At least 50% of my upper body development has been solely from weighted chins. Theyre always in the program and somehow never get stale or stop making progress.
There's always a way to progress when you have access to different grip widths/grip types, and when you have built the requisite strength to be able to access all the different rep ranges.
Even though weights beats calisthenics 100% when it comes to lower body, it does also have a great lower body pulling movement in form of the Nordic Curl.
Alex Leonidas also made a cool vid about a variation of sissy squat, which seem to work the rec fem really well, obviously not a replacement for free weights, but it's another cool way to apply calisthenics. I'd be open to hearing an argument for it over leg extensions, but then again, I fuckin hate leg extensions lol Glute Ham Raises are incredible too, but I suppose it's a little like back extensions or squats. You can go with bodyweight, but you'll outgrow it at some point. Definitely one of my favourite hamstring exercises.
Pistols are Great! It doesn’t replace the front squat but does establish great range of motion and unilateral stability. You can load the hell out of it as well. Nordic curls are unbelievable but doesn’t replace how Alec has demonstrated loaded hinges from a hyper stand. That’s one of the best takes from this channel.
Tbh all of my direct back work is pull-ups and ring face pulls Mostly wide grip and ring pull ups I’m still deadlifting and front squatting and my back has really become a strong point
Pretty much all you need! I also often like to use targeted inverted rows to bias the upper back in place of face pulls and that ilk. I call them "upper back inverted rows"
I'm with you on chins being goated. I also like dumbbell rows as an anti rotation movement that hits the back pretty well. For anti flexion you kinda gotta do hip hinge movements like deadlifts RDL SLDL etc... etc.... to challenge that enough. However for anti rotation, it is sufficiently challenging to pair it with an upper body pull. Especially if you get in the dumbbell row position, and just do the scapular retraction part with a heavier weight than you can row. That's what I do when my lats are too sore to do a full pull.
Ring/trx facepulls are the best form. The strength curve of facepulls lines up perfectly with the strength curve of rings. My rotator cuff has never felt better from it
My favourite ways to train back is to use high frequency rows - so like three or four times a week - and to use Weighted Chins once or twice a week with a few variations of both mixed in to keep things fresh whenever a lift feels a little off. Calisthenics is absolutely amazing for training the back and if someone isn't doing it, there really missing out. And on lower body days, using the front rack position and an emphasis of lockout biased hip hinges to grow the upper back. Banded RDLs for back off work from my deadlift is my general go-to. I also think using the Trap Bar to do Low Hang Pulls is amazing for upper traps. It's split between heavy weight, high velocity on the negative and the grip width really feels great stretching the traps. Farmer's Carries too are a staple for me.
At a point where I wont be able to make it to the gym as often. This video dropped at the right time. Was thinking of really getting into calisthenics.
Exactly. A few of my friends are doing calisthenics their whole life and all of them have MASSIVE backs, I'm talking width and thickness. Legs are non existing (only thing they're doing are bodyweight pistol squats), but their backs are on par or even better than most of the guys at my gym who are doing bb rows with 2-3 plates, pulldowns, cable rows etc..
theoretically reverse nordics would be very good for quad hypertrophy as they, along with sissy squats, incorporate the best stretch, and actually use all heads of quadriceps, as one of the heads is only fully activated during hip extension, which is not the case in squat variations. so here calisthenics could be very good as well.
I have elbow issues and inverted rows are my main pulling exercise. Really helped my back. I usually do ladders of pushups and inverted row supersetted. Occasionally hitting neutral grip pullups as well.
the best part about training your back with calisthenics is that grip is always never a limiting factor and most will never need straps fo train their back fully
Alec . I am probably going to use overhead squats and zombies ( with low load) to create that upper back stimulation. 6 months from now I may have the plate on my clavicle removed and then return to front squats.
I had never tried inverted weighed BW rows untill now..I believed that it's a very easy easy exercise but today I changed mind... it was hard and amazing. Also weighed chinups of course the best exercice pulling
On your remarks about back development. There is a vid series that pit crossfitter, powerlifter, weightlifter and bodybuilder all against each other. While the whole premise was flawed, in a part on the woman's version, they were trying to teach the weightlifter how to do a lat spread. The bodybuilder grabbed the weightlifter's lats to teach her, and stepped back in shock that the weightlifter had no lat development
Agreed! QUESTION: For pullups and chinups, how much development is missed out on IF I can just get my chin over the bar vs. chest to bar? Btw, I also do lots of rows.
