21 Thing You Need to Know About Calisthenics By Matt Schifferle

Text Copyright © 2016 Matthew J. Schifferle All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: Matt Schifferle is not liable for any injuries or damages that individuals might incur by attempting

to perform any of the exercises or feats of strength depicted or discussed in this book. Any individual attempting to does so at their own risk. Consult with your physician before beginning

an exercise regimen.

My name is Matt Schifferle and I’m the founder of the Red Delta Project, an online resource dedicated to helping you get in the best shape of your life through bodyweight training and diet­free healthy eating. Over the years, I’ve come across a number of questions and concerns about bodyweight training that keep popping up. Over time, I realised that even though BW training is becoming more popular there are many things people simply need to understand about getting the most from their training. Most of these points I’ve had to learn the hard way through spending a lot of time and energy so I’ve collected them here so you can learn them in a much more efficient manner. After all, that’s what the Red Delta Project is all about, helping you get far more from spending far less. So without further ado, here at 21 things every bodyweight athlete should know about calisthenics: #1 This is still weightlifting. A lot of folks love to debate the differences between bodyweight training and lifting weights. Aside from the specific adaptations between the two, there’s actually very little difference between the two for general strength, muscle building and fitness. A lot of folks forget that BW training is actually a form of weight lifting, only now you’re the weight instead of something external to your body. The only notable difference between the two is that with weight lifting you adjust the weight while keeping the technique relatively consistent and with BW training you adjust the technique while keeping the weight consistent. Weight Technique

Weight Lifting Adjustable Consistent

Bodyweight Training Consistent Adjustable

#2 Understanding a broad range of technical progressions and regressions is essential. Imagine walking into a gym and all they have is a pair of 10# dumbbells and a 300# barbell. Do you think you could do much with such limited range of resistance? What are the chances those weights would offer

the perfect level of resistance to challenge you enough to make progress? While that weight selection might seem like a poor hotel gym, that’s exactly the situation many people find themselves in when practice BW training. Knowing only 2 or 3 push up variations is just like only having 2 or 3 weights in a weight room. All basic BW exercises have an unlimited degree of technical adjustment to perfectly accommodate any fitness level. Understanding how to adjust the basics is beyond the scope of this book, but the book Convict Conditioning is a great place to understand how to adjust the difficulty of the basic moves. #3 It’s still important to schedule your training. Consistency is the foundation of your training success. Keeping to a consistent training schedule is mandatory to ensure your results will happen. Just because you can train at any time, doesn’t mean you don’t have to schedule your workouts. A workout that doesn’t get written down in your own calendar usually doesn’t happen at all. At best they happen in a haphazard fashion and it’s nearly impossible to get very far with such inconsistency. #4 A gym is still important. Speaking of consistency, being able to train anywhere is great, but I still recommend setting up a reliable training space. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, just a space with maybe a solid floor and a pull up bar but it should be a space dedicated to your training. When your training consistently happens in a few choice spaces you’ll be able to focus more and avoid distractions. Speaking of distractions keep them to a minimum when training in your designated space. Turn off the TV and only use electronic devices for workout related apps like timers. The less you’re distracted the more quality your workouts will have and thus so will your results. #5 Most of your progression will come from small changes that are almost invisible to an observer. A lot of your progression will be between your ears. It will involve how well you can engage your muscles or maybe the mental focus you bring to your workouts. Progress doesn’t always have to be through using a higher level technique or doing more reps. If anything, you may make the smallest technical adjustments, like slightly twisting your arms as you push into the floor or keeping your abs tight during a hand stand. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make a big difference in your performance or how your technique looks. If the exercise feels stronger you're well on your way towards making those larger, more noticeable improvements happen.

