The Best Pull Ups For Strength!

If you can already to 15-20 clean pull ups, this is for you.

One of the best way to train weighted calisthenics is the drop set method.

This is a technique where you start with the hardest repetitions.

Do as many as you can.

Then you lower the weight, just a little, and try to add more repetitions than during the previous set.

And so on.

Rest 3-5 minutes between sets.

Here is the pull ups drop set I did last week while training with my friends in Venice Beach.

It took us about an hour to complete.

• + 115 lbs x 1 
• 90 x 3 x 2 
• 85 x 3
• 70 x 3
• 60 x 5
• 55 x 5
• 45 x 6
• 35 x 6
• 25 x 10
• 10 x 10
• 0 x 13
• Bodyweight rows x 23

Our backs felt good after this one!

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How To Do Advanced Pull Up Shrugs

The "Arched" Scapula Pulls or "Hollow Back" pulls are great to strengthen your back.

This a rather advanced movement which goal is to control your mid-back extension through the shoulder blade shrug pull. 

So do not attempt if you are a beginner or lack proper back strength and mobility.

You have to guide the whole movement through your glutes, core, mid-back and shoulder blades.

Make sure to externally rotate your shoulders, by trying to "bend the bar" as you pull.

Performing this move requires good back-core strength, and overhead mobility foundations!

This exercise is also great improve front and back lever control.

Here is another exercise you can do to get a better front lever and overall back strength!

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From 3 to 8 Pull Ups In Less Than 3 Months!

Pull ups are a staple calisthenics skill to master, before moving up to harder moves.

So if you are currently learning how to do do pull ups or how to get better at it, this is for you!

I started training Danielle less than 3 months ago. 

She could then do almost 3 pull ups. She can now do 8 pull ups!

The initial goal was simple: get better at pull ups. 

We set a goal to reach 10 by the end of the year. I think she can even get to 12.

Here is what we did during the last 3 months to more than double her pull ups:

• Daily training with the Online Calisthenics Level 2 program
• Scapular mobility, with an emphasis on shoulder blade shrugs for elevation, abduction and retraction.
• Classic pull up sets
• Band assisted pull ups
• Isolated shoulder blade work with light bands and sticks, in all directions. 
• Isometric holds at various angles in the pull up to strengthen the full range of motion.
• Push up shrugs
• Wrist conditioning drills...

Try This Quick Calisthenics Pull Ups and Push Ups Challenge!

I wanted to try a quick calisthenics challenge: do 50 pull ups and 100 push ups, as fast as possible.

It's way more challenging than it sounds.

The hard variable is time. Trying to complete all the repetitions in a short time is where it gets tricky.

Your rest time is minimum and each repetition gets harder as you go.

1- For the pull ups, I split the sets as follow: 10-10-10-5-5-5-5

My time for the pull ups was: 6min 40 sec.

I started pretty good on the first 3 sets of 10, with about 20-30 sec rest in between. Things started getting tough around the last 2 sets of pull ups where I had to struggle my way up.

Here is how to get better at pull ups if you are getting started!

I took about a minute to reset the tripod between pull ups and push ups.

2- For the push ups, I did: 30-25-20-15-10

My total time after the push ups was: 9 min 50 sec.

While the goal was to rest as little as possible, my form started to suffer after my...

The Most Controversial Pull Ups!

In case you are wondering, I am talking about the “Behind the Neck Pull ups”.

I have had many people ask me if they were safe to do.

The answer is yes! But it’s only good If you are strong enough to back it up.

It's actually recommended to work towards it. Indeed, this will imply you work towards getting bullet proof shoulders.

So how to perform the Behind the neck properly?

Make sure to keep your shoulders externally rotated at the top of the pull up. That's a key point. Don’t let your elbows go too high or far behind you. Keep them as close to you as possible.

Otherwise you will most likely feel a pinch in your shoulder and could end up impinging it.

You also need to keep a tight core and hollow body position as you perform the move. 

Go for 5 reps x 5 sets. Add isometric holds and adapt rep count depending on your level.

What if you can’t do it yet?

I could not do those either when I started, so I...

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.

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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, seeing...

Become An Expert at Pull Ups!

Do pull ups. All day, everyday. For the rest of your life.

It doesn't mean you have to do the same workout everyday. But the back is very often over looked and under trained!

So practice pulling in all forms and shapes as much as you can. 

Lifting your body off the ground and the ease at which you do it, is one of the best fitness and strength test out there.

I have seen many great pro athletes struggling with pull ups. 

My point is that this is a hard skill for just EVERYBODY. 

That doesn't mean dont' do it. This means train more and get good at it!

Become a Pull up expert!

Here is how:

• If you are starting your calisthenics journey, use easier variations such as Australian row, pull ups with band assistance or high bar shrug pull ups.
• If you are progressing into more advanced variations, add more reps, use harder moves such as typewriter pull ups. Use pyramid and ladder training to apply progressive overload.
• If you are...

Prioritize Your Back Muscles!

The most important things are often the ones you can't see.

A common illusion was set by the over marketed fitness industry, letting most people wanting big chests, big biceps and square abs. All of these are fine, besides the fact that this needs to start with a shredded back.

Back muscles are usually underrated and underworked. However they are the most important muscle chain in the upper body.

Besides all the functional benefits from having a solid back (this would require an entire bio-mechanic blog post), this muscle chain is also in charge of keeping your spine happy, which holds your skull, which contains your brain. 

Needless to explain further why a strong back matters.

Here is how to make pull ups and pulling variations a staple component of your workout routines!

The First Ever Venice Beach Calisthenics Games 2023!

Mark your calendars for the exciting Venice Beach Calisthenics Games 2023 on July 29th!

The entire beach will be transformed into a giant summer camp, filled with energy.

And here's the best part – it's a FREE event, open to everyone who wishes to participate.

Prepare for a great "sets and reps" competition, where the ultimate challenge is to perform as many repetitions of each exercise as possible without taking a break.

The competitor with the cleanest and most repetitions will be crowned the champion!

The primary focus is on executing each move with impeccable form, which means that bad form reps will not count. To guarantee fairness, our judges will be present to carefully assess each participant's performance.

Here the list of movements for the competition:

•  Max Pull-ups
•  Max Dips
•  Max Push-ups
•  Max Handstand Hold
•  Max L-sit Hold
•  Max Deadhang Hold

You can pick up to 3 movements you wish...