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Keto Calisthenics


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...Funny actually, I know you think this is a bad thing, but it's something I love about calisthenics, you improve constantly while you bulk and cut, as your strength/bodyweight ratio keeps improving. It makes cutting hard to gauge, but I hope to avoid the bulk/cut cycle now. I only gained that weight because of depression in my old job honestly.

 

Resistance Day

Clapping Push Ups: 3, 3

Uneven Push Ups: 10, 5 (both sides)

Jumps: Skipped

Hanging Frog Raises: 10, 10 (Intermediate Standard Reached yeah!!!)

Close Grip Fingertip Push Ups: 5, 5

One Arm Hangs: 45 sec each side.

 

No, not against calisthenics at all...but I think your volume needs to come WAY up Cutting/bulking/lean gaining is not hard to gauge...but you do have to track bodyweight, bodyfat, and body measurements. Leave a diet strategy plugged in for one month MINIMUM (2-3 months is probably more like it), then adjust based on your metrics.

 

The big news though… I’ve been eating vegan for over a week now and hanging frog raises have improved significantly! Since I started eating vegan this is the only exercise I’ve had a chance to push myself hard in and go for maximum reps, and I got WAY stronger!....

 

that has absolutely nothing to do with being vegan for a week...keep the vegan diet plugged in for at least 10-12 months before you make that judgement

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Why would I increase my volume when I'm making progress every week?

 

because you've been losing muscle mass and just added calories...

Hey thanks for the advice, what you've said makes sense in one way, but in another it doesn't in my brain. I'm just going to keep the exercise program the same and enjoy the extra food as it helps me recover and have more energy.

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wow, awesome job on the weight loss! I like those stretches you posted. I am going to have to try those.

They really are awesome! This is what I did today.

 

Rest Day

Trifecta aka...

Straight bridges (two 10 second holds)

N-Holds (four 5 second holds)

Half Twists (two 20 second holds)

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Adding volume is very important for progress, hypertrophy, and increasing your work capacity. Increasing your work capacity may not be important to a bodybuilder because they don't really care about how much they can do but about how they look. But increasing your work capacity gives you more time under tension and increases your intramuscular glycogen stores. I believe up to 3-4x the amount stored by your muscles now. That by itself will add a couple of lbs to your frame.

 

I look at the amount of work done during your workouts and really cannot grasp how they could produce anything more than a minimal stimulus for change. Which could be why in the year of working out you really haven't added much muscle. I'm all about calisthenics but your approach is very unorthodox. Look to sample routines like HannibalforKing's beginners routine, sample routines from Calisthenicmovement, FitnessFAQs. Even Pavel's routines are not shy on the volume. All of those guys have done this before worked out the kinks and have charted paths to progress. All those are on YouTube.

 

Just because you're making progress doesn't mean you're making the progress you could make. The first year of working out should pack in 10-20lbs of muscle.

 

Good luck

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Adding volume is very important for progress, hypertrophy, and increasing your work capacity.

 

I look at the amount of work done during your workouts and really cannot grasp how they could produce anything more than a minimal stimulus for change. Which could be why in the year of working out you really haven't added much muscle.

I do add volume. Last week I did 10 assisted pistols, today it was 30, next week it'll be 40, then I'll go for 80 before trying a harder exercise, however many weeks that takes. Have you ever read convict conditioning? It's the approach I use. I have read Pavel's also, but I don't like it as much. Hannibal for King seems a little unfounded to me personally.

 

I actually have my one year transformation pics here if you'd like to see? I think I gained at least 10lbs of muscle, but it's hard to say The biggest difference was my back, but that's not surprising for a calisthenics dude.

 

http://s11.postimg.org/48eh2pqdv/1_year_transformation_take_1.png

 

 

 

Resistance Day

Clapping Push Ups: 3, 3

Uneven Pull ups: 8,8 7,6(+1)

Block Jumps: 1x6

Assisted pistols (with two chairs): 10,10 5,5

Straight Half Calf Raises: 55, 55, 55, 55

 

Got one extra rep on pull ups this week! Although I'm a bit worried about becoming a "rep chaser" to be honest. Progression is two sets of 9, so I'm not too far off. I really need to make sure form is perfect, but it's so hard on these unilateral pull ups. I'll be working on these for many a month I think, especially considering the next step only uses one arm :P

 

I can feel my legs responding to this exercise, and so far my knees and feet are healthy and strong. Since I've had issues with my legs this year I am going slow here. I'll go for 10, 10 next week and then 20, 20 before I try a harder exercise.

