In calisthenics, abs workouts are usually done in the same way, always following the same typical exercises (plank, crunch, knee raises, L-sit raises...). This creates a decompensation problem that hinders optimal abdominal training. In this article, we will explain how to correct this decompensation and its problems, and how to optimize our abs workouts.

Anatomy of the psoas and rectus abdominis

On the one hand, the psoas is a biarticular muscle responsible for the hip flexion.

On the other hand, the rectus abdominis is responsible for the trunk flexion and the pelvic retroversion.

The typical exercises used in calisthenics to work the abdominal area (knee raises, toes to bar, etc.), require more effort from the psoas (the hip flexors), which causes decompensation.

The decompensation of the psoas causes an anterior traction that accentuates the lumbar hyperlordosis and the shearing of the last vertebrae. This causes low back pain and triggers the erectors of the back. Broadly speaking, it can be said that the decompensation of the psoas causes poor posture that leads to pain in the lower back.

EXERCISES TO WORK ON DECOMPENSATION: how to work the rectus abdominis without involving the psoas too much

As we have seen, most calisthenics athletes tend to have the psoas much more exercised than the abs, which causes decompensation. This goes against our goals, since we usually want to exercise the abs, and not the psoas. Down below, we are going to see some exercises that specifically target the abs.

A more advanced version would be with the legs extended. They do not need to be completely straight, they can be slightly bent. However, it is a bit more difficult and it is more complicated that the hip does not move.

It is a variation of the typical abdominal plank, but with a little spinal flexion to work well the abs and not focus so much on the psoas. We place ourselves in a push-up position as if we were going to hold in an isometric position; we flex the spine and hold on there.

, one for each level, which include these exercises to work on that decompensation, to achieve our goals, to improve body posture and to train optimally. In addition, the 

 also includes these exercises to work on lumbar hyperlordosis.

How to train the abs in an optimal way

One of the situations that can slow down our progress in training are “involuntary” breaks, for example when we go on 

 and we do not have access to our usual training place, 

 and we do not have much time to train or when we have 

 or other responsibilities.

Most of the time these situations are a relatively valid excuse for not training, and few people will reply to you about your decision. But if we analyze it carefully we will see that it is an excuse and that 

you could really continue training quite effectively, managing to at least lose very little of your progress, sometimes even improving or continuing to progress towards your goals.


It must be taken into account that sometimes a break is necessary and productive, for example if you have been training well and intensely for months and now you have a week in which you go on vacation, it may be a good idea to take it as a relief and to not train during that week. But if you have not been training so intensely, or the duration of the break is going to be longer than that, then I would recommend that you not stop for so long, and that you follow the advice that I am going to give you right now so that you can continue achieving your goals even if you are in another place or have little time.



Approach for a minimalist training when you have little time


as long as you give an intense stimulus to the muscles you want to work, it doesn't matter where, how, when or for how long you do it

. If you want to train your chest, it doesn't matter whether you do it with a state-of-the-art gym machine, with weighted dips, or with some simple push-ups on the floor. 

If you give it the right stimulus, the muscle will respond the same


To do this you just need to take into account what resources you have, and how you can use them in the time you have available. Normally, if you are traveling, you may only have the floor, and at most a bench and a wall. No problem, 

the versatility of calisthenics allows you to do good workouts without any equipment

.

I am going to give you examples of training that you can do without material and in less than 20 minutes for any type of situation:



Example of a minimalist routine without material in 20 minutes or less


, do 3 sets of push-ups, almost reaching muscle failure, in a progression in which with less than 30 reps you are already close to that failure. For some people it may be with regular push-ups, or even knee-supported push-ups, but for others they may need to add extra difficulty, for example by adding explosiveness, or adding pauses in the bottom part of the movement.

* For 

, do 3 sets of Bulgarian squats in a progression that takes you close to failure in less than 30 reps. For example, you can do them by adding explosiveness and a pause.

* For 

 you can use a table, chairs or any place where you can hang to do Australian pull-ups. Again, add difficulty with pauses or explosiveness so that you can do 3 sets of less than 30 reps, reaching close to failure.

For all these routines, use breaks of between 2 and 3 minutes between sets.

With this you would have a complete workout that you could do in less than 20 minutes a day and without material. At least you should train 3 times a week and if you want to train more days you can cycle them or add extra exercises.



