The ‘2-in-1’ Calisthenics Workout for Full-Body Strength, Muscle, & Power
I’ve talked a lot in the last few articles about some of the hidden and oft-skipped steps toward old-school brute strength and fitness, such as
1) Using high reps to power up those lazy slow-twitch muscle fibers (the type that like to take a smoke break when you’re only doing 1–5 reps) and strengthen your tendons and ligaments to increase your “strength capacity” (i.e. the amount of strength you can safely build while maintaining the integrity of your joints and connective tissues)
2) Doing 1 ½ reps to tackle the “transfer angles” where we tend to be weaker due to the “transition of power” between muscle groups (for example, right at the midway point of a pullup, squat, press, etc.)
Previously, I’ve given you a couple of brief sample workouts to illustrate the effectiveness of these methods for not only exposing your weak points, but filling them up like mortar between bricks to make your own “structure” (i.e. your fair flesh) a stronger, more fortified, more ready-for-action thing (not sure what else to call your body at this point except for a “thing”).
Today, I’m gonna show you how to put the two together simply and effectively for a workout that hits every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine while leaving you feeling powered up, invigorated, and energetic enough to flip cars in your neighborhood over (but maybe don’t actually do that). Here’s that workout for ya:
Part 1: low-rep strength
5 pike pushups with feet elevated
5 L-sit pullups
5 Pistol squats per leg
5 L-sit leg raises
5 Back bridge pushups
*Repeat for 3–5 rounds — rest as little as possible but as much as necessary between exercises and between rounds*
Round 2: high-rep strength
10 ring rows
10 dive bomber pushups
10 hip thrusts
10 Cossack squats
*Repeat for 3–5 rounds — rest as little as possible but as much as necessary to maintain proper form*
Here’s a short video for you to demonstrate all of the above:
Now, a couple of pointers for how to perform all these fine exercises:
- Perform each of the low-rep strength exercises as 1 ½ reps to ensure you’re plugging your weak links and getting stronger at the odd angles of each exercise
- Perform the higher rep exercises slowly and rhythmically — do not race to get through them or bounce your way into the next rep! A pause of about a second at the bottom and top of each rep is about right.
The thing I love about workouts like this is that they can be done just about anywhere you have some floor space, a wall, and a pullup bar (or at least something sturdy you can hang from) and they go a long way at getting you real-world strong — because after all, most of your physical activity in the real-world occurs outside of a gym, so knowing how to move your body through free space with strength, control, and grace no matter where you find yourself is a worthy life skill to have (not to mention one that comes in handy if you cannot regularly make it to the gym).
Once you’ve stopped sweating and panting and flipping over cars with excitement at your new-found strength, drop me a line and let me know how you liked this workout and if you want more like this (or if you want me to have mercy on you and give you some sissy workouts like Pilates or something).
On that note, if you like training that:
- Gives you more strength than it takes from you
- Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
- Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts — NOT instead of them.
Even cooler:
Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pullups, and more.
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here => http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin
