The Calisthenics Shoulder Secret 

After two months of just pure Calisthenics training (incorporating Pike Pushups and Handstand pushups + all the variations), I went to my buddies home gym and it turns out I actually got stronger at the OHP, even as an intermediate lifter. It's legit.

Alex is unique in the sense that he’s so good at calisthenics in addition to already being excellent at weight training. Most fitness channels on RU-vid specialize in only 1 thing i.e. either weights or body weight.

Liking before I watch. That’s the confidence I have in the knowledge gains I’m about to receive.

People need to stop dogmatising 15+ reps as muscular endurance. High rep body weight training trains the mind and the body.

Hand stand push ups are a crazy movement. At 90kg, the resistance on my shoulders is insane!! I actually am starting to prefer them to military press!

My current routine I'm really enjoying: Day 1: martial arts/technique and speed/reflex drills. Light day, nothing to failure/exhaustion, focusing on perfecting movenents Day 2: '+' means superset, all done using RPT sets/reps(8/10/12) Weighted Chinups +weighted dips on rings One arm overhead press + one arm bent over row Weighted press up + ring rows Deep wide squats + lunges(end range strength for kicks) Day 3: 3 sets of 40 - 50 each exercise, with 1 minute skipping rope between sets Jackknife pull up Supported squats Incline pushups Knee tucks Straight bridges Day 4: Rest Day 5: Start from day 1 again

These tips are seriously amazing for traveling as well. Gonna use these movements in the future when I'm on vacation and dont have access to a gym

Amazing content. I did 20 sets of 2 reps of handstand pushups. It's really hard. But effective.

Of course I find this after destroying my chest/shoulders/tris with your 30 down pushup program.

Started weighted hspu freestanding. Benefiting my dip like crazy. 50lbs vest for 5x5

HS push ups is great, I feel the limiting factor is that the blood build pressure in your head your ear start to ring your eyes becomes blood red so you have to give up

Totally agree with that. I've been doing deficit pike push-ups, ring flyes and ring facepulls for my rear delts and tons of resistance bands lateral raises for the lateral delts, and I'm getting good results.

Most underrated bodyweight exercise, and a staple of all the greats...including Schwarzenegger even!

Handstand pushups are really the king of bodyweight. Especially freestanding ones. It requires the involvement of all kinds of muscle groups - most surprisingly TRAPS and GLUTES, but also legs, core, lower back, arms, literally the whole body.

The record for this is 19 deficit HSPU’s (freestanding not against wall) The man who did this could overhead press 221lbs at just under 150lb bodyweight and he said this exercise is one of the best for pressing strength (Sigmund Klein) ... for anyone who thinks these don’t have carryover

Handstand Push-ups were one of the main accessory movements for old era OL’ers, strongman and bodybuilders ... when overhead press was a competition lift especially . They are still used by the Chinese Olympic team very often. Doug Hepburn, the first man to bench 400,450 and 500lbs actually contributed most of his pressing power to these. He could do 15 reps of them freestanding at 245lbs and would routinely do low reps high volume when he was 280-300lbs

You are so strong, my friend, I do handstand push ups and I can do nowhere near as deep as you can. I can appreciate how strong you are because I struggle with these and they are an awesome exercise to do.

All the pre-steroid greats used the body press. Grimek wrote that he used it exclusively to stay in shape when he was traveling on his posing/modeling tours.

Feet elevated pike push ups are no joke. Did them at the park the other day on a bench. Did a drop set after my last set, from feet elevated pike push up down to the floor variation.

Although these are tested exercises for shoulder strength, if you want to maximize shoulder strength you should aim to protract and depress your scapulas and aim your head forward on the way down, that way you minimize the assistance of the upper chest, this will be significantly harder so most likely you won't have the need to do elevate your hands.

Thanks for the videos Alex. You are helping us stay a sane during this quarantine

Handstand push-ups and weighted dips. My two favorite push movements. Build beast strength. Thanks for the video !

I saw there are many olympic chinese weightlifters did HANDSTAND DEFICIT PUSH UP to build their overhead press strength, Hell yeah it will be carry over to their main lifts.

I dedicated over a year in OHP specialization and I got strong to the point I could almost do my bodyweight for 5 reps. I know people who are way stronger of course, but I was training for less than two years in general so that was pretty good achievement. I never liked the barbell benching, OHP, dips and pullups were always my favourite exercises. That being said, I stopped OHPing for obvious reasons after the covid thing. And I wasn't really into the handstand pushup for believing that it's more about balance than muscle building and just feeling awkward somehow. Now watching this video, I might try to do it with wall assistance and I hope to not hurt my self. Truly miss direct compound shoulder exercises, haven't really lost a lot of size I think with just doing heavy dips, pullups and pushups, but miss the intensity, the feeling and surely I've lost a lot of strength and even size even tho I don't really see it visually.

