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Progressive Calisthenics - The Official Blog for the PCC Community

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Strength for Life

January 30, 2018 By Marc Ayala 5 Comments

Marc Ayala Strength For Life

It’s a new year, and gyms across the country are flooded with folks who’ve made the decision to change their lives. Unfortunately, these pursuits often start off well, but end up gradually fading away – often, before February even begins.

There are myriad possibilities for why so many of these efforts don’t achieve their goal; unfortunately, the first thought is often that the person is lazy, unmotivated, etc. While that may be the case for some, I have found that there is a factor that seems to be even more significant: the lack of a deep understanding of the process.

The fitness industry has done a poor job in terms of educating those that have a true desire to improve their physical being. New gym members are left to fend for themselves among the sea of machines and exercise equipment. To all of those afflicted by this current state of the fitness industry, I propose the following potential solution: strength training. Not the sort of strength training that is so often thrown into discussions of diet and health as an afterthought. I am referring to the deliberate, gradual improvement of your ability to exert force onto the world around you. This has the potential to change your body, bolster your confidence, and open doors that you thought to be cemented shut.

What We Want

We all want to be able to look in the mirror and have an instant, unmistakable sense of pleasure and contentedness with our appearance. When we think that we look good, we assume that others probably think that we look good as well. And nothing boosts this pleasure more quickly than a compliment from a friend or colleague.

We want to be independent. Not in the sense of paying your own bills and coming home at any hour of the day, but a sense of real physical independence: the ability to be able to shovel out your car after a snowstorm, walk up a flight of stairs without an escalator or handrail, or to be able to open a pickle jar. In an age where you can find someone or something to do anything for you – for a fee, of course – we are gradually losing our ability to thrive without depending on others. How amazing would it feel to be able to shovel out your entire driveway after a blizzard, then have the strength of body and character to shovel out your elderly neighbor’s driveway and enable them to make it to their grandkid’s first ballet recital?

How We Get It

Strength is the ability to exert force onto our environment and effect change. It is what allows us to explore and manipulate the world at will. Who would ever want to be prevented from living up to their fullest potential by something that they have direct control over? Unfortunately, thanks to the flood of conflicting information in the world, we often have no clue where to look or how to start on this endeavor. Fortunately, with a little bit of patience, a hearty dose of effort, and some good ol’ discipline, the plan that I propose here can get you there. Let’s get started!

Kavadlo Brothers Raised Pushups

Push Me, I Push Back!

The ability to push through our hands and influence the environment around us is so incredibly important, yet unappreciated until one can no longer do so. The ability to push doors open, push yourself up off of the floor after falling on ice, and countless others are examples of the need for pushing prowess. How do we improve our ability to push? We practice pushing!

Elevated Surface Push-up

Find a box, table, or anything sturdy that is roughly hip-height. If too challenging, use a slightly taller surface. Place your hands onto the edge of the surface with your palms lined up with your shoulders and squeeze it.. Brace your body into a steel beam with legs locked straight, ankles squeezed together, abdominals clenched, head up tall . Lower yourself slowly under full muscular control until the lower part of the chest touches the surface, elbows within 4-inches of ribcage. Return to the starting position slowly, without bouncing off of the surface. Momentum is the enemy here.

Goal: 20 repetitions. Then, use slightly shorter object and build to 20-repetitions. Repeat until using knee-height surface easily.

Standard Push-ups

Begin kneeling in an all-fours position with the hands directly beneath your shoulders. Next, extend one leg at a time back until the toes are dug into the ground and legs locked straight. There should be a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders when viewed from the side. No bellies sagging toward the floor, no bent knees, no drooping head. Lock your legs straight and try to feel the muscles on the fronts of the thighs tighten. Squeeze the butt muscles and tighten the abdominals as if bracing for impact. Pull the back of the head toward the ceiling, without lifting the chin. It should feel as if you are giving yourself a double-chin. Now, squeeze the floor and slowly lower yourself until your chest gently kisses the floor.. Slowly push into the floor and ascend until full arm extension.

Goal: 20+ repetitions

After becoming proficient in these three foundational pushing motions, you will have now earned more definition in your arms, shoulders, and chest, as well as the ability to push back when the world pushes you. Congratulations! You have earned it.

Kavadlo Brothers Pullups NYC

Pull Yourself Together

There is nothing like the ability to wrap your hands around the world around you and pull yourself through, over, and beyond. See that tree branch? See if you can pull yourself up into the tree and afford yourself a bird-like view of the world around you, only accessible to those with the strength to handle anything that the world presents to them. As a nice side effect, you’ll also build a serious set of arms. Time to pull!

Australian Pull-ups

Find a sturdy table, a horizontal bar, or any other object that is between hip and sternum-height that you can grip with your hands and hang from. Grab the object and walk your feet under it until your lower ribs are under the edge of the object. At this stage, your legs should be straightened, arms should be straightened, and hips should be elevated and perfectly aligned with the knees and belly-button. Pull the lower chest to the edge of the surface and pause firmly against the surface. If these are too challenging, use a taller surface.

Goal: 20 repetitions

Negative Pull-Ups

Stand on chair or similar object in front of the Pull-Up bar and take a narrow, underhand grip on the bar. Either tip-toe or use a small hop to get the chin over the bar with the elbows fully closed and in tight to the ribs. Hold this position as long as you can, not allowing the shoulders to shrug or the body to swing. Allow yourself to slowly descend toward the ground inch by inch.

Goal: 60-seconds

Pull-Ups

Begin hanging from the bar with fully straightened arms. Next, squeeze the bar as hard as you can and pull like your life depends on it! Going from straightened arms to chin over the bar is an amazing achievement for anybody, no matter which sex or how old. Take pride in the fact that you can maneuver your body around the environment at will. Got any room left in those shirt sleeves now?

Goal: 10+ repetitions

Kavadlo Brothers Squats DC

Strong Legs, Limitless Reach

Legs are the unsung hero that everybody relies upon for quite literally everything that we do, yet put little care into strengthening them. See that mountain? How about hiking to the top and basking in the glory of conquering nature’s skyscraper. Or being able to play tag with your kids?. The legs have an amazing potential for strength, endurance, and versatility. It would be shame to waste that potential. Let’s build those wheels!

Brisk Walking

This is where is all starts. Walking? Really? Yes. The best way to get better at traversing the world with confidence is to practice traversing the world with confidence. Stand up tall like there is a book on your head and you don’t want it to fall. Pike your feet up and never allow them to drag. Let the arms swing by your sides naturally. The swing of the arms is a good sign of the expressiveness of a person. Show the world that you are full of life and vigor! Walking gently builds the endurance in every joint in the body through low stress, high repetition motion.

Goal: 60-minutes

Assisted Squat

The ability to go from a standing position to a campfire squatting position under full control is crucial for maneuvering the world. To achieve the full squat requires a proficient degree of ankle, knee, hip, and spinal mobility, as well as strength. To build this ability, walk up to a door frame or anything that is about hip height that can support you pulling against it. Place your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, with the toes either facing straight forward or slightly turned out. This will vary person-to-person, so try both ways. With a firm grip on the object, sit your butt backwards toward the wall behind you with the chest lifted proudly, then slowly descend until the backs of the thighs touch the calves. Your heels should be firmly planted into the floor. Your knees should be perfectly lined-up with your feet.

