use of barbells and dumbbells, calisthenics ensures that you work all of your muscle groups at the same time. With just minimal exercises of calisthenics, you are already working out most of your body parts!

3. Eliminate Bad Posture

Whether it is ditching that dreadful slouch you acquired from desk work or simply getting back in shape, calisthenics can surely help you with that. Practicing calisthenics can help you to improve your form as well as eliminate bad posture habits.

How?

Calisthenics teaches you to control specific muscle groups from doing various calisthenics movements. By developing that control over your body, you are correcting the lousy unconscious posture you acquired over the years. Moreover, with continuous practice of Calisthenics, you will develop body balance that will prevent bad posture habits from coming back.

How To Use Calisthenics In Restoring Desk-Damaged Physiques

LOWER BACK PAIN

When you are experiencing lower back pain from your desk job, you can rock your pelvis back and forth, tilt your hips up, and round your back. This movement will only help in the short term. However, performing calisthenics exercises such as crunches or other abdominal exercises will strengthen your core and reduce lower back pain. Do it at least two times every week, and you will see a difference in your posture.

NECK AND SHOULDER PAIN

When you are seated all day behind your desk, it is inevitable to have neck and shoulder pain. You can do some chin tuck, neck retraction or even tilt your head from side to side for short-term relief.

To fully address this problem permanently, you can try pulling movements such as pull-ups every once in a while. Stick to a schedule in which you can do calisthenics at home. If you are too busy, find a space in your office and practice basic shoulder movements such us pushing the wall or overhead press.

WRIST STRAIN

An obvious factor on why you have a wrist strain is because of bad posture. If you hunch your shoulders forward, this will decrease the flow of your blood into your arms, thus causing soreness. You can stretch your arms or rotate your wrist clockwise once in a while.

You can even do a Buddha stretch where you do a prayer stretch by putting your fingers and palms together, placing it on your chest pointing upward. Keep your palms together, and your elbows moving out, lower your hands further so you can feel a good stretch.

TIGHTENED HIPS

When you sit all day, your hips lockout and tightens. Standing up and tilting your hips sideways can offer a bit of relief, but sometimes it’s just not enough. You can try doing lunges or squats whenever you start your day. Take a break from your desk job once in a while and try doing calisthenic poses, such as twisting your hips sideways for a good couple of seconds.

These exercises and quick fixes can offer relief, but being able to develop good posture through calisthenics is the key to a long-term fix.

Calisthenics On-The-Go

For office workers, it is very hard to get back into shape, especially if you spend your time behind the desk all day. Well, get ready to know how to restore desk-damaged physics with calisthenics. There are several programs you can follow. Whether you are just a beginner, intermediate, or on an advanced level, rest assured that there is a program fit for you. To determine which level you are at, take the free assessment test of Calisthenics Academy.

Since the hassle of work might be a hindrance to your road to fitness, you can now just access calisthenics fundamentals at the very tip of your fingers! Calisthenics Academy offers two programs as of the moment, which is: Calisthenics Academy Fundamentals, and the Calisthenics Academy 2.0, which was made convenient since it can be accessed through mobile and a web application.

With modern technology, you can now access a wide range of calisthenics programs with easy-to-follow step by step progressions. Guaranteed that these programs are crafted and made only by experts and coaches who offer their expertise to professional athletes and beginners. Even though you are not an athlete, you can now get a hold of these programs which are proven to give real results!

Calisthenics in your home or office

Since it does not require any equipment (even the use of barbells, dumbbells or any other weight equipment), calisthenics can be practiced and performed in the comfort of your home or office! Make sure you have enough space so you can move around and you are good to go.

Make sure that you also have a comprehensive step-by-step guide, such as Calisthenics Fundamentals, on how to start practicing calisthenics. You can do the basics first, and then eventually progress by challenging yourself to do harder and much more complicated routines.

Not only will this help you achieve a better body, but this will also help you get rid of bad habits and develop good ones. You can now finally say to yourself that you are ready to learn how to restore desk-damaged physiques with calisthenics! Through performing calisthenics exercises, you can ease that tension and relieve your aching hips and back. Start exercising today and see the results for yourself!

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“Stick with it! It is hard at first, especially if you are stuck on a lower-level, high rep exercise. But persevering is worth it! Finally reaching each goal is so exciting.”

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How To Maximize Muscle Growth For Calisthenics

by Calisthenics Academy | May 6, 2018 | More

Hey, you! Yes, YOU. Be honest. Have you…

Stopped working out?

No longer going to the gym?

Gained a few extra pounds?

Broke your commitment to keeping yourself in shape?

Yes? Well, it sucks, doesn’t it? Being able to get started with building a healthier and more active lifestyle but lost motivation and interest after some time. Don’t you worry! There’s still a chance that you’ll get that dream bod you want so much. How? With calisthenics training!

What’s so great about calisthenics?

