Hey everyone. This channel is all about how to leverage the power of basic calisthenics to improve health, fitness, athleticism and vitality. My methods draw from current exercise science research as well as my decade of experience as a strength and conditioning coach. I have a Master's degree in kinesiology, and am certified by the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) as a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), a TSAC-F (Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator), and a CPT (Certified Personal Trainer). If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to help.
This is the thing that makes me reluctant to start calisthenics. Many calisthenics athletes I see have lower-dominant chests, making it look almost like fatty tissue. Even though these push up variations exist, I remain sceptical of their effectiveness for upper chest recruitment
If I train every day and focus on pull ups, push ups, and squats, Is there a maximum number of sets and reps beyond which there are almost no gains and lots of recovery issues ? Is there a sweet spot of sets and reps which balances gains and recovery or is that just based upon the reality of what you can do and recover from ?
Great topic, inspiring. I find that injuries teach this principle very well, but the hard way. Been going through several tendinites for the last two years, and this humbles you about what you can and can't do yet, for sure.
A lot of great points here especially in regards to form.....the one thing I'll say is that I've had a lot of success with a weight that is heavy enough to keep me at two or three reps per set, but not so heavy that it affects my control. But generally I've found higher weight and less volume to be easier on my body than only adding a little weight with longer sets.
My friends go for Max reps with poor quality. They seem surprised when they see me do my dips and pushups full range good form and slow. I get less reps but much better quality, now they've stepped up a little bit 😂
Hi, I got a doubt - I want to increase my weighted pull up strength for that I stuck between two alternatives - 1. Train it twice, once with 8-10RM range and other with 3-4RM, for accessory I do paused weighted bodyrows with full focus on retraction.(current method) 2. Twice, once with top paused pull up at appropriate weight(how many reps should that be?), other at 3-4RM. On paused day I wont do paused rows for recovery reasons. Which would you recommend for optimal results. PS - I am an intermediate with 40kg(88lbs) 1RM at 154lbs bdwt
I don’t know if anyone’s ever asked this, but do you have a skincare routine? Yours looks healthy and you don’t look exhausted, and I’m contemplating if I’m paying too much attention and supplements to my own due to insecurities.
I seriously need some help after watching these videos. I feel thought I can’t nail any exercise form, I can barely breath during exercises, I’m constantly picking up small pains and aches. I just don’t know where to start or how to approach. Does anyone have a word of advice, I’m only 22 skinny but feels like I’ll never be able to build muscle.
I usually try to limit it on the weekdays then enjoy it on the weekend. I find them both VERY enjoyable and very palatable. I can take down 500 cals of bread or rice without even thinking about it so I am just more mindful of eating them regularly.
What are hybrid pull ups? Not familiar with the term. I look at it like this… there are a lot of really good ways to do pull ups. Arched back variations are just nice for emphasizing the scap retraction and for getting a really hard lat contraction (the lats assist in back extension). They are also very difficult, much more difficult than most people think. I look at is as a very efficient all around upper body pulling exercise.
@@Kboges Ah, I see! Thanks for clearing that up. Yeah that makes sense to me. Hybrid pull ups may not be a standard term. FitnessFAQs mentioned it in their video "Which Pull-Up Is Better? (CHOOSE WISELY)". Basically a form that combines hollow body and arch pull up for (according to them) maximal muscle gain.
Hey Mr.K big fan of your content been watching you for almost a year now. I have been following your style of training its really convenient for me and experienced some good results. Lately I have been getting into playing Football and my instructor says to get in some sprints for 2 to 3 times a week. After I started doing that the fatigue has been crazy its also affecting my daily recovery. Its very difficult to get in the daily workouts along with the sprint routines. Your assistance would be greatly helpful.
The only thing I find it hard to wrap my head around is how a daily routine with lots of variations throughout the week is tracked. Would you meticulously keep track of each variation individually or does it all just get lumped together because the exact numbers aren't super important? If my current max pull-ups are 9 but I do a chin-up variation that nets me 12, it seems like it could get confusing looking back at the numbers later unless they're all tracked separately, which seems like it could turn into a lot of bookkeeping.
@@Kboges Thanks Kyle! I guess if I reign in the number of variations going at once then keeping variation-specific records shouldn't be too bad. Mostly hoping to keep the admin work down so that I'll consistently do it...
Hey man, I was going through your page and found a few ways that you could make more money and bring more value to the table via email marketing. Would you be up to hearing more?
It’s going to depend on the individual (like how you are built) and also the variation you are doing. Knees over the toes is not inherently dangerous. It is more stressful, but that’s not a bad thing if you are prepared for it and it can be a tool to strengthen your joints. Just be systematic with how you progress it.
I totally agree. People tend to think just because it’s in the realm of the physical, it isn’t subject to our psychology, spirituality, or other metaphysical things that influence our thoughts, behaviors, ideas, etc.
Boges! You say that high reps is valid for muscle growth. However, this paper suggests that it’s suboptimal for strength. I can’t link without getting filtered, but the paper is called “Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men”. So with that in mind, isn’t strength necessary for progressive overload?
