MattofSilat
Orange Belt
Sorry for making it so long. I know it's unnecesserily so, but I want to start my program on Monday (I prefer to start at the beginning of the week so I start at what I consider the beginning of the program). For a shortened version, look about 4/5s down the great ladder of text that is this post.
I used to think I was pretty strong and worked out a lot, but I only did high repetition Push-Ups and Sit-Ups. Not only did this mean that I was using momentum for a lot of the reps due to my lack of technique, but I also got minimal gains due to working to a point of failure every other day. It's a cruel realization when you're no stronger after hard training every other day for a few months..
SO! I've decided to take up Calisthenics training! I'm currently buying a lot of books on Martial Arts overall (Philosophy, Mental, Physical Side), but Calisthenics are my utmost priority. I basically have to use books because many of the Personal Trainers will not know enough about Calisthenics as all they've ever experienced is Weight Training and think of Calisthenics as almost purely endurance based. Progressive Calisthenics are basically Step-By-Step using the body weight in productive ways, such as working up to the Muscle Up, Triple-Clap Plyometric Push-Up and Human Flag. However, it does so in small steps, and the range of exercises used to build up to that step makes it a lot easier to do as you can definitely see the progression as well as feel it.
Currently, I have two books on the topic. One is called 'Convict Conditioning' and I also have the sequel 'Convict Conditioning 2'. I consider these as one book as the sequel is basically just a follow on. They take you on the journey from being as weak as you want to achieving a high level of strength. There are a 'big six', excercises which work the major muscles of the body hard, and they each have a master movement worked up to by progressing through 10 steps of increasing difficulty. Here are the 'Big Six' and the 'Master Step'. I'll also include the exercises from Convict Conditioning 2 in this list.
Push-Up - One-Arm Push-up
Pull-Up - One-Arm Pull-up
Leg Raise - Hanging Leg Raise (From a bar like a Pull-Up Bar)
Squats - Pistol (One Legged) Squats
Bridges - Stand-To-Stand Bridge (Bend on from standing into a perfect bridge, then be able to reverse the movement)
Handstand Push-Ups - One-Arm Handstand Push-Up (Off a wall, Balance becomes just as required as strength when doing it off the wall)
Human Flag - The Press Flag
Grip Work (Very Thorough) - Ends with Two Finger Pull-Ups, but this is elitist. Others include Towel Grips using 3 Bath Towls, hanging from for 60s.
Neck Bridges
Calf, Feet, Toes excercises - Many different excercises, such as Calf Raises off a step.
General Joint Exercises, but I have these covered from another book
They are all very impressive feats to me, and I am on Step 3 for the Majority of the exercises, but I'll start from Step 1 as that's where the book recommends in order to develop Form and other qualities. The book then goes on to do a text description of some possible exercises beyond these, but they do not go into these in detail. The sequel contains Stretches and Strength training for the Shotgun muscles. These are Grip Strength, Forearms and Neck primarily.
My next book is called 'Complete Calisthenics', which I only picked up two days ago. It is, as the name suggests, very much a complete guide to Calisthenics. So comprehensive that it goes way above my ability and sometimes even my comprehension. It covers everything you could think of really. It also has some exercises that 'Convict Conditioning' does not have, which are:
Muscle Ups
Dips
Levers
Free Hand Stands (Always approaches it with the intention of doing Calisthenics while in a free handstand)
Levers
Floor Core Exercises
Additional Lower Body exercises
Conditioning using Calisthenics.
Sadly, it's a bit too comprehensive for my current self. The Push-Up section, for example, begins at being able to do 3 sets of 15 Perfect Standard Push-Ups, which is already at step 5 of 'Convict Conditioning', and the only progression is to increase the angle of your push-ups (Putting hands on a raised object to decrease the strength needed, gradually reduce until you can do it on the floor.). This lack of a novice standard seems to run wild throughout the book. To make up for this, the book contains MANY exercises for each group that go far beyond the 'Master Steps' of 'Convict Conditioning'. All the exercises apart from the bridge from Convict Conditioning are in Complete Calisthenics. As I am not very strong at all at the moment, I think I will begin with working up to the 'Master Steps' on Convict Conditioning, and then begin to implement the further excercises given by Complete Calisthenics.
BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION
BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION
So basically, the plan is to mix everything into one workout for now. This would mean working Push-Ups (Convict), Pull-Ups (Convict), Leg Raises (Convict), Handstand Push-Ups (Will try to combine the two), Bridges (Convict), Squats (Convict), Dips (Complete), Levers (Complete), Floor Core (Complete), Additional Lower (Complete), Grip Work (Convict), Neck Bridges (Convict), CalfToeFeet Exercises (Convict) and Conditioning (Complete) into one. That may throw up some issues...
So I am currently thinking about how I want to do this. I also want to make sure I make progression, so spreading out the excercises to such an extent that less progression is made is not my target at all. I do, as of last week, follow the Convict Conditioning Program of:
Monday: Push-Ups, Leg Raises
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Squats, Pull-Ups
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Handstand Push-Ups, Bridges
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Now the issue is how to combine all of the above into a single program. I suppose you could call it impossible, but I want to disagree. Could somebody assist me with making a Workout program using all of the exercises above? I understand that it could be required to drop some of these exercises, which I totally understand, but I'd like to keep the current six that I'm doing. I am also combining this with Martial Arts Solo Training, but that is more technique than power when practicing it alone. I want strength for basically any reason you can think of. Self Esteem, Protecting people, Self Defense, Martial Arts, Women, the list goes on. However, Martial Arts are the current main drive.