I’ve done deficit push ups and even that hit my front shoulders hard and made them sore the next day , I can’t even imagine the gains I’m about to make with handstands and pike deficits, really useful exercise as well since I don’t have access to weights. Alpha destiny, you always provide the best content and fitness advice on RU-vid by far 👍

The deficit hspu is harder than all the other basic calisthenics movements including ring dips. Its a really great option if you can't add weight to your workouts since it shouldn't become too easy

I love that you've been featuring all this bodyweight training Alex!

Bro the deficit hs pushups feel like a bodyweight overhead press or damn close too it they are legit

This is one of the best bodybuilding channels ever..spoken to the public as if each of the viewers is a full time trainee

I am 19 and I believe just after 3 years I will be in Canada, and I will live there in Alberta, and might come to montreal 🙂, I want you to be my trainer Alex, You are great when it's about knowledge and experience ❤️👍.

Love pike push-ups & handstand push-ups, seen more progress from these than overhead presses. Actually loving how creative quarantine makes you, great content! Just starting my own fitness channel, hope to be like you one day 💪🏻

Good stuff, man. I’ve been looking for a way to bring up my weak OHP and was wondering if deficit pike push-ups for shoulders were a thing. This video told me everything I needed to know plus gave me a lot of other useful info. It’s also inspiring to see calisthenics athletes with such high levels of strength, control, and muscle development. Props! 💪🏻

im glad u started upgrading ur wardrobe to ur own aesthetic. ive left a lot of troly comments in my days but its really hard to believe what youre preaching about all these shoulder gains when your shoulders have remained the same and or regressed if anything. no before u guys strawman me i dont have some unrealistic expectation/bodydysmorphia/fake natty comparisons etc

Good shit covering all the bases. I love Pike Push Ups so much.

Even though I am focusing mainly on freestanding handstand pushups as one of my big 2022 goals, the chest to wall versions are still a major player in that! Doing it on the floor atm though

The decline push ups god damn broo! Weighted too is even crazier. Banded? Idk I’ll have to try

I really enjoy your pragmatic approach to calisthenics. Many (even respectable) lifters in this time seem totally ignorant to the fact that legit strength can still be developed with bodyweight training alone. Some even recommend it, but apparently don't bother applying progressive overload if there's no barbell involved. On the other hand, most who are worth their salt with regards to bodyweight strength, seem so immersed in the gymnastic world that they'll encourage everyone else to adhere to "gymnastics dogma" (Not that this is necessarily bad, but some progressions/nuances of movement might be irrelevant for someone still interested more in general strength, rather than specific, advanced skills). You are one of few people qualified in both weight- and bodyweight training I know who presents calisthenics (including higher progressions) in an unbiased way, simply as another highly effective tool to increase performance. Hope my point is clear here, I wasn't quite sure how to word this. Good stuff once again!

Another great video Alex👍

Some calisthenics athletes like stipke do this shit weighted too. Blows my mind.

Thank you very much for clearing this doubt pal 🤝

Looking good Alex

All kinds of gainssss

Amazing content bro. Keep it up!! Really inspiring.

For me, i have no problem training the upper body at home and still make gains but lower body its almost Impossible to have the same intensity..

I agree with you, deficit handstand pushups are better! When I practice handstand pushups on the ground sooner or later I feel pain in the joints because is a partial movement!

Beast content as expected👌🏻

Alex, have you ever used the Indian variations of press ups? They are fabulous...especially the Rammurti Dands (excuse the spelling)...(a dive bomber style thats effectively two press ups in one and butchers your shoulders) I have a great high rep indian press up and Indian squat workout...that just grills every muscle and gives you such a pump...

Thanks for getting straight to the point ☺️

broooooo been waiting ages for this vid! awesome stuff!

Not really fond of handstand pushups,but they get the job done,that's undeniable

Thanks Alex!

Thank you very much for these I really appreciate it

OHP and handstand push up are the shit dude. Havent been doing bench press for a while since gym are closed and Im quite limited to go around the town, so I can only train OHP with my barbell at home and some bulgarian ring dips, cant wait to see whether I'll improve in bench or not just from doing these exercise.