You might be asking why you should start with calisthenics or why did you start training in calisthenics. Well, one of the best things about it is its convenience. If you go to the gym, you’d have to pay monthly for your membership, your trainer, and spend a little extra for when you have to drive or commute to the building.

With CALISTHENICS, you don’t need to go to a gym or purchase any equipment. Why stick to gyms when you can maximize muscle growth for calisthenics from the comfort of your own home?

If that sounds appealing, then read on. Learn how you can cut down on your body weight AND maximize your muscle growth for calisthenics.

Commitment comes first

First and foremost, the important thing to remember is that the road to a better version of yourself doesn’t end with your calisthenics routine. It’s much more than that. In order to be the best version of yourself physically, you have to commit to a healthy lifestyle.

Where should you start?

DIET! DIET! DIET!

Now, you don’t need to worry, the diet doesn’t require any pills or supplements. You just need to commit to four principles, all of which urge you to eat organic foods as much as possible.

Principle #1: No To Junk Foods! Eat As Natural As Possible!

Principle #2: Organic Produce All the Way!

Principle #3: Eat Meat, Organic, Wild, and Grass Fed!

Principle #4: Add Grains and Dairy!

In short: Say no to junk foods and yes to organic produce!

Remember that abs are made in the kitchen and 80% of weight loss and muscle gain comes from nutrition.

The Paleo Diet

“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.”

Some of you might have already heard this mantra on what an athlete should eat. It is as simple as meat, veggies, nuts, seeds, some fruits, little starch and no sugar. Since you’ll be carrying your own bodyweight in calisthenics, eating meat and veggies will help dramatically to maximize muscle growth for calisthenics.

Food is proven to have an immediate effect on one’s body. We become leaner or bulkier depending on the food that we eat. Therefore, if we are working out through calisthenics, we need to feed our bodies foods that will support our exercise regimen and not just for the sake of feeling satiated and full.

Eating a lot of sugar and starch won’t help you with providing energy to build on your strength and healing micro muscle tears for muscle building. On the other hand, eating meat and veggies will supply your body the necessary vitamins and minerals and will fuel your muscles to repair themselves after every workout.

Modified training for building muscle mass

It’s already been proven that bodyweight training is the key to bigger muscles. Why? Well, it helps develop your strength and endurance in ways you didn’t expect!

Your body recognizes how you work, not what you use to make it work. So unlike extreme weight training, bodyweight trainings are more natural, and also has lessened potential lifelong injuries.

Here’s a simple explanation for you:

With Calisthenics, your muscles are placed in a situation full of tension and weight. That tension causes your muscles to resist, tear, and rebuild with more mass.

More training means more tension.

More tension means more weight on the muscle.

More weight on the muscle means stronger endurance and resistance.

Strength becomes your foundation, and you can easily achieve the muscle mass you were aiming for! Of course, don’t rush it. You can always challenge and force your body, and push it to its limit, but then, your body should also grow progressively in volume over time. Go for the volume added in your trainings over time. It forces your body to adapt, grow bigger, and get stronger.

How does it work? Here’s a case in example:

Week 1 – Do 5 sets of Push Ups (x10), and Pull Ups (x5)
Week 2 – Do 6 sets of Push Ups (x10), and Pull Ups (x5)
Week 3 – Do 5 sets of Push Ups (x15), and Pull Ups (x10)
Week 4 – Do 6 sets of Push Ups (x15), and Pull Ups (x10)
Week 5 – Do 4 sets of Push Ups (x10), and Pull Ups (x5)

The total volume of exercises you do each week increases, so it’s harder over time. Allot a week where you can just “deload” so as not to strain yourself. It’d be your “breathing” period.

“I’m Skinny Fat. Can I Still Build Muscle?”

Absolutely, yes.

Aside from the “Mind over Matter” answer, you should know that you have yet to try basic bodyweight training. It places a limited amount of stress on your body, and it’s easier to recover from. It also optimises your testosterone production and shreds body fat. Cool, right?

No need to drop such a huge tension or weight on your body at first. You can train in a progressive manner. A basic 3-step bodyweight training is composed of these exercises:

1. Chin Up
2. Diamond Push Up
3. Bodyweight Squat

Don’t be fooled by “basic.” These exercises are truly phenomenal in developing your upper body, making you strong, lean, and muscled. If you train using these methods, you’ll be sculpting your upper body in all the right places in no time. Just wait til you see those lats, upper back, upper chest, shoulders, arms, and abs. Perhaps, you won’t even recognize yourself!

How to gain muscle size (a.k.a. hypertrophy)

1. Choose a progression that you can do for 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps of each exercise.

2. Sets and Reps: You want to go after high-volume, multiple-set programs (6 to 12 reps, 3 to 6 sets). If you’re wondering why, this has been shown to create greater hypertrophy because the higher workload is more effective at creating micro-trauma, tiny muscle tears that stimulate increased protein synthesis, and therefore muscle growth.

