Proteins are often a source of debate, especially in regards to the world of bodybuilding and strength, where its importance is recognized and practitioners want to take advantage of its benefits to improve results. On the other hand, there are also many people who are not clear about what they are, what they are for, when to take supplements, etc. Therefore, in this article we will try to inform and clarify some questions in this regard.

Proteins are macromolecules made up of long chains of amino acids, if the chains of amino acids are small then they are called peptides or polypeptides. To be absorbed by the body, proteins must be broken down into amino acids during digestion in order to reach the bloodstream.

Amino acids can be classified in multiple ways, the most common being essential and non-essential. The essentials are necessary to include them in the diet to use them and the non-essentials can be manufactured by the body itself, so the conclusion is obvious that the most important are the essential amino acids, which can be found in the famous BCAA supplement.

Proteins are the nutrient with the greatest number of biological functions: structural, enzymatic, hormonal, regulatory, hemostatic, defensive, transporter, contractile, energetic, etc. Although all are vital, the function that tends to be of most interest in the field of bodybuilding is usually its muscular anabolic function, since proteins are an essential part of muscles and their growth / strengthening.

Athletes have high protein needs compared to non-athletes or sedentary people due to muscle wasting and other problems. It has been seen that endurance athletes can increase their protein needs to 1.4 g / kg / day, while in strength athletes and bodybuilders they can increase even more, up to 1.8 g. The general recommendation that is made in these cases is to ingest between 1.5 and 2g / kg per day.

There are more foods that can be just as effective, but here the most accessible and easy to get in a supermarket have been placed for daily food.

It is recommended to eat multiple meals with protein per day (either in the form of a meal or a supplement) so that the body has the necessary amino acids for as long as possible and takes place to make efficient use of them. There is no exact time or hour to do it, as long as the daily protein requirement is met.

Bioquímica Nutricional - José Mataix Verdú, Fermín Sanchez de Medina

All you need to know about proteins and suplements

One of the biggest advantages that calisthenics offers as a training method is 

the possibility of working your muscles and doing effective routines without the need for equipment

Although bar parks are characteristic of our sport, there are 

many people who train calisthenics at home

, simply doing exercises on the floor, on a wall, with a box and almost nothing else

But this approach has a small problem, back and biceps training. You see, using only the floor, the wall and some bench or box it is very easy to do super complete push workouts (pectoral, triceps, shoulders, upper trapezius), leg workouts, abdominal workouts, cardio workouts, and so on.

it is not so easy to train pull movements

 (back, biceps, middle and lower trapezius, posterior deltoids...), since normally this training is associated with traction work on a bar in the case of calisthenics.

But, this does not mean that it is impossible, and today 

we are going to see how to achieve an effective workout of these muscles without using equipment

, or with resources that we can find at home.

There is an exercise called scapular retractions on the floor, in which, lying face up, we press with our elbows to raise the upper part of the back.

With this movement we work the pulling muscles and, depending on whether we place the elbows closer to our side or further away, we will focus more on working the lats or on working the posterior deltoid and middle and lower trapezius, respectively.

The technique of this exercise can be a little complex at first. The most important thing to keep in mind is not to perform the movement by leading with the neck, but rather let the upper and middle back promote the movement of the head.

If it is very difficult for you, you can do it in an elevated position, using chairs or a sofa.

And if you want to add difficulty you can use pauses, slow negatives and you can also add weight to your chest.

One of the best exercises to work the pulling pattern in calisthenics, and one that we have especially recommended on previous occasions, is the Australian pull-ups, which consist of doing this pulling pattern on a low bar with your feet flat on the floor.

What interests us, in this case, is that with a pair of chairs or a sufficiently robust table you can perform this exercise, so that could be an option.

Check the chairs and tables, or any other substitute you can think of and check carefully if you can do Australian pull-ups using them as support, as it could be an optimal addition to your back routine without equipment.

In addition, you have a large number of variations, with which you can add difficulty and progress.