I'm doing pike press with my feet on the floor. I've got them close-ish to my hands, and due to imperfect hamstring flexibility, my legs are bent at the knee, (although I forcefully keep them as straight as flexibility allows). Maybe performing them with elevated feet will allow for straighter legs.

Sweet video bro

Thanks density 💪🏾

If Paul Anderson wasnt the goat it's easily top 5 of the strongest of all time,as always good insigth Alex

you don't need overhead presses they only work the front delt you don't need direct front delt training everyone has it over developed anyway working the side and rear is what's important

the 30 down approach was a game changer for me (did 25 actually haha) but is there a similar approach for pull ups to match the volume/intensity to minimize imbalances?

I was waiting for this

Yourworkouts are very badass

every BW presses with a close grip and a circular path in general are the way to go for huge front delts (close grip hspu are actually hard as hell)

Can you do a one arm handstand push up with your back to the wall Convict Conditioning Style?

Hi alex, could you make a guide to big rear delts, I do bodyweight training and they are lagging behind quite a bit, I bought some dumbells and do facepulls/ rear delt flies at the end of each workout for about 4 sets. They grow but I feel its not optimal!

3:33 OG General Zod

My program push and pull for push wall hand stand push up incline dumbbells press.dips and later raise and 1 triceps exercises for pull pull up and Australian pull up and face pull and 1 exercise for biceps for legs some squat jump and jump rope and some planks for abs the best program so far .

Show us a full upper body workout or full body workout with reps and sets with calisthenics!!’

I will try that today to complete my 2 weeks training. I lost at least 150 lbs last week

How dare you assume, I can even do a single HSPU

Wya hung this two years later and seeing him dip 5 plates tells me I have a ways to go😂

really dope video !! just curios, how to get in to the handstand ???

Im doing bodyweight training and incorporate weights aswell im getting better at balancing the handstand and Handstand pushups are tough i still practice pike pushup and overhead press

i think my biggest issues has been getting the platforms in place so that they're not so far away that they're severely inclined and not so close that getting into the assisted handstand is the hardest part of the movement

I noticed HSPU helped OHP but not the other way around. Dips help both.

Diamond bar deeps have the best carry over to one arm dips

i agree this work out is the best this is the difficult can you gave simple step for clasintic work out please ?

Front levers are low key insane for rear delts!

Gymnast often have well built shoulders especially rings specialist

wow bro good stuff good energy

You look more tan! Looks good

Thank you so much.

Alex, have you seen 'Westside Vs the world'? What did you make of it?

Hey bro!How many days you train now training with bodyweight?2 day volume and intensity or another template?

Thanks Alex! What's your opinion on the Guillotine stance push up?

3:22 Bands not calisthenics but the rings is a bar

How much (percentage-wise) of your bodyweight should you be able to barbell OHP before attempting a handstand push-up? I'm thinking at least 80%.

great, thank you

Hey Alex. I'm keen to do the defecit push ups but struggle to get my legs up vertically enough without losing balance. What's the best way to get into the right position?

I am a calisthenics athlethe and all i did ever was HSPU/Pike push ups and back when i was 70kg and i never did OHP in my life i could do 60kg for a 1rep max definetly big carryover (P.S Im like 75kg now and i can rep out 60kg)

Nice video bro please can you make a weighted calisthenics program I've been waiting since you made the video about it last year i want to start but no one has one u could be the first

If you want to get even more out of less weight, do pike pushups on the rings.

Can confirm Ive built 3D Delts using these as my primary upper body movement

Why have I trained my neck for over a month and it hasn’t grown a millimeter. Yes I’m using correct form and progressively overloading. I don’t wanna have a 13 inch neck forever

@AlexLeonidas hey bro! Really good video on handstand pushups decifit! I wanted to get your thoughts on this. What do you think is "better": do these with hands using separate elevated objects or using the SAME elevated surface? I feel that the first one gives more depth whereas the second one offers jut as much depth (slightly less) but more lean. What do you think?

I combine them wall presses with pike pushups. Awesome pump

Thanks!

Alex I can't do one wall assisted handstand push up. I can't imagining doing them dephicit.

can u make a video about forearms, more specifically the wrists coz god damn they skinny af

You can even do ring handstand pushups if you are too strong

I alway thought if you could do few of these, you already have a potential to have a measureable progress at any time anywhere withought any equipment . First time i saw ross enamait in his videos banging with kind of explosive ballistic powerful motion out of the hole of the movement in complete range of motion( with handles wich he made himself and have a seperate video how and why) and i saw the potential of this movement