Wow, this is excellent! I've been doing calisthenics for years and have never heard of this program, and I'm impressed. I loved your explanations of progressions and consistent callouts regarding shoulder health! I have a troublesome shoulder injury (a torn labrum from a ski accident), and this should really help! Thank you!
For the pistol squat: Using rings to hold on to from above as an assist when doing one leg squats. That can be progressed until you don't need them anymore. Using the stairs to strengthen one leg at a time by squatting with one leg while the other leg is off the stair and bent behind you in a shrimp squat style.
I've discovered the Dolphin Pose as a prep for Headstands in the HS Pushup Series and modified it to a dynamic version, since yoga usually requires to hold the pose for breaths. I am almost finished studying the Series in CC and your main videos on PC and as I start out I will probably discover more hidden steps. As I grew up I discovered that the slower, steadier progression in life leads to more consistency and more results for me, even it can be quite challenging at times being bombarded with information on how to make big progress fast and/or easy.
Matt: Thank you. I have had huge issues with the bridging series in convict conditioning and couldn't begin to get to the next step. The table hidden step has been really helpful to continue to progress. Bridging is really a challenge for me.
Hi matt, I have CC and made good gains with it. However, I found that instead of working toward the "master step", I worked to find what I call the "optimum step". This is the highest step I can do while still feeling in control of the movement. For example, I am fairly good at bodyweight squats and really feel them. One leg squats, in my opinion, put an undo stress on the working knee, at least for me. Therefore , to continue to make progress, I might do higher reps, or wear a weighted vest, or even hold a medicine ball at my chest. You get the idea. I know there are people who can go all the way to step 10, but this approach is working for me.
It's all about finding what works best for you and making changes you think are best. The world of calisthenics is so big and there are so many variations that can be endlessly customized. It doesn't make sense to force yourself to do things that may not be a good fit for you right now.
The squat progression in Convict Conditioning is challenging, because everything was easy for me until uneven squats; all of a sudden you go from narrow squats to pistol squats with awkward assistance from a ball. Very difficult. Bulgarian split squats and beginner shrimp squats proved very effective intermediary steps for me.
After like 2-3 months of training uneven squats and not being able to do one with full ROM, I decided to skip the step. Well it wasnt skipped entirely since I was able to do like 3/4 uneven squat already. Now I am able to do pistol squats on both of my legs (left is still a bit hard to balance) and so I decided to try the uneven squat again. And I am still not able to do it :D . Now when I look back at my progressions, I would probably not eliminate the exercise entirely. I would probably train the other progression steps and after the workout I would do like 1 bonus set of uneven squats.
Holy cow. I've only just come accross this video but it has SO MUCH content that is really valuable and helpful to me. I love these progressions and most of them I haven't come across before! I will definitely be trying some of them out 🙂
I've been doing wallwalk for months and it's a great exercice on the way to handstand push up you're right, it builds strenght in your wrists and shoulder, shoulder tap in hand stand position is a good one too
These six point to your many more than six incremental variations and steps. I am looking at several of your videos today, adding incremental variation principles. I am coming back from illness, and cannot do one honest pullup--I used to do five sets 15-35 reps on door molding when 30 lb lighter--so I will now work up to pullups from archer and uni(one-hand) variations on upside down rows on a railing. I just added archer and "archer diamond(side to side in diamond hands)" pushup position work today. Currently I have only calisthenics, odd bars like railing and cattle pen, and odd objects including stones and pieces of iron, and I have some straps and bands, plenty when implementing your incremental variations. I really like your slow reps, not gratuitously stressing joints, which is a general principle I learned from CC when it came out.
Love your resolve and training ingenuity Bob! Finding a way to get in your training and experimenting with it is one of the fun things about calisthenics training
Hey Matt, a video I think would be neat for you to go over (if you can) is reading material for fitness. I own CC 1, 2, 3, and C-Mass, along with Muscle Control by Maxick, your book Fitness Independence, and Al & Danny Kavadlo's Get Strong and Street Workout. I wanted to know if you could make a video about good books that have helped you or maybe you think are a necessity for a calisthenics athlete? Much thanks. Awesome video!