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Resistance Day

Pop Ups, Clapping Push Ups: 3, 3

Headstand: 60 seconds

Block Jumps: 1×6

Straight Bridges: 20, 10

Straight Dips: 15, 15

Diagonal Spilt Clutch Flag: 10 second static hold either side

 

I met intermediate standard in headstands today. I also met progression standard in clutch flag step 2. That means I’ll try step 3 next week (the diagonal tuck clutch).

I used more depth in my power push ups in order to build more strength in the long term (in the bottom position especially). I think this will ultimately help my ability in this area, rather than using 1/3 depth like I have been doing.

Straight dips went well, so I’ll elevate my feet next week and then keep on keeping on until I master straight bar dips (a prerequisite for muscle ups). Hopefully my chest will blow up in the path to getting there

I’m going to progress the block jumps, I can’t see myself getting much more from working on them. From here on out I’ll be working on tucking for my jumps.

I forgot the feeling of blood rushing to your head in inverted work, phew, it feels fantastic!

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I think what Eiji is saying is that you're leaving a lot opportunity on the table by not pushing as hard...and that you could be putting in a lot more volume, which is a key component of delivering results. For instance, in your quote

I do add volume. Last week I did 10 assisted pistols, today it was 30, next week it'll be 40,...

When you go from 10 to 30, then expecting 40 within a two week window, the term "sandbagging" comes to mind...lol. I think you could have done at least 35 on the day you did 10 reps.

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When you go from 10 to 30, then expecting 40 within a two week window, the term "sandbagging" comes to mind...lol. I think you could have done at least 35 on the day you did 10 reps.

The idea with Convict Conditioning is that you condition your tendons, joints and ligaments alongside your muscles. In other words, just because you CAN do more reps, doesn't mean you should. It's explained at such depth in the book that I can't summerise it here. But basically they adapt slower than your muscles, and need time to catch up in order to avoid pain, the training style supposedly allows that.

 

I know it sounds crazy, and it could be Bul**hit, but hey, it does encourage patience at least, which is something I think most fitness enthusiasts lack.

 

If it ever stops working I'll change the routine though, but so far it's worked really well.

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Resistance/Cardio Day

Skipping rope: 15mins

Horizontal Rows: 10, 7

 

Man I need to work on skipping backwards, it's so much harder than skipping forward for me. I'm getting my crossovers pretty good now though

 

I got 8, 4 in rows last week. So this is a huge strength increase in just one week. However its been many months since I've done them (concentrated on pull ups) so I'm sure this is neurological strength kicking in mostly. I'll try aim for 2 sets of 12-15 reps before I make the exercise harder by using a close grip to toughen up my arms more.

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Rest Day

Walking: 40mins

Half Twists: 3 sets 20 seconds

 

So my twists are nearly perfect now, I have a flexible left side, but my right needs work. If anyone's interested I summarised my training the last month here. I even tried to put in some explanation for anyone who doesn't understand Convict Conditioning.

 

 

WHY DOESN'T THAT LINK SHOW UP AS A VIDEO????

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Resistance Day

Clapping Push Ups: 3, 3

Uneven Push Ups: 10, 10 (intermediate standard Reached)

Butt Jumps: 3, 3

Hanging Frog Raises: 11, 7 (I need to rest more between sets and add in drop knee sets)

One Arm Hangs: 30sec (worse than last week, I think my wrists need some rest, and my bar a new grip)

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Resistance Day

Block Jumps: 1x6

Butt Kick Tuck Jumps: 2, 2, 2

Assisted Pistol Squats (with two chairs): 2 sets of 10 either side – Intermediate Standard Reached

Calf Raises (straight with half ROM): 60x4 sets

 

Flexibility Training

Twists – Today I warmed up for ages and progressed further than ever before. I actually held a full twist on both sides! However, I wasn't happy with the form, so I'm going to go back a bit and regroup with better form.