I really enjoy doing pull-ups/chins where I can set my feet on the floor, with my arms just short of lock out, where I can perform each rep with a reset almost like a deadlift
Archer pull ups, assisted one-arm pull ups, one arm pull ups/chin ups, assisted floor victorian, body rows, archer and one-arm body rows, chest to bar explosive pull ups, eaist explosve pull ups, muscle ups, front levers and all variations, victorian cross on the bar and rings. If you truly invest in calisthenics you're gonna have a lot of stuff to work for years.
I remember when I started training i was skinny fat and also didn't had access to a gym.So i focused on 3 calisthenics exercises training 4 days per week. The chin up The diamond push up And the bodyweight squat After 1 year my friends started noticing that i was losing fat. After consistent training for a year i was able to do 12 chin ups,15 diamond push ups ups and 50 bodyweight squats. Was that easy?No i had bleeding calluses multiple times but i had the mindset of changing my pear shaped upper body.So my advice to novices,even before you start barbell training get efficient at moving your body through space.
I wish there was an easier way to load weighted push ups, inverted rows and handstand push-ups. They're such a bitch to set up but I do love weighted dips and chin ups.
I Rock and Ice climb. So of course I Support this video!! But I also enjoy training and transferring development from all different modalities. Some lifters said there’s no force production from calisthenics on his barbell training video. Far from the truth. Picking me wrong exercises! Flags, levers, One arm pushing, One arm pulling, planches off bars, Iron crosses, Inverted crosses , Victorian crosses are all examples of huge amount of force protection…..
Pull ups put more tension on the muscle in the long range so they will build more muscle than a pull-down which put more tension on the muscle in the short range
yoo bro great video. i wanna ask you what you think about my leg day im training legs once a week . so im doing low bar squats 4x8 the last set is a widowmaker then 4x8 front squats then good mornings 3x12 the bulgarian split squats 3x12 then rdl 3x8 ss whit leg extencions, thats about it i wanna know what you think.
I've been sticking with lighter reps and higher volumes using the loadable weight vest mostly aa of late. Knee wrap is goated for sake of ease but it's ghetto AF 😂
Retract your scapula first then pull with your elbows hands are hooks. It makes you use less arms and more back. The retract is like a shrug pulling your shoulder blades down. Then your back is fully engaged. You can't avoid using arms a little. But when you retract first. You're engaging fully your back and putting much more emphasis on it. Than if you don't when you don't it's more arms less back. You'll feel the difference.
Alec, have you ever though of taking bjj. I just think that with your raw athleticism and love of sports, you would be proficient in bjj rather quickly. Massive enjoyer of your content btw, keep killing it!
massively🐐 Inverted Rows are my favorite lower back sparring row. Probably my favorite row in general just due to the efficacy and the accessibility of it, maybe 2nd to heavy dumbbell rows. But specifically for deloading the lower back they're just as good as seal rows for if not better imo since they have more range of motion generally and they still engage the abdomen and destabilize the lift putting it in an ideal sweet spot, plus inverted rows allows you to directly mimic your horizontal push with your horizontal pull, esp if using the same grip width, so you can get tons of positional scapula control skill carry over while directly practicing the exact thoracic position you would use in the bench press...plus they're a whole lot easier to set up, so for me that concept makes them better than chest supported machine rows even. Though the biggest boon might just be how fast and easy they are to set up.
I actually disagree with this one, coach. Obviously this method worked for you, but don’t you think it’s possible that all those momentum-driven calisthenic pulling movements were at least part of the reason you had all those bicep tendinitis issues? And you fixed them by eliminating volume and focusing on really slow reps with increasing intensity, and your back wasn’t necessarily bigger or smaller during that period of time. I’m a 1 set to failure guy, so I’m always gonna disagree with you when you say “productive volume” haha.