I did notice I had to start adding additional steps in Convict Conditioning especially towards the later section of the series. Many very similar to the ones you mentioned. Like the incline one arm push ups and one arm rows. Now to get Paul Wade to make a 5th book. It's been a while. And I'd take that autobiography he mentioned about one day writing if he does.
RedDeltaProject Which is kinda a bummer cause he started the prison workout books. Which you see other people jumping on and growing the market, like Josh Bryant. But hopefully he'll be putting something new together soon. His book is always my recommendation for someone if they get just one book on working out.
I always had trouble getting calves, one thing that has really worked is to strech those at the bottom for a while (say 2-3 secs) and go to the top explosively and descending nice and controlled.
So are you the legendary Paul Wade? For people living in the countries of the former Soviet Union, you are almost a legend that no one has ever seen in life ..... I wanted to ask how you feel about Charles Bronson's book “Fitness in solitary confinement”? they say he was so strong that he could break armored glass with his fist. And still not a modest question, is it really possible to catch up on the horizontal bar with 1 hand 50 times ?? not one athlete can!
I wish! I could use some of the Convict Conditioning Royalty money lol. It's been a long time since reading Charlie's book. Need to revisit that work for sure
Hey Matt / people, I've been stuck on 2x20 Knee Tucks for months now, even though I used to do Flat Straight Leg Raises on a daily basis before discovering CC. I even dropped reps back down to 2x15 for a while, so I can work on form and then adding a rep per week back to 20. That helped me, but I am still hitting the same endurance ceiling. (I also weigh 100 kg, though I am cutting back to 75 kg slowly; this may be one reason why I'm struggling with these and pull ups). I really do feel like the Knee Tucks are an incredible exercise (they do things for my abs Flat Straight Leg Raises never did), but I don't know how to progress to 3x40. Even 2x25 are out of reach, provided I don't rush through them in poor form. Now I'm thinking of rotating bi-weekly; 1 week doing Knee Tucks, the next moving on to the next steps, and progressing through those, kinda like a side dish. Any thoughts on how to progress and or if my solution sounds like a good idea? Love all your vids!
I always found it odd that Paul Wade left out the archer movements (archer pull-ups, archer squats, archer push-ups) and instead included what, to me, are odd and awkward transitions between symmetrical and asymmetrical exercises, most of which require equipment (baseballs, basketballs, etc).
I just started with the convict conditioning program. While I already have some experience with basic calisthenics and can even do a few pistol squats and quite some standard push ups, I started at phase 1 in every progressions, as I tend to have issues with my joints and stability. After doing wall push ups for a few relatively boring sessions ('master' level was no deal at all), I tried out vertical push ups with rings instead, which made the progression significantly harder and thus more enjoyable for me. This way I feel that I am actually doing something for my total body but especially shoulder stability. I might stick to the ring variants for other progressions too or just add an additional step after the master level where I switch from stable surface push to ring push variants. Also I use the easier push progressions to build up finger strength. That is not a hidden step, as Wade suggested this in the book. But I really dig it. That's why I mention it here.
Hi Matt, Love your content. Stole this from Ross Enamait. Use "slider archer pushups" as a hidden progression to full archer push ups. Start with both hands in a fairly close push-up stance, with one hand on a furniture slider. Then as you start the eccentric descent, slide the slider out to the side, or up above your head, so the majority of your weight is on the arm/hand not on the slider, and still under the chest.
Man I was doing mantle chinups on the rings (one ring lower) and I got a sharp pain below my ribs in the left side, stooped immediately next day couldn't use that oblique, almost 2 weeks still can't do chinups without pain. I'm starting to worry that is not a pull but an hernia... it sucks!
Hey Matt! Great video! I've got a question for you: why during my rows my legs get so damn tired? I can't go past 17 reps not because of my forearms or my shoulders, but because of my legs! They just collapse! But the fact is that i'm actually on step 4 of squats and i'm on a good level of reps, so it's not a problem of not training them enough. What do you think about this?
Thank you very much Trevor, I already have a number of books available including my bodyweight training book; Smart Bodyweight Training: goo.gl/pnJd2b Good question on the total gym, I would say it depends on how you use it but on the whole I would say it's more of a weight machine than true calisthenics. It's just you're the weight. But that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. I still think it's a good piece of kit.