If you also have more material available or more time, you can now add more complexity and variety. But with this routine I just gave you, you have an example of what would be the most basic thing to at least give a good stimulus to the entire body.

If your training is focused on skills, it will be a good time to focus on ground tricks that you can train perfectly without equipment, such as the planche or the handstand. And if you want to train pulling skills like the front lever or the muscle up, you will have to adapt to the material you have, and again you can find a way to at least train the muscles involved in these movements.

In conclusion we can say that being on a trip, on vacation, with a lot of work or having little time is no excuse for not training, and with only 20 minutes or even less you can get an intense workout without material, that you can do anywhere and that will At least allow you to maintain your fitness level, if not even improve it, until you can return to training normally.

Remind you that in Calisteniapp we have a section of 

 where we have more than 100 free routines that can help you. Also for pro users we have a variety of 

programs and smart progress that can be done without material


I hope this article helps you a lot,

Yerai Alonso

Minimalist Calisthenics training - How to do it in less than 20 minutes with no equipment

Normally when you start calisthenics, in the first few months, you usually see rapid and constant progress. But, from there, it is no longer so simple and there may be stages of stagnation for different reasons.

The most common way to try to overcome these plateaus is to improve training, changing exercises, trying to improve your planning, dedicate more days, try other routines, etc. 

But there are other reasons that can affect and to which you may not be paying as much attention

. So in this article we are going to see those ignored reasons and how to solve them so that you can continue moving forward without problems.



Your calisthenics plateau may be due to your own body weight


One of the most limiting factors for progress in calisthenics is the body weight of the person practicing it

. This is obvious, since it is the weight that you have to move in the different exercises. But in my experience there are people who refuse to see it or have a very biased view of reality.

For example, it has happened to me several times to try to make a person understand that if they want to progress they must reduce their body fat percentage, since this is extra weight that contributes nothing. Upon hearing this, the person seems like they don't want to talk about that topic, they try to change the conversation to training topics, or they refuse to accept that reality, implying that "

”. No, it is not your legs that weigh you down a lot, it is the accumulated fat that you have in your body that weighs you down.


For a calisthenics athlete the optimal fat percentage is low

. Obviously not reaching bodybuilder levels, but a low fat percentage in which the abs are easily visible. Normally, based on the general view that exists today in the fitness world regarding what each percentage of fat looks like, we would say that we are talking about between approximately 8 and 12%.



If your fat percentage is higher than that, you should know that it may be one of the limiting factors to your progress

. If you are doing it intentionally because you want to bulk up and gain muscle that's fine, no problem, but you should know what that entails.

Therefore, 

what I recommend at this point is that you analyze objectively, being as honest as possible and avoiding biases if your fat percentage is really optimal or if you are a little overweight

. You could even ask your training partners for honest opinions to make sure you're not being less than objective.



Your stagnation in Calisthenics may be due to using very short rest times



You may think this topic is trivial but it is much more important than it might seem.



In my experience there are many people who use very short rest times, or completely random rest times.



For example, if you are trying to progress in the muscle up and you start making attempts, but between each attempt you only leave 30 seconds of rest, it is clear that you are not going to perform well, and you are not going to progress at all.



You must know that the only thing short rest times are good for is to work on endurance and cardio

. But to progress in hypertrophy, intermediate rest times are required and to progress in strength, long rest times are required. And when we talk about progressing in exercises such as planche, front lever, muscle up, etc. We are talking about progressing in strength, so you need long rest times.



I say that this is important because I have encountered it very frequently, people who say that they do not progress in an exercise and then it turns out that they attempt non-stop with little rest time between them.

There are people who don't like standing doing nothing in the park or in the gym, and their body asks them to do things all the time, not to rest without doing anything, but to progress in strength you have no other choice.

In fact, 

I recommend that you check the rest times with your watch or mobile phone so that you make them exact

, because another factor that I often see is people who take random rest times. When they are alone and bored they rest little, but suddenly if they have someone to talk to and they are entertained, or if they are looking at social networks on their cell phone, they take breaks of 10 minutes or more. In this way, what you achieve is that your progress is also random, and you cannot work seriously to achieve your goals.



