I did a very short outdoor workout at the outdoor Sea Point gym in Cape Town. I hadn’t trained for a few weeks so I just did a couple of basic exercises and holds to start to get back into it and see where I was at. I also tried to cover a wide range of bases with it, including things like push ups, pull ups, leg raises, human flag raises, back levers and a few mobility stretches.

Remember to always focus on those basics and classics and work your way back up from there!

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Hitting The Basics, Cape Town Outdoor Bodyweight/Calisthenics Workout appeared first on FitNish.com.

The 5 steps outlined will help teach you how to do pull-ups even if you’re a beginner.

“The pull-up is one of the best exercises for adding muscle mass to your back and arms. other than the pushup it’s one of the most common exercises used to test overall upper body strength and getting stronger at pullups will improve your power output with almost all other upper body exercises. That’s why it’s used everywhere ranging from gymnastics to the army. however, the problem is that many people can’t even complete just one full pullup, let alone perform multiple reps.

That’s why today I’m going to show you exactly how to do more reps of pull ups than you ever could before and as long as you follow the 5 simple steps that I’m about to go over you can even go from 0 to 10 pull-ups in a relatively short amount of time. first we have to cover some basics, because even though pullups look pretty straightforward there’s some muscles that are highly involved in this movement that most people overlook. yes, of course it is important to strengthen your back and your biceps, however you probably don’t know that if you have a weak core it’ll be nearly impossible for you to do multiple reps of pullups.

This can be seen in a 2018 study where researchers looked at which muscles were most highly activated during the pull-up. And as expected, the biceps, lats, and the mid and lower traps were highly engaged. But the big surprise was the fact that the rectus abdominis, also commonly referred to as the “six-pack muscle,” was even more highly activated than the back or biceps. This was the case for all participants including the ones that could not do a total of ten pull-ups as well as those that could do more than ten pull-ups. (1) In terms of muscle activation, the researchers found that the abs were actually activated the most followed by the biceps, then the lats, and finally the traps. So, if you want to improve your pull-ups, it’s absolutely crucial to have a strong enough core, which brings us to our very first step, and that’s to strengthen the muscles that make up your core in a way in which that strength can translate over to pullups. And what I mean is doing a bunch of crunches is not necessarily the best route to get stronger at pullups. You see your core primarily has a stabilizing function during the pull-up. That’s why, to maximize carry-over to the pull-up, it’s best to strengthen your abs in a static fashion, such as by doing planks or ab-wheel roll-outs.

So right away I want to give you guys a progression model that you can use to build up the required core strength necessary for pullups. As long as you can hold each exercise for at least 60 seconds, you’ll most likely have enough core strength to perform 10 pullups.

First is the beginner version of a plank known as the kneeling plank. Here you’ll place your elbows on the ground and hold a plank position except you’ll be on your knees maintaining a straight line from your upper back to your hips to the back of your knees. Next is the kneeling side plank. here you’ll lay on your side, with one elbow propping you up. Then stack both knees on top of each other and raise your hips off the ground so that your bottom knee, hip, and shoulder are in a straight line and then just hold that position. After you’re able to do 60 seconds of each of those you’ll want to progress to a regular plank, which is going to look just like the plank on your knees except you’re now going to be up on your toes maintaining a straight line from your heels to your upper back. Then we’re going to do the same thing for the side plank, so we’re going to come up off the knees and get up on our feet, holding the position in the same way. Once you can hold those for 60 seconds each you’re going to progress by putting your feet up on a platform and performing a decline plank, which is done the same exact way as a regular plank except your feet are elevated. And finally you’ll finish off with the Long-lever plank.”

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Go From 0 To 10 Pull-Ups FAST! appeared first on FitNish.com.

Pull-ups are challenging because you have to train your upper body and core to lift the weight of your entire body. If you cannot engage your back muscles, you will not be able to perform proper pull-ups. Many people have a common concern, “how to get better at pull ups without equipment?”

Apart from your muscle strength, technique also plays a significant role in determining how many pull-ups you can crack at a time. With proper guidance, you can train your body to function as you want it to. If you are wondering how to get better at pull-ups, this article will give you an idea and prepare you to gradually increase your number of pull-ups. With practice and perseverance, you can definitely up your pull-up game!

How To Do More Pull-Ups?

To perform pull-ups, you will have to hang from a monkey bar or a pull-bar, grip it strongly, and use your arm muscle strength to pull your body up until your chin reaches a level higher than your arms. Again, extend your arms and lower your body down to complete one rep.

If one set of ten pull-up reps wears you out and strains the muscles of your forelimbs, you need to get your basics right. Once you have mastered the basics and eliminated the common errors, you can easily boost the number of pull-ups that you can carry out at once.

Work on your grip and make it firm

Before you begin with pushing your body upward and downward, make sure that you have a firm grip. Start by attempting to hang from a monkey bar or a pull-up bar for a few seconds at a time. This will improve your support grip. 

Without a proper grip, you will be unable to hold your position for long; let alone moving your body weight while in a hanging position! To begin with, set a timer for ten seconds and try to remain completely hung without swaying to and forth. Once you can master your ten-second goal, set yourself new challenges by increasing the duration for which you wish to hold the position.

Improving your grip strength will allow you the ability to remain suspended to the pull-up bar even if your arm and back muscles begin to give up. 

Strengthen your back

To perfect your pull-ups, you need to train your back muscles. Several exercises are dedicated to training your back muscles and increasing their endurance. Your back muscles have an essential role to play if you are willing to get better at doing more pullups. 

Exercises like a dumbbell row, back extension, reverse machine fly, and back extension exercises put your back muscles to work and train them to enhance their endurance capacity. Be sure to add a few sets of pull ups into your back weight training routine as a start. This will help ease you into the exercise and make it part of your existing workout routine.

Boost your arm strength

For performing strict pull-ups, you have to put the muscles in your shoulders, forearms, biceps, and triceps to use. Therefore, if you wish to elevate your pull-up game and witness improvement, you will have to increase your arm muscles strength so that they can endure the stress that you subject them to. You can try bicep curls and increase the reps to increase the endurance capacity of your forearm muscles. 

Get your trainer to assist you

When you are trying pull-ups, a little bit of support can be of great assistance. Ask a friend or your trainer to hold your knees or ankle and try to pull your body upwards unless your chin is at a level higher than your hands. This will help you to gain strength eventually.

You can also try assisted pull-ups without having to count on a trainer. For this, you can use a resistance band and wrap it around the bar and underneath your feet. You can also use a pull-up machine.

Adhere to a routine to get better at pull-ups

Following a routine makes it easier for us to achieve a goal. You can strictly do a pull-up specific routine to witness improvement in the number of pull-ups you can perform in one go.

In this regard, the Armstrong pull-up routine can fetch you some of the best results. It was created by Major Charles Lewis Armstrong, who had attempted to set a world record for the most number of pull-ups performed in one exercise session. Read this post to know about the Armstrong pull-up routine in detail.

Don’t let your mental block keep you from performing the perfect pull-up

If you are a newbie at the gym, do not be embarrassed if you cannot do even two reps of pull-ups. However, if you are amongst those who can perform almost every other exercise at the gym except pull-ups, the problem might be something else.

Often, people tend to create a mental block that debars them from pulling their bodyweight upwards while they are hanging. It might be that after failing a few times, you have made peace with the fact that you cannot do pullups. Convince yourself, make up your mind about your capabilities and strength, and with proper training, you will find yourself lifting your body up in the air!

Once you have mastered the skill of doing a perfect pull-up, you are now ready to try doing as many pull-ups as possible. It might take you weeks, or even months, to get acquainted with more pullups. You have to begin with one set of ten reps and slowly increase the number of sets as your body permits. 

Start with one set of ten reps and keep working until you can perform three unrestricted sets of ten reps of pull-ups without hurting your muscles! Thirty pull-ups at a stretch are enough to let you have the muscle gain you want.

Start horizontally

A good starting point would be to perform bodyweight inverted rows. These are easier to perform than traditional vertical pull ups, and provide a great base to start at. Over time you can build up the strength and reps on these rows and slowly decrease the angle to get more and more vertical until you are at a full pull up.

Get those pull ups in

While we train at the gym, sometimes the back half of our bodies are often ignored and not worked upon. Pull-ups compensate for this by counteracting the effects of the forward slouching that we do in our everyday lives.

For some people, pull-ups might be challenging to deal with. However, once you master the skill and realize the fantastic benefits of pull-ups, you will realize that trudging up the stiff hill was worth it! So, hit the gym and start working on your pull-ups now!

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post How To Do More Pull-Ups? A Few Basics To Get You Started appeared first on FitNish.com.

Austin Dunham is a Bodyweight fitness enthusiast. A Youtuber of Calisthenics/Street Workout and provides many great tutorials and routines from his experiences. If you are stuck in doors and have a pull up bar, here’s a great follow along pull up bar back workout that you can do at home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Austin Dunham (@austin_dunham)

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post 10 Minute Home Pullup Bar Workout With Austin Dunham appeared first on FitNish.com.

Ike catcher is a 6’9″ ft tall calisthenic bodybuilder and is pretty agile for a guy of such a size. He trains in calisthenics as well as some martial arts amongst other training forms. Check out this cool body weight workout he shows in the video below!

View this post on Instagram

You are lost in the Jungle then you encounter a giant wild savage build like this… what do you do? #thoughts My skin is the stonewall, my hair on my skin the trees of the canyon, the water of the river flowing like the blood in my veins, the wind breeze like the breath of my lungs, inhale air (oxygen), become organic(carbon), birds flying in between like messenger agents, the scent of flowers, aphrodisiacs – hormones and endorphins, a million minds on one body, one body a million minds, the plants and bees swirling, squirrels trying to find a nut, predators hunting, lizards and Jaguars, snakes and eagles, the buck and the hare, the deer and the bear, the owl at night on the prowl, the wolf excites when he howls, one is running the other is chasing, every one plays their part, animal nation – all is equal, my imagination, I enter the jungle, I've been here before feels like a sequel. Listen to serenity, not to the people, ready for the rumble when they try to eat and then defeat you. #getonewithnature #feelingthis

A post shared by I(ke) Catcher (@ikecatcher) on Mar 5, 2019 at 7:40pm PST

View this post on Instagram

10 points from earlier @wushushaolin Raising tornados in the park. #videogame #experience #points #levelup #coins #shaolin #kicks #taekwondo #tornadokick #ikecatcher #biggestmanonthebars @musclebeach

A post shared by I(ke) Catcher (@ikecatcher) on Mar 4, 2019 at 5:29pm PST

View this post on Instagram

Back in the Mecca doing what I'm doing best! #ikecatcher #Biggestmanonthebars @musclebeach #riseoutthedark #raisouthedark #ma #timehascome #shine #likethesun #goldsgym #venicebeach #squats #handstands @richminzer

A post shared by I(ke) Catcher (@ikecatcher) on Feb 28, 2019 at 3:18pm PST

View this post on Instagram

Welcome to Vienna Musclebeach. What most people don't know. I was Mr. Vienna 2013/2014, with that title I managed to have the city of Vienna build this workout park next to the Danube river. The closest feeling you can get to the real musclebeach, in vienna. I never saw it with my own eyes. Today I did and i blessed it with a few sets and an overhead lift of my beautiful assistant @donni_tayler #vienna #musclebeach #ikecatcher #biggestmanonthebars @musclebeach #danube #river

A post shared by I(ke) Catcher (@ikecatcher) on Feb 14, 2019 at 12:05pm PST

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Ike Catcher Who Is A 6’9″ ft Tall Calisthenic Bodybuilder Takes Us Through A Muscle Beach Workout! appeared first on FitNish.com.