Goal: 60-second hold

Full Squat

Once you have held the bottom of the squat for 60 seconds with the arms straightened out in front of you, attempt to stand up by keeping the chest lifted and straightened the knees and pushing the hips forward toward the object in front of you. Congratulations! You just went from a full squat to a stand. Now, slowly sit back and down into the squat again, pause for two seconds, then stand up. This ability will keep you strong and limber for life, so long as you keep practicing and utilizing it in your worldly adventures. You’ll also build one firm set of legs!

Goal: 25+ slow repetitions

What Now?

So, you can now push back against the world, pull yourself over, around, and through it at will, as well as climb it with ease. What are you going to do with your newfound abilities? The world is out there, waiting patiently for its beauty to be appreciated. The doors of possibility have now been opened! Don’t let them go to waste!

***

Marc Ayala, PCC, is a personal trainer located in Boston. With a love for reading and research, he is constantly on the quest for more knowledge and sharper skills. Marc is passionate about uncovering the physical potential in his clients, pushing them to levels of strength that they never thought possible.

Filed Under: Motivation and Goals, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: calisthenics workout, goals, Marc Ayala, PCC, practical strength, strength, workout

Kavadlo Brothers’ Calisthenics Arms Workout

April 11, 2017 By Al Kavadlo and Danny Kavadlo 20 Comments

Al and Danny Kavadlo Calisthenics Arms Workout
Fans of progressive calisthenics know that you don’t need weights to pump up your arms. With nothing more than your own bodyweight and a few bars, you can blast your guns without any external resistance.

Though you won’t find any dumbbell curls or triceps push-downs in this workout, the following exercises will blow up your biceps and triceps, and help you carve out cannonball delts. In addition to your arms, this simple sequence will actually hit your entire upper body – even your abs. When you perform exercises that employ compound movements, it’s easy to target multiple muscle groups at once.

If you are unable to complete this workout as written, you may add additional sets in order to complete the same total number of reps. For example, when the workout calls for 3 sets of 10 reps, you can modify it by doing 6 sets of 5 reps (or 10 sets of 3 reps) in order to make the workout more manageable. You may also substitute a different variation of an exercise if you need to, such as pike push-ups instead of handstand push-ups.

Aim to perform the exercises in sequence with approximately 60-90 seconds of rest in between each set, though you may also try performing this workout as a circuit, if you are looking to enhance its cardiovascular benefits.

Close Push-up
Start in a push-up position, only with your hands closer together. Bend your arms and lower your chest toward the floor, keeping your elbows fairly close to your sides. Pause briefly with your chest approximately one inch from the ground, then press yourself back to the top. The close position of the hands places additional emphasis on the triceps.

3 x 20 reps

Chin-up
Hang from a bar with an underhand grip, then pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. Avoid shrugging your shoulders, bending your knees, or using any momentum. Lower yourself back to the bottom position with control as well. This exercise works the entire upper body, while the underhand grip places additional emphasis on the biceps.

3 x 10 reps

Handstand Push-up
Kick up into a handstand against a wall. Look in between your hands, bend your arms and lower your head toward the ground. Pause briefly when your nose touches the floor, then press yourself back to the top. The handstand push-up is the ultimate calisthenics exercise for the shoulders.

3 x 10 reps

Aussie Pull-up
Get down under a bar that’s about waist height with your legs extended in front of you to form a straight line from the back of your head to your heels, then pull your chest toward the bar. Pause briefly at the top, with your chest approximately 1-2 inches from the bar, then lower yourself back to the bottom with control. Aussie pull-ups work the entire upper-body with emphasis on the biceps and mid-back.

3 x 10 reps

Parallel Bar Dip
Position yourself upright between two parallel bars with your feet off the floor. Bend from your shoulders and elbows, lowering yourself until your elbows are bent to at least 90 degrees. Pause briefly at the bottom, then press yourself back to the top. Parallel bar dips will finish off whatever is left of your triceps, shoulders and chest.

3 x 20 reps

Watch the video below for more:

***

Al and Danny Kavadlo are Master Instructors for Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification. The Kavadlo Brothers have authored several internationally-acclaimed, bestselling books, including their latest, Street Workout, and have been translated into over a dozen languages. They have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times and Men’s Health, and are both regular contributors to Bodybuilding.com.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, arms workout, Danny Kavadlo, Kavadlo brothers, PCC, progressive calisthenics, upper body, upper body workout, workout, workout video

Pull-Ups Everywhere!

August 2, 2016 By Danny Kavadlo 17 Comments

Danny Kavadlo Rock Pull-Ups

In the world of bodyweight strength training, the mighty pull-up is the indisputable king of upper back exercise. The classic movement is performed when hanging off a straight bar and pulling your body up until your chin surpasses the bar. The practitioner is encouraged to keep his or her entire body tense in order to attain maximum yields, as well as overall control. In fact, this notion of complete tension is present in all Progressive Calisthenics training, as we encourage the body to work hard as a single, cohesive unit, whichever the emphasized muscles may be. In the case of the pull-up, the primary emphasis is on the lats and the biceps.

While there are numerous pull-up variations you can perform on a traditional bar (wide grip, narrow grip and mixed grip, to name only a few), there are also many that don’t employ a bar at all. That’s right, you can use almost anything around you to get a great upper body workout. As I’m fond of saying, you just need something to hang from!

You will find that changing the surface from which you pull causes you to utilize certain parts of your anatomy that you may never have given much thought to training before. These include your hands, forearms, skin, sinews and tendons. Furthermore, without a bar, you are compelled to dial into your creative forces. It’s a workout for the mind as well as the body. This fusion of the physical and mental components is one of the greatest things about the Street Workout phenomenon!

While all of the following alternative grip pull-ups are rather demanding, they’re also a lot of fun. Just make sure you have a solid foundation in classic pull-ups before embarking on this journey. Work hard and enjoy the ride!

1. Ledge Pull-Up

Using a flat ledge instead of a bar eliminates the typical grip (or any conventional “gripping” at all). It forces you to use the strength of your fingers and forearms, as well as the durability of your skin. Because there is no bar, you cannot wrap your fingers around any round surface, making ledge pull-ups one of the best hand workouts you can do. They’re also great for getting over your fear of heights!

Danny Kavadlo Ledge Pull Ups

2. Tree Pull-Up

Using a tree instead of a bar is a sure-fire way to toughen up the skin on your hands. Rough tree bark feels very different than smooth metal and the branch will generally be thicker than a bar. Because the tree is sure to be shaped differently than a perfectly straight bar, you may have to “hug” it rather than grasp it. Be prepared for your abs, forearms and even your chest to play a substantial role.