Get used to taking intermediate breaks when you are training hypertrophy, and long breaks when you are training strength

 and have no problem standing still doing nothing, use that time to visualize your next attempt, to meditate or for whatever you want.



Your stagnation in Calisthenics may be due to not registering your workouts nor doing progressive overload



I have already highlighted this error from time to time in other articles and I hope that many of you are already clear about it, but even so it never hurts to repeat it again. 

You must keep a record of your training and apply progressive overload.



If you always go to the park and do a routine that you have saved in a screenshot from 8 months ago and you always do it the same, with the same sets, repetitions and exercises, don't complain that you don't progress. If you always go to the park and do “a few dips, pull-ups and push-ups” always in the same sets of 10, 15 or 20 repetitions, without measuring anything at all or trying to improve any mark on anything, do not complain that you are not making progress. If you always go to the park and do the routine that one of your friends is doing, with their sets and repetitions, don't complain that you're not making progress.


It's as simple as using a note on your phone, a notebook, or an Excel on your computer to keep track of what routines you're doing, writing down whether you're successfully completing them or not, and making the necessary adjustments so you can gradually move forward.

 By increasing repetitions, or increasing sets, increasing the difficulty of the exercises, making more advanced progressions, or any combination of these factors, so that your routines in 2 months are more intense and difficult than your routines today, and they are not exactly the same.

I take this opportunity to tell you that in the new update that we are going to launch of Calisteniapp you will have a training calendar in which you will be able to record everything, with notes that you will be able to add to each routine to explain all the details that you consider necessary. These features will be available for free to all users so check them out.

I hope it helps you a lot, that you progress steadily towards your goals.

Yerai Alonso

If you are not progressing in Calisthenics, it may be because of this "hidden" factors


One of the branches of calisthenics that is growing more widely in recent years is 

. Consisting of doing basic calisthenics exercises such as pull-ups, dips, muscle ups or squats with added weight.

In my opinion, Street Lifting seems like an incredible sport, since 

it combines aspects of calisthenics and Powerlifting creating a spectacular result

. Starting from the basis of body weight control exercises such as basic calisthenics movements, 

we add the factor of maximum strength when using added weight, but, to obtain the best results, you are obliged not to have excess body fat since this It would worsen your performance

 in all exercises except the squat.

Therefore, 

we get incredibly strong athletes who maintain Streetlifter demigod physiques and lift brutal weights

. In the case of the best in the world, it is normal for them to lift significantly more than their own body weight in pull-ups and several times their body weight in dips. We even already have cases of athletes who lift a good part of their own body weight in muscle up.



Other positive aspects of Streetlifting are that 

it allows you an easier progression in the different exercises, as you just have to try to be able to lift more weight over time

. And that, for those who don't want to complicate things, 

allows you to give your legs a good stimulus

, because if you want to be a good athlete in this sport you have to have squat PRs worthy of a Powerlifter, so it is rare to see Streetlifters who are unbalanced and have chicken legs.


Preparation: minimum requirements for weighted pull-ups and weighted dips

To start with the tutorial, let's see what I recommend as a basic level before starting to train with added weight.

From my point of view 

it is evident that you must have a certain experience and level doing the exercises in their bodyweight version before starting to add extra weight to them

. Specifically, to have a reference scale, I would say that in pull-ups you must be able to do at least 10, and in dips about 12, and, in both cases, have been working at that level for at least 3 months, so that your connective tissue is adapted to those exercises.



Preparation: learn the technique for weighted pull-ups and weighted dips


Once you have that initial level, I recommend that, 

before adding extra weight, you review and learn the details of the technique, so that you get off to a good start

. For this you have articles in which I talk about this topic like 


Preparation: necessary material for weighted calisthenics


Finally, before adding extra weight to your exercises, 

you should know how you are going to add that weight

The most common is to buy a weight belt with a chain, and put discs on it

. But there are other options that are often used, such as climbing ropes, martial arts belts or any other solution that allows you to hang weight from your waist.


there is also the option of weighted vests, backpacks and more

. The problem is that normally these solutions do not allow you to increase to higher weights when you already have more experience, so they can help you at first, but over time you will have to look for another option. Regarding weight, more of the same, when you require little weight you can use bricks, stones, water jugs or anything that has a certain weight and you can hang on, and over time, when you are more advanced you will require discs or kettlebell to be able to work with heavier weights.


