welcome to your first year of calisthenics let's go over every calisthenic skill in order and the perfect way to train them starting off with skill number one hollow body hangs I chose this skill to start with first because hanging has many benefits from back pain alleviation spine decompression and strengthening your grip hanging is the perfect way to start when you dra your shoulders down and back you switch from a dead hang to an active hang the setup is pretty simple simply find a bar block or rings that you can hang off of as long as you're just hanging you're in a dead hang position but if you activate your core muscles and squeeze your thighs together you're going to be classified as an active hang squeezing your core and thighs together is perfect for mastering Stillness while hanging from the bar the best way to train this exercise is by alleviating your weight and Joints so tie resistance ban around the bar and hang from it as you get stronger I want you to lower the resistance band you're using moving on to number two the Frog stand I obviously chose the Frog stand because I want us to start hand balancing as early as possible I'm a firm believer that the earlier we do this the better it's going to be later on when we're doing handstand hands as far as the perfect form setup you want to think about sticking your elbows into your knees this is how you're going to balance do not keep your hands forward turn them slightly outwards to alleviate wrist pain there's going to be three balance points first is your fingertips the inside of your knuckles where your calluses are and the Palm in this frog stand position you'll feel most of the weight on the outside of your hand training for the Frog stand is all about getting comfortable in this inverted position start off with rocks so you can get the feeling right next I want you to move on to simple holds you're going to do each of these exercises until you can hold them for at least 20 seconds the objective of these regressions is to get you more comfortable with balancing on your hands leg taps or leg switches is going to be the next best thing when it comes to progressions again once you can hold this position for 20 seconds no problem you're ready to move on to the next one some people would prefer a pillow or some kind of cushion for your head it's possible to overbalance and have your head Bonk on the ground so hopefully adding a pillow or some sort of cushion there helps protect you from that last but not least we're going to utilize elevation remember this setup look how I'm basically holding the perfect frog stand and all I had to do was lean into it now moving on to number three hollow body holds hollow body holds is an anti- extension exercise it's one of the first core exercises I recommend doing setup is extremely simple get on the ground with me as you lay down you'll notice the lower part of your back comes up actively focus on pressing that into the ground to do that your shoulders will come off the ground naturally next you want to lift your legs off the ground and extend them spread out as if you were holding a sideways handstand this is going to teach you about pelvic tilt if the full hold is too much simply bring your legs closer to your body and that should alleviate some of the stress as it gets easier experiment with certain positions like one leg holds or even straddle holds to get you going for the full thing Mastery means holding it for 45 seconds moving on to number four the pseudo plch lean the pseudo plch Lan is a prerequisite for the full planch it's extremely heavy on your front delts form setup is simple protract your scapula or push your shoulder blades away from you make sure you're not strugging your shoulders up when it comes to the hand position position turn your hands slightly outwards to alleviate any wrist pain conquering this position means perfect form with straight arms you can set up for it like a regular plank leaning forward classifies you as a pseudo plch lean this looks like a regular plank but I promise you it's more intense than you can even imagine no lazy cores make sure you apply attention to your abdominal muscles again avoid strugging up towards your ears don't let your hip sag squeeze those thighs and apply attention to those glute muscles and push out with your shoulders the entire time Mastery means having your hips stacked over your wrist the best way to train this is by having a wall or block in front of you measure how far you're leaning forward by your hand position work on this consistently moving on to number five the pseudo plch push-up obviously incorporating the last skill that we learned we're simply adding a push-up to that maneuver while we're maintaining that forward lean you don't understand it yet but getting strong in this position is going to be essential for mastering Advanced skills in the future front delt strength is truly King when it comes to calisthenics if it's too hard to maintain the Ford lean I want you to Simply lean into it when you're pushing up and then push all the way back to a regular push-up position this should make it easier on you eventually you will want to focus on having that forward lean maintained throughout the entire exercise moving on to number six the tuck front lever you might be suspicious of this skill but trust me it's more difficult than it looks and it takes a significant amount of straight arm strength and back strength thankfully training for this movement is actually pretty simple get on the bar and stick your knees towards your chest while maintaining straight arms you want to raise your body until your ankles touch the bar and gently lean yourself back to neutral position over time you'll be able to hold that horizontal static position most people will end up bending their arms or shaking uncontrollably when lifting themselves up moving on to number seven the elbow lever the elbow lever is one of the first cool skills you actually get to learn it looks like you're floating how can you not love it form setup is all about weight distribution stick your hands out in front of you and turn them slightly outwards or even completely all the way around you'll want to stick both of your elbows and to your abdominals it should look like this trust me I know it looks weird but this is exactly what we need to transfer onto the ground although this is considered hand balancing training it is not as simple as it seems you'll notice as I'm leaning into my hands I'm gently starting to lift my legs up if I want to progress even further I'm going to lean even further into my hands and squeeze my glutes into the straddle position and lastly I'm going to lean a little