Asking how many sets you need to do to build muscle, especially with calisthenics, can trap you into an infinite number of rabbit holes. Every expert and their mom seems to have their thoughts on the subject, and everyone is sighting research and empirical evidence to back up their claims. Despite all of these “answers” you’re still left with the …
How to Know For Sure if An Exercise Will Build Muscle
It seems like everyone and their Mom is trying to think outside the box an be a “innovator” in the world of fitness these days. This especially goes for creating new exercises and variations that promise to be the next best thing in building muscle and strength. Loads of experts are cooking up new ideas in an effort to hack …
Cali-Talk; Our Top Calisthenics Muscle Building Tip
Welcome to the first edition of Cali-Talk where Lee Downing Keat and I discuss our best calisthenics training tips and answer your burning questions. We’ll be discussing building muscle, diet, calisthenics programing and more. Listen now down below:
Muscle and Strength Building Advantages of Overcoming Isometrics
At first glance, overcoming isometrics may not seem like a very effective method for helping you build muscle and strength. You’re not moving, you’re not working against a quantifiable level of resistance, and you’re not even counting reps. It seems like isometric training may be lacking all of the necessary components of an effective strength program, so how can it …
3 Micro Workout Strategies for Building Muscle
Building muscle doesn’t require long and tedious workouts. In fact, you can create quite the muscle building stimulus in around 5-10 minutes with the simple strategies I outline in this week’s episode of the RDP Podcast:
What Makes Your Workout Effective?
An effective workout depends on a lot more than just using the optimal exercises and rep range. Details like that are important, but the true essence of an effective workout depends on something much more subliminal and subjective. Neuromuscular proficiency is essentially the skillful use of your own muscles, and it alone can make or break the effectiveness of your …
How I Switched From Weights to Calisthenics
I’ve always loved to exercise, and I’ve been strength training since college. However, I’ve only been focusing on calisthenics based workouts for the past 10 years. Before then, you could count on finding me on a bench press or leg press most days of the week. So how did I go from an iron-worshiping gym junkie to a calisthenics enthusiast? Well, …
What is Grind Style Calisthenics?
Grind style calisthenics (GSC) is bodyweight training with an emphasis on building strength and muscle. It’s essentially the calisthenics variation of bodybuilding or powerlifting. This is in contrast to endurance or met-con style calisthenics which uses fast circuit style workouts for conditioning. It’s also different from the sport of calisthenics which uses explosive techniques for power and athleticism. All that is …
The Real Reason Calisthenics Practice Makes You Stronger
They say practice makes perfect, but is that really true? I can tell you from years of personal experience that practice in and of itself doesn’t guarantee results. I would even say that most of my practice in Taekwon-Do, cycling, and calisthenics hasn’t moved me forward very much. Not that those years of practice time didn’t help me get better, they …
What Calisthenics Program is Best For You?
Any calisthenics program can work, but the real question is which will work best for you? One of the most important factors is how much programming assistance you need. Programming assistance is essentially the amount of structure you have within a given calisthenics program. Having more structure means there’s less guesswork on your end since the program lays out most …
What to Do When Staying in Shape Seems Impossible
Sometimes, it can seem like staying in shape is impossible when life becomes stressful. Even the most disciplined fitness enthusiasts face times when they lose motivation or feel like they can’t keep up with their current habits. It’s normal to feel like life itself is against you and your efforts to stay in shape. It’s a myth that some special folks …
Getting Strong With Al Kavadlo
Celebrated Coach, author, and teacher, Al Kavadlo, is back to share more of his calisthenics wisdom in this episode of the RDP Podcast. It’s been far too long since I’ve had the chance to sit down and chat with Al. Since our last meeting, he’s unleashed a couple of valuable resources upon the calisthenics world. The first is his latest book, Get …
5 Tips For Stronger Arms
Building stronger arms is a simple affair. All you need to do is bend or extend your elbow. However, despite the simple nature of effective arm workouts, there can be a few pitfalls that will sabotage your progress. Check out these 5 tips to take your workouts to the next level and build bigger and stronger arms today: #1 Improve …
4 Myths About Workout Progression
Workout progression is the key to building muscle, strength and performance. All of the other stuff, like your routine, exercises and equipment you use are merely details. It’s the progression of your exercises and routine that gets you what you want. There are a number of myths surrounding workout progression that I wanted to address today. These myths can create …
Using Calisthenics to Get Jacked with Adorian Moldovan
Adrian Moldovan is the man when it comes to building muscle, especially with calisthenics training. His practical down-to-earth strategies are effective as hell and a refreshing dose of muscle building reality in a world of fads, hype, and dogma. I recently had the honor of sitting down with Adorian over Skype so I could pick his brain over some of his …
6 Common Misconceptions About Convict Conditioning
I’ve been reading and applying the lessons in Convict Conditioning for over 7 years now and I couldn’t be happier with the results. That’s why I continue to recommend it to anyone who’s interested in building muscle and strength through bodyweight training. Over the years, I’ve noticed a few common misconceptions about Convict Conditioning that pop up within our fitness culture. …
Does Muscle Fatigue Really Make You Grow?