Danny Kavadlo Tree Pull Ups

3. Fence Pull-Up

While this variant is super-brutal (and potentially unpleasant) on your fingers, it’s also guaranteed to build real strength where it counts. But beyond the extra lat and finger work, some find the true challenge of the fence pull-up to be the body positioning. This exercise places you directly against the fence, therefore you can only move your body straight up and down, without any backward lean, hip bend or swaying whatsoever. The fence pull-up must be strictly vertical, which places the practitioner in a mechanically difficult angle, thus building tremendous power.

Danny Kavadlo Fence Pull-Up

4. Two-Pole Pull-Up

The unique grip of the two-pole pull-up is like nothing you’ve encountered in a standard gym workout. Because you are holding onto the bars with your hands facing outward, the challenge is extreme on your extremities. Additionally, this uncommon hand placement demands extra recruitment of the medial muscles in the upper back, such as the rhomboids.

Al Kavadlo Two Pole L-Sit Pull-Up

5. Two-Pole Vampire Pull-Up

In this monstrous version of the two-pole pull-up, we do not clasp the poles from the sides. Instead we descend from above. The result is an incredibly intense workout for the hands, forearms, biceps and biceps tendons. Be very afraid.

Danny Kavadlo Two Pole Vampire Pull-Up

6. Pull-Up On A Random Object

Improvisation is key when you perform a pull-up on a random object. You can find a bus stop, street sign or even a statue or monument and turn it into your own gym. When you do so, you are subject to unexpected grips, questionable leverage and unknown balance. Make sure to survey your site soundly so that you can adapt properly to your environment. Take the bull by the horns!

Al Kavadlo Random Object Pull-Ups

7. Pull-Up On A Partner

This partner calisthenics exercise is a workout for both the puller and the one being pulled upon. Doing a pull-up off of another human is challenging because you must contend with the texture of their skin, which is softer and less sturdy than a metal bar. This leads to instability, forcing the practitioner to recruit more of their core, including the abs and glutes in order to stabilize. It is of note that your partner will have to hold onto something stable, as well as tense their whole body, in order to support your weight. Take this one slow.

Al Danny Kavadlo Partner Pull Ups

This list is neither the beginning nor the end of the many creative ways you can employ your surroundings to get strong. In the world of Street Workout, the only limits are the ones we impose upon ourselves. So get out there, flex your physical and mental muscles and get creative. You will find that the world is your gym.

Keep the dream alive,

-DK

 

****

Danny Kavadlo is one of the world’s foremost authorities on calisthenics, nutrition and personal training. He is the author of the Dragon Door titles Strength Rules, Diamond-Cut Abs and Everybody Needs Training. Most recently, he co-authored Street Workout with his brother, Al Kavadlo. Danny is known for his minimalist philosophy, simple approach and motivational talents.

A true in-person experience, Danny is a Master Instructor for Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification. He has been featured in the NY Times, TRAIN, Men’s Fitness and is a regular contributor to Bodybuilding.com. Learn more about Danny at www.DannyTheTrainer.com

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: advanced pullups, Danny Kavadlo, Danny Kavadlo Master PCC, intermediate pullups, no gym, outdoor workout, PCC Instructor, pull-up, pull-up variations, Pullup, street workout, workout

The Centerline Principle of Strength & Power

April 26, 2016 By Matt Schifferle 20 Comments

Matt Schifferle Centerline

I first learned about the magic of the centerline principle in martial arts. Everything from powerful kicks to dodging punches involved moving in relation to the center of my body as well as the center of my opponent.

As it turns out, the centerline is not only the key to powerful kicks but also developing strength and muscle when applied to progressive calisthenics.

Technically, your body has 3 center lines, one for each plane of movement. The scope of this post is focusing on the centerline that divides your right and left side along the sagittal plane.

Each plane has its own centerline. This article focuses on the frontal plane centerline.
Each plane has its own centerline. This article focuses on the sagittal plane centerline.

Focusing on your centerline is critical towards your strength and muscle building efforts. It opens the door towards developing more muscle control as well as improved performance. It also greatly reduces stress around your joints. Even your balance and agility will greatly improve by directing your muscle tension towards your centerline.

MattSchifferleMusculardiagramThe image to the right shows how the muscles are arranged to direct muscle tension inwards towards the centerline. Almost every muscle has at least a few muscle fibers that direct force inwards towards the spine. This is yet another reason to practice back bridge progressions, as they develop all of the muscles in this image. While the bridge is classically described as a move for the posterior chain, it is also one of the best techniques for developing tension towards the centerline.

Knowing about the centerline is good, but it’s even more important to know how to use it in practical application. Below are three lessons on how to apply the centerline principle in your training.

 

Lesson #1: Avoid the “splat”

The centerline principal works because it encourages the tension in your muscles to converge between the right and left halves of your body. This serves as a powerful transfer of physical energy up against gravity.

You can find evidence of this even in nature, as anything that has been pushed up against the force of gravity is the result of two converging forces. A common example is the Rocky Mountains here in my home state, which were formed through converging forces deep within the earth pushing upward.

Converging forces push mountains up against the pull of gravity, just as they lift you up as well.
Converging forces push mountains up against the pull of gravity, just as they lift you up as well.

On the contrary, an object that does not have converging force holding it together eventually flattens out. A quick example is dropping a snowball or a glass bottle against a concrete sidewalk. As gravity pulls against the object and it meets an unyielding surface, the matter of the object spreads outwards. This is what I call the “splat effect” and it can happen to your body anytime you are working against gravity.

Gravity causes objects to spread out against the ground or floor. In this push up, I have to use my chest muscles to keep my elbows from spreading outwards.
Gravity causes objects to spread out against the ground or floor. In this push up, I have to use my chest muscles to keep my elbows from spreading outwards.

Through directing your muscle tension towards your centerline you gain stability and muscle control so you can more effectively drive yourself up against the pull of gravity.

 

Lesson #2: Progressively apply force closer to your centerline

Many of the progressions in Convict Conditioning involve moving the hands and feet closer together. Close push-ups and squats are a great example of this. When you employ this style of progression you are putting force in a more direct perpendicular line against gravity. This brings you a host of benefits including greater flexibility, balance, muscle control plus more range of motion in the joints. It also forces you to be stronger since you are pushing your centerline in the most direct vector against gravity for the greatest distance possible.

Going narrow in grip or stance is a great way to make use of the centerline principle.
Going narrow in grip or stance is a great way to make use of the centerline principle.

It’s important to understand that simply pulling your hands or feet closer to your centerline is only part of the progression. You also want to pull your elbows and knees closer in as well. To a certain degree, you can even pull your shoulders and hips in slightly. I like to think of trying to make myself as narrow as possible. This helps me draw myself inward sort of like a guy sucking in his gut on the beach, only now I’m pulling myself in sideways as opposed to front to back.

 

MattSchifferleScrewLimbsInwardLesson #3: “Screw” your limbs inwards

Many of the muscles in the legs and arms “wrap” around your body’s bones and joints, sort of like stripes on a candy cane. Even muscles that look like they run straight up and down the limb have an origin and insertion point that is slightly offset from one another. The reason for this is to partially create inward torque along the limb as you move about. This inward torque is very important for creating that converging force within the body when doing unilateral movement such as throwing a ball or taking a step.