Actually, I gave myself the bicipital tendinopathy by pushing the HEAVY weighted chins for too long! It was heavy 3s and 5s that caused it, around the time I had pushed past the 3 plate barrier for the first time. That along with using only the supinated grip. It was a long time coming though and I ignored it for a solid year before it forced me to do fix it.
@@EnkiriElite Interesting yeah I wasn't completely sure because that was awhile ago. Your biceps made you stop once you hit that 3 plate territory. Did you end up having to take time off completely or you just worked around it?
At least 50% of my upper body development has been solely from weighted chins. Theyre always in the program and somehow never get stale or stop making progress.
There's always a way to progress when you have access to different grip widths/grip types, and when you have built the requisite strength to be able to access all the different rep ranges.
@@EnkiriElite एम एच णच चणणफचणठ
@@EnkiriElite उणभूण उच्च उज उच्च उच्चछह छह सहचसभवज्ञ
Z
front squat+deadlifts+calisthenics pulls= insane back growth and strength.
Straight facts my guy ‼️💯
Even though weights beats calisthenics 100% when it comes to lower body, it does also have a great lower body pulling movement in form of the Nordic Curl.
Nordic curl is great! But it's hard to deny that free weights > calisthenics when it comes to leg training.
Alex Leonidas also made a cool vid about a variation of sissy squat, which seem to work the rec fem really well, obviously not a replacement for free weights, but it's another cool way to apply calisthenics. I'd be open to hearing an argument for it over leg extensions, but then again, I fuckin hate leg extensions lol
Glute Ham Raises are incredible too, but I suppose it's a little like back extensions or squats. You can go with bodyweight, but you'll outgrow it at some point. Definitely one of my favourite hamstring exercises.
Pistols are Great! It doesn’t replace the front squat but does establish great range of motion and unilateral stability. You can load the hell out of it as well. Nordic curls are unbelievable but doesn’t replace how Alec has demonstrated loaded hinges from a hyper stand. That’s one of the best takes from this channel.
कं 3:08 😊😊❤😊
Tbh all of my direct back work is pull-ups and ring face pulls
Mostly wide grip and ring pull ups
I’m still deadlifting and front squatting and my back has really become a strong point
Pretty much all you need! I also often like to use targeted inverted rows to bias the upper back in place of face pulls and that ilk. I call them "upper back inverted rows"
@@EnkiriElite What about inverted face pulls?
@@101Elric love em!
I'm with you on chins being goated. I also like dumbbell rows as an anti rotation movement that hits the back pretty well.
For anti flexion you kinda gotta do hip hinge movements like deadlifts RDL SLDL etc... etc.... to challenge that enough. However for anti rotation, it is sufficiently challenging to pair it with an upper body pull. Especially if you get in the dumbbell row position, and just do the scapular retraction part with a heavier weight than you can row. That's what I do when my lats are too sore to do a full pull.
Ring/trx facepulls are the best form. The strength curve of facepulls lines up perfectly with the strength curve of rings. My rotator cuff has never felt better from it
My favourite ways to train back is to use high frequency rows - so like three or four times a week - and to use Weighted Chins once or twice a week with a few variations of both mixed in to keep things fresh whenever a lift feels a little off. Calisthenics is absolutely amazing for training the back and if someone isn't doing it, there really missing out.
And on lower body days, using the front rack position and an emphasis of lockout biased hip hinges to grow the upper back. Banded RDLs for back off work from my deadlift is my general go-to.
I also think using the Trap Bar to do Low Hang Pulls is amazing for upper traps. It's split between heavy weight, high velocity on the negative and the grip width really feels great stretching the traps. Farmer's Carries too are a staple for me.
😊😊ओओ😊😊😊😊😊😊😊ओ😊😊😊😊ओओ😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊ओओओओओओ😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊ल😊?ललोल😊?ललोललो😊😊ल?लल?लँ😊😊ँ😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊ँ😊🍬🍬😊🍬😊😊😊😊😊😊
these cliesthenics def allows for way more frequency, ive been hitting my back every lifting session as well
At a point where I wont be able to make it to the gym as often. This video dropped at the right time. Was thinking of really getting into calisthenics.
Can't go wrong with a chin-up bar! You'll build muscle in the back even if all you do is body weight only inverted rows and chins.
Exactly. A few of my friends are doing calisthenics their whole life and all of them have MASSIVE backs, I'm talking width and thickness.
Legs are non existing (only thing they're doing are bodyweight pistol squats), but their backs are on par or even better than most of the guys at my gym who are doing bb rows with 2-3 plates, pulldowns, cable rows etc..
And that's precisely why my mentality is to extract the best parts of every single discipline in order to create the ultimate method!
theoretically reverse nordics would be very good for quad hypertrophy as they, along with sissy squats, incorporate the best stretch, and actually use all heads of quadriceps, as one of the heads is only fully activated during hip extension, which is not the case in squat variations. so here calisthenics could be very good as well.
I've been living off of Weoghted pull up and it's variation for 2 years and I think my back has been and still is my strongest point.
I have elbow issues and inverted rows are my main pulling exercise. Really helped my back. I usually do ladders of pushups and inverted row supersetted. Occasionally hitting neutral grip pullups as well.
Went down a weighted inverted row rabbit hole because of this video, i might add it in
the best part about training your back with calisthenics is that grip is always never a limiting factor and most will never need straps fo train their back fully
Alec . I am probably going to use overhead squats and zombies ( with low load) to create that upper back stimulation. 6 months from now I may have the plate on my clavicle removed and then return to front squats.
As a mailman myself I'm always happy to see your mailman is on time for your training hahaha.
I had never tried inverted weighed BW rows untill now..I believed that it's a very easy easy exercise but today I changed mind... it was hard and amazing. Also weighed chinups of course the best exercice pulling
Itchin to hit some weighted chins soon 👀💪
On your remarks about back development.
There is a vid series that pit crossfitter, powerlifter, weightlifter and bodybuilder all against each other. While the whole premise was flawed, in a part on the woman's version, they were trying to teach the weightlifter how to do a lat spread. The bodybuilder grabbed the weightlifter's lats to teach her, and stepped back in shock that the weightlifter had no lat development
Gold
💯🔥
really like doing single arm inverted rows for horizontal pull
New intro is straight fire
Thanks brotha!
Agreed! QUESTION: For pullups and chinups, how much development is missed out on IF I can just get my chin over the bar vs. chest to bar? Btw, I also do lots of rows.
Preach
Calisthenics ftw!
Loving the new intro
thanks brother! glad to hear it
I was gonna say the same thing
I really enjoy doing pull-ups/chins where I can set my feet on the floor, with my arms just short of lock out, where I can perform each rep with a reset almost like a deadlift
That's how I do most of my heavier chinup work these days as well!
Archer pull ups, assisted one-arm pull ups, one arm pull ups/chin ups, assisted floor victorian, body rows, archer and one-arm body rows, chest to bar explosive pull ups, eaist explosve pull ups, muscle ups, front levers and all variations, victorian cross on the bar and rings. If you truly invest in calisthenics you're gonna have a lot of stuff to work for years.
New intro is tough
I remember when I started training i was skinny fat and also didn't had access to a gym.So i focused on 3 calisthenics exercises training 4 days per week.
The chin up
The diamond push up
And the bodyweight squat
After 1 year my friends started noticing that i was losing fat.
After consistent training for a year i was able to do 12 chin ups,15 diamond push ups ups and 50 bodyweight squats.
Was that easy?No i had bleeding calluses multiple times but i had the mindset of changing my pear shaped upper body.So my advice to novices,even before you start barbell training get efficient at moving your body through space.
That’s it, man.
I wish there was an easier way to load weighted push ups, inverted rows and handstand push-ups. They're such a bitch to set up but I do love weighted dips and chin ups.
I only do pull-ups, chin ups and inverted rows in my routine
I Rock and Ice climb. So of course I Support this video!! But I also enjoy training and transferring development from all different modalities. Some lifters said there’s no force production from calisthenics on his barbell training video. Far from the truth. Picking me wrong exercises! Flags, levers, One arm pushing, One arm pulling, planches off bars, Iron crosses, Inverted crosses , Victorian crosses are all examples of huge amount of force protection…..