Oh well... handstands - my nemesis, haha.... ;D Still I have the problem of feeling dizzy after a few seconds when doing wall-handstand holds. As such I already switched to wall walks where this problem doesn't really comes out that much. Still on my way to pistol squats though. I found doing some form of "sliding back lunges" helps me more in terms of leg strength at this point. Those I do in regular rep/set fashion while practicing pistol progressions seperately.
my pistol squat - i can do just 2 at a time with upper thigh going to parallel ,atm - is weak because my lower abs/hip cant keep my leg up high enuf to be off the floor , even just going to parallel. challengingaf
about concurrent training with calisthenics I do full body workout twice.One day harder variations for Low Reps then second Easier variation for higher Reps.Is That right? I play rugby also.
I have been having trouble with the squats. I could do close squats effortlessly, but when I try to do it one legged with one leg on the ball, I fall flat on my ass. I tried the advice in the book of using a stable object and increasing height, but that barely helped. I still fall flat on my ass once I reached a certain depth. And it’s not like my muscles are struggling to keep me up and then fail, I just fall flat on my ass without feeling any muscular stress. I’ll take the advice of keeping my arms wide to increase my balance, but do you have any other advice?
Yep, keep in mind that the squat is very much a pulling exercise, especially at the lower depth. WOrking like you're pulling your hips to the back of your ankle will help keep those flexor muscles engaged and prevent you from falling back
In pistol squats, i stand with the ball on my not working foot, flat on top of the ball. Instead of heel on the ball. This was a hidden step i discovered myself. Or invented myself if you will.
I gained 17 pounds over the holidays and pull ups are alot harder I weigh 220 and can only do 5 pull ups and 5 dips. I need to lose 25 pounds of body fat. I am 18.7 body fat percentage went up high....from 13. Boy do I feel like a fat bum and do MMA and can barley even get back into my groove
I hear ya Justino, it's amazing what a few extra pounds can do, but that's the beauty of bodyweight training. it keeps you aware of your strength to weight ratio so you don't go gaining 20 pounds without knowing it. best course of action; just get back to the basic habits. Don't worry too much at the moment about "catching up" and trying to "undo the damage" just get back into the swing of things. That should do a lot, and then you can make adjustments as needed.
Wow, this is excellent! I've been doing calisthenics for years and have never heard of this program, and I'm impressed. I loved your explanations of progressions and consistent callouts regarding shoulder health! I have a troublesome shoulder injury (a torn labrum from a ski accident), and this should really help!
Thank you!
For the pistol squat: Using rings to hold on to from above as an assist when doing one leg squats. That can be progressed until you don't need them anymore. Using the stairs to strengthen one leg at a time by squatting with one leg while the other leg is off the stair and bent behind you in a shrimp squat style.
Calesthenics fractals - brilliant mate!
I've discovered the Dolphin Pose as a prep for Headstands in the HS Pushup Series and modified it to a dynamic version, since yoga usually requires to hold the pose for breaths. I am almost finished studying the Series in CC and your main videos on PC and as I start out I will probably discover more hidden steps. As I grew up I discovered that the slower, steadier progression in life leads to more consistency and more results for me, even it can be quite challenging at times being bombarded with information on how to make big progress fast and/or easy.
3 sets of 40 on those reverse plank bridges is brutal&felt like a big jump lol so gonna do the tabletops for now, Thanks man
Glad you like and well done on taking action!
Matt: Thank you. I have had huge issues with the bridging series in convict conditioning and couldn't begin to get to the next step. The table hidden step has been really helpful to continue to progress. Bridging is really a challenge for me.
As is for me too, but these mini steps are great for such occasions. Rock on!
Hi matt, I have CC and made good gains with it. However, I found that instead of working toward the "master step", I worked to find what I call the "optimum step". This is the highest step I can do while still feeling in control of the movement. For example, I am fairly good at bodyweight squats and really feel them. One leg squats, in my opinion, put an undo stress on the working knee, at least for me. Therefore , to continue to make progress, I might do higher reps, or wear a weighted vest, or even hold a medicine ball at my chest. You get the idea. I know there are people who can go all the way to step 10, but this approach is working for me.
It's all about finding what works best for you and making changes you think are best. The world of calisthenics is so big and there are so many variations that can be endlessly customized. It doesn't make sense to force yourself to do things that may not be a good fit for you right now.
So useful! I figured some of these out by myself by fiddling around. Thanks for sharing this :)
Very nice, a little creativity can unlock a lot of potential and make training more fun too.
The squat progression in Convict Conditioning is challenging, because everything was easy for me until uneven squats; all of a sudden you go from narrow squats to pistol squats with awkward assistance from a ball. Very difficult. Bulgarian split squats and beginner shrimp squats proved very effective intermediary steps for me.
David Jordon Miller that’s where I am stuck at! I am taking your advice, thank you!
same here...
After like 2-3 months of training uneven squats and not being able to do one with full ROM, I decided to skip the step. Well it wasnt skipped entirely since I was able to do like 3/4 uneven squat already. Now I am able to do pistol squats on both of my legs (left is still a bit hard to balance) and so I decided to try the uneven squat again. And I am still not able to do it :D . Now when I look back at my progressions, I would probably not eliminate the exercise entirely. I would probably train the other progression steps and after the workout I would do like 1 bonus set of uneven squats.
Exactly. They also require flexibility. Bulgarian splits with a weighted bag are incredible.
Or you can combine step 9 and step 7 together, holding on to a chair doing the squat with the basketball on the front foot.
Holy cow. I've only just come accross this video but it has SO MUCH content that is really valuable and helpful to me. I love these progressions and most of them I haven't come across before! I will definitely be trying some of them out 🙂
Glad it was helpful! Happy training Emily!
I've been doing wallwalk for months and it's a great exercice on the way to handstand push up you're right, it builds strenght in your wrists and shoulder, shoulder tap in hand stand position is a good one too
These six point to your many more than six incremental variations and steps. I am looking at several of your videos today, adding incremental variation principles. I am coming back from illness, and cannot do one honest pullup--I used to do five sets 15-35 reps on door molding when 30 lb lighter--so I will now work up to pullups from archer and uni(one-hand) variations on upside down rows on a railing. I just added archer and "archer diamond(side to side in diamond hands)" pushup position work today. Currently I have only calisthenics, odd bars like railing and cattle pen, and odd objects including stones and pieces of iron, and I have some straps and bands, plenty when implementing your incremental variations. I really like your slow reps, not gratuitously stressing joints, which is a general principle I learned from CC when it came out.
Love your resolve and training ingenuity Bob! Finding a way to get in your training and experimenting with it is one of the fun things about calisthenics training
Always learn from your videos. Thank you
Thank for sharing this hidden steps.Pesonaly for me is very useful the table bridge step.becouse I have some pain in the shoulders lately.
Loving those CC videos Matt! I found schrimp squats are easier than pistols.
they are hard in a different way i would say
Hey Matt, a video I think would be neat for you to go over (if you can) is reading material for fitness. I own CC 1, 2, 3, and C-Mass, along with Muscle Control by Maxick, your book Fitness Independence, and Al & Danny Kavadlo's Get Strong and Street Workout.
I wanted to know if you could make a video about good books that have helped you or maybe you think are a necessity for a calisthenics athlete?
Much thanks. Awesome video!
Great video and great tips
Good video as a reader of the CC and the next chapter
Thank you very much Gop Nik for your support and for watching my stuff :)
Very useful information. I will substitute my back hyperextensions and crab walk with these exercises that look SO much better for the body.
good one Matt! btw kudos on seriously improving your handstands!
I did notice I had to start adding additional steps in Convict Conditioning especially towards the later section of the series. Many very similar to the ones you mentioned. Like the incline one arm push ups and one arm rows.
Now to get Paul Wade to make a 5th book. It's been a while. And I'd take that autobiography he mentioned about one day writing if he does.
Yea I would love to see some more stuff from PW as well. Maybe he just got it out of his system with the first few books.
RedDeltaProject Which is kinda a bummer cause he started the prison workout books. Which you see other people jumping on and growing the market, like Josh Bryant. But hopefully he'll be putting something new together soon. His book is always my recommendation for someone if they get just one book on working out.
I always had trouble getting calves, one thing that has really worked is to strech those at the bottom for a while (say 2-3 secs) and go to the top explosively and descending nice and controlled.