The high-volume, multiple-set programs are also more effective at increasing the body’s production of testosterone and growth hormone.

3. Rest Periods: The rest time between sets should be between 30 to 90 seconds, and nothing more than that.

4. Diet and Lifestyle: Diet is 80 percent of what it takes to achieve your fitness goals. To gain muscle, you’ll need to put on weight, so you must eat more calories than you burn every day.

If your calorie intake is less than or equal to what you are burning, then you’ll either lose or maintain weight. Your body can’t build muscle from nothing.

Quick muscle gain or periodization?

High volume and multiple sets might pack on muscle quickly, but you shouldn’t ONLY train this way. Training this way exclusively will get you stuck in “General Adaptation Syndrome,” which means your body will adapt to the program very quickly and you’ll run into a massive plateau.

A periodized routine is one focused on high volume and multiple sets. It lets your body activate its own adaptive tendencies to the training program. A solid example is doing a per-workout basis of 2-to-1 hypertrophy/strength rotation.

This means that you do 2 hypertrophy workouts (8 to 12 reps, 6 sets) for every 1 strength workout (4 to 6 reps, 3 sets). Hypertrophy is said not to be noticeable until the 6th or 10th week.

Move Everyday

The next piece of advice for anyone thinking of trying out bodyweight training or already doing couple workouts is that consistency is key. If you really want to get that dream bod, you have to move every day. Note that moving everyday does not necessarily mean that you need to train every day. Everyone needs a rest day or two every now and then.

Think of it this way: your actual training regimen is the main course–one that you ought to have whenever your schedule requires you to. And during your rest days, while you aren’t required to have a main course, it’s not a bad idea to have a little snack–ten minutes of yoga, a couple dozen burpees, or a leisurely jog around your neighborhood.

These little snacks don’t have to be anything big. You just need to move. If there’s one piece of advice that you should remember, it’s that consistency means more than volume in the long run.

“A two-hour training session won’t mean much if you only have it once every few months.”

So if you can’t take the main course, at the very least, have a snack.

For a more in-depth look at doing calisthenics every day, check out this article!

Beginning your journey with calisthenics

Now, it’s easy to say that you’re going to commit to calisthenics training, but it might be hard to actually begin. If you are already a part of the Calisthenics Academy program or still thinking about joining, rest assured that it is the perfect tool for you to start and enhance your calisthenics journey.

Calisthenics Academy offers simpler routines first that even someone who doesn’t have a clue about calisthenics can easily follow before working your way up to the more complex ones.

Also, you can follow your own training schedule. Just make sure that you stay consistent with your routine to maximize muscle growth for calisthenics.

At this point, you might be thinking: Alright, I’ve fixed my diet and I’m prepared to set aside a few minutes a day for my training, but where do I even start? Here’s a little something to help you out:

5 Calisthenic Exercises For Beginners

Calisthenics movements are one of the most effective ways to build muscles.

How?

Movements that require multiple joints activation, maximum muscle recruitment, and high nervous system activation display a high potential for muscle growth. Here are 5 simple movements that can help you to get started with building up your muscle gains.

PUSH-UPS

Push-ups exercise muscles in your upper body–in your abdomen, chest, shoulders, and upper arms. It is one of the most common calisthenics exercises and is preferred by many since you don’t need any equipment to do it. You can start doing 2 to 4 working sets of 8 to 15 repetitions depending on your work capacity.

It seems deceptively easy, but only during the first few repetitions. Once you’ve gone down the tenth time, you’ll realize how difficult it is to do push-ups consistently. Not to mention it’s easy to do push-ups incorrectly. It’s an exercise where your form is immensely important. Think you’ve gotten the hang of it? Why not try a handstand push-up next?

PULL UPS

Like push-ups, pull-ups also work parts of your upper body–your biceps, upper back, and forearms to name a few. In order to do this exercise, all you need is a metal bar or two metal rings, securely fastened some distance from the ground. Try to do 3 to 5 working sets of eight to twelve repetitions.

Here’s the thing about pull-ups: They are NOT as easy as they look. Those athletes on television make it seem so easy, don’t they? Luckily for you, you don’t really need any prior training in order to do a successful pull-up. What you do need is to develop basic strength and proper form.

If you’re still having trouble with pull-ups, maybe it’s time for some troubleshooting.

SQUATS

As opposed to the last two items, squats work your lower body–your thighs, hips, and buttocks. Like push-ups, this exercise doesn’t require any specific equipment, which is why many people choose to add it to their training regimen.

Squats are a much easier, more doable workout, compared to the first two on the list. This is because they don’t require as much strength. All you really need to aim for with this exercise is to be able to do squats quickly and consistently. Three to five working sets of 15 repetitions should do the trick for beginners.

If you find that your usual squatting routine is getting a bit dull, try the one-legged squat. This is perfect to maximize muscle growth on your quads and glutes for they are really challenging. Better have patience on your balance for this next-level movement.