bit further squeezing my legs together which gives me that straight line stomach pain where your elbows are is completely normal on to number eight the German hang if you want to talk about increasing your shoulder Mobility to superhuman limits the German hang is where you need to be I know this looks crazy and scary but you can train with this by putting a block or bench below you as you get into the position lower yourself as safely as possible until your feet are touching the block as we get stronger and more tolerant in this German hang position we're going to release the blocks until we can do it freestanding like I am now it's a great shoulder Mobility drill moving further to number nine the Butcher Block most people don't know about this exercise but it's essential for having the perfect straight handstand when it comes to perfect form setup we want to make sure we have our elbows tucked avoid having them spread out you can build strength in this position by doing it on your knees first get a feeling for the movement and feel how it opens up your shoulders this is a skill that's truly slept on and we need to make sure that our shoulder Mobility is top tier make sure to actively sink your hips engaging your core once you can hold this position for at least 30 seconds you're ready to progress it even further by adding some sort of small weight I usually do 10 or 15 lbs so don't overdo it and now on to skill number 10 the pistol squat our first leg skill the pistol squat is not just a party trick it actually trains most of the muscles in your leg and it requires an exceptional amount of hip mobility and Ankle Mobility to complete when performing make sure to keep your knees turned outwards and your leg extended you can train for this movement a number of ways the first one I'm suggesting is by putting some sort of block or bench under you not only will this help you get the form right but this will also assist you if you're having any sort of preliminary knee pain so this is a good progression to remember as is the next progression is going to be step UPS start on top of a block or bench and lower yourself as slowly as possible before exploding back up to the top of the rep you'll steadily gain Mobility by doing this exercise and last but not least the Holy Grail is the assisted pistol squat perform the pistol Squad as well as you know how and use a block bench or even an exercise bike to help you through the latter half of the movement next up is skill number 11 the tuck back lever this skill is similar to the front lever except this time we're lifting ourselves past the bar you should remember this position from the previous German hang skill except this time we're stopping just short and lifting our chest up not extending our legs and simply staying in that horizontal position the proper way to train this movement is the exact same way as the front lever using Straight arms we're going to lift ourselves until our ankles touch the bar low ourselves back down gently into that horizontal position and for the next skill we're going to go over number 12 is compact leg lifts this is another one of my favorite core exercises I believe it's essential and integral for your Mastery of calisthenics set up for this Movement by putting your hands around knee level or the bottom of your thigh level as you place your hands down make sure you push out and down with your back keep your legs extended and lift them into the sky as much as you can it might not look like it but this compact leg lift is going to be essential for a future skill that we're going to go over if this movement is too hard I want you to focus on single compact leg lifts this movement is all about gaining hip mobility and core compression likewise if this movement is too easy for you you can reach your hands even further like the top of your ankles and lift your legs like that so let's say you're not here yet and single leg lifts are still too hard for you place some kind of dumbbell or even paper towel roll in front of you focus on doing single leg lifts into the sky making sure to not touch the paper towel roll or dumbbell when you can manage that with one leg I want you to switch to doing it with both legs this is all for the Mastery of core compression and hip mobility but we're going to get some app development doing this as well my final tip for mastering this exercise is using a wall as leverage for your upper back lean into the wall and that should make it easier for you to do single leg lifts or even both leg lifts I know this looks easy but it's going to take you some time to get your legs perfectly straight like this and be able to lift it with no problem moving on to number 13 the the pike push-up if you want to talk about building some Boulder shoulders and getting some insane overhead pushing strength the pike push-up is going to be your favorite push-up form even being slightly inverted like this is going to make it significantly harder for you to control your breath while performing this exercise the proper form setup for this exercise includes having your head fall above your hands on the decline you'll want to avoid having your elbows flared out during this exercise this does not transfer over to Advanced skills instead opt for a tucked elbow position this will prevent any unnecessary shoulder flaring Ing and should transfer over to Advanced skills don't only push up during this exercise make sure you push out through your shoulders when it comes to training for this exercise the best way is to lengthen the pike that you're using perform the regression confidently making sure your head Falls above your hands on the decline and pushing up and out through your shoulders on the incline next up is the almighty elit this is a full body exercise focused on core compression set up for this exercise by learning how to depress your scapula which means pushing down so your shoulder blades are being drawn down as well practice deep pressing your scapula with straight arms and as you push down into the ground make sure to levitate your hips back and now utilizing that compact leg lift to lift our legs up into the air you can train for this skill by doing single leg alternating lits if you've been following and mastered the compact leg lift then this skill should be easy for you to learn in no time moving on to skill number 15 the Archer push-up it was given its name because you look like an Archer holding a bow at the bottom of the rep the thing that makes this skill so brutal is having that straight arm on on the opposite end of the spectrum this makes this skill a proper regression for the one arm push-up the unilateral training style for the