Once you have the required level without weight and you know the basics of the technique of weighted exercises, we can start using extra weight. 

I recommend starting with very little weight, with 2.5 or 5 kilos at most (5 to 10 lb), depending on your level

. And work in strength sets, between 1 and 5 repetitions. If you see that with that weight you can do 5 repetitions easily, I also recommend leaving a reasonable amount of time of one or two weeks for your body to adapt before continuing to increase the weight.

If you see that this initial weight does require considerable effort, my recommendation is that you work with it and try to progress until you can complete 3 sets of 5 repetitions. And from there, increase the weight slightly and repeat the process, trying to progress little by little as the weeks go by.



Once you have found a weight that is really challenging for you and close to your real limits, it will require the use of more complex programming and with more variations to continue progressing, but we will discuss that in other articles.



As a basic initial strategy, simply try to work at a strength range, between 1 and 5 repetitions, and increase the weight when that range is too small for you and you will have good results and you will progress without problem.



Regarding rest times, I recommend using long breaks, since you are working strength, between 2 and 5 minutes between sets, depending on the perceived difficulty.



How to distribute your weighted calisthenics or Streetlifting routine


As I have been recommending for a few months now, 

I think the best distribution is push, pull, legs

. Since today we are talking about training with weight, what we would do is 

put the weighted pull-ups on the pull day, the weighted dips on the push day, and obviously on the leg day we would have heavy squats

. If you also want to do weighted muscle up, I recommend doing it on a separate 4th day, since if you do it on the same day as the pull-ups there will be a lot of interference between these two exercises and you will not be able to take advantage of one of them.

I'll quickly tell you how I am currently distributing my routines in case it can help you and make it clearer, right now in my weekly planning I have:

* A first day of pushing, in which I do weighted dips at strength range (with a lot of weight), weighted dips at hypertrophy range (with less weight) and then I do complementary exercises with machines, free weights, push-ups, etc.

* On the second day I do legs, with heavy squats at the strength range, then at the hypertrophy range and complemented with exercises with machines, lunges, Bulgarians and others.

* The third day is the pull day, in which I do pull-ups at strength range with a lot of weight, at hypertrophy range with less, and then machines and other exercises.

* And on the fourth day I have weighted muscle up, weighted handstand push-ups, repeat squat and then fill in with other muscle groups that perhaps I have not worked as directly like abdominals, lateral delts, forearms or some extra leg exercises.

With that I have a full week, but if I feel like training one more day what I usually do is go to the park and do a little planche, front lever, some more muscle up or whatever I feel like at that moment.

We are going to make a final summary so that you are clear about what the path to follow would be before concluding:

* First of all, you must have a 

basic level of mastery of the exercises without weight

, and have been training them for some time.

* Second, you must learn the 

specific technical details of weighted exercises.

 to add weight.

* And finally, you can start weighting themselves with low weights and progress little by little from there.

So now you know, with what I just explained to you, you now have a guide on all the steps you have to follow to start training with ballast and take advantage of these exercises that can give us so many benefits.

Before finishing, remind you that Calisteniapp has examples of weighted routines so you can use them as a reference, take a look in the "workouts" section on the web or directly on the app.


I hope this article helps you a lot,

Yerai Alonso

How to start training WEIGHTED PULL UPS and DIPS

One of the biggest problems in the career of every person who wants to train, whether for aesthetics, performance, health or any other reasons, is the issue of injuries.

You are progressing, everything seems to be going well, you are having perseverance and, suddenly, an injury arrives that truncates your aspirations.

At this moment, when you have just been injured, you have the perfect opportunity to give up, you have the best excuse to stop training. You can go back to being a lazy person who doesn't train, deep down you may even feel some relief.

You go to the doctor and, with his characteristic “prudence,” he tells you to take 2 months of complete rest, you already have your excuse. To everyone who asks you: 

“Hey, haven't you started training? How are you doing?”

 You can tell them your sad story about how you were injured and have to rest for two months.

But, deep down, even if you don't even want to think about it, even if you try to avoid bringing that idea to the forefront, you know that in reality you could continue training without a problem, you have an injured shoulder, not all of your joints, you can train legs, abs, and if you care enough, you may be able to train your chest, back and maybe even your shoulder itself.