Would you say Australian rows are better than barbell rows?
Pull ups put more tension on the muscle in the long range so they will build more muscle than a pull-down which put more tension on the muscle in the short range
yoo bro great video. i wanna ask you what you think about my leg day im training legs once a week . so im doing low bar squats 4x8 the last set is a widowmaker then 4x8 front squats then good mornings 3x12 the bulgarian split squats 3x12 then rdl 3x8 ss whit leg extencions, thats about it i wanna know what you think.
Personally, if I did 4x8 back squats with a final set widowmaker and then tried to do 4x8 front squats I would be dead. But maybe that's just me!
why do you wear arm sleeves will they help with golfers elbow
Happy Protein-Man noises
I once switched out all pullups for pulldowns and all free weight rows/inverted rows for machines. Big mistake.
New GVS video: "That Time I went FULL Bro (BIG MISTAKE!)"
I thought UA-cam was banned in China
Can comfortably do bb rows with 300 or more for reps, but unable to do one chin, well maybe one, but that's it.
Have you come up with more creative ways to load the inverted row, or is that old knee wrap also goated?
I've been sticking with lighter reps and higher volumes using the loadable weight vest mostly aa of late.
Knee wrap is goated for sake of ease but it's ghetto AF 😂
@@EnkiriElite Thank you! I use this one as the antagonist of my horizontal push.
I have a hard time engaging my back on pulling movements as opposed to my biceps. I feel like they always take over. Any tips?
improve your scapula pullups!
Focus on driving the elbows instead of the arms
Retract your scapula first then pull with your elbows hands are hooks. It makes you use less arms and more back. The retract is like a shrug pulling your shoulder blades down. Then your back is fully engaged. You can't avoid using arms a little. But when you retract first. You're engaging fully your back and putting much more emphasis on it. Than if you don't when you don't it's more arms less back. You'll feel the difference.
😅😅😮😮
Alec, have you ever though of taking bjj. I just think that with your raw athleticism and love of sports, you would be proficient in bjj rather quickly. Massive enjoyer of your content btw, keep killing it!
Algo
thanks!
massively🐐
Inverted Rows are my favorite lower back sparring row.
Probably my favorite row in general just due to the efficacy and the accessibility of it, maybe 2nd to heavy dumbbell rows.
But specifically for deloading the lower back they're just as good as seal rows for if not better imo since they have more range of motion generally and they still engage the abdomen and destabilize the lift putting it in an ideal sweet spot, plus inverted rows allows you to directly mimic your horizontal push with your horizontal pull, esp if using the same grip width, so you can get tons of positional scapula control skill carry over while directly practicing the exact thoracic position you would use in the bench press...plus they're a whole lot easier to set up, so for me that concept makes them better than chest supported machine rows even. Though the biggest boon might just be how fast and easy they are to set up.
chins are cool, too!
Weighted pullups >>>
by
New intro tune hmm....
Crazy. I missed it a couple of times
But Alec, those bodyweight rows look too easy for you, you should probably add some more weight to the bar
It's pull ups😅
BBC
I actually disagree with this one, coach. Obviously this method worked for you, but don’t you think it’s possible that all those momentum-driven calisthenic pulling movements were at least part of the reason you had all those bicep tendinitis issues? And you fixed them by eliminating volume and focusing on really slow reps with increasing intensity, and your back wasn’t necessarily bigger or smaller during that period of time. I’m a 1 set to failure guy, so I’m always gonna disagree with you when you say “productive volume” haha.
Actually, I gave myself the bicipital tendinopathy by pushing the HEAVY weighted chins for too long! It was heavy 3s and 5s that caused it, around the time I had pushed past the 3 plate barrier for the first time. That along with using only the supinated grip. It was a long time coming though and I ignored it for a solid year before it forced me to do fix it.
@@EnkiriElite Interesting yeah I wasn't completely sure because that was awhile ago. Your biceps made you stop once you hit that 3 plate territory. Did you end up having to take time off completely or you just worked around it?
Just had a thought what it be like to hang upside down and then do the equivalent of a lat pull down with a bar… might be legit 🤔😂
This seems very unnecessary but it would be fun to try haha.