5 Reasons Why People Often Struggle to Achieve Their Fitness Goals!

Today, we're going to discuss the main reasons why people often struggle to achieve their desired results in their fitness journey.

It's common for individuals to feel motivated at the beginning of the year, or when they decide to adopt a healthier lifestyle and set resolutions to improve themselves. 

However, somewhere along the way, they tend to fall short and struggle to reach their goals. In my experience, this lack of progress has five main reasons. So, let's delve into them.

The first reason many people fail to achieve their desired results is quite simple: they don't train enough. 

When starting any form of training, it's often recommended to begin slowly and gradually increase intensity. While this approach is important, once you've familiarized yourself with the movements and techniques, it's crucial to ramp up your training. You don't need to wait years to see progress; instead, increase...

How To Get Strong Wrists and Boost Your Calisthenics Workouts!

These tips often go unnoticed and are often neglected by many individuals, which unfortunately hinders their results.

By incorporating these tips into your calisthenics routine, you can maximize your potential and achieve better outcomes. 

Let's begin with wrists warm up stretches.

Whether you're performing pulling exercises, pushing movements, or lifting dumbbells, your wrist and grip strength play a significant role in your overall strength. It enables you to achieve a maximum range of motion and maintain proper form during exercises. To enhance your wrist strength, here are four essential wrist stretches that you can perform before any workout.

The first stretch involves placing your hands in a straightforward position, similar to the position you would assume during a push-up. Stay on your knees, keep your fingers and thumbs spread apart, roll around your wrists, maintain forward-facing elbows, and keep your...

10 Best Calisthenics Exercises for Lower Abs From Beginner To Advanced!

Today, we're going to focus on targeting the lower abs.

Many people try various exercises and routines to work on their core and achieve a flat stomach. In this session, I want to share the best exercises to specifically target the lower abs and explain how they work.

Before we dive into the exercises, let's briefly talk about the anatomy of the abs to give you a better understanding of what you're working on. The abs consist of different layers of muscles, but people often focus on the superficial layer, known as the rectus abdominis, which is engaged during crunches and similar movements. However, it's important to also target the underlying muscles, such as the obliques that allow for lateral and twisting motion and the transverse abdominis that provides a strong foundation for the rest of the muscle groups.

To effectively engage the lower abs, one simple cue is to lift your legs. By raising your legs, you...

6 Calisthenics Legs Exercises To Boost Speed and Athleticism!

Today, we will discuss athletic leg workouts, which are crucial for enhancing speed and athleticism.

Do NOT neglect explosive movements, particularly when focusing on the legs.

Activating fast-twitch muscle fibers can provide significant benefits, amplifying the results of your efforts in the long run. Additionally, incorporating explosive exercises adds a cardio element to your routine, promoting overall progress and a stronger physique.

Let's break down some of the best calisthenics leg exercises to increase speed and enhance athleticism.

First, jump squats.

Start in a squat position with your hands in front of you and jump using your legs to propel yourself upwards while extending your arms behind you. Aim to achieve a straight body position in the air before landing with your hands in front of you, aiding balance and allowing for a deeper squat.  Jump up with your body fully off the ground,...

2 Ways to Make Your Calisthenics Workouts Harder!

There are many ways to change and vary your workouts to keep making progress!

Here are some of my 2 favorite methods to make ANY exercise and workout set harder.

First, the "1.5 rep" technique.

This consists in doing "one and a half repetition" of an exercise instead of one repetition, each time during the set.

Let’s take the example of a squat.

From the standing starting position you do a full negative squat, then from the bottom of the squat you only complete half of the phase up, then go back down right away, and finally go back all the way up to the starting position.

It works for every movement and will tremendously increase the difficulty of each set.

You can also mix “1.5 rep sets” with normal sets and alternate. 

You may also only apply this technique to specific exercises, areas you want to emphasize during your workouts. 

Now let's talk about the "Paused reps"...