Screwing in your limbs is a little counter intuitive at first because your arms and legs torque in opposite directions to one another. Your right arm and left leg torque in clockwise while your left arm and right leg torque counterclockwise. It’s sort of confusing at first, so I just keep in mind that the knees and elbows both torque inwards. The knees torque in towards your centerline as they bend in front of you, while your elbows toque inwards as they bend behind you.

As the elbows torque in or out the tension in the back follows towards or away from the centerline.
As the elbows torque in or out the tension in the back follows towards or away from the centerline.

It’s important to note that torquing your legs inwards doesn’t mean your knees cave inwards. When your torque is applied there should be very little lateral movement in both the knees and the elbows. This is why I refer to applying limb torque as “locking up” the limb. It makes it stiff and stable just like twisting a towel makes it stiffer.

MattSchifferleTowel1

Lock it up! Applying torque on your legs or arms will make them more stable. Lock it up! Applying torque on your legs or arms will make them more stable.

If you can apply all three of these centerline lessons you’ll quickly discover more strength, stability, and power than you’ve had before. More importantly, your strength will become more functional and you’ll prevent joint stress that will erode your health and vitality. Just like any aspect of progressive calisthenics, using the centerline principle takes time and practice, so be patient with it. Also, look for opportunities to apply it even if it doesn’t impact the moving limbs. You’ll be amazed at how torquing in your arms can improve abdominal activation with hanging knee raises. Keeping your hands together is also a great way to make narrow and single leg squats more challenging.

Best of luck with your training and let me know if you have any questions down below in the comments!

***

Matt Schifferle a.k.a. The Fit Rebel made a switch to calisthenics training 5 years ago in an effort to rehab his weight lifting injuries. Since then he’s been on a personal quest to discover and teach the immense benefits of advanced body weight training. You can find some of his unique bodyweight training methods at RedDeltaProject.com and on his YouTube channel: RedDeltaProject.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Tutorial Tagged With: bodyweight exercise, calisthenics strength, fitness, Martial Arts, Matt Schifferle, PCC, power, progressive calisthenics, strength, tutorial, workout

Building the Foundation for Spectacular Progress, Programming with the SCC

February 9, 2016 By Adrienne Harvey 22 Comments

Raised Push-up Adrienne Harvey

After reading an online article last week, I had a brief flashback from my early days of strength training—or what I thought was strength training. In the 80s, bodybuilding came into the popular consciousness (along with aerobics and some of the most regrettable workout wear ever) and took its seat as the basis for mainstream strength training. For decades, the general public (which included me in the late 1990s, early 2000s) didn’t know that we were trying to use the ideas of this physique-based sport-specific training to build strength and general health. Most of us thought that doing these moves would help us to get stronger, more in shape, and improve our health—and they did to a point. But like many others, I was often confused because my real-world strength had only mildly increased along with my improved body composition and heavier machine-based lifting.

Also unfortunately, being short meant that many of these “standard” machines just barely fit me. Come to think of it, I remember seeing people of all shapes and sizes fidgeting with the machines in vain attempts to make them “fit”. The other even more frustrating effect was that I felt clumsy, both in and outside the gym. I’d trip over my own feet and just generally felt disconnected… and didn’t know what to do about it. Maybe I just wasn’t a coordinated person?

Fortunately, I eventually learned that I just needed to change the way I was training.  And soon after, I noticed my pull-up numbers began to increase as I learned to use my whole body for the lift, not just my arms and upper body as I’d learned to with the bodybuilding approach. And while it was still good that I could even do pull-ups that way, I’d been stuck on the same 3-4 satisfactory reps for a very long time.

When Convict Conditioning was first published, I balked at the early steps, thinking I was somehow magically beyond them. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I needed to start from the beginning and fill in the missing pieces of my training. It was necessary to “get over myself” to realize the extreme value of those beginning steps—especially when building the strength foundation necessary for advanced moves down the line. There are no “hacks” or “shortcuts” that can take the place of a solid foundation.

With all of that being said, it is still difficult for people to know how and where to start with bodyweight training, even if they are experienced with weight training or even if they’ve been training with kettlebells. In Convict Conditioning as well as Al Kavadlo and Danny Kavadlo’s books there are suggested workouts, examples, and instructions on how to customize your own programs. Yet somehow many of us still struggle to know where to start, or how to program a lot of this almost too-simple-to-be-true training for our clients or groups.

In Convict, we’re told to simply work through the progressions, only moving ahead when the reps are comfortably met… not barely met. Over time, we learn not to cheat ourselves when rushing through the progressions. It’s the beginner’s mind concept… and it works! But how do we teach it to others in the context of a session?

The other so-called “problem” with bodyweight training often comes from the lack of restrictions and the fact that it really can be done anywhere. With so few “rules” it can be easy to feel lost instead of liberated at first. This is one of the many reasons I’m thrilled with the new one-day Strength Calisthenics Certification workshops. They teach precisely what you need from the beginning… and more importantly, how to teach it to others. At the first ever SCC in New York, even experienced trainers and exercise enthusiasts found themselves “filling in the gaps” of their training with these powerful basics and the philosophy behind them. We never really outgrow the “classics”.

Aussie Pullups How To

Many of us (and our clients) may first come to basic bodyweight exercises with some baggage and the feeling that we “already know what we’re doing.” We often find that our ideas might actually be stuck back in high school PE class, or from following along with an old exercise video! What a client may remember from PE might be fuzzy at best, and you may find out that they have a bad attitude towards the exercises because sub-standard form has been causing pain! As a trainer (even if you’re training yourself), you need to understand and communicate the value of starting back at the beginning.

The SCC has all the basic building blocks for your own training, and for training others. The 400+ page manual also includes a programming guide for all levels and for multiple goals (including of all things, bodybuilding!) The SCC guide will help you get the coordination-boosting, real-world-strength-boosting, foundation–building benefits for yourself and your client/students. While your creativity will still need to be applied, these ideas will help you create workouts with skill building and movement pattern improvement—along with strength and conditioning.

Below is an example of a workout heavily inspired by the SCC materials and which could be adapted for a variety of beginner-to-intermediate situations.

Start with a warm up. At the PCC and SCC, we teach to warm up with the earlier, and often earliest progressions for the various movements we’ll be training in a given session, I also like to apply this to the Trifecta movements from Convict Conditioning Vol2 (when you go to the SCC, you’ll notice that the bridge and midsection hold moves also appear in the SCC manual), and scale it in much the same way. Some people have been confused with the Trifecta and have tried to jump right in with the later steps, even if they have not yet worked up to them in their regular sessions. Short bridges, beginner seated twists and bent-leg raised holds are great “warm-up” versions of the bridge, twist, and l-sit specified in Paul Wade’s Trifecta… even if you’re advanced or working with advanced students, revisiting those early steps for the first few reps is a great warm-up and “check in” with the body on a given day. Remember, these are active movements requiring active tension for full benefits. The other function of this focused warm up is to get our minds ready to work. Even a loosely structured warm-up can focus our attention on the task at hand, while breaking us away from our minds chattering away about the experiences of the day. In my own training, I think I do warm-ups as much for my mind as for my body!

