Calistenics

Question 1

How to handstand?

Answer 1

You need a straight back and strong alignment so you don’t do a «banana handstand». You must work your way into the pose with the help of a wall or a chair. Or you can do the «crow» yoga pose and lift your body up slowly until you are on your hands. You can also (when you’re able to do handstand) ask a friend to surround your legs with his arms so that when you fall you come back. MAKE SURE THE SHOULDERS ARE PULLED BACK. Warm up your wrists and use your fingers to be more stable.

Question 2

What are the benefits of calisthenics?

Answer 2

Anytime, anywhere
Improves flexibility and balance
Minimum risk to your joints
Incredible gains in strength and endurance
Barely any expense required
Simplicity
Extremely varied
Good for all your fitness goals
Strengthens the whole body
Develops endurance
Develops straight-arm strength
Develops real functional strength
Develops hand strength

Question 3

Two disadvantages of calisthenics :

Answer 3

Leg work is limited

No dynamic movement for lower back

Question 4

In bodyweight training, unlike any other kinds of training, there are two basic components: (they are related and shouldn’t be separated)

Answer 4

skill and strength.

Question 5

Skill work will play a huge role in developing…

Answer 5

proper strength

Question 6

Eat Healthy or take a diet?

Answer 6

Juste eat healthy! Diets won’t bring you health!

Question 7

Moving and nutrition foundational to our quality of life. When you deprive your body of any of these, you are…

Answer 7

slowly killing it.

Question 8

If you are chasing aesthetic goals, nutrition should be…

Answer 8

your primary concern

Question 9

Here are some of the basic things to keep in mind:

Answer 9

Limit sugar and processed foods

Eat big to get big

Eat at regular intervals
(eat smaller, more often. Experts say it’s better to eat smaller, more frequent meals rather than two or three big meals a day. This keeps the metabolism running at top speed, so you’ll burn more body fat. Also, the body can’t absorb huge amount of nutrients at once, so if we eat huge meals, most of the nutrients won’t get absorbed and will go waste or fat.)

A gram of protein for every pound

Reduce carb intake (only take after workouts)

Avoid liquid calories

Go raw as much as you can

Question 10

When should you consume protein?

(Proteins are large molecules made up of amino acids that play critical roles in the healthy functioning of our bodies. Protein is in every cell of our bodies and without sufficient amino acids, we cannot survive. In fact, at least 20% of our body weight is protein. Each gram of protein provides 4 calories of energy as a general rule of thumb. As we discussed earlier, it is recommended that you consume a gram of protein for every pound of body weight.)

Answer 10

Our bodies respond to protein in a similar manner regardless of when we eat it. Still, it is a good idea to consume ample protein right after your workout session. This encourages a quick post- workout recovery.
We all know that muscle tissue breaks down during a workout, and your muscles actually grow while you are resting. But if you don’t refuel during your recovery properly, your muscles won’t have the building blocks they need for growth. To ensure a proper recovery, you should consume protein within an hour post workout. Get that chicken breast in.

Question 11

Tracking Your Intake of food

Answer 11

This is a bit more advanced, but if you are serious about achieving your goals, especially your body image goals, you should definitely track your intake. Research clearly shows that having a food diary can really help you achieve your goals.
Get a notebook, and record everything you eat. Documenting at least a complete week of your eating habits will help you get a clear picture of what you’re regularly consuming. For many people, it is an act of self-discovery that reveals why they’re not getting the gains they want or expect from their workouts. Most people vastly underestimate the number of calories, especially empty calories, that they consume. That can counteract the results of even the best workout plan. The only way to get the body you want is to know what you’re eating, so you know when it needs to change.

Question 12

Tracking you Intake of food! What to track?

Answer 12

Nutrients are substances we need in order to grow and for our body to function properly. Even more important than tracking calories is tracking how much of each nutrient you are getting.
There are three macronutrients, or “macros:”
Carbohydrates / carbs (glucides). Carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for our bodies. They provide immediate energy to the muscles, central nervous system, brain, and all other parts of the body. Carbs contain 4 calories per gram and can be stored in the liver and the muscle cells as glycogen for future use.

Protein. This is the body’s building block. Containing same 4 calories per gram as carbs, protein is required for growth, tissue repair, immune function, production of hormones and enzymes, and also for providing energy when carbs are not available. Protein should not be used as a primary energy source for your body.

Fat. Fats contain 7 calories per gram and have a bad reputation for causing weight gain. But some fats are essential for normal growth and development, absorption of certain vitamins, cushioning the organs, maintaining cell membranes, and providing taste, consistency, and stability to food.