Great question! You want to make sure you are distinguishing between strength and muscle mass. Muscle mass is a structural adaptation. It can be built by low or high reps. Strength is a performance adaptation as has both neurological factors and structural factors (like muscle mass). Heavy low reps get you better at lifting heavy and low reps; that’s the skill side. High reps get you better at doing high reps. Both high and low reps can build strength, but low reps and heavy weight are better at building strength because they practice with a kid that requires more strength. Lighter weight and higher reps build more endurance. But they can build strength too, they are not as efficient for that tho. But again, this is different than size. This is why a bodybuilder can be bigger than a powerlifter but not as strong.
Another thing to keep in mind… if you had a guy who had a max of 225x 10 reps and over the course of a few years built that up to 225x25, that would be a significant increase in strength despite the rep range. Compare that with a guy who has a max bench of 165 for 5 reps and builds that to 195 for 5 reps. The point is the rep range doesn’t indicate anything about the strength someone has acquired through training, and you can build strength across a variety of rep ranges. It’s just that low reps help maximize your strength due to the practice with the heavy loads, but you can still build strength with high reps. As a personal anecdote, I was never able to deadlift over about 475 when I trained with heavy sets of 5. When I dropped my weight and started training with higher reps, getting in more volume, I was able to hit 500. It’s not as simple as heavier = more strength = more muscle. There are a lot of factors that contribute to strength, but for muscle mass, you just need sets close to failure in the 5-35 reps range or so.
@@Kboges I see! That's very interesting, your anecdote. I'm sure there might be flaws in the study design as well, I don't know. But what I have heard, is that high reps lead to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, but not myofibrillar hypertrophy (or less of it). Is that true?
@@ThenewguyontheBLOCK-sf8de Yeah this is actually a really interesting topic... When it comes to sarcoplasmic vs myofibril hypertrophy, this is a mix of conjecture and inadequate evidence. We just don't have enough research on this to make a conclusive determination one way or another. What we do have confidence in though, is that approaching muscular failure with a load between 5-35 reps, we get essentially the same increases in muscle cross section area. What is responsible, structurally, for that increase is less clear. It would make sense that high reps might have more contribution energy generating, non-contractile components of muscle, that's a totally reasonable hypothesis, and it could be that lower reps could drive more gains from contractile components of muscle. But again, we don't really know with a high degree of certainty, though there is evidence suggesting this. Again though, it can be easy to fall into a false dichotomy here, where you look at one method as producing ALL of one effect and NONE of the other, when in fact, attributes are developed across a spectrum and in different proportions to one another. High reps STILL build strength; WAY more strength than not training. Low reps can still build endurance, WAY more than not training. High reps and low reps are much closer to each other in terms of adaption that something like running or swimming. Resistance training makes you bigger and stronger, regardless of if you are using 5 reps, or 10 reps, or 20 reps. If just these rep ranges emphasize different quotes that they all produce.
This is definitely true. Grinding angrily can only get you so far. Mindset is a huge key in fitness. Love that you put the emphasis on quality of training.
I didn’t for a long time but recently started doing 100mg of magnesium glycinate, some curcumin, and an occasional methylated b complex before bed. I started this because I had a really u lucky string of illnesses that kind of through my system for a loop. Had some really bad poison oak that basically went systemic, I was prescribed topical steroids for them and had a reaction to them, then had to go on prednisone which JACKED me up really bad and had to quit without a taper, and then got hit with the worst bout of food poisoning I think I’ve ever had. At the end I was really out of balance so started supplementing with the above things to try to get back on track. Not sure if I will keep them up long term but I’m feeling a lot better.
Hey there, i am 15 and i was wondering if simple PPL workout that consists of Push Ups, Pull Ups, and squats are good with good form, and how many sets i should have. Another question is that i am very bad at pull ups and can only do 1 chin up with decent form and to how can i increase my pulling strength. Thanks!
I tried this and did 220 reps in one set and you were not joking when you said it works on mental toughness and conditioning because every rep was a struggle. I play triple a basketball so I do a lot of conditioning but finishing the squats with the speed I was going had to have been one of the most tiering things I have ever done! I can confidently say I have never felt so good after a set then I did after doing these squats. I will definitely be trying it again tommorow! 😀
I do a mix of both. I like slow reps for technique and control, and fast for strength and power. I will make more content on tempo in the near future. I get this question a lot so it would be good to address it directly.
This might explain why some of the best, strongest, leanest, happiest periods of my recent life was when i was pretty consistently practicing clean keto omad. Ok also consistently working out hard lol
It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit. -Socrates
How can I adjust these if I am overweight and my knees aren't 100%? What is a way for me to begin and not injure my knees further and eventually build my way to the standard seen here?
Yeah start with just a basic BW squat and squat to a chair or box. Stay with what is comfortable. SLOWLY build your volume with that, then lower the box and repeat the process until until you can do full BW squats for high reps without pain or discomfort. Then you can start elevating the heels, like an inch at a time. Take your time. I mean treat this as a process you do over a year or more. Not weeks. There is no need to rush. Just slowly work your way into a deep squat with heels elevated. If you take your time, you are likely gonna be totally good.
I really appreciate your view on fitness. University has been tough for the last few years and going to gym just actively kills those last 20% of energy I have left for the day. However, I've startet doing Pull/Chin Ups and various Push Up variations pretty much everyday as they only take a few minutes of my day and actually benefit my mental offloading. Training is now a healthy part of my life instead of just another grindy aspect of it and even though I do not progress as fast as I did in the gym, I feel fulfilled and happy.