Shoulder Bridge

Trifecta “Warm-Up” Example:

  • Short bridge and 5-second holds for three reps
  • Raised or knuckle-based N-hold (5-10 second holds) for three reps
  • Straight leg hold or easy twist hold (5-10 second holds) for three reps

Repeat (with the same versions of the exercises, or if you have progressed in your training, you have the option to move up a step or two)*

The SCC-Inspired “Beginner” workout example below uses a blend of the approaches given in the programming guide, but the core of the ideas below were from the section for deconditioned exercisers. The original form of this workout was designed for a deconditioned client with a fair amount of retained strength. I’ve adapted it for a more general purpose, but please tailor it to your own situations.

Senior PCC Adrienne Harvey Self-Assisted Squat

Review the movement patterns of each exercise for a few reps before starting, this will allow you to take extra time to make any changes before starting the real work sets. You’ll soon know whether there will be an opportunity to move forward in this session or the need to revisit an earlier step. For this workout, we did just a few reps of the assisted squat (with vertical pole or partner), horizontal pulls (Aussie pull-ups, bodyweight rows), incline (hands raised) push-ups, leg raises from the floor. While this can be progressed to any more advanced level, the original intention of this 3x week workout was to build up a reasonably deconditioned person—it can also be a nice way to come back to working out after illness.

Here are the work sets (do two rounds):

  • Self-assisted squats, 10 reps
  • Aussie pull-ups, 10 reps
  • Incline push-ups, 10 reps
  • Leg raises from the floor, 10 reps

Following this section, some may wish to follow up with some basic conditioning exercises such as jumping rope for time, or a brisk walk home from the park.

Finally, I find that “cooling down” with the version of the Trifecta I described above can be not only a useful way to end the workout, but a way to assess how you feel about the work sets, and to note any improvements as well. It’s subtle, but this “cool down” can really be a big motivator to stay the course!

This is just one example adapted from the SCC programming section, and while most people who train others will agree that most of our clients will be deconditioned, general population people, the SCC programming can also ramp up to spectacular levels of difficulty and challenge.

I hope to see you at a future SCC or PCC workshop!

*Trifecta progression examples for the second round: wrestler’s bridge or full bridges, L-sit from the floor, full twist hold… but remember there’s no reason to rush forward.

 

****

Adrienne Harvey, Senior PCC Instructor, RKC-II, CK-FMS, has been RKC Certified since 2010, and RKC Level 2 certified since 2011. Kettlebell and bodyweight training have been crucial in Adrienne’s personal quest for fitness.  A core member of the PCC team, Adrienne loves sharing her knowledge with small groups and individuals. She also loves to develop recipes and workout programs to further support performance, body composition, and of course—FUN. Go to http://www.giryagirl.com for more information about Adrienne.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Tutorial Tagged With: Adrienne Harvey, beginner workout, bodyweight exercise, calisthenics, how to write workout programs, PCC, program for beginner, program for deconditioned, progressive calisthenics, SCC, Strength Calisthenics Certification, Why SCC, workout

On Street Workout

January 14, 2014 By Danny Kavadlo 21 Comments

Danny Kavadlo Performs a Human Flag in the streets of New York City

There is no denying it: The phenomenon known as Street Workout has built a mighty following over the years, a following that grows exponentially every single day.

What started with minimalist calisthenics crews in New York has spread across these great States, and all over the planet. While not exactly the same, Progressive Calisthenics and Street Workout do have a lot in common. Just look at the wild success of PCC Sweden (where participants trained on actual urban scaffolding!) and next month’s sold-out PCC Australia, not to mention upcoming events in Germany, Holland and Ireland. Clearly, the principles of Street Workout have become an international sensation. A movement, if you will.

And we are not slowing down. You can’t ignore us. Street Workout is just so damn fun and good for you! It sometimes seems like the fitness world is nothing more than a bloated bastion of isolated movements and impractical applications. Street Workout is a breath of fresh air.

A variety of exercises demonstrated simultaneously by participants and PCC Instructors at the 2013 PCC in Sweden

Do It Anywhere
To begin, it encourages us to tap into the creative, even artistic, part of our cerebrums. Whereas commercial gym members use multiple thousand-pound machines to train one muscle at a time, we can look at a pole, fence or street sign and come up with a dozen exercises on the spot. The ability to observe and use your surroundings is a human trait that’s dying these days. Free your mind. Further, unlike a gym, there’s no fee for this club. We welcome all comers.

I used to know a guy who would drive 40 minutes each way to a gym to train for 45. He could have ran flights of stairs, done dips on a bench and pull-ups off a ledge in a fraction of the time. Hell, he could have done push-ups right there on the street—that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Al Kavadlo Performs a Push Up on Cobblestones

Real Strength
Street Workout is more than just efficient and visually impressive—it also makes you really freakin’ strong! By encouraging harmonious full body movements over isolation and non-cohesion, this style of training builds real world power! Modern classics like high-altitude pistol squats and scaffolding pull-ups employ more muscle groups and promote greater overall strength than traditional gym exercises like leg extensions or biceps curls. I’m a lot more impressed by someone who can confidently pull his or her body up and over a real object, than somebody who moves a weight straight up and down a machine!

Danny Kavadlo Performs a Pull Up on New York City Scaffolding

It’s Fun
We are born with a primal urge to be outside. We’re animals, not built to sit under florescent lights in climate controlled, window-less rooms all day. It’s bad enough that so many good people have to do this at their jobs. Why do it during your workout?

Have some fun. Breathe the air. Feel the sun. Outdoor training makes you feel like a kid again.

Wilson on the playground

Community
This is the best part of all. Whenever and wherever there is a gathering of Street Workout enthusiasts, it’s like reuniting with old family, even if you’ve never met. The passion and energy are that intense. I can’t explain it, but there is a special kinship in our world, just as there is in the calisthenics community overall. I treasure being a part of it.

In his groundbreaking book, Raising the Bar, my brother and PCC Lead Instructor Al Kavadlo refers to it as “The Bar Brotherhood”.

The Kavadlo Brothers

When all is said and done, working out, like life, should be full of challenges, fun and adventure. No training style embodies these elements quite like Street Workout does. So what are you waiting for? Let’s hit the pavement and train!

 

***

Danny Kavadlo is one of the world’s most established and respected personal trainers. He is a Master Instructor of Progressive Calisthenics and the author of Everybody Needs Training: Proven Success Secrets for the Professional Fitness Trainer. A true in-person experience, Danny is known globally as a motivator and leader in the body-weight community. Learn more about Danny at: www.DannyTheTrainer.com.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, calisthenics, Danny Kavadlo, fitness, New York City, no gym necessary, PCC, Raising the Bar, street workout, strength training, workout

Five for 5

May 28, 2013 By Paul "Coach" Wade 46 Comments

Summer is knocking at the door, boys and girls. (Allegedly.) Everyone is outside, hanging out in the golden rays, whiling their hours away in sun-soaked fun and romantic adventure. (Allegedly.) Summer lovin’. It’s like a scene from Grease, I tells ya. And why the hell not? A spell in the sunshine promotes Vitamin D synthesis, improves mood, and boosts immunity. It may even increase lean tissue-building testosterone levels. (Allegedly.)