Archer push-up makes conquering your imbalances simple you can set up for training this exercise by doing bent arm Archer push-ups no need to All Out Sprint into doing a straight arm position as we gain strength we'll be building joint flexibility and mobility in no time skill number 16 the tuck plch This Is Us taking the pseudo plch lean even further as you can see we have our legs off the ground and that's what makes the magic happen for this when it comes to the form setup we want to make sure we maintain straight arms slide your knees into your chest and keep your feet touching the ground if this is comfortable I want you to begin to do alternating leg Taps make sure you do not lose scapular protraction during the duration of your regressions those leg Taps should have you unlocking the tuck planch in no time I told you front delt strength is King and now on to number 17 the reverse Nordic reverse Nordic is the best way to build some monster quads with nothing but your own body weight you'll be strengthening and stretching your quads while alleviating knee pain set up with your knees about shoulder length and have your feet laying flat squeeze your glutes and descend controlled do not use any sort of momentum to bounce through this movement maintain a straight line throughout the duration of the exercise engaging your core and engaging your glutes throughout if you'd like to properly practice this maneuver stick your feet on top of a small elevation this should shorten a range of motion for you and as you gain strength lower the elevation as needed lastly if you have resistance bans use those to help you through the latter half of the movement this will help you prac practice strict form and as you gain strength and need less help you can lower the resistance band that you're using until eventually you can perform the reverse Nordic freestanding number 18 the straddle sit the straddle sit is an advanced variation of the lsit it's very cool to do and I'm going to teach you how simple it is to learn you'll want to turn your hand slightly outwards even out to the side the best way to perform this exercise is to get in it from a squatting position as you settle into it you'll notice you're sort of planing into position train the flexibility and Mobility required by doing straddle leg lifts so straddle leg lifts for the straddle sit and compact for the lsit getting into this exercise from the ground is insanely hard to get into it you'll have to kind of rock into the motion which is why the best thing to do is to start from a squat position skill number 19 the shoulder stand although the shoulder stand doesn't look as cool it's going to be very essential for building shoulder strength and end range strength for the handstand push-up we're going to train this movement on a wall get into the Frog stand position and start with one leg until you can eventually put two legs up or you can use a wall to lower yourself into the full position as well focus on breathing skill number 20 the muscle up the muscle up is a dynamic maneuver and Staple in the calenic world you start from under the bar and explosively pull yourself up and over the bar when it comes to properly setting up for this movement you can't do a regular pull-up if you go for an arched back position the bar is going to be in the way take a page from the first skill we learned and do a hollow body pull-up position the hollow position is going to help you out jump up and grab the bar and let your feet swing forward until drop dropping down below try this a couple of times so you can get an understanding for the movement next I want you to jump up grab the bar let your feet fall forward and at the end of your momentum drive your knees into your chest try this a couple of times so you can see where the momentum begins and ends with those three tips I want you to combine them all together drive your knees into your chest as you explosively pull up that should generate enough momentum to get you over the bar if you'd like more help simply use a resistance band to help you practice the proper form again Lower the resistance ban as needed a lot of people have the strength for the muscle up but they lack the technique which is why I teach them the knee Drive first you'll stop Kipping as you gain strength skill number 21 the handstand the handstand will probably be the skill that takes you the longest to learn it can take months to learn but years to perfect proper form for a handstand includes having your shoulders pressed out over your ears as well as having completely locked out arms the handstand is like learning how to walk again so let's make this as simple as possible remember we learned how to tilt our pelvis forward from the hollow body hold practice that here to bring your hips in line with the rest of your body we already talked about the three balance points but let's go over them again it's going to be the top of your fingertips the inside of your knuckles where your calluses usually are and it's going to be the Palm just like with your feet if you fall too far forward push in with your fingertips and if you fall too far back push in with your palms until you have a happy neutral position if you want to learn the easiest way to train a handstand do it on a wall you'll spend more time on your hands and less time falling over 10 to 15 minutes of practice and sets of 10 to 20 seconds is all you need to steadily Master Hand balancing handstands can be scary so let's talk about the perfect way to bail out you'll notice I'm keeping one hand on the ground that guides me as I'm falling over in my handstand keep the guiding hand on the ground until one of your feet touches the ground then you're safe to get up skill number 22 the handstand push-up this skill combines the shoulder stand and the pike push-up together it takes a tremendous amount of strength body control and body awareness to even perform as for the form setup when we get to the bottom of the we still have our basic three balance points our fingertips our calluses and our palms you'll feel most of the weight on the outside of your hands the best way to train a handstand push-up is by doing it against the wall this way you can practice proper form and gain strength without the worry of falling over all the time don't feel rushed to complete every single one of these skills in exactly one year but use this as a sure guide to check off any skills that you might want to learn I'd recommend you complete the skills in the order that I provided but you can go in however order benefits you the best I seriously hope this video helps you guys make sure to go to strick fit.com to check out my apps and programs