21 Calisthenics Exercises You Can Do Anywhere!

Let’s go over 21 different exercises you can do at the park or at home.

These drills don't require a pull up bar and are great for beginner and intermediate level.

All you need is a simple jump rope (for a cardio warm up) and a light resistance band.

Here is the workout summary with the time stamps.

1/ Jump rope - 6 Variations

-Classic jump with both legs and alternating legs on every jump

-One foot jump: jump with one foot only

-Heel to toe: on each jump tap your toe behind your and your heel in front of you on the next jump. Switch foot every other jump.

-Ins and outs: jump from a narrow stand to a wide stand on every other jump 

-Knee highs: bring your knee up on every jump

-Double unders: pass the rope twice under your feet on every jump.

I suggest aiming for about four minutes of jumping rope. If you're unable to do four minutes straight, you can break it down into four sets of one minute each. Alternatively, you...

6 Calisthenics Push Ups For Chest And Triceps!

Here are 6 push ups variations that will help you target the chest and triceps at home. 

These home chest and triceps workout sets are good for intermediate calisthenics practitioners.

You can also use them if you are an "advanced"  beginner and want to break a plateau in your push up training.

There are a lot of different push ups and this selection is an introduction to more. This is made to trigger more angles and add variations to your traditional push up routine. 

Use these alternatives in your workout sets. You can also add isometric holds at the end of each set. Calisthenics allow us to train at any level so this bodyweight chest workout without equipment can be used by everyone.

1/ Neutral grip, fist push ups: doing push ups with your fists closed helps building forearm strength along with more direct impact on the triceps and chest. We are pushing with less surface than the palm of the hand so this adds an extra...

What Is a Muscle Chain and How To Activate it With Calisthenics?

Today, we're going to discuss the concept of movement and muscle chains and how they relate to calisthenics.

It's crucial to understand that the body functions as a unit, where everything is interconnected. Even the simplest movement, like moving your foot, involves the coordination of various body parts, such as the hips and ribcage, not just the leg.

So, let's delve deeper into what muscle chains are. A muscle chain, also known as a kinetic chain, refers to the interrelation of the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems, working together to produce movement. It comprises groups of body segments, connecting joints and muscles, that collaborate to perform specific movements. There are five main chains: the upper chain, lower chain, anterior chain, posterior chain, and the spiral chain, which links everything together around the body.

For instance, the spiral chain connects the left foot to the right shoulder. Other...

Transform Your Core: No-Equipment Calisthenics Workout!

Today, we're going to talk about the core. 

And more specifically calisthenics exercises that require no equipment and will get you great results!

The core is not only one of the most vital sections of our body but also the foundation for our movements. Unfortunately, it's often misunderstood, and many people struggle to see results when training their core. Today, I want to provide you with explanations on what to do and how to do it, without any equipment, at any level. 

We'll begin with dynamic standing knee raises. 

During this exercise, it's crucial to lift your knees higher than your hips. The goal is to work your core by lifting your legs as high as possible, to your chest if possible! 

Aim for 10-20 reps x 3 sets. You can adjust the sets and reps according to your fitness level, gradually increasing the intensity.

Next, we have the basic butt kickers, which are similar to the knee raises except...

My Favorite Lower Back Calisthenics Release Technique!

Have you heard of the hip flexors?

This is a muscle group that is usually underrated and tight due to excessive sitting and/or lack of stretching.

They are usually never really addressed wether in workout programs or stretching.

So here is a simple yet very effective technique to release your hip flexors.

If you do a good amount of leg, core and lever work (which you should), this will be a game changer habit.

Think about it as "hanging from your hips".

It will also relax the rest of your body, including your lower back, spine and shoulders.

Watch the video here to see the full sequence!

Go for 2 minute rounds (or however long you can hang, and work your way up).

Make sure to breathe steadily through the hold.

Usually 1 round is enough. 

Sometimes 2 rounds with 2-3 minute rest between each round.

Use it as often as needed.

Let's go!

Nicolas

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