Table Of Contents Introduction 02 Flexibility/Mobility 02 Weight Lifting Mentality 03 Strength comes first 03 Back to the basics 04 I believe in you 05 01 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics Introduction What's up, guys? Austin Dunham back again with another e-book! So, as you can see by this title, today I'm going to discuss five things you need to know before starting calisthenics. (Basically, things I wish I would have known before I started.) The reason why I am giving this away for free is because I don’t want you to make the same mistakes as I did! So, take this knowledge use it and apply it! It will help you in the long run I promise. So, without further ado, let’s get into it! 01 Flexibility/Mobility The first thing is that mobility and static flexibility are important when it comes to calisthenics, and if you don't work on those early on, then it's going to be hard to progress to some of those moves that you want to do. For example, a lot of people go in and they immediately start training handstand work. Also, they start doing back levers, L-sits, different static movements like that, and the reason they don't progress the way they should is because they don't focus on a lot of mobility work. Mobility meaning the joint movement. For example, the ability to bring your biceps all the way up to your ears without pain. Another would be bending down and touching your toes, which that is having good static flexibility. So, both are equally as important. The way that you can start doing this right now is to start doing some dynamic stretching and mobility work before you start working out, then afterwards, after you've had your workout and your muscles are warmed up from the workout, that's when you should engage in static stretching. Like I said, bringing on this stuff will help you progress in calisthenics the way you want to, and you won't be limited by your range of motion to progress to the next skill. 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics 02 02 Weight Lifting Mentality Let's move on to the second point. The second thing that I wish I would have known is that calisthenics, all in all, is really no different than weight training. A lot of people think that just because you're training with your body weight, you should go about different procedures and methods, and that's actually not the case. We're just using another resistance source to train our body, so instead of using weights, we're just using gravity and our body. Nothing changes except for the exercises. That's why me, personally, I train like a bodybuilder. That's why I created the program the bodyweight bodybuilder, it's because nothing changes for the most part except for just the way we do our exercises. Reps and sets, rest times, stuff like that. It's pretty much the same as weight training all in all. 03 Strength Comes First The third point kind of relates to the second point that I just said, and that is that we should build our strength first and then next we should worry about these “tricks” later. I really don't "trick" at all. 360 muscle ups I never properly learned, and different trick moves like that. I've always been focused on building a strength base first and then, if I want to learn that stuff, I can go about learning it with ease. Don't be ... I don't want to say the word stupid, but don't be stupid and start learning these tricks first and you have no strength base at all. If you can't do ten pull ups, then why are you trying to learn a 360 muscle up right now? So just keep that in mind as you're training. 03 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics 04 Back To The Basics The fourth point that I want to talk about is something that I wish I knew! That is, you never want to stop the basics! The basics we all know: push-ups, pull ups, dips, and squats. Everything that calisthenics involves is just a variation of a basic exercise. That being said, never stop doing the basics. If that means just doing high reps of basic exercises, then never stop doing them. Take a day out of the week just to focus on the basics, or after your real workout, just do some push-ups, some normal pull ups, and also you can involve the basics by progressing into weighted basics. That's how I did it. I do weighted pull ups, weighted dips, and weighted push-ups every now and then, but I do a lot of push-ups in ROTC, so that's pretty much covered. And actually, recently I've been doing a "weighted squat," which is the back squat. That's a basic exercise. It's just made popular by bodybuilders. So, as you go on about your training, never stop the basics, whether it be just being high reps like I said, or doing it weighted. 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics 04 05 I believe In You This last point, I'm really not trying to sound too sappy, but just something I would have told myself… is that nothing is impossible. For real, nothing is impossible when it comes to achieving your goals, especially in the world of body weight training. I used to look at muscle ups and say, “I would never be able to do that.” I used to look at handstands like I would never be able to hold a handstand, because at that point in time, I couldn't do it, and I was training to learn it. It just seemed like it would never come. But I kept going, and eventually I was able to hold two-second handstands. Two seconds turned to five seconds, five seconds turned to ten seconds, and then before you know it you look back and you're like, that's crazy. I can't believe I progressed that far! So, as you're seeing these cool moves on Instagram or YouTube or whatever, just realize that if you train hard enough, that can be you one day. Never lose hope, never give up. Just keep training. I promise eventually you will see the results that you want. I believe in you. So those are the five things that you need to know before beginning your calisthenics journey. Even if you’re a seasoned veteran these tips could come in handy. I hope this e-book has offered some value to you. If it did be sure to follow ya boy everywhere! I’m always throwing some good information and motivation for ya. Well, that's pretty much it, I’ll see you guys soon. Peace. 05 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics About the Author “ Fitness to me is more than just going to the gym Hey! My name is Austin Dunham and I'm one of Youtube's leading calisthenics and fitness experts with over 200,000 followers worldwide. I grew up with a passion for fitness and helping people become the absolute best version of themselves week by week, day by day. Fitness to me is more than just going to the gym, picking up heavy weight then putting it down. I appreciate the art of body control and making healthy living a lifestyle. With that being said, my personal approach to fitness will help you become leaner, stronger and better developed each week, guaranteed. Best of all, I will be right beside you on the path to your healthier lifestyle and amazing physique. 5 Things You need to know before Starting Calisthenics 06 Contact Me Austin Dunham Author./Fitness specialist Instagram @geekamd Facebook.com/austindham Twitter @geekamd Youtube.com/geekamd www.workoutad.com