LUNGES

Lunges also work your lower body, targeting, more or less, the same muscles as squats — thighs, hips, and glutes. Since this exercise doesn’t require any equipment, you can do it almost anywhere. You can even do it while you’re walking! Try doing 3 to 5 working sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.

This is probably the most convenient to do, out of all the exercises on this list. They’re ideal for when you don’t have time for the main course. Should you decide to add this exercise to your routine, make sure that you’re doing it right. Doing lunges incorrectly can put some unwanted strain on your joints.

PLANKS

Planking strengthens your core, so if you’ve been wanting some abs, then this exercise is for you. While you don’t need any equipment to try this, a yoga mat or even a clean carpet should make things easier for you to hold your body weight. Try to build up on your strength until you can do two minutes without having to rest in between.

Much like squatting, planking can become pretty dull once you’ve gotten used to it. So why not challenge yourself by trying other variations of the exercise after accomplishing that two-minute mark? Some of these variations are far more difficult than the usual way of planking. Try them yourself!

You’ll notice that the aforementioned movements can easily be done, even in small spaces. You’d be right. Combining these exercises into an exercise routine will give you a “No Space” Workout! Even with very little space, you can maximize muscle growth for calisthenics.

Create your own

I can hear you asking: Why would I need to create my own routine when there
are tons of pre-made ones online? This article, which provides a basic calisthenics workout for beginners and explains the importance of a personalized routine, should answer your question.

Okay, but who can help me create a routine that’s perfect for me? You ask. My friend, Calisthenics Academy can help you do just that. Calisthenics Academy supports and guides the transition into calisthenics lifestyle easy and safe. They offer content and a platform that enables athletes to grow with their strength and master advanced calisthenics skills.

To get you started, you can go here to access your free initial assessment with Calisthenics Academy. After you finish your assessment, Calisthenics Academy will help you to devise your personalised and effective training regimen that will challenge you enough but not too much. You can also track your progress in the program itself.

Now, what are you waiting for? It’s time to start living healthy again. That dream bod isn’t going to work for itself!

READY TO GET ON TEH JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME?

See what our users are saying:

“Stick with it! It is hard at first, especially if you are stuck on a lower-level, high rep exercise. But persevering is worth it! Finally reaching each goal is so exciting.”

GET A LIFETIME ACCESS TO THE CURRENT CALISTHENICS ACADEMY AND NEW MOBILE APP

(+ all the future updates and help us build the product you will love)

TODAY $97 ($399 AFTER)

Front Lever vs Back Lever Exercises

by Calisthenics Academy | May 1, 2018 | calisthenic exercises, More

Some exercise routines appear seemingly easy. You are so motivated to just do it at the start, but when you’re two minutes soaking sweat into the routine, you find yourself sighing in defeat. Your struggling muscles and aching body are screaming “too much struggle!” and they make you want to quit.

Front and back lever exercises are good examples. Sure, trained gymnasts can do it with their eyes shut. But a regular person? Nah. You better hustle and train hard if you want to achieve those movements and reap the benefits.

Also, these “easy” but “difficult” exercises are not only good for you but they also have some insane benefits. But first, research time! Read on to find out more about the front and back lever exercises!

Getting strong lats or latissimus dorsi (a.k.a. the largest muscles in the upper body) and phenomenal core strength is no easy task. You’d have to take on the immense and the grueling challenge to train, and dedicate precious time really working to enhance your skills.

What is the best way to achieve it, you say? Simply incorporate front and back lever exercises in your Calisthenics trainings!

Here is a simple table to help you visualize the important muscles being activated for front and back lever:

Front and Back Lever Exercises: A Fundamental Gymnastics Strength

The interesting thing about front and back lever exercises is that these are rated A in the Gymnastic Code of Points. That’s right, A. If you’re not familiar with Gymnastics, their scale goes from A to F, with A being the easiest and F being the most difficult. Simply put, they consider it as a basic strength which just shows how difficult the sport really is. It’s not just prancing around or twirling elegantly in the air. The proof of superhuman strength is the training and the gymnast’s skills.

In fact, there’s a meaningful reason behind having this as their basic exercise. Instead of lifting weights, gymnasts work through progressions where they manipulate the leverage, range of motion and momentum.

But of course, you need to be equipped with the right knowledge to do the proper forms.

What is front lever exercises?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again! These “easy” but “difficult” exercises have some insane benefits.

A front lever exercise is a kind of Calisthenics movement that probably looks like an easy resting position, but is actually designed to build and develop your core strength. With the help of your back muscles, such as the lats, rhomboids, and spinal erectors, as well as your abdomen, you can maintain the proper posture during the movement.

However, make no mistake. A front lever is both difficult and cool-looking. It’s a common gymnastic move wherein a static hold is performed on still rings or a pull-bar, and the person is lowering his or her body from an inverted hang until the body is completely straight and horizontal. With this position, it seems like the person is floating on air, or is in a rigid plank.

