I've been reading a lot of the comments on a number of Matt's videos and there is a consistency. His videos are simple and straight forward. He cuts out all of the fluff and is very informative. And this is what many have been saying. That's why I'm a subscriber :)
You can get really strong with this. Thanks for introducing me to it! I've done this for two weeks, and I'm already noticing better muscle control and strength. Yesterday I did the dumb fitness testing that they do in physical ed at school, and we had the pushup test (a lady on an audio track just says 'up... down' over and over again') I did more than everyone there, including football players... and I'm in cross country. ANYONE can do it. Thanks a bunch! :)
I love this video. If you want to just be a strong hulk, then sure, weight lifting works. But progressive calisthenics makes you more well-rounded - you need all those traits. That's why I'm in love with it.
Exactly how I feel about calisthenics. it's much more well rounded. that's why the military uses it. it's more conducive to survival or even a street fight...hence y so many prison inmates stick to calisthenics. weight lifting may be more aesthetic if u wanna look big and beefy but calisthenics will make u look truly strong and shredded. of course you can bulk with calisthenics too. there's no limits. it's all about your specific exercise routine
Joshua King lol I wrestled and now I do mma weight training is far better for combat doing deadlifts and heavy squats give me more carry over than a damn pistol squat
Donovan Hunt well like said it's all about preference. Many guys in my gym are built like football players and never touched a weight. Calisthenics are very underestimated
Your car analogy was awesome. I can relate to your "death trap" analogy. Too much strength for my joints, I have bad knees, shoulder, back, tendon also.
I hurt my back today on heavy squats for the last time. That's it, no more heavy weights for me. i'm so fucking frustrated and angry for injuring myself all the time and not progressing at all because of it. I'm gonna start calisthenics and maybe light weights on the side
Sorry to hear of your injury ollvi, I feel your pain. 1- Welcome to the world of BW training and know I'm here to help. Check out the leg training video playlist for some helpful tips to get started. 2- Take this time as an opportunity to asses what went wrong with the set you got injured in. Back squats are a lot more technical than many people realize, but they can also be super effective. Once you feel better, maybe have a coach or someone take a look and see if there's anything address. I only mention this because if there's an issue it's going to carry over to calisthenics anyway. 3- Maybe goblet squats with a kettlebell or Dumbell may be more your speed.
Absolutely makes sense, never thought of it that way. I'm doing pushups and pike presses at home and it is almost like I can feel those weaker points starting to get built up unlike when I was focusing on the weights only.
Great info! although weights for lower body mass are hard to beat, they also beat the joints down. Would love to see some of your current workouts/exercises/progressions you use!
Yea, sorry I've been getting lazy on that sort of thing, but I've got some new pull up and knee raise vidoes in the works. Been finding out some great stuff about how to kill the abs.
I think you're right that weighted lower body exercises are likely the best for size. With upper body training, you can stick to bodyweight for quite a while before it gets easy, but with lower body you tend to progress in strength quicker. What I'm intending to do is stick with bodyweight for now, and only start adding weight when I get to the level of full, good form pistol squats and single-leg deadlifts.
Paul Bruce I'm on the same plan as you Paul, only thing is I keep finding ways to make that single leg squat more strict. I thought I had the single leg squat down and was adding a bit of weight, but then I got a knee issue and learned my technique wasn't nearly as good as I thought. Now I'm still doing assisted single leg squats and making a lot of progress in both strength and size. I guess there's always another level :)
+Dale G. It's all about the work ethic and intensity, not to mention the skills, you bring to the workout. If you bring your A game the tools you use don't really matter.
A number of calisthenics guys squat and deadlift for their lower body and do bodyweight exercises for their upper body, and do very well with this method.
You may want to look into why it's getting so sore. Maybe have someone look at your technique. pain in the joints shouldn't be a regualar result of training.
I'm not sure where this assumption comes from that calisthenics is terrific for one's joints, while weight training will wear down and degrade them. Diamond push ups make my left shoulder feel like hell, while bench press feels okay. I can squat deep with heavy weight, but close-stance body-weight squats blew my knee out. You might attribute this to some degree of mobility issue, but the calisthenics certainly didn't improve the issue at all, like Paul Wade implies will happen in his book. I also find the idea the pistol squats are only a balance exercise if you lack balance rather fallacious. If you were to ask a trainer for a lower-body strength building exercise, you would be rightly confused if he told you to do body-weight squats on a slackline. As you repeatedly fall of the slackline and fail to gain any strength, he remarks "Ah, well see your balance is terrible, that's why you're not getting stronger." The issue being that for the average person, the limiting factor in a slackline squat is balance, not strength. The limiting factor for the average person in a pistol squat is mobility and balance, not strength. The limiting factor in a conditioning activity should be the fitness element you are training. A mobility routine that demanded a very high level of strength expenditure to even begin seeing mobility improvements would be less than optimal.
