Calisthenics Hypertrophy

FOUNDATIONS: PUSH-UPS, PULL-UPS, DIPS, HANGING KNEE RAISES, SQUATS!

Before attempting any of the more challenging skills, it is important to realise that a solid foundation of strength must first be built. Perfecting the simple movements will make the more impressive ones easier to tackle.

The exercises to build a solid foundation will probably be well-known to you. They are push-ups, pull-ups, tricep dips, knee raises, and squats. Performing them properly from the start will save you frustration down the road, so read on to check you’re not learning any bad habits. Let’s start!

PUSH-UPS

In its simplest form, the push-up requires you to push your body away from the floor whilst supporting yourself on your toes and keeping your core tight.

Place your hands on the floor shoulder-width apart.
Stretch your legs out behind you and balance on your toes. Your shoulders, hips, knees and feet should form a straight line.
Keeping your eyes looking forward at about 45 degrees, bend your elbows and start to lower yourself to the ground.
Allow your elbows to push out slightly for your torso. Stop when your chest touches the ground.
Pause for a split second before pushing down hard, straightening your arms until you reach the start position. This counts as 1 rep.

PULL-UPS

With pull-ups, we use an overhand grip. This has the effect of opening up the chest and lessening the involvement of our biceps to assist in our ability to pull. The strength required to perform a pull-up comes from our back – specifically the latissimus dorsi. Pull-ups are essential if you want to have that “V” shaped torso.

Grasp the pull-up bar with an overhand grip, thumbs under. Hang with your arms completely straight. Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
Before you start to pull, shrug your shoulders down first. Pull yourself towards the bar. The aim is to get your chest to touch the bar or your chin over the bar. Do not swing or kip.
From the top, lower yourself slowly down to the start position. This is 1 rep.

DIPS

Dips are our second choice of pressing exercise that targets the triceps more than the press-ups. Coined as the upper body squat, dips will develop our triceps, shoulders, and chest.

Grasp the bar with your palms facing inward. Straighten your arms and get into a comfortable position: if necessary, cross your ankles behind you to avoid your feet dropping to the floor.
Bend your elbows and lower yourself down as far as possible, pausing at the bottom of the movement. You may find you start to lean forward slightly, this is fine. You can observe that Conor has a deep range of motion; do not worry if at the start you cannot go as deep. Just go as deep as you can, your range of motion will increase with time.
From this bottom position push yourself up until you reach the start position. Lock your elbows out at the top of the movement. This counts as 1 rep.

HANGING KNEE RAISES

Core exercises that can be performed hanging from a pull-up bar are particularly effective at building strength. This is because when the body is in a hanging position, the core is in a stretched position, which makes contracting the muscles from that position more difficult, in turn building more strength.

Hanging knee raises will work not only our core but also our hands and grip strength. The hanging knee raises will gateway you to harder progressions such as toes to bar, windshield wipers and windmills.

Grap the pull-up bar with an overhand grip. Make sure that your arms are straight and your legs are hanging loosely.
Use your core muscles to raise your knees up as high as possible, tucking them into your chest. Try to eliminate any swing by pulling down slightly with your arms.
Lower your legs down to the start position. This is 1 rep.

If this is too easy for you or you are looking for the next progression try contracting your core with straight legs instead.

When performing knee raises, you must try to use as little momentum as possible. It will be tempting in the early stages as you struggle to perform reps properly, but it will hinder your progress in the later stages and is a habit best avoided altogether.

SQUATS

The squat is one of the most fundamental human movement patterns and involves a vital part of athletic preparation, i.e. hip drive. The squat will activate all major muscles of your lower body, from the quads in the front of your thighs to your glutes, hamstring and adductors.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands held out in front of you. Your toes should be pointed out at around 30 degrees, although this will vary slightly depending on your starting flexibility.
Bend at the knees, keeping your back as straight as possible and your eyes looking forward. Push your hips back and down at the same time. As you descend, push your knees out and let your hips drop between the gap in your knees.
Drop as low as you physically can. From this bottom position drive the hips up until you can reach the start position. This counts as 1 rep.

FUNDAMENTAL FIVE

For the majority of people, it will be too soon to jump straight into some of the more advanced skills with no prior experience. As such if you cannot do the following:

Push-ups: Minimum of 20 perfect reps.
Pull-ups: Minium of 10 perfect reps.
Tricep dips: Minimum of 10 perfect reps.
Hanging knee raises: Minimum of 10 perfect reps.
Squats: Minimum of 25 perfect reps.

Then we advise you to continue working on these five exercises before attempting our first power move, the “Muscle Up”.