The recent science seems to suggest that muscle fatigue is the primary stimulus for muscle growth. reputable sources like strongerbyscience.com and even Paul Wade’s C-Mass, point to muscle fatigue as the primary reason why a muscle grows. The evidence is compelling. It seems that as long as you bring a muscle to a high state of fatigue then it will grow …
Fitness Plateaus and Progression
A lot of fitness and weight loss plans are built around the idea that you should make consistent progress from one week to the next. Some examples might be that you’re supposed to lose 2 pounds a week or lift 5 more pounds each workout. Expectations like are this are based on a linear model of progression. The idea is …
Use Your Lats to Build More Muscle
I always used to think of the lats as a narrow muscle group that ran up the sides of the back. I also used to think they were only really used in moves like pull ups and maybe rows. Lately, I’ve been learning a lot more about this incredible muscle and it’s made a massive improvement in almost every exercise I …
How to Do Bridges Without Wrist Pain
Bridges are a “golden key” exercise; meaning they open massive doors to potential strength and capability. Pain can keep all of those doors locked up tighter than Fort Knox. A lot of folks suffer from wrist pain when doing bridges which can seriously handicap their results. Fear not my friend because I’ve just made this video to help you bridge for …
Best Close Push Ups Hand Position
Your hand position is incredibly important regarding your push ups. All of the tension in your upper body has to flow into your hands which mean if your hand position is off, your whole push up is off. The thing is, just changing your hand position isn’t enough. You also have to take your elbows, shoulders and even your shoulder blades …
The Link Between Range of Motion & Muscle Growth
Range of motion is one of the most important elements in progressive calisthenics. It’s why many of the steps in Convict Conditioning use range of motion as a way to progress and regress almost every exercise. It’s just a shame many people fall for the idea that there’s an ideal range of motion to use in each exercise. This is …
How to Do Bridges Like a Boss
Bridging is one of those calisthenics exercises that plays second fiddle to moves like pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Many athletes hardly practice them at all which is a shame. If there’s one move that can improve your performance and results in calisthenics it’s bridging. The biggest reason bridges fall out of favor is because many people do “pushing bridges” where …
Tackling the PCC With Adrienne Harvey
Here she is, the one and only Adrienne Harvey! Yes, the one and only Girya Girl is on this week’s episode of the R.D.P Podcast. In our conversation, Adrienne pulls no punches about what it takes to excel at the coveted Dragon Door PCC Century test plus. We also get into some of her best tips for diet, nutrition, fat …
UPDATE: Veterano Plus Workout
I’ve been using this Veterano Plus program for over a month with great success. Now I’ve made a few key changes to include the shotgun muscles from Convict Conditioning 2 and a tip to speed up recovery to help you build even more muscle and strength!