You bring up a great point, which I'm getting into with a few more videos, that there's a difference between balance and stability. Using a tool to challenge stability, like a slack line or bosu isn't going to be best, as you point out because you're trying to stabilize your body relative to the tool. However, something like a single leg squat is about stability on a stable floor so it's a bit different. I also can relate to joint issues with calisthenics I've had many over the years so yoiu're right calisthenics certainly isn't injury proof, no training style is. but what it did do was force me to confront the imbalances that were causing the issues rather than find ways to get around and ignore them. And you're also right about training the physical element that's important for your goal, but I think it's more of a short term approach. The body works as a holistic system and sooner or later things like mobility can inhibit strength and vice versa.
I always wonder what would happen if they made those more BW based, maybe something like an America Ninja style test. Strength is so specific, they always have such similar tests, It's very apples to oranges.
Well, to be fair the calistenics athletes are being tested mostly in weight lifting excersise. Strength is specific in how you train. But can have carry over. Of course they don't do better at dead lifts, bench press, or squats. The power lifters are better at those excersise. Because they train specifically in them. But they are typically not as strong at weighted pull ups, dips, muscle ups exc. Because they don't train that style. Though I will say Adam Raw didn't get crushed on strength wars. He arguably beat that power lifter Romano. He finished the last rep before Romano. But Romano beat him to ringing the bell. So not all calistenics athletes get crushed. But if he was up against face less he would of got crushed for sure.
Your passion really shows when you get in the zone. You're an inspirational speaker my friend.
omg this video is about 3 years old and has no dislikes! You know the channel's is good when that happens!
I've been reading a lot of the comments on a number of Matt's videos and there is a consistency. His videos are simple and straight forward. He cuts out all of the fluff and is very informative. And this is what many have been saying. That's why I'm a subscriber :)
This guy if absolutely satisfying to listen to, dunno why, like the style of his talking :)
intelligence beyond all other videos on exercise
That was abselouly 100% correct.
That's why i changed my training routine from weights lifting to calisthenics.
You can get really strong with this. Thanks for introducing me to it! I've done this for two weeks, and I'm already noticing better muscle control and strength. Yesterday I did the dumb fitness testing that they do in physical ed at school, and we had the pushup test (a lady on an audio track just says 'up... down' over and over again') I did more than everyone there, including football players... and I'm in cross country. ANYONE can do it. Thanks a bunch! :)
I love this video. If you want to just be a strong hulk, then sure, weight lifting works. But progressive calisthenics makes you more well-rounded - you need all those traits. That's why I'm in love with it.
Exactly how I feel about calisthenics. it's much more well rounded. that's why the military uses it. it's more conducive to survival or even a street fight...hence y so many prison inmates stick to calisthenics. weight lifting may be more aesthetic if u wanna look big and beefy but calisthenics will make u look truly strong and shredded. of course you can bulk with calisthenics too. there's no limits. it's all about your specific exercise routine
Joshua King lol I wrestled and now I do mma weight training is far better for combat doing deadlifts and heavy squats give me more carry over than a damn pistol squat
Donovan Hunt Its all about preferences. I'm a mma fighter as well, and found that calisthenics has worked better for me than weights.
dark wolf nothing beats a deadlift and heavy squats they simulate picking up your opponent calisthenics won't do that
Donovan Hunt well like said it's all about preference. Many guys in my gym are built like football players and never touched a weight. Calisthenics are very underestimated
Wow I usually thought people do calisthenics to show off mostly, but after listening to this video, it makes me want to try calisthenics!
Your car analogy was awesome. I can relate to your "death trap" analogy. Too much strength for my joints, I have bad knees, shoulder, back, tendon also.
So much quality in this video. you deserve way more viewers ! Keep the good work , keep ispiring each other
I hurt my back today on heavy squats for the last time. That's it, no more heavy weights for me. i'm so fucking frustrated and angry for injuring myself all the time and not progressing at all because of it. I'm gonna start calisthenics and maybe light weights on the side
Sorry to hear of your injury ollvi, I feel your pain.
1- Welcome to the world of BW training and know I'm here to help. Check out the leg training video playlist for some helpful tips to get started.
2- Take this time as an opportunity to asses what went wrong with the set you got injured in. Back squats are a lot more technical than many people realize, but they can also be super effective. Once you feel better, maybe have a coach or someone take a look and see if there's anything address. I only mention this because if there's an issue it's going to carry over to calisthenics anyway.
3- Maybe goblet squats with a kettlebell or Dumbell may be more your speed.
Absolutely makes sense, never thought of it that way. I'm doing pushups and pike presses at home and it is almost like I can feel those weaker points starting to get built up unlike when I was focusing on the weights only.
This is the realization i have just come to in the last week thanks to your channel
Nice! well done Damian!
Ok, again and again and I again another great video!!!
Thanks for this video. Really informative.
Loved the philosophy.
Damn.....never thought about it like that....very nice man 👊
I appreciate it!
Any other 2019ers??
2020
Nearly 2021
Covid era
Donovan ah the power of youth. I felt the same when I was younger but wait until you get to my age.
This shows, true difference between calisthenics and weightlifting.