Another option is to use water bottles or other heavy objects such as dumbbells to do rowing and fly exercises. These are the classic exercises you would do with dumbbells at the gym but in a home version.

If you have elastic bands you can do different rowing and fly exercises with them, achieving a complete stimulus for all the pulling muscles.

 for a complete routine with the above exercises.

With all these options you can do a complete back workout at home. If you need other routines for all muscle groups you can look at our section of routines without equipment. I hope it helps you.

How to train your back at home without equipment + ROUTINE

The headstand is a variation that is often used in yoga and break dance, in which you place yourself in an inverted position supporting yourself with your hands and head. 

Compared to the normal handstand, it is a much simpler variation since these 3 supports make it easier to maintain balance.

 and someone told me that I should recommend this headstand as a progression to learn how to do the handstand since it is very necessary and helps a lot.

In today's article we are going to analyze if this is true, what advantages there are to practicing this handstand, what problems or disadvantages it can bring us, a small tutorial to do it and much more. Let's get started.

Let's first see what advantages practicing the headstand can bring you, the most important advantage being that 

it is much easier than the normal handstand.

This progression allows people who are still a long way from being able to do a normal handstand and do not have the necessary strength to do so to at least get into an inverted position and perform a trick that looks aesthetically pleasing and motivates them to continue advancing.

it teaches you to control your balance with your legs and core

. Learning to make small corrections and to have enough proprioception to not fall.

Now let's move on to the disadvantages, among which I would highlight the difference between controlling a normal handstand and a headstand.

You see, as we mentioned before, in a headstand you mainly use your hips, core and legs to balance your body and stay in the position without falling. However, 

in a normal handstand you will use your fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders to a greater extent than your hips and legs.

In this way we see that one exercise does not clearly transfer to the other, it is not a progression like in other movements, in which the progressions use the same muscles and patterns as the final versions but to a lesser extent. Instead, in this case different patterns are used.

I think you should be careful not to settle for doing this version as a progression to get the normal handstand and that's it, because it is not very useful to try to achieve it that way.

Another small drawback that the headstand has is the issue of the cervical vertebrae. In healthy people who do not have previous problems, who are not overweight and who do not repeat this movement too many times a day there would be no problem.

if you have ever had cervical problems or if you are overweight, you should be very careful or even avoid this exercise

. Also, even if you are healthy, you should not do too many repetitions a day, since it is a position that can be compromised for the area.

For those who want to learn how to do this movement, here's a quick mini tutorial.

Get on your knees on the floor and rest your head on top of it, placing your hands at your sides, not in line with your head, but a little further back.

Lift your knees and hips so that all the weight is on your hands and head.

Give a small, gentle push with your legs to lift them off the floor and control your balance with your hips and legs.

Once you're in position, you can play around with different leg movements.

Once you're able to do handstand push-ups thanks to the tutorial I recently posted, you'll be able to lift yourself from this position to a regular handstand.

In conclusion, the headstand is a simple exercise that has some uses to help you with the normal handstand, but it is certainly not necessary or essential to learn it. If you like this exercise and want to practice it, that's great, but if you're only interested in the normal handstand, there are other more useful progressions that you can do.

For more information, I recommend my other articles on handstands and the routines and training programs that we have on Calisteniapp, which by the way, we just released the new, updated version that I think you'll like a lot and will be very helpful.

Headstand: tutorial, advantages and disadvantages, is it worth to learn it?

Calisthenics training is usually quite gentle on the joints and very healthy in general, as long as it is well planned and no serious mistakes are made in technique or intensity selection. But, even so, there is a small percentage of 

people who can see their progress frustrated by the appearance of some pain, discomfort or injury.

In today's article we are going to see what is the protocol that I personally apply when I encounter a problem of this type to 

solve it as soon as possible, so that it does not affect my training and does not appear again in the future.

In my experience, the most common pains or injuries in calisthenics occur in the wrists, elbows, shoulders and the muscles peripheral to these joints. The protocol that I am going to describe below has helped me to eliminate problems of this type and prevent them from happening again, so let's see what it consists of.