Seriously, there are some times you want to lock yourself away in your cell and perform hours and hours of calisthenics—and there are times you definitely don’t. There are times you want to get a quick, productive workout under your belt, so you can go out and enjoy life instead. For a lotta folks, summer is one of those times.

My hands are up, officer; I’ve been guilty of long, draining, excessive workouts throughout my career. But I have also experimented with very brief, efficient, training sessions—and I want to share a few of the tactics I’ve personally used for super-short workouts. Specifically, I’m gonna give you five types of session that will keep your motivation high, keep you strong, flexible and tough—and all for the temporal investment of a mere five minutes. (Yeah, you read that right. Five minutes.)

I want you crazy kids to enjoy summer. Think you can’t get a viable training session done in five minutes? Read on, Macduff.

 

The S4 Method

This right here is my personal favorite strategy for a quick, effective workout. It’s simple, too—provided you can view a clock or wristwatch. For any movement or body-part, you warm up, then perform: a minute of a strict bodyweight strength exercise; a 60 second muscular hold for stamina and control; a minute of a fast calisthenics exercise; and a final stretch. (Strength, Stamina, Speed and Stretch—four “S” qualities. S4, get it?)

So the method looks like this:

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How quick and simple is that? You just knock out each of these for one full minute. Non-stop activity, with no rest in-between exercises. That’s it!

If you think this is not effective, I challenge you to try it. Here’s how it might work for midsection. You warm up for a minute with some abdominal tension, leg swings and hip rolling; then—eye on the clock—jump up and grab the overhead bar. For sixty seconds you grind out slow, smooth, perfect leg raises. (Ten reps is about right, champ.)

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By now, you are grimacing—but you still got some life in ya, right? So drop to the floor and press out into an L-hold—now stay there for sixty seconds.

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By the end of this (if you manage it) your legs will be trembling, and your gut will be in agony. But the show ain’t over, bud. Hook your feet under something; you have one minute to pump out as many bent-leg sit-ups as you can stomach. (Pun intended.) You are going for speed—military style.

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 USCMC image (LCpl Esteban Gallegos)

By now your midsection is spent, and you will be pretty much snapping up using everything you have. The minute—which will seem endless—finishes, somehow. Your body just wants to curl up in pain right now, but I want you to do the opposite—roll onto your stomach and straighten your arms, pushing up into a cobra stretch.

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This hold is a strange mix of relaxing—as it decompresses your confused and tangled, deep-fried muscles—and painful, as the time mounts up. One minute of this, and you walk out a free citizen—if you can walk at all!

Sure, this workout is too tough for most athletes. But as with all progressive calisthenics, you can tailor it to your own level. Can’t do leg raises? Knee raises or lying leg raises. Not loved by the L-hold yet? Bent-leg holds or jackknife holds work the same. Too shot to do the sit-ups? Throw a b-ball at the wall and catch it on the rebound for a minute (an underrated gut exercise).

Even the time aspect is variable. A minute is unthinkable for these exercises? Start with 30 seconds for each and build up a few seconds each session.

The S4 method works with pretty much anything. Want some upper-body push action?

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Again, with the PCC “toolbox” you can vary the difficulty in dozens of ways. For example, beginners might sub dips for kneeling push-ups. The elbow lever could be swapped for easier prone statics like planks, wall planks or raised elbow levers (see the PCC Instructor’s Manual for even more options). Fast push-ups could be subbed for incline push-ups, focusing on pumping out rapid-fire reps in the top range. Stretch out on a doorway for an easier pec stretch.

S4 works for legs, too:

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If you are working on unilateral or asymmetrical exercises, it’s best to alternate sides each rep. Again, you can use different difficulty levels, or different techniques—S4 stands a lot of tweaking.

Strength, control, speed and mobility. That’s three simple, five-minute workouts right there that very few advanced athletes could manage—trust me.

 

Gear Change Sets

Fancy a change? A workout new and fresh, free from the baggage of your long-term program? It’s a good idea to try novel exercises. It’s another cool idea to change your sets and reps. But how many athletes think about radically changing their speed? Or, how about changing your speed as much as possible…in a single set?

This is the basic idea behind Gear Change sets. You begin with a handful of slow-mo reps, and finish with a bunch of max speed reps. There are many ways you can approach this. A great one is to shoot for 4 slo-mo reps—that’s 30 seconds up, 30 seconds down—immediately followed by a minute’s worth of a very high-speed, explosive exercise for the same body-part. For example, after 4 slo-mo squats, I used to perform tuck jumps for a minute (if you are outside, a maximum speed run for 60 seconds is probably even better).

So here’s a potential Gear Change workout for the legs:

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Ever combined slo-mo squats with running? Murder.

Pick the right movements for your ability, and you have an amazing five minute body-part workout right there. But for Christ’s sake, always start each slo-mo rep at the bottom—or you may find yourself doing a 30 second negative squat you cannot push up out of. Slo-mo reps are tough, so don’t try slo-mo with an exercise unless you can do at least twenty strict reps with it at regular speed.

The method works for any body-part. For midsection, you could follow 4 slo-mo leg raises with squat thrusts for 60 seconds. After slo-mo push-ups or pull-ups, you might apply a minute of intense bag work or shadow boxing. You get the idea.

This slow-to-fast method is an amazing way to train. Through the complete elimination of momentum, the slow moves are tougher than you imagine (until you try ‘em). They just seem to hit the muscles in a new way, activating deeper fibers we don’t reach by bouncing mindlessly through reps, like so many folks seem to do. Very slow reps also really teach your brain something about the movements you are using; leverage, joint tracking, movement angles, weight shift. Subtle qualities of bodyweight motion, easy to miss at regular speed, now scream at you. When you are done with them, your muscles feel totally numb—and asking them to switch to their highest gear is a true challenge.

The Gear Change set also replicates real life. There would have been times when our ancient ancestors had to move very slow with high tension—maybe dragging a carcass back to the cave—then they were forced to suddenly fight off a predator trying to steal their prize. Slow to fast. Survival today is no different; imagine a soldier in the desert carrying heavy weapons or equipment, suddenly having to run for cover in a firefight.

Don’t get me wrong. Gear Change sets (like the other ideas here) are not meant to form the basis of your long-term training program. But they sure are fun, effective and instructive once in a while.

 

The H.P.A.S. Protocol

This is a beaut of a workout. I’m gonna call it HPAS, coz “Half Pyramid Antagonistic Super-sets” is too hard to say (at least for me). The premise—as always—is real straightforward. Pick two exercises for opposing muscle groups. Begin by doing each for 10 reps, then each for 9 reps, then 8 reps and so on, until you get down to one rep per set—and you do all this without stopping.

Here’s one potential workout:

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Few exercises go together better than regular push-ups and Aussie pull-ups.

Back to back antagonistic superset madness! On sale NOW!!

Can all this be done in five minutes?—if you use brisk reps with no pauses, yeah. But it’s not easy, and most folks will have to seriously build up to this. (There’s a good goal, huh? I’m looking at you, Jack.)