The question is: will you have the necessary strength to continue training? Or will you use the excuse of the poor injured guy who can't do anything?



If you want to avoid falling into that trap, if you want to do things well and achieve your goals no matter what, I recommend following the action protocol that I am going to explain to you below:

First of all, 

if it is a traumatic injury, such as a possible sprain or break, you should go to the doctor so that they can perform the necessary tests and give you a correct diagnosis

.

I recommend that you do not trust 100% of what they tell you in the emergency room, since, in my experience, they often give you a quick diagnosis without sufficient tests. 

If you suspect that it may have been something more serious, for example a tendon or ligament tear, make an appointment with your family doctor or traumatologist to find out for sure.



Once this is done, or in cases where it is not a traumatic injury, but rather a discomfort, pulled muscle or possible tendinitis, I recommend going to the physiotherapist. Doctors tend to be excessively cautious in their recommendations, giving you complete rest for months. When the current scientific consensus agrees that this is not optimal.



The physio will know how to treat your problem so that it heals faster, he will know how to tell you what exercises you can do to improve the injury and prevent it from recurring and he will also be able to advise you on what exercises that involve other muscle groups or joints you can train

 so that you do not have to keep absolute rest.

Both in my personal experience, and based on current evidence, I believe that a visit to the physio is enough, in most cases you do not need to continue going week after week. I would only recommend continued visits in cases of old injuries that have become chronic and in specific cases of rehabilitation.



Once you have the diagnosis and professional recommendation, I leave you some practical tips that you can apply on your own:



1. Analyze how your injury really affects your training and look for alternatives.

 Evaluate which exercises you cannot do, which ones you can substitute that do not cause pain, whether you can look for an alternative movement pattern that does not involve the affected area, etc. Many times just by changing the grip of an exercise, or doing a variation similar to what you did before, you can continue training without problem, without pain and without aggravating the injury.

For example, in cases of wrist injuries, it is common for the person not to be able to do normal push-ups on the floor, but however, if he uses mini parallels and does them with a neutral grip, he can do them without problem and without pain. The same goes for some elbow and shoulder pain and different pull-up grips.


It can also be a good time to try variations with an elastic band, or even with dumbbells or machines. For example, if an elbow injury prevents you from doing pull-ups without pain, you can try doing pullovers with an elastic band or a gym machine. This way you will work the lats without flexing the elbow.

In any case, even in the most extreme,

 it is still most likely that at least you can continue training other parts of the body, and that you will not have to stop training completely

. For example, in my case I have had several serious injuries to my knee, and what I did was continue training my upper body (with care, obviously) and even training the other leg with unilateral exercises.



2. Heal your injury and then strengthen the area involved.

 One of the most important factors to come out stronger from an injury is to understand why it happened, how to heal it completely, and how to strengthen the area and improve your training so that it doesn't happen again.

There is nothing worse than having an injury that disrupts your training planning, healing it and then suffering the same injury again. So that this does not happen, I recommend that you investigate with your physio and with the information you find on the internet about the injury you had and what to do both to heal it well and to prevent it from happening again in the future. Normally this consists of 

applying some strengthening exercises to some specific areas related to the injury.

3. If you notice any discomfort again, stop and make sure it doesn't get worse.

 If you carry out the advice that we have explained in the previous points, it is likely that you will not have discomfort in the area again, but if you do have it again, act preventively. Stop doing the exercise that is causing the pain, give the area a few days of rest and analyze why it came back and what you can do to solve it. If you are going to resume this exercise, do it at a lower intensity level and always pay attention to the sensations. The worst thing about an injury is when it becomes recurring.



In my personal experience, after more than 10 years training and, unfortunately, having to do it self-taught from the beginning, I have made many mistakes that have led me to many injuries of all kinds. And after that experience I can assure you that, in the event of any injury you have, it is best to follow the advice that I just told you so that you can continue training even if you are injured, 

learn from your injury to know why it happened to you and how to avoid it in the future

, and work preventively so that, in fact, that injury does not happen to you again.

I would like to remind you that in the Calisteniapp we have a 

completely free section of mobility routines

 and exercises that can be very useful for preventing injuries or recovering from them.

I hope it will help you,

Yerai Alonso

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