I used to think I was pretty strong and worked out a lot, but I only did high repetition Push-Ups and Sit-Ups. Not only did this mean that I was using momentum for a lot of the reps due to my lack of technique, but I also got minimal gains due to working to a point of failure every other day. It's a cruel realization when you're no stronger after hard training every other day for a few months..
SO! I've decided to take up Calisthenics training! I'm currently buying a lot of books on Martial Arts overall (Philosophy, Mental, Physical Side), but Calisthenics are my utmost priority. I basically have to use books because many of the Personal Trainers will not know enough about Calisthenics as all they've ever experienced is Weight Training and think of Calisthenics as almost purely endurance based. Progressive Calisthenics are basically Step-By-Step using the body weight in productive ways, such as working up to the Muscle Up, Triple-Clap Plyometric Push-Up and Human Flag. However, it does so in small steps, and the range of exercises used to build up to that step makes it a lot easier to do as you can definitely see the progression as well as feel it.
Currently, I have two books on the topic. One is called 'Convict Conditioning' and I also have the sequel 'Convict Conditioning 2'. I consider these as one book as the sequel is basically just a follow on. They take you on the journey from being as weak as you want to achieving a high level of strength. There are a 'big six', excercises which work the major muscles of the body hard, and they each have a master movement worked up to by progressing through 10 steps of increasing difficulty. Here are the 'Big Six' and the 'Master Step'. I'll also include the exercises from Convict Conditioning 2 in this list.
Push-Up - One-Arm Push-up
Pull-Up - One-Arm Pull-up
Leg Raise - Hanging Leg Raise (From a bar like a Pull-Up Bar)
Squats - Pistol (One Legged) Squats
Bridges - Stand-To-Stand Bridge (Bend on from standing into a perfect bridge, then be able to reverse the movement)
Handstand Push-Ups - One-Arm Handstand Push-Up (Off a wall, Balance becomes just as required as strength when doing it off the wall)
Human Flag - The Press Flag
Grip Work (Very Thorough) - Ends with Two Finger Pull-Ups, but this is elitist. Others include Towel Grips using 3 Bath Towls, hanging from for 60s.
Neck Bridges
Calf, Feet, Toes excercises - Many different excercises, such as Calf Raises off a step.
General Joint Exercises, but I have these covered from another book
They are all very impressive feats to me, and I am on Step 3 for the Majority of the exercises, but I'll start from Step 1 as that's where the book recommends in order to develop Form and other qualities. The book then goes on to do a text description of some possible exercises beyond these, but they do not go into these in detail. The sequel contains Stretches and Strength training for the Shotgun muscles. These are Grip Strength, Forearms and Neck primarily.
My next book is called 'Complete Calisthenics', which I only picked up two days ago. It is, as the name suggests, very much a complete guide to Calisthenics. So comprehensive that it goes way above my ability and sometimes even my comprehension. It covers everything you could think of really. It also has some exercises that 'Convict Conditioning' does not have, which are:
Muscle Ups
Dips
Levers
Free Hand Stands (Always approaches it with the intention of doing Calisthenics while in a free handstand)
Levers
Floor Core Exercises
Additional Lower Body exercises
Conditioning using Calisthenics.
Sadly, it's a bit too comprehensive for my current self. The Push-Up section, for example, begins at being able to do 3 sets of 15 Perfect Standard Push-Ups, which is already at step 5 of 'Convict Conditioning', and the only progression is to increase the angle of your push-ups (Putting hands on a raised object to decrease the strength needed, gradually reduce until you can do it on the floor.). This lack of a novice standard seems to run wild throughout the book. To make up for this, the book contains MANY exercises for each group that go far beyond the 'Master Steps' of 'Convict Conditioning'. All the exercises apart from the bridge from Convict Conditioning are in Complete Calisthenics. As I am not very strong at all at the moment, I think I will begin with working up to the 'Master Steps' on Convict Conditioning, and then begin to implement the further excercises given by Complete Calisthenics.
BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION
BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION - BEGIN READING HERE FOR SHORTER VERSION
So basically, the plan is to mix everything into one workout for now. This would mean working Push-Ups (Convict), Pull-Ups (Convict), Leg Raises (Convict), Handstand Push-Ups (Will try to combine the two), Bridges (Convict), Squats (Convict), Dips (Complete), Levers (Complete), Floor Core (Complete), Additional Lower (Complete), Grip Work (Convict), Neck Bridges (Convict), CalfToeFeet Exercises (Convict) and Conditioning (Complete) into one. That may throw up some issues...
So I am currently thinking about how I want to do this. I also want to make sure I make progression, so spreading out the excercises to such an extent that less progression is made is not my target at all. I do, as of last week, follow the Convict Conditioning Program of:
Monday: Push-Ups, Leg Raises
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Squats, Pull-Ups
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Handstand Push-Ups, Bridges
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Now the issue is how to combine all of the above into a single program. I suppose you could call it impossible, but I want to disagree. Could somebody assist me with making a Workout program using all of the exercises above? I understand that it could be required to drop some of these exercises, which I totally understand, but I'd like to keep the current six that I'm doing. I am also combining this with Martial Arts Solo Training, but that is more technique than power when practicing it alone. I want strength for basically any reason you can think of. Self Esteem, Protecting people, Self Defense, Martial Arts, Women, the list goes on. However, Martial Arts are the current main drive.