Good tips!!! Thanks
More than welcome Jorge and thanks for watching!
So are you the legendary Paul Wade? For people living in the countries of the former Soviet Union, you are almost a legend that no one has ever seen in life ..... I wanted to ask how you feel about Charles Bronson's book “Fitness in solitary confinement”? they say he was so strong that he could break armored glass with his fist. And still not a modest question, is it really possible to catch up on the horizontal bar with 1 hand 50 times ?? not one athlete can!
I wish! I could use some of the Convict Conditioning Royalty money lol.
It's been a long time since reading Charlie's book. Need to revisit that work for sure
@@RedDeltaProject thanks for the answer)
Hey Matt / people, I've been stuck on 2x20 Knee Tucks for months now, even though I used to do Flat Straight Leg Raises on a daily basis before discovering CC. I even dropped reps back down to 2x15 for a while, so I can work on form and then adding a rep per week back to 20. That helped me, but I am still hitting the same endurance ceiling. (I also weigh 100 kg, though I am cutting back to 75 kg slowly; this may be one reason why I'm struggling with these and pull ups). I really do feel like the Knee Tucks are an incredible exercise (they do things for my abs Flat Straight Leg Raises never did), but I don't know how to progress to 3x40. Even 2x25 are out of reach, provided I don't rush through them in poor form.
Now I'm thinking of rotating bi-weekly; 1 week doing Knee Tucks, the next moving on to the next steps, and progressing through those, kinda like a side dish. Any thoughts on how to progress and or if my solution sounds like a good idea?
Love all your vids!
I always found it odd that Paul Wade left out the archer movements (archer pull-ups, archer squats, archer push-ups) and instead included what, to me, are odd and awkward transitions between symmetrical and asymmetrical exercises, most of which require equipment (baseballs, basketballs, etc).
Too technical in a way for the common man. I totally get why he didn't include them, simplicity I guess.
I just started with the convict conditioning program. While I already have some experience with basic calisthenics and can even do a few pistol squats and quite some standard push ups, I started at phase 1 in every progressions, as I tend to have issues with my joints and stability.
After doing wall push ups for a few relatively boring sessions ('master' level was no deal at all), I tried out vertical push ups with rings instead, which made the progression significantly harder and thus more enjoyable for me. This way I feel that I am actually doing something for my total body but especially shoulder stability. I might stick to the ring variants for other progressions too or just add an additional step after the master level where I switch from stable surface push to ring push variants.
Also I use the easier push progressions to build up finger strength. That is not a hidden step, as Wade suggested this in the book. But I really dig it. That's why I mention it here.
Appreciate your story here Vulpertinger, that's what's great about calisthenics, so many ways to progress!
Feet elevated pushup variations. Pike handstand variations & feet elevated pike & hands on blocks for full rom.
Awesome video Matt, really helpful
Thank you for your time and experience as always.
Much welcome Neil, keep up the good work!
This is genius! Thank you!
Great tips, thankyou Matt
Great video
Thanks!
Interessante bel video
Non capisco perché nel libro non si parli mai di stretching
Hi Matt,
Love your content.
Stole this from Ross Enamait.
Use "slider archer pushups" as a hidden progression to full archer push ups. Start with both hands in a fairly close push-up stance, with one hand on a furniture slider. Then as you start the eccentric descent, slide the slider out to the side, or up above your head, so the majority of your weight is on the arm/hand not on the slider, and still under the chest.
Yes! Those are great. I used to use a paper plate which slid along the floor of my basement when I was first starting out years ago.
thanks alot my friend!
You're welcome, and thanks for watching!
I really liked this one
Man I was doing mantle chinups on the rings (one ring lower) and I got a sharp pain below my ribs in the left side, stooped immediately next day couldn't use that oblique, almost 2 weeks still can't do chinups without pain. I'm starting to worry that is not a pull but an hernia... it sucks!
how are ya now?
Very practical video. Well done Matt
Hey Matt! Great video! I've got a question for you: why during my rows my legs get so damn tired? I can't go past 17 reps not because of my forearms or my shoulders, but because of my legs! They just collapse! But the fact is that i'm actually on step 4 of squats and i'm on a good level of reps, so it's not a problem of not training them enough. What do you think about this?