How to Begin Practicing Calisthenics
The first step towards any success in fitness is to build a plan. It doesn’t even have to be a good plan, it just has to be a plan in some shape or form. After all, winning never happens by chance. You can’t “wing it” and do “whatever” from one day to the next and expect substantial results. The best …
Build More Muscle w/ Pull Ups
Pull ups are a great muscle building tool. Even the most avid weight lifter can’t deny this body weight staple is an essential muscle builder. Still, you can’t expect much from just doing them, but rather how you do them. That’s why I made this video for you covering 10 simple things you can do to help you get much …
The Calisthenics Centerline Solution
One of the basic methods of progressive calisthenics is to pull your limbs in closer towards your centerline. This results in the classic “close” handed push ups and pull ups as well as the close stance squats. I’ve been making this sort of training a staple for my workouts for over a month now and am learning the benefits of …
Programing Supplemental Calisthenics Moves
Just like traditional weight lifting methods, calisthenics includes both basic compound movements as well as single joints moves like curls, shoulder raises and grip work. Even though you may not need these moves, they can shore up a few weak points and round out your physique. The trick is knowing how to fit them into your program so they don’t …
Build Far More Leg Strength & Stability
Over the past year or so I’ve been really struggling to build up my legs. Much of the problem has stemmed from lack of lower body stability. Simply put, the less stability you have in any area of your body the less muscular tension you can handle. When you improve your stability you open up a HUGE amount of potential for …
Programing Calisthenics for Fat Loss, Muscle Building & More
Calisthenics is a fantastic training method, but it can fall flat if you don’t know how to program your routine to accomplish what you want. The squat is a good example. You can use it to pursue any goal from building muscle to explosive training and even fat loss. It’s just one move but it can used to accomplish many …
Build A Bigger Chest with Push Ups
Push ups are a staple for anyone looking to build a serious set of pecs. Unfortunately, a lot of folks struggle to get their chest to even twitch, let alone rage with tension once their hands hit the floor. I was just one such person myself until I discovered the secret to getting the chest to work hard was all …
Body Weight Chest and Leg Routine for Muscle Growth
There’s nothing as satisfying as a good pump in the chest and arms. There’s also something to be said for possessing legs that feel more like a pair of cyborg limbs that can withstand anything you throw at them. Body weight training is fantastic for accomplishing these goals anytime and anywhere you find yourself. These moves require little to no …
Build a Stronger Back With Table Bridges
The table bridge is one of the first bridge progressions people attempt in progressive calisthenics and for good reason. It places more stress on the posterior chain, especialy in the upper back compared to the lying bridge where the back is done on the floor. It’s also a great way to loosen up the shoulders and improve the muscle activation …
Body Weight Triceps Extension
This is one of the best triceps exercises bar-none. It also happens to be one of those body weight moves that doesn’t require anything other than the floor and a bucket full of determination. Give this workout a shot: -3 sets of extensions for 15 reps with 60 seconds rest in between. -Then do as many push ups as possible …
Are Planks Just as Bad as Crunches?
Do you remember when the crunch was the core exercise of choice? Everyone and their mom did thousands of the damn things for hours and then bragged about it on their My Space page. Thankfully, we’ve wised up a bit and realized all of those crunches cost far too much time, didn’t really do very much and caused a lot …
The Magic of Technical Convergence (v2.0)
In the past I’ve touched upon the topic of technical convergence which is one of the big advantages body weight training has over weight lifting. Now I’ve come to realize the benefits reach much further than just preventing injury and building some more muscle. Technical convergence may actually be one of the keystones towards building you a complete level of …
2 More Squat Myths That Need to Die
Welcome back! In the last post I discussed 2 classic rules that are commonly applied to squats and why these rules may need to bend, or even break when it comes to doing body weight squats as nature intended. So let’s keep this party rock’n with 2 more squat myths that need to die! Rule #3- Don’t round your …
2 Squat Myths That Need to Die
The squat is one of those moves that I have long held a love / hate relationship with. On one hand I love having strong legs and the feeling of tension surging through my body in a big powerful way. On the other hand, I hated having that damn barbell pressing down on my back and the stress on my …
4 Essential Muscle Building Skills
I’ve learned the hard way that muscle building is a skill. I spent years believing that I would become big and strong if I could just work hard enough. That approach did work for a little while, but once I grew beyond the beginner stages I ignored the fact that I had to develop certain skills to keep building muscle. …
The Center Line Principal of Advanced Calisthenics
Understanding the center line principal is crucuial if you want to build more than just an average level of strength and muscle with calisthenics. Moving your limbs towards your center line had many advantages. It places more tension on your target muscles so they get bigger and stronger. It helps protect your joints, espeically the shoulder, and it helps to …
12 Reasons You’re Not Building Muscle With Body Weight Training
There isn’t a doubt in my mind that you can build a substantial amount of muscle and strength through body weight training. In fact, I train with body weight exercise because there are some massive advantages body weight training has over weight training when it comes to building muscle. Still, some times the muscle just won’t build and it can be …
Are Barbell Squats Fake?
