How To Get Your First Muscle Up!

The muscle up is one of the most iconic calisthenics movement, and put calisthenics on the fitness map.

Despite being very hard to achieve, it became somehow mainstream on social media and everyone wants to do it!

The secret is to break down the movement into different sections, and train them until you feel good with each move:

1. Start with the "take off" phase: practice lat pull downs, tuck levers, front lever raises
2. The pulling phase: practice lots of explosive pull ups (sets of 15+)
3. The transition phase from pulling to pushing: practice mid range hangs and short range pull ups
4. The pushing phase: practice single bar dips (sets of 15+)
5. Muscle up with bands: put everything together with a resistance, train until you "feel the movement" and get better at it, then start trying without the bands.

These are the main ingredients for success.

I put together a complete Muscle Up workout program in the app, so you can schedule...

Let's Talk About Problems

Let's face it, EVERY human on earth has problems.

Of EVERY kind.

Here I'll only address injuries, chronic pains, and posture deficiencies. The goal is to keep them MINOR, and reverse them.

I’ll only name a few but I trained with:

1. Broken toes 
2. A long term-chronic winging right shoulder blade (affects ALL overhead movements) 
3. A left elbow with a bursted bursa that will never heal (affects ALL pushing movements) 
4. Chronic tendonitis in the right arm from tennis (problematic for ALL grips). 
5. Right rotator cuff chronic pain due to too much serving at tennis (very inconvenient for ALL overhead movements)
6. Left slightly cracked knee cap skiing in my teens (affects knee bending capacity) 
7. Right ankle busted from a 8ft jump/fail skiing (affects ankle flexion)
8. I have a tendency for hyperlordosis (lower back arching syndrome) (affects ALL movements)
9. I also have constant tinnitus from making music for 20+ years (affects focus)
10. Over the...

My Favorite Calisthenics Superset!

It's busy season, so last week I shared my Vegas trip and how I managed to workout "on the go".

These days, I don't always have time to get the perfect workout.

That's when I like to use my favorite calisthenics superset: muscle up - dips - pull ups - core.

You can build up the reps as you want. I like the following splits:

• Ladder sets: 1 Muscle up/10 Dips /5 Pull ups, 2 Muscle Ups, 10 Dips...Up to 5 Muscle ups
• Straight sets: 3 Muscle up/5 Dips/5 Pull ups/5 sec Lsit x 5 sets

Keep your form as clean as possible on each rep.

Click here to watch one of my sets!

Nicolas

If you are new, click here to become a member!

How To Stay Healthy On A Business Trip In Las Vegas?

I just got back from a 3 day business trip in Las Vegas.

I think you can imagine the amount of things that can go wrong there.

But, there are also very simple things we can do to stay healthy and feel energetic, even in Vegas!

Today I will share my personal trip, schedule and tips, so you can use it whenever you have to go somewhere for work.

Day 1 - From LA to Las Vegas. 

The night before: 5 min nightly stretching routine (hips, shoulders, quads/hamstrings, back, wrists)

• 8 am: Wake up - 1 Big glass of water.
• 8:30am - Big breakfast, as always.
• 9:30 am - 11 am: Shower + work emails.
• 11:30am: Pack the car, pack the 12 Big Bottles of Fiji Water. Drive to Vegas.
• 4 pm: Get to Vegas. Drink water through the trip - Park, walk 2 miles, check in, drop luggages in the room, walk 2 miles back.
• 5 pm: Meeting the team at the Venetian expo hall, work until 6pm. 
• 6-7pm: 10 min stretching routine + shower.
• 8pm: dinner at the Italian...

3 Unconventional Calisthenics Moves For Strong Abs!

The most common mistake people make when training abs is using a single plane of motion, mainly the frontal plane, doing sit ups. 

This DOES NOT work.

The “Core” is a muscle chain you must train using MANY different angles, to tap into its full potential.

The core of the human body can bend forward, back, twist, go side to side, lift your legs, everything in between and much more.

Here are 3 unconventional calisthenics movements to add to your routine to build a well rounded and functional core muscles.

These moves are ideally performed on parallel bars or high parallettes. Click each link below.