 

The reason I skipped pull ups today is because I'm not happy with my wrists. They need a few days to heal and uneven pull ups would be asking for trouble. I'm not even going to do push ups, headstands, straight bridges, hanging leg raises, or horizontal rows, they ALL use the wrists. So I'm going to focus on only lower body for the next week. Loads of squats, calf raises and jumps. I'm also going to use the time to work on my flexibility, hence why I spent so long on twists today. I'm seeing it as a blessing in disguise. When I'm better next week, I am going to skip all extra forearm work such as my fingertip push ups, hangs and flags. When I'm 100% I'll build up slowly again. For now, it's SQUATTIN' TIME

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Resistance Day

Butt Kick Jumps: 2, 2, 2, 2

Assisted Pistol Squats (2 Chairs): 20, 20 (both sides)

Trifecta and wrist conditioning exercises.

 

I'll make squats harder next week and get rid of one chair.

If my wrist feels good by Monday I'll resume normal training, otherwise I'll work around it with mostly lower body.

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Resistance Day

Slap Tuck Jumps: 2, 2, 2

Assisted Pistol Squats: 4 on Right, 5 on left

Straight half Calf Raises: 65, 65, 65, 65

Horizontal Rows: 10, 6

Trifecta: 20 second hold on half twists (both sides)

 

Really made great progress on squats. My squats look like this now… BTW I now know my left leg is stronger (vastly so) which is weird since I’m right footed.

 

4ca1edf3e86e5bfda26d9fd3de974311.jpg

 

I actually got stronger in horizontal rows despite taking 1-2 weeks off from upper body training. It makes me think you’re 500% more likely to overtrain than undertrain.

 

I finally got really good at half twists, my spine/shoulders are really thanking me

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You guys are so scared of overtraining. Lol. Like its the boogie man. Overtraining is the worst mistake someone can make? Overtraining is anything more than what is precisely needed? What exactly is that?

 

Keep your blinders on boys. I did Matt Perryman's squat everyday routine for 6 weeks after getting stuck on 275 on the starting strength 3x5 squatting twice per week. After squatting 5 days per week for six weeks I was squatting triples of 355 and hit a single of 375. No belt, no suit, no drugs. Just a little overtraining. Was I sore? Hell yes. The foam roller and lacrosse ball was my friend. Overtraining is a mistake? I think not!!!

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Skeering, hes hostile because hes a several concrete arrested individual who operates under the simplistic child-like notion that too much is never enough / more is better, of course, there's such a thing as "too much of a good thing", and when it comes to intense physical stress that applies very much so...

 

I can see by you pics your on the right path, keep up the good work:)

 

Eiji, so you became more skilled at a specific activity...

 

Paul Boudoir, did the same (overtrained), then he took Mike Mentzer advice and train once every 7-15 days and went on to became one of the top 20 greatest squatters of all time...

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Skeering,

I'm with Eiji on this one. Overtraining is a mistake that very few people can achieve...it takes a HELL of a lot of volume to overtrain (like 2+ workouts/day)...and you're nowhere near it. Eiji is just laying down the obvious: your workouts could be a lot more challenging, and I totally agree.

 

As for your progress...I'm not convinced that it is anything but pure deficit (fat and muscle mass, according to your last numbers)...which is indicative of undereating/undernutrition and undertraining, IMO. I think you need to kick it up a notch or ten...unless you strive to be skinny fat, then I'll just shut up...lol

 

Nobody is hostile, just think you should have a different approach.

 

As for Rob...take his perspective with regards to the statistics behind his advice. He references a VERY SMALL number of outstanding and gifted athletes without considering the MUCH GREATER quantities of other [very successful] athletes that he would consider overtraining, despite their success. It would be statistically safe to say that +99% of the population is not overtraining, which includes both you and me, and everyone on this board.

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Sorry I'm not tryin to be hostile. I may be a bit to forceful in my word choices though. Sorry for that.