I spent nearly 15 years living under a barbell to make my legs stronger. I subscribed to the idea that that barbell back squat was the undisputed king of leg training. When I shifted over to body weight training I prayed to the gods of leg strength that I wouldn’t lose too much size and power in my lower body. …
How to Build Muscle Without Gaining Fat
It’s a complete myth that you need to gain fat while trying to build muscle. Again, muscle and fat are two completly different tissues on your body and they are built and lost for completly different reasons. In this video I explain what those reasons are plus a few key strategies to maximize your muscle to fat ratio. Let me …
I work at a Gym…and So Do You!
I used to get a lot of folks telling me “I would be in great shape too if I worked at a gym all day.” I don’t know what these folks think about my work day, sure some days I have chunks of exercise sprinkled throughout the day, but some days I’m so busy that I would be lucky to …
2 Ways to Progress and Advance Your Pull Ups
There are a million ways to progress and advance that classic pull up into a muscle-building, mass-exploding, strength-crushing move from hell. But where do you start? Many of the advanced moves are a massive leap away from the classic pull up so many folks never explore beyond the 2 arm version because the advanced techniques are too far above their …
Why Core Training is Not That Important
Core and abdominal training is great, but seriously, it’s not all that important. Back in the day, core training was all the rage and everything that was supposedly “functional” was about working the core. Then it was about the hips, then the legs and so on. The lesson I eventually learned was that there is no part of human body …
How Calisthenics Made me More Flexible Without Stretching
For the first time in my life, I’m making steady progress in my flexibility but the crazy thing is I’m not doing any stretching at all. Flexibility and I have a sordid past. It’s the one aspect of fitness I’ve long struggled with and nothing I did ever made one lick of difference. Strike that, no amount of stretching I …
What “Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable” Really Means
The saying “be comfortable being uncomfortable” is a common idea in our fitness culture. Until now, I’ve kind of thought it was like a Yogi Bear-ism, you know where he says things like “Disney Land is so crowded no one is going there anymore.” Even though the saying is contradictory you still understand what it means. Recently though I’ve …
A Better Way to Stretch Tight Hamstrings
I’ve always been plagued by tight hips and hamstrings and it’s held me back in everything from Taekwon-Do to various aches and pains in my lower back. The funny thing was, every time I got on a dedicated stretching routine, things got worse. I actually became tighter and my muscles were all the more susceptible to pulls and strains. …
Paul Wade’s Advice for Advanced Push Ups
Hey gang! I’ve got a treat for you strait from Paul Wade himself, the author of Convict Conditioning, regarding advancing your push ups. In the Convict Conditioning manuals, Coach Paul makes a lot of use of hand positions where the hands are more under the body and along the center line. It occurred to me that I would need …
A Simple Exercise to Switch on Muscle Growth
Muscle growth and strength is always limited by how well you can engage your target muscles. Engaging your chest, arms, shoulders, back and every other muscle in your upper body is heavily dependent upon your scapular alignment. This exercise is one of the best ways to condition your back muscles how to “set” or tuck your shoulders. If you can …
4 Facts About Muscular Tension
Tension is the primary thing that causes muscle growth. Growth doesn’t come from weights, supplements, diet or even your routine. All of that stuff is just a means towards being able to control the tension on a muscle. If building muscle is a goal of yours then creating and using tension should be the biggest focus of your program. Below are …
How to Kill Workout Boredom
Boredom kills your ability to progress and advance your workouts. No matter how hard you’re pushing yourself, a boring workout is only slightly better than worthless. It kills you mental edge. It kills your drive and desire. It kills your focus. Not to mention it’s also a total bear to get through. So I say it’s time we got …
4 Core and Ab Training Mistakes Everyone Makes
Working in a gym, I often see the same 4 abdominal and core training mistakes made over and over again. Here are some of the biggest examples of such mistakes that I’ve made in the past and I continue to see on a daily basis. Mistake #1- Not working with nearly enough tension The primary reason of most abdominal training …
Muscles Are Dumb
Muscles are dumb. Dumber than Dumb and Dumber even then some. I don’t mean having muscle is dumb I mean it literally. The actual tissue of your muscles is dumb. But you wouldn’t think so with some of the muscle lingo going through out fitness culture. – Muscle confusion – Muscle memory – Smart muscle training and so on. …