Training for the front lever is considerably safer for your joints than learning some of the other high-level strength skills because you don’t have to work on locked elbow joints.

However, the front lever exercise is easier said (and seen) than done. It requires a high degree of back and core strength before you can do it. If you think it’s something you can achieve, then stay with us, and we’ll show you the proper progressive steps in attaining this exercise!

Perfecting the Front Lever

The front lever exercise is simple, but requires personal commitment, dedication, and focus to master. The steps to complete the exercise are done in a progressive manner to build the necessary strength to advance and to avoid unnecessary confusion from complicated and ineffective shortcuts.

Here’s how you can perfect the front lever:

TUCK FRONT LEVER

This will be the first or the basic position as you advance in the training. To do this posture, grasp the bar within overhand grip. Pull your legs and hips up while you are leaning back. Your back should be rounded and your body tucked up like a ball. Try to keep your back approximately parallel to the ground.

ADVANCED TUCK FRONT LEVER

Begin with the tuck front lever position. Once your body is up, straighten your back (instead of a rounded one) and see that it forms a line parallel to the ground. At the same time, pull your shoulder blades back in retraction. You may open your legs slightly so that your thighs are perpendicular to the body.

ONE BENT LEG FRONT LEVER

From your tuck front lever, extend your bent leg out so that it seems like it’s floating in the air. The lower leg will be perpendicular to the ground with your hip opened up completely. If your leg feels wobbly or tired, don’t worry. You may alternate legs between practice.

ONE LEG FRONT LEVER

A more advanced technique than the bent leg is this one! Front the first position, while extend one leg out completely straight. That means your back, hips, and extended leg all make a horizontal line, parallel to the ground. The other leg, whichever side it is, will be tucked in hard to the chest.

ADVANCED ONE LEG FRONT LEVER

From the tuck front lever, extend one leg completely straight, and the other partially untucked and away from the chest. The foot of the untucked leg will be in line with the knee of the extended leg. Keep your back and straight leg parallel to the ground! This “halfway open” form is designed to increase the leverage dramatically. Alternate legs.

FRONT LEVER

Starting from the tuck lever position, keeping both legs together, gradually extend them out at the hips and knees, until they are completely straight. Your entire body should be a one straight line that is parallel to the ground. Pull down hard with the hands and the lats, as well as working the pulling-apart action to assist in stabilization.

“With the progression of holds, you can definitely achieve this!

What is back lever exercises?

Now let’s move on to the counterpart of front lever- the back lever exercise, which is on another level of awesome!

This whole-body exercise places an emphasis on your back and core. It also requires strength and flexibility in the shoulders and arms in a typically untrained position. It would be good to have a spotter (just ask a friend to help you out) who can assist you in case you fall.

The back lever can be an awkward position, and because you are somewhat inverted, you may feel like you don’t quite know where your body is in space. Have your spotter friend also point out if you’re doing the correct form or not! You don’t want any injuries.

How to do the back lever?

Before you even try doing this exercise, you must first skin the cat

Don’t worry! We don’t mean it literally. The Skin the Cat is a preparatory exercise you should do to get your muscles warmed up. It mostly focuses on the shoulders, so that it builds flexibility, as you use it for a full extension later on.

To do Skin the Cat: Raise your legs up from a hanging position. Now, thread your feet under the bar, and lower down as far as you can behind you. Reverse the movement to come back up, and practice several times. Slowly but surely.

Now that you’re done with your preparatory exercise, here are the steps on how to do a back lever:

TUCK BACK LEVER

First, start by grabbing the bar in an overhand grip, jumping, and then tucking yourself into a ball into a Skin The Cat manner. After that, lower yourself (slowly) until your back is parallel to the ground. You can stay tucked up tightly, with a rounded back. Or you can slightly open your legs.

ADVANCED TUCK BACK LEVER

Start from the first form. From there, straighten your back instead of having it rounded up. By doing this, your hips are opened, increasing the leverage of the exercise. To ensure that your back is really straight, ask your trusty pal spotter to check on you.

LEGS BENT STRADDLE BACK LEVER

Begin by doing the tuck back lever. As you complete that form, pull yourself up until your head is directly facing the ground, and your legs overhead. Next, Straighten out your hips, but bend your knees. Spread the legs at the knees as wide as you can. If you feel like it’ll cause you to lose balance or grip, then just spread it a little. Keep this alignment lower until you are parallel with the ground. Practice this patiently because it will help you lower into the back lever easily than extending into it once you’re horizontal. It’s all about the progression.

LEGS BENT BACK LEVER

Next, pull yourself up until your head is facing the ground and your legs are overhead. Straighten the hips out, but keep the knees bent. This time, keep the knees together. Hold this position.

STRADDLE BACK LEVER

You need to pull yourself up until your head is facing the ground with your legs overhead. Straighten your legs at the knees and hips and spread your legs wide into a straddle position. Stay low while holding this form. The tip in here is to widen the straddle so it’s easier.