#6 Don’t worry too much about targeted muscle training. A lot of weight lifting devices and techniques are designed to target specific parts of the body, such as the upper chest or different muscles in the shoulder. I get a lot of questions from former lifters asking me how to replicate this approach with BW training. The fact is, BW training doesn’t do a very good job of replicating these sorts of moves and that’s a good thing. You don’t need 4 different shoulder exercises and 6 different chest moves. Classic moves, like the ones in Convict Conditioning will make full use of every major muscle in your body. I look at it like this; exercises that chop up a muscle and target specific areas don’t so much as hit those areas with more focus as they neglect the other areas. When you focus on the front of the shoulder that means the side and rear are not getting much attention. Why settle for this approach that only fills up your glass 30% when you can do things like handstands which require tension in all of the muscles in the shoulder? Why settle for 30% with 3 different moves when you can get 100% with just one? #7 Bridges are your foundation. Almost every classic BW exercise makes some use of your back and posterior chain. Being able to effectively control the tension in your back is critical to all of your moves including push ups, squats and even abdominal exercises. Basic bridging is one of the best ways to learn how to use the muscles on the back of your body as a cohesive unit. They also improves muscle control, promotes flexibility and efficiently reverses just about every issue that comes from sitting for long periods of time. It’s a shame that push ups and pull ups are some of the basic staples but bridges are seldom a focus. The irony is that the more you bridge bridge the better your push ups and bridges will become. Again Convict Conditioning is a great resource to get started with bridging. #8 You’re better off without the push up handles.

I’ve gotten a lot of flack for my opinion on this, but giving up the push up handles is one of the best moves I’ve ever made in my BW training. A lot of folks will claim putting a flat palm on the floor is unsafe or unnatural but these reasons are nothing more than excuses to hide personal weakness. I should know as I did just that for many years. No that I’ve built up the strength and resiliency in my hands and wrists I can’t believe I ever messed around with those handles. Now I look at them as a runner would look at a pair of crutches. It’s not just the push ups that suffer but a host of other moves. A lot of other BW exercises, including bridges and handstands, are better done with a flat palm and they will be heavily compromised if your hands are not strong enough to do them without handles. You don’t have to immediately give up hand and wrist support. Doing pressing moves on blocks with the fingers over the side is a great transition form handles to flat palms. #9 Straight pull up bars are the way to go. I used to seek out those fancy ergo pull up bars that have all sorts of grip positions. Now that I’ve progressed my technique I find I much prefer the simple straight bar. Most of this is down to the ability to progress your pull up technique. Ergo bars typically force your hands to be in specific positions and specific widths. This isn’t bad, but it makes the small technical progressions you need to make a lot more difficult. So if you’re in the market for a pull up bar or looking for home gym equipment look for the simplest straight bar set up you can find. You’ll get a lot more out of it in the long run. #10 There is rarely ever an official right or wrong way to do an exercise. Everyone has their own opinions on the correct ways to do a pushup or squat. Many of these tips are good, but most of them are not absolutely 100% necessary all of the time. Understanding this will give you a lot more freedom to adjust your technique to accommodate your own physical abilities and individual needs. A good example is the old rule of never letting the knees flex beyond the toes in a squat. I followed this rule for years and constantly struggled with nagging knee pain. It wasn’t until I let me knee track as far forward as I liked that the pain went away and my legs become a lot stronger. While the old rule may or may not be appropriate for you, I know it’s not right for me. Always trying to do what was “correct” set me back many years and caused me a lot of pain.