"Eventually what I'm doing is building my own death trap..."
Testify
Loving your videos man!
Thanks much! let me know if there is anything special I can make up for you :)
RedDeltaproject
how to clean up your muscle up
Sir you have tons of practical knowledge. Read Smart Bodyweight Training. Its taking my training beyond a certain number.
Much thanks and appreciation SC! And thank you very much for picking up a copy of my book and supporting the RDP!
Watching this 10 years later and you've definitely bulked up with only calisthenics
Great info! although weights for lower body mass are hard to beat, they also beat the joints down. Would love to see some of your current workouts/exercises/progressions you use!
Yea, sorry I've been getting lazy on that sort of thing, but I've got some new pull up and knee raise vidoes in the works. Been finding out some great stuff about how to kill the abs.
I think you're right that weighted lower body exercises are likely the best for size. With upper body training, you can stick to bodyweight for quite a while before it gets easy, but with lower body you tend to progress in strength quicker.
What I'm intending to do is stick with bodyweight for now, and only start adding weight when I get to the level of full, good form pistol squats and single-leg deadlifts.
Paul Bruce I'm on the same plan as you Paul, only thing is I keep finding ways to make that single leg squat more strict. I thought I had the single leg squat down and was adding a bit of weight, but then I got a knee issue and learned my technique wasn't nearly as good as I thought. Now I'm still doing assisted single leg squats and making a lot of progress in both strength and size. I guess there's always another level :)
Is using body weight exercises alone more effective than a combination of body weight and free weights?
+Dale G. It's all about the work ethic and intensity, not to mention the skills, you bring to the workout. If you bring your A game the tools you use don't really matter.
According to legends like Alan Calvert and George Hackenschmidt no, you still need to use weights to reach your full potential.
A number of calisthenics guys squat and deadlift for their lower body and do bodyweight exercises for their upper body, and do very well with this method.
Your like a red or black belt of calisthenics.
.....and always a white belt at heart.
@@RedDeltaProject good job brother
Did the bad back heal from the weightlifting?
I have a sore wrist, been sore over a month. Should I do pushups anyways?
You may want to look into why it's getting so sore. Maybe have someone look at your technique. pain in the joints shouldn't be a regualar result of training.
Calisthenics and weight training both build muscle. It all depends on preference and results.
Your problem is you are to logical for most
I'm not sure where this assumption comes from that calisthenics is terrific for one's joints, while weight training will wear down and degrade them. Diamond push ups make my left shoulder feel like hell, while bench press feels okay. I can squat deep with heavy weight, but close-stance body-weight squats blew my knee out. You might attribute this to some degree of mobility issue, but the calisthenics certainly didn't improve the issue at all, like Paul Wade implies will happen in his book. I also find the idea the pistol squats are only a balance exercise if you lack balance rather fallacious. If you were to ask a trainer for a lower-body strength building exercise, you would be rightly confused if he told you to do body-weight squats on a slackline. As you repeatedly fall of the slackline and fail to gain any strength, he remarks "Ah, well see your balance is terrible, that's why you're not getting stronger." The issue being that for the average person, the limiting factor in a slackline squat is balance, not strength. The limiting factor for the average person in a pistol squat is mobility and balance, not strength. The limiting factor in a conditioning activity should be the fitness element you are training. A mobility routine that demanded a very high level of strength expenditure to even begin seeing mobility improvements would be less than optimal.
You bring up a great point, which I'm getting into with a few more videos, that there's a difference between balance and stability. Using a tool to challenge stability, like a slack line or bosu isn't going to be best, as you point out because you're trying to stabilize your body relative to the tool. However, something like a single leg squat is about stability on a stable floor so it's a bit different.
I also can relate to joint issues with calisthenics I've had many over the years so yoiu're right calisthenics certainly isn't injury proof, no training style is. but what it did do was force me to confront the imbalances that were causing the issues rather than find ways to get around and ignore them.
And you're also right about training the physical element that's important for your goal, but I think it's more of a short term approach. The body works as a holistic system and sooner or later things like mobility can inhibit strength and vice versa.
your blinking is so heavy, do you have nervous problems?
Always.
Which don disliked this
I think a combo of both is best. If you've ever watched strength wars, every calisthenics dude gets crushed on there.
I always wonder what would happen if they made those more BW based, maybe something like an America Ninja style test. Strength is so specific, they always have such similar tests, It's very apples to oranges.
Well, to be fair the calistenics athletes are being tested mostly in weight lifting excersise. Strength is specific in how you train. But can have carry over. Of course they don't do better at dead lifts, bench press, or squats. The power lifters are better at those excersise. Because they train specifically in them. But they are typically not as strong at weighted pull ups, dips, muscle ups exc. Because they don't train that style. Though I will say Adam Raw didn't get crushed on strength wars. He arguably beat that power lifter Romano. He finished the last rep before Romano. But Romano beat him to ringing the bell. So not all calistenics athletes get crushed. But if he was up against face less he would of got crushed for sure.