Side straddles 

• Repetitions: 4-8 reps
• Sets: 3 sets

In’s and Out’s

• Repetitions: 10-12 reps
• Sets: 5 sets

Tucked Toe taps

• Repetitions: 8-10 reps
• Sets: 5 sets

I build ALL my programs following the rules and method I share with you weekly.

If you are new, click here to join the best calisthenics...

3 Shoulder Stretches You Need To Do!

I am 42 and have had chronic instabilities and weaknesses in my right shoulder since I was 20.

This is due to years of tennis over-training in my early days, coupled with the lack of proper prehab and conditioning at the time.

I am a great believer that without good healthy shoulders you can't achieve any proper workout results in the long term, no matter how strong you are.

Calisthenics is a great vehicle for mobility training as it requires to keep all joints at their optimal capacity.

The videos I am sharing here are a game changer. All you need is a wood stick.

Click below to check them out!

1. Shoulder/deltoid and arm/tricep stretch
2. Standing external shoulder rotation hold
3. Front shoulder release

As you know, mobility is key, so practice daily.

Let's go!

Nicolas

If you are new, click here to join the best calisthenics coaching program!

4 Things You Need For A Better Calisthenics Workout!

Working out is quite simple once you know the rules of the game.

Today, I wanted to talk about the 4 key elements that will make you better at working out, and get you results immediately.

1. Speed

There is no power without speed. You can have the most massive body, if there is no speed associated with it, the overall performance will suffer greatly.

Solution: always practice speed when you train. For example, go fast up on your pull ups and slower on the way down. Same for pretty much every movement.

Add plyometric exercises like sprints, jump lunges, wide jumps etc… to your leg day.

2. Mobility

This is what allows you to train with full range of motion, hence developing your full muscle mass.

Be able to move optimally is key to proper muscle development.

Solution: Daily focus on hips and shoulders first, then work on your smaller joints (wrists, knees, ankles). It takes 5 minutes per day.

I post mobility...

Have you ever heard of the fascia?

This is the most complex fabric ever explored!

And we are ALL made entirely of it.

Knowing more about it is a crucial way to understand how your body mechanics work and get more results with your calisthenics workouts.

Check out this great 30 min video to dive into your own body through microscope videos.

Click here to watch the video!

Nicolas

Start your calisthenics trial here if you are new.

How Many Calisthenics Repetitions Should You Do?

Have you ever asked yourself how many times you have to do an exercise? For how long? Which exercise?

A LOT of clients always wonder how to build a workout with calisthenics.

Today I am going to give you an easy way to figure it out.

Design your workouts around compound movements: pull ups, push ups, dips, squats and core hinges.

All variations of those moves are also compound movements.

Set the proper total amount of reps per day:

• Beginner: 100 reps
• Intermediate: 200 reps
• Advanced: 300 reps
• Master: 400+

Divide this amount equally between each exercise, each day.

Don’t train the same thing every day. 

Here is an example:

• Day 1: pull ups, push ups, core
  • Beginner: 30+ of each 
  • Intermediate: 60+ of each 
  • Advanced: 100+ of each 
• Day 2: pull ups, dips, core
• Day 3: Push ups, squats, core

Get my Free Beginner Calisthenics Workout Program here!

The Online Calisthenics programs are made to save...

You Don't Have To Count Macros!

Wether your goal is losing fat or building muscle, learning and understanding what you eat is the simplest, easiest and best way to get long term results.

The overall goal is to be in a calorie deficit for fat loss or calorie surplus to build muscle. You can also be in a calorie maintenance to maintain your current stats.

We ALL know when we eat too much or too little.

We just don't stop eating too much, while KNOWINGLY doing so! And swap bad foods with good foods!

Here is an easy method to estimate your daily calorie intake and see where you are compared to what you actually spend in a day.

1. Know how to differentiate macros and calories

There are 3 types of macro nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Some macros contain a different amount of calories:

• Proteins: 4 calories per gram
• Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram
• Fats: 9 calories per gram

Here is an ideal average split that you can use for your meal reference:

• 30% Proteins: they...