The only time I would say a technique is “wrong” is if it causes pain, injury or greatly increases the risk of injury. Also, if a competition requires a certain technique then that would be taken into account as well. Outside of those limits, feel free to change and adjust the technique as you wish. #11 Improve your tension skills is key to building strength and avoiding pain. Muscle tension is a skill few people seek to improve, much less master. Many simply assume the tension in their muscles will go where it’s supposed to go if they use the right technique or the right equipment. Ultimately, the only thing in control of your muscle tension is your own mind. If your mind tells a muscle to contract it will, but if it doesn’t it’s a bit of a gamble if the exercise or equipment will make it happen. Even if it does happen, chances are the quality of the tension will not be nearly as high. Improving your tension skills is simple. Just practice tensing up a muscle, or muscle group throughout the day. You don’t have to contract it very hard or flex the muscle. Just putting in a bit of tension will improve your mind­muscle connection greatly and improve the quality of your exercises. #12 Keep a log for faster, more reliable gains. A simple workout log is like a workout GPS. It will tell you exactly what to do in order to keep moving forward rather than standing still. A log doesn’t have to be complicated. You can use a simple notebook or even a single sheet of paper like in my Scoreboard Workout Log. No matter what you use it will make it much easier to progress and avoid plateaus. It’s also a great way to note what you’re working on when it comes to your technique. You might write down “work on keeping the elbows in” during push ups. Maybe you’ll jot down a simple note about bringing a water bottle the next time you workout at a playground. Whatever is it, don’t trust your success to your memory. Write it down to make sure you don’t forget that small little detail that can make all the difference in the world. #13 Be patient and allow your weak links to catch up. Progression in BW training is very holistic. Each move requires a host of different muscles to work together. Even though you may be doing squats to work your quads the hamstrings and hips are also involved. It’s not just muscles either. Each exercise is a combination of strength, endurance, balance, flexibility and coordination.

Because of this, BW training can be a great way to shore up any weak links you might have that are holding you back. The only (temporary) downside is these weak links might feel like they are the focus of an exercise rather than the other things you are trying to focus on. Common examples might be when someone is doing narrow push ups they feel it more in their triceps, or their balance is a bit off when doing advanced leg exercises. The knee­jerk reaction to situations like this is that the exercise isn’t suitable for the goal, or that something is wrong with the technique. This focus on a weak link is only temporary though. When your balance improves the advanced leg moves will become a quad builder and the chest will work plenty hard in push ups once the triceps get a little stronger. #14 There are no bad techniques, only poor understanding of how to do or apply them. Some exercises are unfairly labeled as bad or dangerous techniques because they have a history of causing injury. Common examples include squats or lunges being bad for the knees, dips are bad for the shoulders and how pull ups cause elbow tendonitis. To be honest I’ve experienced many common injuries and pains from my calisthenics training, and it’s always been tempting to blame the exercise. Thankfully I’ve got a curious mind and always asked myself “why does this move hurt me, but not someone else? Why can I sometimes do this move pain free and other time it hurts?” As it turned out, the issue was with my own skills, not the exercise itself. Once I better understood what I should be doing any aches and pains disappeared forever. Of course there are some exceptions due to personal injuries and physical limitations. If someone has knee pain due to a bad meniscus or rotator cuff injury then it’s not really about the technique and more about the injury. If you’re perfectly healthy and fine then I encourage you to investigate what’s causing the problem than just tossing out a perfectly good exercise. #15 Results come from progression, not from the perfect routine or “changing things up”. A good routine can only do so much for you. It should work the body in a relatively balanced way and seek to fulfill the basic root cause of the goal you are after. So don’t go making a routine include 1,000 push ups and only 10 pull ups, nor should it have a lot of running if your goal is to build a lot of strength from pull ups. The only other serious consideration is how frequently and consistently you train. Usually working a muscle group 1­3 times a week is a good way to go.

Outside of providing consistency towards fulfilling your goal in a balanced way any progress you make is down to how you progress your routine rather than the routine itself. Your success doesn’t depend on some sort of secret recipie between push ups and pull ups. As long as you’re doing them in a balanced, consistent and progressive way you’ll reach your results regardless of the details of your routine. The same is the case for variety and changing things up. The body doesn’t care if you do anything different, it only cares if you do something better. You can vary up your training 100 different ways but if none of them require you to become stronger or more fit they won’t do you any good. Change things up if there is the chance the change will stimulate a change in your body. Ask yourself, how will this change influence my strength? How will it impact my muscle fatigue? How will it make it easier or more difficult to reach my goal? Change for the sake of something different is akin to leaving your results to a roll of the dice and pure luck. Change for the sake of progression is a much smarter way to go. #16 Add suspension straps for fun and progression. I’m a minimalist by nature so I don’t like using a lot of equipment, especially if it’s not necessary.