Try Hindu Squats - bethaks
Awesome Matt thank you
Nice video.
Love your channel. You need to write a cimprehensive book. Also....is working out on the total gymn calishtetics?
Thank you very much Trevor,
I already have a number of books available including my bodyweight training book; Smart Bodyweight Training: goo.gl/pnJd2b
Good question on the total gym, I would say it depends on how you use it but on the whole I would say it's more of a weight machine than true calisthenics. It's just you're the weight. But that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. I still think it's a good piece of kit.
Oh well... handstands - my nemesis, haha.... ;D Still I have the problem of feeling dizzy after a few seconds when doing wall-handstand holds. As such I already switched to wall walks where this problem doesn't really comes out that much. Still on my way to pistol squats though. I found doing some form of "sliding back lunges" helps me more in terms of leg strength at this point. Those I do in regular rep/set fashion while practicing pistol progressions seperately.
my pistol squat - i can do just 2 at a time with upper thigh going to parallel ,atm - is weak because my lower abs/hip cant keep my leg up high enuf to be off the floor , even just going to parallel. challengingaf
Dude your are the best you are a legend
Thanks محفوظ الشنقيطي!
You deserve more subs
about concurrent training with calisthenics I do full body workout twice.One day harder variations for Low Reps then second Easier variation for higher Reps.Is That right? I play rugby also.
Great info bro. Subbed
Thank you and welcome! Feel free to drop questions or video requests anytime!
I have been having trouble with the squats. I could do close squats effortlessly, but when I try to do it one legged with one leg on the ball, I fall flat on my ass. I tried the advice in the book of using a stable object and increasing height, but that barely helped. I still fall flat on my ass once I reached a certain depth. And it’s not like my muscles are struggling to keep me up and then fail, I just fall flat on my ass without feeling any muscular stress. I’ll take the advice of keeping my arms wide to increase my balance, but do you have any other advice?
Yep, keep in mind that the squat is very much a pulling exercise, especially at the lower depth. WOrking like you're pulling your hips to the back of your ankle will help keep those flexor muscles engaged and prevent you from falling back
RedDeltaProject
Are there any intermediate steps between steps six and seven that you know of?
In pistol squats, i stand with the ball on my not working foot, flat on top of the ball. Instead of heel on the ball.
This was a hidden step i discovered myself. Or invented myself if you will.
Bravo Travis! it's all about being creative and learning what works best for you.
Any thoughts on how to address leg torque during pistol squats? It's only when I have my left leg stretched out in front of me that it happens.
Check out the tension in the inside hamstring of the squatting leg. That muscle group does a lot to help keep your hips stable and square.
any alternatives to the head bridges? I heard they aren't the safest thing and thats the progression im basically at
Give these a shot:
ua-cam.com/video/5gHu6By2GMA/v-deo.html
Doing one legged squats with a chair behind you should be after close squats. To progress, find something that goes lower and lower.
Great ideas! I've never used the box squat method myself but I'm sure it can be very helpful to others here in the RDP community. Thank you!
Pls make a video on human flag in convict conditioning series
Don't you think clnvict conditioning lacks hamstring calves and lower back exercises?
Or is bridging enough ?
I gained 17 pounds over the holidays and pull ups are alot harder I weigh 220 and can only do 5 pull ups and 5 dips. I need to lose 25 pounds of body fat. I am 18.7 body fat percentage went up high....from 13. Boy do I feel like a fat bum and do MMA and can barley even get back into my groove
I hear ya Justino, it's amazing what a few extra pounds can do, but that's the beauty of bodyweight training. it keeps you aware of your strength to weight ratio so you don't go gaining 20 pounds without knowing it.
best course of action; just get back to the basic habits. Don't worry too much at the moment about "catching up" and trying to "undo the damage" just get back into the swing of things. That should do a lot, and then you can make adjustments as needed.
@@RedDeltaProject thanks Matt I will definitely take your advice. Thanks bud
Seated pull-ups?
Maybe L-sit pull ups
Jackknife pull-up
Your like a mega-buff Humpty Dumpty
I love it 😍
Super Mario!
FIIIIIIRST...............BY THE WAY, COOL CLIP!
Yay! Congrats :)