BACK LEVER

Again, pull yourself up until your head is facing the ground with your legs overhead. Straighten out the legs at the knees and hips, and make sure to keep the legs together. Your body must form a one straight line through your legs. Keep this alignment lower until you are parallel with the ground, and hold.

Don’t think I can do it, should I stop?

Remember, you can’t build your strength overnight. In the same way, you can’t practice all the steps right away just because you want to. The simple progression may take months, depending on how you train your body; hence, you have to be patient. Work through the steps and you’ll get there. Practice your willpower, so you can overcome this physical challenge.

Unparalleled foundation

Mastering the front and back lever exercises are a great way to build a foundation for Calisthenics trainings. Why?

1. These are essential calisthenic strength movements that will provide incredible stimulation for total body strength. You can’t get that from any ordinary exercise.

2. Training with these bodyweight exercises will motivate you to train harder and achieve more advanced skills.

3. These exercises already provide you with the basics. When you advance in your Calisthenics training, you can always return to these fundamental concepts to attain other progressions.

If you want to get started but don’t know how to work with the progressions, you can check out Calisthenics Academy and do their free assessment to gauge where your skill levels at. Once you know your calisthenics fitness level, you can slowly develop your strength to do front and back lever and other crazy calisthenics movement with the in-depth training progressions from Calisthenics Academy.

Don’t hesitate to work more and be more! These front lever and back lever exercises are the keys to training Calisthenics easily.

You still want that powerful and toned body, don’t you?

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Best Tips For Achieving A Handstand

by Calisthenics Academy | May 1, 2018 | More

Know what a handstand is?

If you’re still thinking or processing that in your mind, then we’re quite sure that the mental picture seems more familiar than the name. A person doing this trick is holding oneself upside-down and supports the entire body weight with just the hands and shoulders.

A perfect display of having your world upside-down, but of course, in a cool way!

It’s pretty sick and you don’t need to have enormous muscles to achieve this. But it does come with a lot of training and practice.

Mastering the handstand might seem like a routine for a “privileged” or “talented” few, but contrary to popular belief, ANYONE can do this!

Our Team of experts is ready to help you master the Handstand. Take our free Assessment to get started.

Continue reading for valuable handstand tips from calisthenics experts to help you achieve the perfect handstand position.

The handstand is a balancing exercise rooted in a high level of core strength and body control. It is an act of balancing on one’s hands with feet in the air or against a wall. Mastering the handstand provides immense benefits and advantages such as: opening the shoulders, having a stronger and tighter core, strengthening the legs and butt, and protecting the back.

You can’t go wrong with a handstand!

This handstand is said to be the most impressive core strength feat ever. If your workout goal is to build core body strength and strengthen specific body muscles, then you are reading the right article.

First things first, how does it work?

Simple, you need to stay upside down while stabilizing your muscles, working your abs, as well as your other muscle groups!

But, is it that easy?

The handstand is a calisthenics exercise, which means you don’t need any equipment or gym for it. You only need to be by the wall to practice, especially if you’re a beginner, but we’ll get to that later!

It is an isometric exercise, wherein the muscles in your body create static tension or pressure throughout your body to allow it hold a particular posture. This pressure is the key component of this exercise that makes your body stronger (by the day) without the need to shorten or tighten muscles!

Prepping for a handstand

Good things go according to plan if you dedicate a considerable amount of time preparing for it. Though you might have the urge to go straight into practicing a handstand, it is important to give yourself a little time to prepare without feeling lazy about it!

Preparation is key to success along with diligent practice and should never be shoved aside when starting any workout project or course of action.

Our Team of experts can help you master the Handstand. Take our free Assessment to get started.

Simple, you need to stay upside down while stabilizing your muscles, working your abs, as well as your other muscle groups!

But, is it that easy?

Prepare all the more if this is your first time

We do not recommend diving right into a handstand without any knowledge, or a simple warm-up for the wrists and shoulders. This feat requires a different pressure or skill, from what your body may be used to do. So don’t rush. You will achieve progress as time passes by!

Warm-up routines that you can practice are:

1. Hand balance wrist warm-up

This routine ensures that your wrists are durable, flexible, and ready for the handstand challenge. To complete the warm-up, do the following exercises:

a. Finger Pulses
b. Palm Pulses
c. Side-to-Side Palm Rotations
d. Side-to-Side Wrist Stretch
e. Rear Facing Wrist Stretch (palms down and palms up)
f. Rear Facing Elbow Rotations

As you know, we approach the movement from a very scientific point of view. Our team of coaches and physios deconstruct each move understanding what goes into it – what muscles, flexibility, mobility, strength, skill and then create a step by step path that can take anyone from zero to performing that move (we will talk about deconstruction in next blog post).

