Is Calisthenics the Best Form of Fitness?

Absolutely, without a doubt.

And I can explain.

The origin of the word calisthenics traces back to ancient greek and literally means “Beautiful Strength”. 

During that era, mastering bodyweight movements was synonymous with achieving true physical power, and even gladiators honed their prowess through these techniques.

I view calisthenics as a central discipline encompassing all movements that solely rely on the body's intrinsic abilities.

Sprinting, running, dancing, swimming, boxing, martial arts, animal movement, and so much more are part of “Beautiful Strength”.

It’s the most complete and free form of training: you train resistance and cardio during 70-80% of your training sessions. 

The exception occurs when you train skills. 

Calisthenics can be defined as bodyweight training and street gymnastics system with it’s own practice code, form and tricks. 

You do not need any equipment at all to start and even to get good at it. 

If ...

Here is my updated Calisthenics blog posts list!

Wether you are a beginner or more advanced, you will find practical information for you to thrive with calisthenics.

The posts are sorted out by topic:

• Full body workouts
• Upper body
• Lower body
• Push ups
• Pull ups
• Core
• Skills
• Nutrition
• Stretching and mobility
• Cardio
• Mindset
• Workout tips

Here is the full list, including links to each post.

Let's go!

The Real Secret to Happiness?

You might have heard of dopamine, a hormone that plays a vital role to “feel happy”.

Dopamine neurons, the brain cells responsible for producing the neurotransmitter dopamine, have long been associated with reward, motivation, and motor control. However, recent research has uncovered surprising functional diversity within these neurons, challenging previously held assumptions. A groundbreaking study utilized cutting-edge techniques to delve deeper into this diversity and shed light on the distinct roles of different dopamine neuron subtypes.

Unraveling the Complexity

In this study, researchers investigated dopamine neurons through a molecular lens, focusing on subtypes defined by specific gene expression patterns. One previously known subtype, characterized by the expression of Aldh1a1, was found to exhibit functional diversity within itself. This prompted researchers to employ single-nucleus transcriptomics, a technique that examines gene expression w...

Fix Rounded Shoulders: Ultimate Guide to Correcting Poor Posture!

Don't buy into the quick-fix posture solutions you see marketed every day.

Braces, ergonomic chairs, chiropractors; while they might provide temporary relief, they're simply bandaids for deeper issues.

In this guide, I'll show you how to truly fix your rounded shoulders and achieve a stronger, healthier posture through natural primal movement and daily stretching.

1. How Do Rounded Shoulders Develop?

Rounded shoulders are typically the result of prolonged poor posture, often related to sitting at a computer or desk job or extensively using a smartphone or tablet. Essentially, your chest muscles become tight and your back muscles weaken, causing your shoulders to hunch forward.

2. What Are the Health Risks of Rounded Shoulders?

Besides causing a hunched, unhealthy appearance, rounded shoulders can lead to inability to walk or run properly, chronic back and neck pain, headaches, and potentially even thoracic outlet ...

The Missing Link: Easy Calisthenics To Burn Your Abs!

Twisting is often the missing link when it comes to core training.

This very simple move is a great weapon to address that. It will fire your entire core and overall upper body.

The overhead portion is crucial part of the movement and helps to address most of the range of motion of the shoulder.

It fires the core, the back and the arms intensively.

I really like to to these with a resistance band but first let’s start with bodyweight variation.

And it’s very simple!

Stand strong in a semi-wide stance, brace your core, squeeze your glutes and tilt your pelvis back.

Keep both arms in the hanging position, along side you, but maintain a strong contraction with fists closed.

Then start driving your right hand to the upper left corner.

Drive the movement through your core and lats first, then your arm.

Finish the move with a full lat upward extension.

The goal is to try to reach as high as possible while being in the core twi...

I Haven't Trained in 6 Months.

Ok, let's address the clickbait title – yes, I have been training, but my focus has shifted to what I call the "small work" for the last 6 months. 