Review of Paul Wade’s C-Mass
Last week Paul Wade and the Dragon Door team launched their latest title C-Mass to the world. After reading the book several times I figured I would give a bit of a “review.” But first, a disclaimer: The Convict Conditioning Series alone is the spark that the entire exercise philosophy of the Red Delta Project was founded on. It has …
The Cause of Stubborn Muscle Growth
Stubborn muscle growth is incredibly frustrating. You put in your time and effort while following that supposidly perfect program to the letter and you still don’t make gains. The issue isn’t that you’re not working hard enough. It’s because you may not have built up enough muscle control. In the last post I talked about how technique is …
Technique Isn’t Everything
“Technique isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” If I ever open a gym I’m putting that up on the wall in big BOLD letters. Everything you’re looking to gain from your training boils 100% down to your technique and how well you can maintain it. If your results are lacking, look to your technique. Never consider anything other than …
Intro to Handstand Push Ups
Few moves will build upper body muscle and strength like the handstand push up. The only problem is it’s a really tough move to even start training even for the experienced exercise enthusiast. I’ve met more than a few folks who can lift a weight fine enough but struggle with handstand push ups. Even those who claim they can …
A Big Risk of Adding Weight to Body Weight Exercises
I love weighted , or as I call them; loaded body weight exercises. Loaded pull ups, lunges and dips are great for building muscle and power. That said, my use of such exercises is diminishing as my skills are improving. I’m almost getting to the point where I hardly do any weighted moves at all. I can bring more …
I Always Lift with My Ego
Lifting with your ego is something many experts caution you against. I however, aim to lift with my ego as much as possible. The difference between my approach is that my ego isn’t attached to weight or reps. My ego is 100% focused on my technique. The technical side of an exercise is always what’s most impressive, especialy when …
Secrets of the Best Abdominal Exercise
The hanging leg raise is without a doubt one of the greatest ways to target your abdominals. All of these planks and crunches don’t even come close…….if you know what you’re doing. Problem is most folks will hardly scratch the surface of the potential contained in such a move. Sure they are hanging, and yes their legs do some …
Are Isolation Exercises Holding You Back?
My initial workouts were heavily focused on exercises that would isolate the muscles I wanted to grow. Looking back, I now believe these moves actually held back my progress even once I focused on compound movements. The tricky thing about muscle isolation is the fact that the body likes to use muscles in synergy. So The abs like to work along with …
More Muscle & Less Elbow Pain From Pull Ups
The pull up is one of the best moves to pack on muscle, but it’s also a common cause of elbow pain. Luckily, it is possible to build more muscle and end that elbow pain with a simple tweak. With the pull up, the rear shoulder muscle is kind of like the weak link which holds back the tension …
Bulk Up Your Arms & Triceps With Tiger Bends
Tiger bends are as old as the hills and will bulk up your triceps muscles unlike anything else. You can do them anywhere, they can easily adjust to any strength level and they also build strong joints. A word on that last point though. If you feel it a bit in the elbows at first back off the range …
Muscle Targeting Myths
Ever since body building hit the scene, people have been chopping the body into little muscle groups. It’s practically become scripture that if you want bigger biceps then you need to target your biceps. If you want a killer booty then you better target those Glutes. Sure muscle targeting isn’t bad, but it doesn’t come close to a much …
Volume Creep is Workout Poison
More is not always better, especially when it comes to your workout. Just adding more endless sets to your routine can cause what is known as volume creep. Volume creep is one of those false ideals that runs rampant throughout our fitness culture. It makes us believe we are getting a better workout. It feels like we should be getting …
How to Progress in Calisthenics
I’m often asked how to make progress in calisthenics. I understand where this question is coming from. With weight training it seems easier to track progress since you can attach a number to how hard you’re working. If you lift 100 pounds 10 times and then can lift it for 12 then it would stand to reason that you’ve …
3 Simple Moves To Advance Basic Body Weight Exercises
Progressive calisthenics is equal parts art, skill, and bravado. You can’t just slap some weight around and use that to add resistance to your exercises. Instead it takes technical innovation and ability in how to move your body to make your muscles beg for mercy. There are many advantages to adding resistance through a change in technique: – You …