Too much gear just gets in the way between you and the results you want. With that said, I’m a big fan of using a set of suspension straps to a routine. For one, they are a great way to set up a portable station for rows, pull ups and dips. They are also great for adding a bit of change and easier progressions to your workouts. They also mean you have a gym with you when you travel.

They are not essential, but I find most folks will make faster progress with them in their gym. There are a lot of brands out there, but I’m very picky about the design of my straps. These Lifeline straps are pretty much the only system I recommend. #17 Breath! Your breathing can seriously handicap your strength and muscle building progress. The biggest reason is because you may get tired when doing an exercise due to a lack of oxygen in your system as opposed to truly fatiguing your muscles. I mention this because BW training can involve a lot of muscle and moving the body through space can be a bit more stressful on your nervous system. One of the common reactions to this situation is to hold the breath or “catch” the breath at the bottom of each rep. When you relax your breathing you gain far more control over your mental focus and therefore the tension in your exercise. #18 Constantly learn to keep making gains.

Hard work is terribly overrated. Sure it’s important, but it holds little promise of success in and of itself. The key is not to just work harder, but better and smarter. The best way to make this happen is to continue to learn more about the exercises you’re doing. When your mind has new information the quality of your training increases and you get much more value from the same amount of hard work. You don’t have to earn a PHD in push ups, just picking up one little tip here and there is enough to keep you moving forward. I recommend investing in a few books, subscribe to my podcast and check out my Youtube videos. If you need help figuring anything specific out just hit me up at reddeltaproject@gmail.com. #19 Your workout is your own personal laboratory. One of the best learning opportunities is your own workout. Every set and rep you do floods your mind with information regarding how it feels and what you are doing. Pay attention to what is going on and keep looking for nuggets of information. One of the best ways to do this is to keep a curious mindset that encourages experimentation. Whenever you workout, play around a bit with a few ideas. What happens if you do single leg squats on suspension straps as opposed to a vertical pole? How does leaning forward a bit effect your handstands? Does doing push ups with the hands lower on the chest change how the move feels on your hands? There are a million things you can play around with so stay curious and experiment. Also, I get emails every day from folks asking me about some workout variation or a tip they came across on line. Most of the time, I don’t know any more than they do about whether they should try the idea or not. Unless an idea can be potentially dangerous, I say just make a basic plan and give it a shot. You’ll learn far more in 10 minutes of experimenting than you will learn in 10 weeks of asking experts and searching for answers online. #20 Listen to your body and don’t argue, fight or disagree with it. Your body is your best ally in your quest to get in shape, but a lot of messages in fitness will try to convince you otherwise. There’s far too much “you vs you” and “your body hates to be strong and fit” floating around out there. These messages are pure poison to the psyche. They encourage you to dislike, distrust and rebel against the very physical impulses that are teaching you what’s best for you. If you’re hurt and you ignore the pain to “fight through” you risk doing more damage. If you’re feeling run down, learn why and adapt. Don’t just keep forcing yourself into a hole you don’t fit. This doesn’t mean you should give into every impulse and whim you feel, but there’s a big difference between pushing the body and just beating it up. As long as you’re not approaching yourself with a negative attitude you’ll know the difference.

#21 It’s better to do a little a lot, than a lot a little bit. Lastly, there’s no need to always make your training a long suffer fest for every workout. In my Veterano Plus workout I do 6 major calisthenics exercises every day, but I don’t do a lot of them and really tire myself out. I know that if I do just a little bit every day those little bits add up. When your workouts are always long and harsh it takes a lot to do them. It takes a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of motivation. They become high maintenance and are therefore hard to maintain over long periods of time. So don’t feel like you always have to push yourself to your very limit every time. Even squatting down to pick up something from the floor, instead of bending down to pick it up, will help in it’s own little way. Do a little bit a whole lot and you’ll end up with more progress than if you did a whole lot a little bit. I hope you’ve found a couple of take­aways in my list here. If you have any questions about something in particular please email me at reddeltaproject@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you and relish the opportunity to help you any way I can. Be Fit & Live Free, ­Matt Schifferle