 

I have noticed that you are a big believer in the convict conditioning book. So much so that it is like you have blinders on. It's great that that book inspired you to work out and go calisthenics but you should keep open to the possibility that it's just another workout book. There actually is no Paul Wade. It's a persona/pen name made up to sell and lend credibility to the book. There have been no book signings or interviews. He's totally made up. I'm sure the program may work for some for certain period of time. But even the models for the photos for the book don't use or recommend the book as a viable program. I have read many training and nutrition books. Mentzer, Arnold, Perryman, Dan John, Mel Siff and countless others. I even read Cordain and bought the Paleo diet myth for a couple of months but I wasn't so emotionally invested in it that I couldn't recognize the signs that it was bullshit. Your faith in the program is akin to religion. Bruce Lee studied many styles. He was a continuous student. He said keep what is useful and discard the rest.

A low volume low frequency might work for some bodybuilders but the vast majority choose an approach that works better for them. For calisthenics it def will not work because the movements are not just strength but have a skill component that needs frequent training. This road has been travelled before and the step are laid out in front of you. Stick to the paths that have real evidence supporting them. The HIT crowd is full of big believers and whip up the fear of overtraining. Don't buy it. Don't be a believer of your book. Be able to discern what is good and what is not. You'll be able to do so with more knowledge.

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Let me Quote Al Kavadlo here...

 

One of my favorite Buddhist quotes says, “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who

has said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own experience.”

I believe this to be some of the best advice ever given. There is nothing that I trust more than

my own reason and firsthand experience...

 

Don’t assume that just because the experts agree on a given concept or practice that it must be

right for you. Following dogmatic principles can often mean the opposite of trusting your own

experience and that can get you into trouble. Anyone who disregards their real life experience

because it conflicts with “the way things are supposed to be” is making a huge mistake...

 

When faced with information that doesn’t mesh with your own experience,

logic or intuition, proceed with caution.

 

I train to be strong, robust and healthy. I train to

make day-to-day physical tasks easier. I train for enjoyment. Gymnasts train to win—oftentimes at

the expense of their health and fitness.

Competitive athletics are funny like that. Professional athletes are the fittest people in the world,

but they are frequently forced to train through injuries. Many wind up pushing their bodies

beyond what they can safely handle. The irony is that these people may get to be the best in the

world for a brief, shining moment, but will often suffer for it later. The higher the high, the lower

the low.

 

I don't see CC as the only approach to fitness, I just do it because I think it's fun and I couldn't care less what I look like as long as I progress, which I am. Thanks for the critique though!

 

Resistance Day

My wrist feel kind of achy, but it goes away whenever I get blood into it, for this reason I think it’s best for me to start exercising properly again, here we go! (I will leave out fingertip push ups, clapping push ups and flags for now though).

 

Skipping warmup

Slap Tuck Jumps: 2, 2, 2 (getting used to the technique)

Headstand: 2mins (progression reached, will start crow stand now)

Straight Bridges: 20, 20 (intermediate standard reached)

 

Trifecta: I got half twist today easily. It was REALLY easy, all that work the last 2 weeks has really payed off.

 

The only thing I’ll say is that straight bridges was really hard mentally. I have to try do 40, 40, 40 next week, so that’ll be torture, my calf muscles are still sore from Wednesday…

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Resistance Day

Uneven Push Ups on Basketball: 13, 13 (both sides)

Hanging Frog Raises: 11, 9

Fingertip push ups

One arm hangs: 35sec both sides

 

Man it feels good to do my first proper chest workout in 2 weeks. What feels the most affected is actually my rear delts, the demands for stabilization from the rotator cuff in this exercise is huge. I think it’s really going to prepare me very well for one arm push ups in a few months.

 

My technique is slowly improving in frog raises, I am going to work this exercise 2 times a week for the next while, Mon and Fri, just to see what happens, it feels like I will be fine with the workload.

 

As expected my grip strength dropped a lot, but it will come back very quickly I’m sure, like before I plan on working it 3 times a week. I don’t expect pull up day to be great this Wednesday due to my reduced grip strength, but it’ll come back in a week I’m sure.

 

All in all, it’s great to be working out upper body again. I’m going to go slow with push ups this step (step 7 from Convict Conditioning) and try just adding a rep each week.

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