The 10 Rules of Advanced Push Ups
It’s funny how so many people will say that the push up is one of the best exercises around, but then claim it can only build a little strength and muscle before you need to use weights.I don’t blame most folks for considering the push up as a beginner exercise. The reason is because most folks never develop their …
The Value of Unilateral Training
Unilateral training is any exercise where one side of your body is moving or working differently than the other side. The world of calisthenics has a rich history of unilateral training. Most body weight exercises progress through shifting your weight from one side to the other. However, walk into almost any gym and you’ll find the vast majority of …
Advancing Your Hanging Leg Raise
The hanging leg raise shares the following common characteristics of calisthenics exercises: – Almost anyone can do it. – Most people choose not to because it’s “too easy.” – Once you get the technique dialed down, it will challenge you in ways unlike anything else. Not to mention it also will build you a physique that looks and performs …
Why Your Grip Makes or Breaks Your Total Body Strength
Your total body strength is often limited by your grip strength. The other day I was at the Denver Museum of Science and Natural History and they had a fun little challenge testing your ability to hang off of a ledge. It was a neat set up where there was a wooden ledge attached to a timer. As soon as …
The Root Cause of Everything Muscle
Muslce is the foundation of almost every aspect of your fitness. Everything is heavily dependent up on how well you use and enegage your muscles. You could even say that the whole point of exercise, in any form, is just learning how to better use your muscles. Check out this audio and find out what the root cause of all …
Abs Are NOT Made in the Kitchen
There are always a lot of myths about six pack abs and core training. Some of the latest are: “Diet is 90% of your results” “Abs are made in the kitchen” “You are what you eat” Blah blah blah… Sure diet is important and all, and yes you aren’t going to get very far if you rely on exercise …
Body Weight Training on the Smith Machine
Even though you can do body weight training almost anywhere you find yourself, the gym is still an ideal place to train. There are many pieces of gym equipment which can add new dimensions to your bodyweight training. The smith machine is just one such piece of equipment. While typically used for weight lifting, the smith machine is one of the …
You Can’t Build Muscle Until You’re Stronger
I’ve long said that strength doesn’t come from muscle. Muscle comes from strength. There are a number of meanings behind this saying. The first one is that it pays reference to your inner strength, the power that comes from within when the going gets tough. For when your muscles are burning and your body feels like it’s made of …
Build Stronger Legs with a Block of Wood
I’ve always loved simple solutions that can quickly and easily make an already great exercise even better. This video is one of my latest discoveries on how I use a simple block of wood to instantly improve even the worst squat technique.
Sit Ups vs Leg Raises
When it comes to building the ultimate abs which is best, sit ups or eg raises? Debating one exercise against another sets up the mentality that one is good and the other is bad. In the end, you’re probably best off doing both. Why throw out a perfectly good exercise? That being said, I think the leg raise is often playing …
The Advanced Medicine Ball Push Up
The medicine ball push up is a staple of progressive calisthenics. Like any body weight exercise, there are many ways you can technically advance from the simple and easy to the complex and really difficult. In this video, I show off some of the more advanced technical “tweaks” to make this move a powerhouse strength and muscle builder.
The Most Important Question in Fitness
There is a very important question when it come to your training. If you don’t know the answer to this you’re just spinning your wheels. Hell, you may even be wasting your time. The sad thing is that not only do most people not know the answer to this question, but most people never even bother to even ask …
Push Up Tweak For Bigger Chest and Shoulder Muscles
If you’re not always looking to improve your techniques you’re missing out on a massive treasure trove of potential. I would even say that over 80% of your success depends upon your ability to take the most basic exercises and improve your technique over time. Once you stop looking to improve your technique, your potential to get stronger and …
A Healthier and More Effective Perspective on Going to Failure
The idea of going to failure is a polarizing topic within the strength community. Some say failure is good. Supposedly it’s what sends the signal throughout your cells that tells your body to grow. Other’s say it’s bad and should be avoided. I’ve been on both sides of the debate over the years and now I believe I’ve found a middle …
Calisthenics Better Than Weights for Building Muscle?