The HPAS Protocol is a perfect example of how short sessions can be both powerful and productive. Very popular in jails. If you can follow the above workout, you will have scorched every muscle in your upper bod, knocked out 20 sets, and got a helluva cardio workout, too.

This workout is proof that you don’t need to be in the gym for hours to make progress. In calisthenics—as in life—it’s quality that counts, not quantity. A hundred thousand rhinestones won’t make you rich, son; but a handful of diamonds sure will.

 

“The Century”

The Century is the rapidly-becoming-classic PCC certification test. It is designed to display technical ability in combination with an advanced level of conditioning, but it can also be a damn fine workout in its own right. In case you haven’t heard of The Century (where you been, dude? Under a rock?!), it’s so-called coz it features one-hundred nonstop reps in a single set:

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PCC-certified super-achievers will probably be sick of training for The Century, but it’s still a good staple to return to from time-to-time. Not only is it great to get back to the basics, but a hundred reps of the good stuff will leave your circulation and energetic system supercharged.

Beware though—if you want to crack this sucker in five minutes, you better have taken some Super Soldier Serum this week, kid. It can be done, though.

 

Al Kavadlo owns The Century in under 2 minutes 39 seconds.
Can you come close to that?

 

The Bridge

One final suggestion. You want the best five minute bodyweight workout money can buy? Hold a bridge for five minutes.

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I’m not kidding. The bridge has so many benefits, it’s crazy. It is the best bodyweight exercise in the world. A long hold will increase total-body strength and endurance—not just in the showy muscles, but in the vital deep tissues and tendons. It will increase flexibility, mobilize the ribcage, hip flexors and stomach wall, and disperse adhesions and calcifications in the shoulders. It bulletproofs the spine and lower back and drastically reduces knee pain. The inverse head position increases circulation to the noggin, releasing endorphins, inducing calm, and improving brain health. The bridge rocks.

I know what you’re thinking. Just one exercise? That’s an imbalanced workout, for sure! No way, José. In the real world, most eager athletes do so much for the front of their bodies—the showy pecs, biceps, abs and quads—that throwing a little extra meat to the under-loved posterior chain cannot hurt one bit.

Besides, the bridge is one of the all-time bodyweight classics, no different from pushups, squats or pull-ups. If you can’t hold a bridge for five minutes, there’s no way you can call yourself in great shape, no matter what else you can do.

 

Lights Out!

There you go—a killer series of five-minute summer training tactics, just for you.

So, what are your plans tonight, buttercup? What’s that? In a little while, you’re gonna eat, grab a shower, then head out for the evening?

Sounds great!

…before that, you’ve got five minutes to spare for old Coach, right?

My thanks go out to Al Kavadlo (PCC Lead Instructor) for generously contributing such cool pics to illustrate this article. This is not the first time Al has donated pics (and advice) for free to promote the bodyweight cause—thanks Al!

***

About Paul “Coach” Wade: Paul Wade is the author of five Convict Conditioning DVD/manual programs. Click here for more information about Paul Wade, and here for more information on Convict Conditioning DVD’s and books available for purchase from the publisher.

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Tutorial Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, bodyweight exercise, bridge, bridging, calisthenics, Century Test, Convict Conditioning, creating workouts, fitness, HPAS Protocol, Paul Wade, progressive calisthenics, S4 Method, short workouts, tutorial, workout

Make Your Own Workout

May 7, 2013 By Al Kavadlo 34 Comments

Every day I hear from people who’ve read my books and want to thank me for writing them; these messages mean the world to me. As I discussed in my path to the PCC, the driving reason behind writing my books (and articles) is to connect with like-minded people with whom I can share my experience.

While most of the folks who write me do so to tell me how my guidance has helped them achieve new levels of strength, improve their body composition, or even take out a new lease on life, I also get messages with suggestions and criticisms. The most common complaint I’ve received regarding my books is from people who are disappointed that I haven’t provided more detailed structure on how to progress through the various exercises presented therein.

This is understandable. After all, between Raising The Bar and Pushing The Limits!, I’ve presented over two hundred different exercise variations for various goals and fitness levels, yet only a handful of sample routines.

However, this is neither an accident nor oversight; It’s a purposeful decision. While many fitness guides spoon-feed the reader with rigid specific regimens to follow, I’ve chosen to empower my followers by leaving the suggested program design open-ended.

My readers include folks of all ages, genders and athletic backgrounds. Each one starting off at a different place with individual strengths, weaknesses, goals and levels of commitment. The number of variables makes the amount of possibilities endless.

All of these people can get stronger with the same fundamental movement patterns, but each will do so at their own pace. I can’t predict exactly how everyone will progress. Trying to box all potential trainees into a one-size-fits all program will inevitably leave some folks progressing too slowly, while rushing others through the paces at a rate that is inappropriate for them.

Additionally, there are a myriad of unpredictable factors that can affect your workout on any given day: what you’ve eaten recently, the amount of sleep you’ve had, stress levels – even the weather. When I train clients in person, I come into the session with an idea of what I am going to do with them, but I always wind up making changes and improvising based on what is actually happening in front of me. I can do a lot for my trainees, but I can’t see into the future!

A workout regimen on paper is a good idea, but it’s still just an idea. You have to put your plan into action to get any benefits. And once you start doing that, it might not go exactly as predicted; you are inevitably going to need to make modifications. In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they couldn’t be more different.

Of course people need guidance and books are a wonderful resource. However, ignoring your body’s signals in favor of following a preconceived formula written by a stranger is taking a good idea too far. This is what I love about progressive calisthenics; in PCC, we teach pliable bodyweight progressions and exercise chains, not strict protocols and formulas.

Building your body isn’t the same as assembling that bookshelf you bought from Ikea. We aren’t all starting with the same pieces and we aren’t all building the same identical object. You really need to get to know your body for yourself in order for any fitness program to work.

In fact, it’s not actually the program that works at all – it’s you. Now let’s go get those reps!

About Al Kavadlo: A veteran of the fitness industry, Al Kavadlo has recently been appointed as the lead instructor for the Progressive Calisthenics Certification. Recognized worldwide for his amazing bodyweight feats of strength as well as his unique coaching style, Al is also the author of three books, including Raising The Bar: The Definitive Guide to Pull-up Bar Calisthenics and Pushing The Limits! Total Body Strength With No Equipment.  Read lots more about Al on his website: www.AlKavadlo.com!

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Al Kavadlo, bodyweight, calisthenics, creating workouts, exercise, fitness, Kavadlo, motivation, program design, Pushing The Limits!, Raising the Bar, workout

The L-hold Tutorial

April 16, 2013 By Aleks Salkin 15 Comments

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The L-hold (also known as the L-sit) is one of the 7 static holds included in the PCC syllabus. Like all statics, L-holds are phenomenal for tendon strength and powerful, total-body co-ordination—but don’t expect to see them performed in gyms around America anytime soon.

