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I have always been a supporter of the idea that there are no exercises that are inherently harmful, that it is something that depends on many factors, butthere are cases that are so clear and have caused so much damage that it is difficult to deny the evidence. You see, there is a concept in training to talk about whether an exercise is harmful or not that is summed up with the phrase “the dose is the poison.” For example, deadlifts are often classified as harmful exercises, but if a moderately trained person were to do deadlifts with very light weight and with correct technique, say for example with 40 kilos (80 lbs), it would be almost impossible for them to get injured. Because their body can perfectly handle the load and no structure is compromised.

Since calisthenics became popular as a sport and training method, one of the aspects that attracted the most attention was itshighly difficult static exercises: planche, front lever, back lever, human flag… To the point that many people wanted to train Calisthenics just to master these elements. Over the years, many people have wondered, and have asked me, if these static exercises also serve to gain muscle mass, since perhaps they would like to get the planche, the front and so on but they would not mind gaining muscle mass in the process, so let's see.

During my experience training calisthenics, training all types of people and helping many of you improve your results, there has always been something that has caught my attention and that I have tried to correct when we speak in person. Something that I think usually goes unnoticed but is very important. Something that has a greater effect than you may think and that could increase your results very significantly. I meanhow you talk to yourself. You see, for me it is a common experience to ask someone to do an exercise that I know they can do, or a number of repetitions that I am sure they can achieve and that the first thing he tells me, almost instantly, is“I can't”or something similar.

If you have ever researched which exercise is best for a certain muscle, which variant is most effective or which muscle is the main one involved in a trick or movement, it is likely that you have come across people who answer this question based on readings of electromyography,devices with electrodes that measure the electrical impulse received by a certain muscle. At first it may seem like a fairly accurate and logical method to resolve this type of issue and, many times,it is presented as the definitive test to know muscle activationbut… is it really such a reliable method? After seeing some quite dubious or controversial statements about some exercises using this method I decided to investigate the subject in depth and today I am going to show you what weak points electromyography has, what it can really be used for, what other methods we can use to know the muscles involved in an exercise and much more.

When we do strict pull-upsthere is a small sway, a minimum swingthat may barely be perceptible, but which is much more important than it might seem, because if we do not manage it well, it can become something that prevents us from progressing. However, if we know how to control it well, it can help us get more and better repetitions. Poor balance coordination in pull-ups is one of the most common mistakesand the one I have never seen the least talked about, being a mistake that lowers your performance, preventing you from performing all the repetitions you could, making the execution less clean. and, if you do it with weight, making your lift poorly executed and therefore being able to lift less weight.

After a few decades of scientific research regarding training and muscle mass gain, in which many efforts have been made and the focus has been placed on aspects that have later turned out to be not relevant, it seems that finallythe evidence is converging on two key aspects that are proving clearly relevant and effective.(References at the end of the article) What does this mean? That after much confusing research that did not seem to be entirely useful in practice,a mass of scientific studies are now being formed that show that there are two training patterns that give better results for muscle mass gain than the alternatives.What are these two guidelines? Let's see it:

The average testosterone levels of today's Western population are falling little by little, year after year, sothe average levels of young people between 20 and 40 years old today are lower than those of their grandparents in their 50s.I recently publishedan articletalking about this topic, in which I explain what is the main and determining reason for this drop and how to solve it to have optimal levels. And in passing I mentioned, obviously, the issue ofhaving a healthy diet that favors your hormonal levels.Well, people commented telling me to talk in more detail about the diet with respect to testosterone, and I thought it was very interesting to do an articleanalyzing some studies so that we can see what is the best diet to optimize your testosterone, according to science, which is the best way we have to know the truth. Also, I think the results will surprise you because they may not be what you expect.

Since my beginnings in the world of calisthenics, social media, YouTube and more, I have always been a faithful advocate of performing exercises at full range, which, by definition, involve locking the elbows. In general, I think that most people over the years have agreed with me, although many have really struggled to understand what it means to lock their elbows, as I explained in another article. But well, leaving that aside, I have always received support on this issue. BUT, it is also true that always, whenever I talk about elbow locking, there are some comments saying that it is harmful, RIP elbows, that it is dangerous for the joint, etc. and some others saying that this reduces muscle tension and that if you want to gain mass it is better not to lock.

The average testosterone levels of people between 20 and 40 years old today are lower than those of their grandparents when they were 50 years old. What's going on? What is this due to and how can we solve it? What does science say about it? In this article we are going to see what is the main cause of this problem and how to easily solve it. First we are going to analyze the reasons that are currently usually given for this decline, what the internet gurus and broscience tell us about what is happening, and then we will see if this is confirmed by science and how to act accordingly. One of the first factors blamed for this drop in levels isthe influence of toxins and chemicals in our environment, such as parabens in hygiene or cosmetic products, plastic packaging or pesticides used in agriculture. But is this proven by science? The current evidence on this issue at the moment is based mainly on animal studies or in vitro studies, and the studies that exist in humans are associative anddo not show a really significant effect, so we can say that there is not sufficient and clear evidence to say that this issue is really affecting. Furthermore, what does seem likely is thatif these chemicals were really affecting us, the effect would be very slight, and we will see why below. But first, let me inform you, especially those who live in Europe, that this issue is highly regulated, for example, parabens in hygiene and cosmetic products have clear limits so that the quantity is not dangerous, and they must also be clearly indicated on the label. Also, due to the bad press that these compounds have had, most companies have decided to stop using them, often displaying a label that indicates “free of parabens”, so they are no longer so present in our daily lives. Also in agricultural products produced in Europe, there is very strong regulation on which chemicals can be used and which are not allowed, so it is not as simple as farmers or companies using the chemicals they want even if they are harmful.

With the time that calisthenics has been active as a known sport and followed worldwide, it is already evident that one of the determining factors for this sport is the height of the person who practices it, but does it affect all modalities? equally? Is it equally good or bad to be short or tall if you do basics, if you do tricks or if you do weighted calisthenics? What advantages or strengths do tall athletes have? Are there more important factors than height? In this article we are going to try to answer all these questions and more. Why being tall or short is a factor to take into account in Calisthenics First of all, we are going to analyze why height matters, which is a question that many people kind of knows, but do not know how to explain exactly.

You probably remember this man but, if he doesn't ring a bell, I'll quickly summarize what happened to him. Years ago, a video of his went viral in which he recommended training with "imaginary weights", so that you performed the muscle contraction as if you were lifting a dumbbell, but it was only in your mind. The virality of this video was in a mocking tone, since it seemed that this concept of "mental exercises" was totally implausible. Well, after so many years, it is possible that science has proven him right... in some aspects, but not in others. In this article we are going to see what was true in the method of mental exercises, what part was pure science fiction and how we can improve our training thanks to it. To analyze this topic we are going to divide it into 3 sections. Mental training to improve motor skills. Mental training to increase strength. And finally, mental training to gain muscle mass.

I have been watching push-up challenges on the internet for many years and there is something that they all have in common, something that everyone does wrong, even those who, just before starting the challenge, say that they are going to do them 100% strict, that they are going to do them full range of motion, etc. They still do it wrong.Nobody, in any push-up challenge, ever… completely locks their elbows, they never fully extend at the top. Not even when, before starting the challenge, they say that it must be extended completely, they never carry it out. The concept is simple, extending completely is not extending at 90%, nor at 95%, extending completely is... extending as much as possible, until the elbow is locked.