People don’t believe me when I tell them that I’ve built up my body through calisthenics. They ask me if it’s possible for them to get the same results through calisthenics as opposed to weights. Truth is, not only can you build up your body just as well with calisthenics, but I believe you can get even better results than you would …
Why a Bigger Range of Motion Makes You Much Stronger
I’ve already covered why using a shorter range of motion can actually set you up for joint problems. Now I want to cover how a bigger range of motion makes you stronger. Using a shorter range of motion is very common within our fitness culture. Walk into any gym and you’ll see loads of people lifting weight and …
Playground Workout for Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
The pushing movements have never been my strong point. Back in the day, I could row and pull weight like a monster but pushing was always a major weakness of mine. Part of the reason was weakness and instability in my shoulders. This imbalance and lack of strength lead to many shoulder issues along the road. Now my pushing …
Top Lessons I learned From the Dragon Door PCC
I’m back fresh from the first ever PCC (Progressive Calisthenics Certification) by Dragon Door.com and let me tell you it was incredible! I learned so much in 3 days it will take weeks for me to share it all with you. My whole approach for fitness and body weight training has been shot forwards my a hundred miles. This audio …
You Can’t Lose With Body Weight Training
People sometimes ask me if it’s more difficult, as a trainer, to help clients get in shape through body weight exercise. The truth is, I find it much, much easier to help folks get in shape through body weight training than any other medium. The reason for this is because body weight training is one of those things that’s …
How to Take Your Sets Beyond Failure
I’ve been playing with a new workout style that I really think you’ll like. A lot of conventional workout wisdom goes something along the lines that you start doing an exercise and then you stop when you can’t do it any more. There are a few ways we can relate to this: 1- You keep doing reps until you …
How Easier Exercise Makes Your Body Harder
I have a crazy idea when it comes to fitness. I believe that achieving success comes down to making it easier to do what is necessary to achieve that success. The easier you make things, the faster you’ll reach your goals and the lofty peaks of success suddenly are well within reach. This is why I’m such a big fan of calisthenics and the Triad …
Should You Train Movement or Muscle for Your Goal?
Much of the confusion within our fitness culture comes from conflicting fitness dogmas which both claim to be right while the other one wrong. The down side of this black and white thinking is that when you take sides you limit your potential due to the limited scope each side naturally has. One example is the Movement vs Muscle training mentality. …
How to Strengthen any Weak Muscle / Body part
We all have areas that are stubborn and difficult to train. For me, it’s long been my shoulders and forearms. For others it’s their legs or arms. Whatever your weaker areas are many folks try to “fix” the area with extra hard work and exercises that focus on that muscle group. While this can work, it often doesn’t. Sometimes …
3 Unique Ways to Advance Your Push Ups
The push up is only as limited as the knowledge and understanding you bring to the exercise. It’s for this reason that I present the following 3 videos to help you take your push up technique to the next level. Video #1: Why I threw out my push up handles: Video #2: What I’m using instead of …
The Real Reason Why Push Ups Bring You Limited Gains
Many believe the myth that you can only become so strong and muscular with push ups. That they can only do so much for you and then you need to graduate to machines or free weights to truly become strong. Hogwash! The push up is an enigma that most people never bother to explore beyond the surface. I partly …
The Super Power of the Loaded Pistol Squat
In a contest, I would take the loaded pistol squat over the back squat any day. It’s not just because the pistol requires more balance and hip control. It’s not because you don’t need a squat rack, barbell and lots of extra weight. And it’s not just because people stop and stare when I do them in the gym. …
Dead Lift Strength Through Body Weight Exercise Part 2
In the last post I covered the hits and misses of body weight training when compared to the dead lift. In short, nothing can bring you the same benefits of dead lifting other than the dead lift. This goes for all forms of training. While there is some carry over from a specific exercise to a similar one, the best …
Dead lift Strength Through Body Weight Exercise Part 1
One of the great things about Taigoki is that you can duplicate almost any free weight or machine movement with a body weight equivalent. Hand stands are similar to over head presses. Push ups are similar to bench pressing. Pull ups are like pull downs. Plus you can do any sort of focused isolated exercise imaginable with a set of …
Achieving Ultimate Workout Satisfaction
Umami is a term that doesn’t get nearly enough attention within our fitness culture. It’s a Japanese term and, as I understand it, refers to a sensation of pleasure and satisfaction from a physical experience. Think of when you slip into a nice hot bath and you issue a sigh of contentment. Or when you drink a great beer and …
Why Pleasure is More Important Than Pain in Fitness
In a previous post I wrote about how pain is weakness invading the body rather than leaving the body as some hardcore folks like to claim. As I’ve also stated in previous posts, every exercise you do is essentially a set of instructions you are “downloading” to the cells of your body. If we put the two philosophies together we …
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