To avoid issues of injuries, pain, discomfort, 

the simplest thing would be to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

 To do this, you have to try to make sure that your warm-up is complete and appropriate for the exercises you are going to do, that the intensity of your routine and the difficulty of the exercises is in line with your ability, that the technique of each exercise is adequate and that you have enough rest and recovery between sessions.

If you need examples of warm-up routines at Calisteniapp we have several, which you can consult 

 the most common cause of injuries in calisthenics is directly trying exercises that are still too difficult for your ability

, such as, for example, the typical case of beginners who try to do planche progressions. Or also, 

doing many repetitions of exercises that you still are not adapted to

, such as, for example, the case of people who have just achieved the muscle up and start doing dozens of repetitions in each workout.

So keep these factors in mind, as they can help you avoid any problems and that is more valuable than having to manage how to recover from the injury later.

But, if these tips come too late and you already have some discomfort or injury, we will continue with the following steps.

The first thing you should do if you suffer from any of these situations is to 

have a doctor or a physiotherapist analyze your case, give you a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment.

I think that, at the very least, it is important that you have one or two sessions with a physiotherapist, since this will give you a clear idea of ​​what you have, in addition to speeding up and facilitating recovery.

If, due to financial reasons or your personal situation, you cannot go to a professional, you can still take the following steps that I am going to explain, but obviously it would be under your responsibility.

When you go to the physiotherapist or doctor to treat your problem, 

insist on knowing clearly how you have to deal with the injury

it is important to know what rehabilitation and strengthening exercises he or she recommends.

In case you have not been able to go to a professional, you can look for these exercises on your own. Personally, a channel called 

 has helped me a lot. You can search for your specific injury and it will have several videos explaining how to avoid pain, heal and rehabilitate your injury. But, obviously, you also have many other quality resources from people with extensive knowledge that can help you.

 where you can find specific warm-up and preparation routines for different joints, mobility routines for specific areas and much more that will help you a lot, take a look.

Once you are clear about what exercises to do for your rehabilitation, you must do the following:

, removing all the exercises that cause you pain, discomfort and that you should not do because of your injury. Look for alternative exercises or give priority to other muscle groups.

 that you will do in each session including the rehabilitation and strengthening exercises for the affected area.

Plan a general idea of ​​when you plan to reintroduce problematic exercises

, if at all, and what simple progressions of these exercises you will try.

Now that you have your plan in place, it's time to execute it. 

Get into the habit of always warming up with your rehabilitation and strengthening exercises without fail

, and then do your pain-free routines that don't cause discomfort in the affected area.

You'll notice yourself improving, and after a reasonable amount of time, usually at least a couple of weeks, you could start to include the exercises you removed again, but, as we mentioned before, 

always with simple progressions to test whether they cause you pain or not

. If everything goes well, you could gradually increase the difficulty until you return to the level you were at before the injury, but this time safely.

If you see any clear signs of pain in the area, discomfort or a relapse of the injury, stop and start again

. If necessary, re-evaluate your planning and check if you need to modify anything.

I recommend that, even if some time passes and you notice that you have completely healed and are back to your previous level, you continue doing the exercises in the warm-up for at least one or two more months, to ensure that you strengthen the area well and prevent future problems. In my personal case, I have left some of these exercises in my warm-up forever, since I find them very useful and this way I make sure that I am well prepared in the joints that tend to suffer the most injuries.

With all that has been explained, you now have a complete protocol to deal with any problem you may have in your training. I hope it will be very helpful.

How to treat and heal INJURIES and PAIN in CALISTHENICS

Many people who want to train calisthenics look to combine it with some other sport. The most common cases in my experience tend to be martial arts, athletics and ball sports such as soccer or basketball.