My own recent exploration of the L-hold started off somewhat embarrassingly – with a locked-up lower back. After botching my first dance with heavy pullovers, my lower back felt like a piece of wood – stiff and immovable (note to interested parties: common sense would dictate not to arch your back while doing pullovers. My common sense was evidently on a smoke break at the time. Don’t arch your back if you do them). I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t do pistols, I couldn’t do L-holds, I couldn’t even hinge at the hips without feeling like I was going to catapult face first into the ground.

I was in trouble with a capital “TROUB”.

Fortunately, I had a hunch that there was a simple solution to this sudden bout of inflexibility, and the answer lie in strengthening my low back’s next door neighbor: my abs.

I chose the L-hold because hanging leg raise variations were unbearable at the time, and because of the high promises made about L-holds in Convict Conditioning 2: “Cure bad hips and low back inside and out.” Could it really be that simple? Would the L-hold break its promise when I most needed it to deliver? There was only one way to find out, and fortunately the progression sequence Paul Wade laid out in Convict Conditioning 2 was just what the doctor ordered. I started with bent leg holds and found that pumping my legs between progressions increased the difficulty and skyrocketed my strength and blood flow to my low back all at the same time. To make a long story short, within a few short days my back was as good as new. In this post, I’m going show you how I approached mastery of the L-hold.

First and foremost, you are going to need two things: strength in the form of strong shoulders, lats, triceps, and (of course) abs. Be sure you’ve cut your teeth on dips, one-arm pushups and their progressions, handstands, pull-ups, and leg raises before you tackle this move. Second, you are going to need some good active flexibility, or as Coach Wade refers to it in CC2 “Tension flexibility”, in your hips and legs. Whereas passive flexibility is essentially yielding to the force of gravity to improve your range of motion, active flexibility uses muscle tension to kick gravity to the curb and move in an advanced range of motion against the Earth’s otherwise unforgiving pull.

L-hold domination

To begin with, start on some sort of raised surface rather than on the floor: paralettes, kettlebell handles (careful!), or a sturdy desk will do the trick. For the sake of variety, consider practicing them on all these surfaces. While I have no hard proof of it, getting good at a this or any skill in a variety of contexts may very well make you better at the movement overall.

To keep your shoulders happy, keep them pushed down as far away from the ears as possible, and keep your “elbow pits” forward for all the steps in each series. Let your shoulders round forward – flare your shoulder blades – and hold that position tight. Keep your gaze straight ahead.

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Nope! Chest is too wide and back is arched. You may not pass go.

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Bingo! Back is flexed, chest is sunken, abs are tight. You have redeemed yourself.

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Make your elbow pit point the same direction as your fingers.

Your goal is to work up to 20 second holds on each progression before moving on. However, because you’ll achieve that goal by getting stronger before focusing on endurance, I’ll give you a tool to get a taste of the next progression in the series to help build your strength faster and work your way toward the advanced L-hold more time efficiently. Not only will you be building static strength, but you will also be building dynamic strength, thereby giving you some built-in variety and the ability to feel out the movement a bit better.

When your arms start shaking and you are making ugly faces and grunting to get through your sets, you’ve already gone too far. If you’re working yourself into the ground you’re building fatigue, not strength. Knock it off.

You’re going to start with the bent leg hold. Prop yourself up on your raised surface, bend your legs to about 90 degrees, and…well, hold it. Hold it for as long as you (semi) comfortably can, take a break, and repeat.

Your journey through the progressions will go in this order.

1) Bent leg holds

–>Bent leg-to-straight leg

2) Straight leg holds

–> straight leg-to-N-holds

3) N-holds

–> N-holds-to-L-hold

4) L-hold

And if you want to take the first small step toward V-holds, you can add in this gem

==> L-hold-to-advanced L-hold

5) Advanced L-hold

Check out the video for the deeper details to kicking gravity in the face L-hold style. Note that during the dynamic variations I’m controlling my leg movement, not letting it control me (i.e. bouncing around and losing balance). Don’t move on until you can do the same.

 

Programming will be different from person to person. If you’re a rank beginner, you can get by initially with just two days a week of work. I say “initially” because the L-hold is not as taxing as movements such as hanging leg raises and Dragon Flags, so practicing them daily should become your goal.

The following programs are examples. You may progress faster, you may progress slower. Use these programs as templates, not gospel, and you will find that you have a solid base to work from and progress should roll in faster than you can spell “transverse abdominis.”

 

Beginner program:

Week 1: Don’t overthink it – keep your effort level at around 50%-80%. No need to go balls-to-the-wall just yet.

Monday: Bent leg holds

Thursday: Bent leg holds to straight leg holds

Week 2:

Monday: sets of bent leg holds and bent leg-to-straight leg holds

Thursday: Straight leg holds

 

After this, three days a week should be no problem. If that’s still overdoing it, stick with two days a week and progress as slowly as you need to. You don’t get a medal for racing through the progressions.

 

Intermediate program:

Week 1:

Monday: straight leg holds + bent leg-to-straight leg holds

Wednesday: bent leg holds

Friday: straight leg-to-N-holds

Week 2:

Monday: N-holds + straight leg-to-N-holds

Wednesday: straight leg holds

Friday: N-holds to L-hold

And if you’re more advanced and want to work on these daily, here’s an advanced program.

 

Advanced program:

Week 1:

Monday: (warm up: bent and straight leg holds) N-holds + N-hold-to-L-hold

Tuesday: (warm up: bent and straight leg holds) N-holds

Wednesday: (warm up: bent-to-straight leg holds) N-holds-to-L-hold + L-holds

Thursday: (warm up: bent-to-straight leg holds) N-holds

Friday: (warm up: bent-to-straight leg holds) L-hold-to-advanced L-hold

Week 2:

Monday: (warm up: straight leg holds) N-hold-to-L-hold

Tuesday: (warm up: straight leg holds) L-holds

Wednesday: (warm up: straight leg holds and N-holds) L-holds + L-holds-to-advanced L-holds

Thursday: (warm up: straight leg holds to N-holds) L-holds

Friday: (warm up: N-holds) Advanced L-holds

Congratulations! You have just kicked the L-hold’s ass! And now your abs are punch proof. But they’re not punch proof enough – not if you’re reading this anyway. For the average exerciser a full L-hold is a laudable accomplishment. But you’re not average, otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this. The time to go above and beyond is nigh. Stay tuned. The V-hold is calling your name. And it will soon be time to answer the call.

***

About Aleks Salkin: Aleks Salkin is a calisthenics and kettlebell fanatic and Primal Move Fundamentals instructor currently headquartered out of Haifa, Israel. In addition to his love of old school strength training, he is also a devotee of intelligent flexibility training and tension flexibility in particular. Aleks grew up scrawny and unathletic until he was exposed to Pavel and his training methodologies in his early 20s. He currently spends his time spreading the word of strength and health both in person to his clients and online via his website and Facebook page. He is available for online coaching for select, dedicated individuals, and enjoys crushing weakness wherever it tries to hide. Find him online at http://www.alekssalkin.com/

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Tutorial Tagged With: abdominal training, abs, Aleks Salkin, bodyweight, calisthenics, Convict Conditioning, L-hold, L-sit, Paul Wade, tutorial, workout

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Dragon Door Publications / The author(s) and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions or opinions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.