We think about our physical potential as a journey- you start with simple moves, build the foundation, learn the basics, make sure your joints, your muscles and your tendons are ready to handle higher loads and more complex moves and once they are we lead you towards the harder and harder moves.

2. Shoulder warm-up

This routine improves your shoulder strength and flexibility in preparation for the handstand. To complete this, open up your shoulders and elevate it as much as possible. You can grab a heavy dumbbell, or a prop, like a book, and raise it high above your shoulders. Hold the position for a couple of minutes.

3. The Shoulder Stretch/Scapular Mobility

This exercise is also a good shoulder warm-up. To do this, start in a tabletop position (Yoga Position) or be on all fours. Keep your spine straight, drop or pinch your scapula. Hold this post, or you may alternate the tuck in your stomach while rounding your shoulders.

Now you’re all set to start working on your handstands.

Perfecting your handstand with tips from calisthenics experts!

To achieve the best results and complete the handstand properly, you should take into consideration the following tips and tricks from our experts at the Calisthenics Academy.

These tips were pooled from years of experience, skill mastery, and training to give you professional guidance in your journey towards physical mastery- every single freaking day.

Feeling excited? Let’s get to it!

DO THE 5/7

The ideal training period for handstands isn’t twice a week, or even four times a week. The nature of the skill training would need you to practice at least a little bit, every day, to get the best results. The 5/7 stands for “5 minutes,” “7 days a week.”

What this means is that the minimum practice session duration to master the handstand should last 5 minutes and should be repeated every day of the week. The initial duration can be extended depending on your body condition or mood.

Patterns are built by practicing often. Therefore, you should strive to practice as much as possible. This way, you can grease the groove, and teach your body the skills you want to perform.

PRACTICE FINGER TECHNIQUE

This finger technique is an essential technique for mastering the handstand. To hold a handstand, you must always push through your fingers. Use finger pressure when trying to keep your position because it helps your overall balance. Think of your hands as your feet, and your fingers are your toes. You should be placing the pressure on the tips of your fingers (underneath the first knuckles of the hands), and on the heel of the palms. Also, make sure that your second knuckles are raised but not touching the ground.

GET A HANDY SPOTTER

Ask a good friend or your gym coach to help you when practicing your handstand. You can learn the freestanding handstand quicker if you practice it with a reliable spotter. He or she can assist you and dictate to you what your body form looks like, or if you are giving the right effort in maintaining your position.

PRACTICE WITH INCREASING INTENSITY

We’ve already mentioned that this skill involves daily practice to achieve success. The handstand training consists of a lot of repetition. To master the handstand and achieve good progress, you need to do it with increasing intensity or volume.

As you progress daily in your exercises, you put your feet on the wall and walk your hands a little closer. The next day, a bit closer and then a little closer still the third day. You continue doing this until you find yourself inches from the wall; and before you know it, you are holding a wall handstand correctly!

Pushing yourself with consistency may be key to mastering the handstand, but make sure to have a rest day. High intensity without any rest wouldn’t be of much help to you or anyone else helping you.

DEFLECT YOUR FEARS

Once you start practicing, you are certain to experience some nasty falls more than a couple of times. Don’t worry, it’s normal. You can’t do the perfect handstand in mere minutes! To prevent injury, consider setting up pads, bolsters, or pillows for a safe landing.

For the handstand, make “Fall seven times, stand up eight” your mantra. If something goes wrong, just try it again! Again and again until you no longer need the wall or a spotter for support. Deflect your fears of falling, and you’ll be able to perfect your Handstand faster. Trust us!

DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE!

You have your hands positioned, your arms strong, legs bent, and ready to spring. What’s missing? Yes, you forgot… You forgot to breathe!

In every exercise, whether it’s natural or HIIT, the common mistake people make is to forget to breathe properly. With the apprehension and anxiety that may sometimes come with the determination to achieve a goal or master a skill, “forgetting” to breathe is understandable but not helpful.

Our experts stress that it is critical to maintain a proper breathing flow because the breath gives you the engine and space to let you rise. Equally critical is breathing out. Don’t hold it in, please exhale! Let the effects of your effort flow through you.

Our Team of experts is ready to help you master the Handstand. Take our free Assessment to get started.

You can do it!

The handstand may seem very intimidatiing at first, but if you never try, then you’d never know that you can slay it. With these expert tips and daily practice, you’ll see yourself doing it at ease every single day!

If you would like to strengthen those muscles and build up core body strength, then we’ll like to help you. Start by signing up for the Calisthenics Academy’s free assessment by our experts to help you understand your current strength and abilities and what you can improve on to perform and master the perfect handstand.

READY TO GET STARTED?

Take the free assessment below:

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Learning calisthenics skills for maximum results, holistic health and fun.

by Calisthenics Academy | Mar 28, 2018 | build muscles, calisthenic exercises, calisthenics body transformation, calisthenics conditioning, Calisthenics training reviews, Calisthenics Videos, calisthenics workout, More

Join the tribe of Movement & Calisthenics Athletes – people just like you that are working with their own body weight to gain strength, lose fat, build muscle, recover from injuries and live their best lives.