Whether because that sport is their main occupation and goal or because they simply like it and don't want to stop practicing it, these people want to know 

how to correctly combine both disciplines and get better results

, so that is what we are going to analyze in this article.

we must be clear about is what goals we want to achieve with our combined training

. For example, it could be that your main objective is to be a great basketball player and with calisthenics you want to get a little more muscle and gain explosiveness or power. Or it could be that your goal is to be a great calisthenics athlete but be able to continue playing football on your neighborhood team on the weekends.

There are objectives that can be synergistic or complementary

. For example, if your sport is football and your goal with calisthenics is to have more strength and explosiveness in your legs, these are goals that complement each other very well. Or if your sport is martial arts and with calisthenics you are looking to gain some muscle mass and flexibility, they also combine perfectly. 

But there are also goals and sports that are contrary and do not complement each other as well.

You must clearly define what you want to give greater priority to, whether it is your sport or calisthenics

, since most of the time it is not viable or may not even be compatible to go to the maximum in both.

For example, to put an extreme case, if your goal is to gain the maximum amount of muscle mass possible with calisthenics, and at the same time you want to be a great marathon runner, it would not be viable.

We have also seen cases of bodybuilders who have wanted to combine it with soccer and, as I said, they have had to choose what to give priority to, since trying to be at the highest level in both was not possible.

Think of a general outline of your planning

Once we are clear about what we want to give priority to and what our goals are, it is time to be honest with ourselves and define how much time we have for each thing and how realistic it would be to carry out our planning.

Normally, if you train a sport such as martial arts, soccer, basketball, etc. you already have a number of weekly training sessions and games planned, so we would start from that point.

Knowing the weekly training sessions for your sport, how many calisthenics sessions could you do per week? How long could each session be? How realistic would it be to carry them out?

That is where you will have to make a decision, taking into account the priority you want to give to each thing and the time you have available.

For example, let's say you train martial arts 3 times a week. If your main priority is this sport, you could simply add two one-hour, medium-intensity calisthenics sessions on some of your free days, and that would be good enough to meet your goals.

But, if your real priority was to improve in calisthenics, you would have to try to fit in at least 3 or 4 calisthenics workouts, either using all of your free days, or some days training before or after your main sport and at a higher intensity.

If I train both on the same day, in what order do I do it?

Getting into the subject of whether to train before or after your sport, this would again depend on your goals and priorities, and the characteristics of both your sport and the calisthenics training you want to do.

Consider whether it is better for you to be fresher in your sport training or in calisthenics training, how tired you are after each, how this relates to your goals and priorities, and, taking all of this into account, decide.

Now that we have everything better reasoned, it is time to make your concrete planning. 

Define which days you are going to train both your sport and your calisthenics routines and, based on your objectives, define what you are going to train on each of the days.

For calisthenics goals secondary to the sport, such as the case of the athlete who only wants to gain a little muscle and be more agile, powerful, etc., I would recommend a general approach with full body routines, or a torso-leg division, or push-pull-leg. For more information on this and for more specific calisthenics objectives, you can review my other articles or be guided by the 

training programs that we have available on Calisteniapp

Finally, define a starting point for the calisthenics routines, which exercises and repetitions you are going to train at the beginning, based on your current level. If you have doubts about this, again, you can use the 

routines we have in Calisteniapp as a starting point.

when you advance in your training you must apply progressive overload

, so that you add reps, series, more difficult exercises, etc. and you don't always get stuck at the same point doing series of 10 pull-ups forever.

regulate the intensity based on your priorities

. For example, if your priority is basketball, you don't want to do calisthenics routines so intense that you arrive very tired or with very loaded muscles to your training or matches. And, on the contrary, if your priority is to improve in calisthenics, you can't do routines so soft that they don't generate an optimal stimulus for improvement.

Another important point is the issue of adherence. As I was saying before, you have to be realistic about the time you will have available to train, the days of the week you will be able to do it, and the desire and discipline you will have to do it. The more you adjust your training to these factors, the more likely you are to succeed.

With all these key points you should already have a defined program to combine your sport with calisthenics and achieve your goals. I hope it will be very helpful.

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