There is no magic number for the ratio of macros in your diet, as everyone is different, and your body will respond to the macros in its own way. That said, 40/40/20 is a ratio that seems to work well in general—40% of your calories should come from carbs, 40% from protein, and the remaining 20% from fats.

Question 13

To keep growing in calisthenics, you need to

Answer 13

challenge your body continuously.

Question 14

What is Progression in calisthenics?

Answer 14

A progression is a series of exercises for the same muscle group in which each exercise is slightly harder than the previous one.

Question 15

Methods of Progressing in Bodyweight Exercises

Aside from decreasing leverage (by decreasing incline and eventually working on a decline) there are several other methods of progressing. Let’s discuss them below:

Answer 15

Increasing range of motion

Adding weight

Changing position of body in space

Combining difficult and easy exercises

Combining exercises into more complex moves

Bend the rules and have fun

Question 16

Increasing range of motion (calisthenics)

Answer 16

This is one very effective method of progression. In this method, you build up to a complete exercise by starting it with a limited range-of-motion. Let’s take the example of handstand push- ups. If you can’t do a full handstand push-up, you can decrease its range-of-motion by stacking some books under your head to support the weight of your body after you lower it only the first few inches toward the ground. Then, when you start to get stronger, you can increase the range- of-motion by removing the books one at a time. Every time you remove a book, you have to support your own weight deeper into the push-up. Once you’ve mastered the handstand push- up, you can use this method to increase the difficulty and range-of-motion of the exercise as well. Just give it a try. Wouldn’t it make the exercise tougher if you had books under your hands? This method works well with pushing exercises but is pretty hard to apply to pulling exercises.

Question 17

Adding weight (calisthenics)

Answer 17

This is another very effective way to progress from one step to the next. In this method, you add some additional weight to an exercise to close the gap in difficulty between it and the next step in the progression. For example, if planks have become too easy for you,you can increase the difficulty by doing it with extra weight on your back.

Question 18

Changing position of body in space (calisthenics)

Answer 18

In this method, you change the position of your body to make the exercise easier for you and then perform it. As you slowly gain strength, you move it’s regular form. For example, If you can’t do a regular push-up, try doing it against a wall to build up your strength, then move to an elevated surface. Once the exercise becomes easy for you, move to a more difficult position, and down the line you’ll find yourself performing regular push-ups with ease.

Question 19

Combining difficult and easy exercises (calisthenics)

Answer 19

In this method you combine an easy exercise with a difficult exercise and then perform them together. Plank push-ups are an excellent example.

Question 20

Combining exercises into more complex moves (calisthenics)

Answer 20

Adding weight or increasing range of motion are not the only methods in your arsenal. Try combining exercises. For example, if you became proficient in muscle-ups and front levers, you can combine them into a muscle-up to front lever sequence and perform them like one exercise. Here’s the freedom. No boundaries.

Question 21

Bend the rules and have fun (calisthenics)

Answer 21

After all this, there comes a time when you want to know if you have to strictly follow these rules. Nope. Bending the rules has always been fun, and what good is it to do something if you’re not having fun with it?

Question 22

Deconstruction means…

Answer 22

…breaking down a skill to its core components. It is probably the best method to break down progressions into smaller sections and explore it from the bottom to the top. This could be also used to fix any problems you might have in going through the progressions.

Question 23

So at which step of these progressions should you start? The good-old Convict Conditioning was always suggesting that you should, no matter what, start at the step 1.
If you as a beginner it does make sense. If you are more advanced, it also makes some sense, as…

Answer 23

…these basic exercises condition your nervous system.

Question 24

See at which level you can easily do 3 sets of 8 reps, then back up one step to a previous level.

Answer 24

This is where you should start. For example if you can do 3 sets of 8 reps of full push-ups, go back one step in the push-up progression and start there. Start with 3 sets of 3 half push-ups, then next session do 3 sets of 4, then 3 sets of 5. Once you build to 3 sets of 8 you can move on to the next step.

Question 25

Never progress quicker than adding one repetition per workout.

Answer 25

It is crucial you do not attempt to progress faster than this, but rather, stick to micro-increments of one extra repetition with each session. This not only allows for a smooth, constant progression, but it also gives the connective tissue in your joints time to adapt to the stresses placed on it, and reduces the risk of injury.

Question 26

En gros, dans la progression en calisthenics, il faut…

Answer 26

Être SMART! C’est pourquoi, tu devrais garder un journal de progression et comprendre exactement où tu es rendu dans ton évolution. Les mouvements (motion, combinaisons, fluidité…), les répétitions, le poids, le temps pour les exercices statiques, le niveau de facilité…

Question 27

How does the growth mindset applies to calisthenics?

Answer 27

In calisthenics, to progress, you need to always push yourself further overtime and grow from what you gained. In applies because of progressions.