Hey tribe! As you know the Team at Calisthenics Academy has been hard at work to bring together a brand new app – a gamified platform for skill-based training that will not only bring fun and a new dimension of motivation to your training – but all the more will take you on the journey to be healthier, stronger, leaner and more mobile with our calisthenics training program.

As we are getting ready to launch the app publicly, we are starting a blog series showcasing some of the features, answering all your questions and showing you why this new training is unlike anything else.

Today we want to talk about what moves you will be learning inside the app and how are they structured.

Note that the way training works is that you are working towards certain skills and they represent a specific level of strength, mobility and flexibility you achieve. But at the end, it’s just a more effective way to reach your goals of losing fat, building muscles and getting insanely strong.

And we have over 100 new moves you will be learning with the app all organised on a big map of movements.

Before we go into that though – we just wanted to remind you that there is still time to snap a lifetime access deal. If you are interested in joining us in building an amazing product and have a lifetime access to current (over 100 moves) and ALL the future updates – check it out. If you buy today you will get access to beta and you will be considered a part of our team forever.

Back to the moves!

“If you want to live a good life in your older years, start training now.”

Deconstructing the moves

Turning movement training into a game you can’t lose

Think about it as a map of treasures and quests – just this time the moves are the quests. The system carefully guides you through all those little important things through a personalised training plan. Step by step helping you unlock harder and harder moves.

Note that we are just getting started and even though we have over 100 new moves in the app the library will be growing as we go along as well as offered assessment and complexity of the app.

Taking you safely from zero to advanced moves

So how do you safely take someone from zero to planche? muscle up? front levers? backflips? You lead them, constantly assessing where they are on those different attributes and adjusting training daily making sure that the progress is effective and safe.

With our team, we created a whole map of moves – all interconnected where we map exactly what you need to develop to safely move forward.

We also categorized the moves based on complexity ensuring that we keep the playfulness, feeling of constant progress and holistic approach to overall body development.

Below is an outline of how the moves are divided and what moves you can expect to learn in current app.

100 calisthenics moves you can start today

The moves you will be learning are divided into different categories.Just like in the game we have:

MAIN MISSIONS

“Main Missions are the main moves in gymnastic and calisthenics. They require lots of preparation and progressions and usually take a ong time to achieve”

Main missions are divided into fundamentals and advanced. They are very important as a make a base for all the advanced moves.

Once you achieve the fundamental moves you unlock harder & harder moves – so

Back Fundamental unlocks Back Lever and Bridges Progression,

Wall Handstand unlocks – Handstand Pushup and Free Standing HAndstand and so on…

The way system is structured is that not only it makes sure that you develop all the attributes that are prerequisites for a given move – keeping you safe. But also that every single day you are making effective progress towards your goal. Once done with fundamentals that are obligatory you are able to choose what you want to be working on.

Some of the advanced moves that you will see in the app are

– Human Flag

– Back Lever

– Front Lever

– Handstand Walk

– Handstand Push-Up

-Handstand Press

– Bridge

– Sitting Press

– Planche

– Muscle Ups

– Ring Dips

… and more.

SIDE QUESTS

“Side quests are additional moves that still require progressions but they are not a core of your program. They are usually small and fun moves that help you develop strenght and skill”

Just like any move in our program – these moves also have prerequisties and are unlock as you go along.

Some of the side quests in our new app are:

– Cartwheel

– Backwards Roll

– Butterfly

– Elevated Bridge

– Headstand

-Freestanding Handstand Pushup

SINGLE MOVES (VARIATIONS + TRANSITIONS)

“Single moves don’t have progessions. They include everything from one off moves eg a corow, variations of particular exercises, to connecting two different exercises (transitions) to connecting multiple exercises – what we call flow”

Some of the single skills that you will be learning inside the app:

VARIATIONS

-Pushup Variations eg. Aztec Pushup, X Pushup, Superman Pushup, Decline One Arm Pushup,

– Cartwheel Variations

– Pull Up Variations

– Handstand Variations

TRANSITIONS:

– Forward Roll to Handstand, Front Lever to Back Lever, Handstand to Planche, Handstand to Bridge etc

FLOW

– Combining Handstand to Bridge to Walk Over etc

ONE OFF MOVES

– eg Crow, Knee Scale, Grapevine, Bear Walk, Pike Jump

We are opening moves library to experienced trainers to create a filled with creativity library of different moves you can be learning

As you can see, the structure is there to keep fun and light approach while helping you safely push boundaries, stay playful but at the same time effective in your training.

READY TO GET ON TEH JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME?

See what our users are saying:

“Stick with it! It is hard at first, especially if you are stuck on a lower-level, high rep exercise. But persevering is worth it! Finally reaching each goal is so exciting.”