This involves paying attention to the small details, joint mobility, movement patterns, and precision in my workouts.

One of the key elements of my routine has been mixing 3 days of bodyweight and light band specific work sessions, with 3 days of hard weighted calisthenics sessions where I strictly focus on compound movements.

I put a lot of emphasize on leg work during the weighted sessions (2 leg sessions + 1 full body session).

The bands, on the other hand, have been great in addressing the health of my shoulder blades and the transversal plane of my back.

They have allowed for fuller and more controlled scapular movements/shrugs, and I've varied the set-ups to target different angles. 

I've also mixed in exercises like scapula movements, planks and shrugs variations. 

Here is a simple “small work” ...

Don't let anything stop you.

You have to build your own mindset, and you can not wait for it to just happen.

Calisthenics training is a great metaphor for life. Use it or loose it. 

When I had to deal with an injury on my right hand for close to 3 months, I wasn’t able to train any real calisthenics pulling or hanging during that time.

So i focused on everything else (pushing, core, legs). 

I was seeking feedback from my body when pain lowered down. Working out promotes overall healing.

I was focusing on how my movements were affected by my limitation and how I could work around it. 

Whatever movement you can not perform because of an injury, here are some tips to keep going:

• Work what's around the injury
• Work on the side or part that is not injured
• Focus on overall compound movement training
• Substitute full body movements with light band exercises alternative

In this muscle up video, my right injured pinky finger is healing and almost not squeezed at all.

I am testing...

Use Explosive Calisthenics to Break Plateaus!

Explosive training is one of the calisthenics secrets.

It will take your skills and strength to the next level.

The regular "workouts" that most people follow, often lacks fast and athletic training.

You can apply speed training to all calisthenics movements.

But push ups are the best way to start working on explosive strength. 

Incorporating fast and controlled movements to your workouts is great to build overall athleticism. Speed and explosive power are important components of success in many sports. The ability to move at multiple levels of speed, at just the right time is critical to success within any game.

Speed and precision are essential features to develop functional strength and muscle endurance. This allows our bodies to learn how to repeat an intense and quick effort over a longer period of time than what we are used to. It is also a great tool to increase and fine tune mental calibration.

You will build very responsive...

Venice Beach Calisthenics Knock Out Competition!

Check out some highlights of this Calisthenics Knock Out style competition!

This was a lot of fun!

Each participant got a 3 min round to get the most points out of there run (tricks, statics, style). 

Each apparatus had to be dismounted, meaning you had to make an “exit” out of it. For example, do a flip, or any sort of cool tricks to exit the apparatus and move to another one.

Each participant was stopped whenever they failed at a dismount or had to redo a trick. 

The round was ended and moved on to the next participant, and so on.

Watch some great Live replays here!

Use these timestamps:

1- Dan: 0:00

2 - Participant 2: 3:40

3 - Mark: 2:42

4 - Emy 1:12

It was a great day in Venice Beach with amazing calisthenics performances.

Get ALL calisthenics programs and coaching here if you are new!

Venice Beach Calisthenics Games - Results & Replay!

The Venice Beach Calisthenics Games took place last Saturday and the results are in!

The Sets and Reps Competition had about 50 participants (men and women) competing for the most reps possible in pull ups, push ups and dips.

Form had to be clean for the repetitions to be counted as valid. 

Each movement had to be performed with full range of motion (elbow lock out) and in one go (no pause or stopping allowed).

Some really strong athletes took part in the event! The rules were strict with everyone.

And the results are here!

Men's winners

• Pull ups: 29
• Push ups: 75
• Dips: 60

Women's winners

• Pull ups: 12
• Push ups: 39
• Dips: 18

These numbers are solid given that no breaks were allowed at all! Any repetition that wasn't clean was NOT counted. 

Overall the energy was really high the whole day.

The afternoon was the amateur freestyle session!

Watch some cool tricks in the IG Live Replays here!

It was a great time, se...