Strength & Mass for Athletes

Every time I walk into the weight room in my school, I meet a lot of good friends from my rugby team. They like going to the gym, they train together, don’t miss a workout, and are committed. They want to get big, strong, and look good! And why not, if this also helps them in the field, even better.

But, because of the way I am, I can’t help but notice that they are doing some exercises that fuck their shoulders, like bench pressing bodybuilding style with weights they can’t control and doing forced reps. Then they tell me that their shoulder hurts, and it doesn’t surprise me at all.

Other things they do is super wide pull ups, which apart of not being the best thing you can do for your shoulders, especially when you play rugby and use them to tackle day in and day out, don’t allow them to pass their chin over the bar, or load themselves with any significant weight. When I ask them why they do it this way, they’ll tell me it is because “it hits the back”. Doesn’t regular pull ups hit the back, on top of having a much larger ROM (Range Of Motion)? I can tell you that when I do heavy chin ups, the next day my lats are sore as hell.

Of course, as any beginner, they’ll squat bringing their knee forward and putting them at risk of injury, and doing quarter reps. Actually, they do half reps in every exercise they do, because to start, their hand placement or hip/knee break isn’t correct.

But because I love these guys, I want them to succeed, and to avoid wasting years of training, effort, and getting injured on the way. That’s the reason why I promised them to make a routine to help them get big, strong, get a nice looking body, and avoid getting injured in the process.

I recommend this routine to any beginner. It is a classic A/B, training 3 times a week the whole body, with lots of basic compound exercises, progressive overload being the focus, and also with some curls at the end of the workouts, optional of course, just to make them happy.

Where to hang your rings from

People love making excuses. They'll say they ain't got time for making it to the gym, or that they ain't got money for it, even if they have very expensive phones, and go out to party and dinner every single week.

So you tell them, "Hey, you don't have to have those problems anymore. Just make a little investment in a pair of rings, or suspension trainer. This way you will be able to train at home, without spending time and money going to the gym."

But then they will come with a new excuse. They'll say there's nowhere at home to hang the straps from.

So my intention with this post, is to give some ideas to those that really want to train but do not know where to hang their rings from, and at the same time to avoid those excuse-makers from lying to themselves with poor excuses. Now, they will have to invent another lame excuse about why they do not train, or face the truth, and maybe start to man up and train!

Find a place to hang your rings from

Change your point of view

You have to start seeing the world as your gym. Look for things to hang from and do Pull ups, places to climb and heavy shit to lift, be it wood logs or stones.

Now, start searching for a place to hang your rings from. Where do I usually hang them, or would if I had no other place?

How to do Pull Ups

The mighty Pull  Up!! Everyone has at least once tried to do one pull up, even if it is jumping, kipping, and with horrible form! But not everybody knows how to do a correct pull up, and most of the time it is just because they started doing pull ups before having the strength and preparation to do it.

What I am going to suggest you is a progression towards your first proper pull up, so you can then focus on adding reps or progress to a harder variation, because there is no way you can do a one arm pull up if you can't do one proper pull up.

How fun are Pull Ups, and they make you a Beast!!

Calisthenic Beginner Routine

Many people want to start training with their own bodyweight, because they wanna try something new, or because they have no time to go to the gym. But the problem is that they don't know how to start. That's why I'm going to share with you a good routine you can follow, based on the most basic exercises for beginners, i.e., squats, Australian pull ups, push ups and leg raises, and how you can adapt it to your goals and life.

Bodyweight Routine for Beginners

1A) Australian Pull Ups 2-5 x 20

1B) Push Ups 2-5 x 20

1C) Bodyweight Squats 2-5 x 20

2) Leg Raises 1-2 x 15

How to do Leg Raises

Leg Raises work your abdominal muscles and your hip flexors. Hip flexors are used for flexing your hips... Duh! This is when you approach your knee to your upper body in any way. Think of sprinting, holding the bottom position of a squat, kicking, and much more. I once injured my hip flexor, this is the reason why I know how important they are. I could not lift my leg 1 inch off the floor!

I've made a video showing you how to perform the different variations of leg raises on parallel bars. When you master straight leg raises on the parallels, start again form the easiest variation hanging from a chin up bar, or anything you can hang from.

Here's the video:



Just add this exercise at the end of your workout, and progress when you are able to do 15 reps. Even with just one set you will progress, no need to do any more.

If you give it a try, keep me posted, and if you have any question, don't hesitate to ask.

Train hard!
Gabri

To read this post in Spanish, please click here.

How to do Bodyweight Squats

Bodyweight squats, also known as free or air squats, are possibly the most primal and basic exercise you could do. They require good flexibility in the hips, heels and back, and no equipment at all.

You should master free squats before doing any other lower body exercise, as a good squat is the foundation of many exercises. Chances are that if you can't free squat correctly, you won't be able to do many other lower body exercises correctly, and that something is wrong in your body.

To squat with proper technique, set your feet at shoulder width pointing slightly outwards. Start the movement by bending at the hips and pushing them backward as much possible, until you reach a point where you must bend your knees. Do so while keeping your shins as vertical as possible, and never lift your heels. Remember to focus on pushing the floor through your heels. Finally, keep your back as straight as possible, and don't lean too much forward.

When squatting, go at least as low as parallel, this is where the top of your knees is at the same level that the upper crease of your hips. Don't go ass to grass, i.e. as low as you can, when your hammies touch your calves, if doing this causes you pain.

Here is a video where I show you how to progress from zero to a point where you can perform a full squat.





If you have any question, don't hesitate to ask me anything on this post or on my Facebook page, and I'll answer you ASAP.

Train hard,
Gabri.


If you want to read this post in Spanish, click here.

How to do Pushups and Close Pushups

The Pushup is one of the most classical exercises on earth. They are the bread and butter of the military. It is one of the first exercises that comes to your mind when you think of bodyweight exercises.

However, most people do not give them the respect they deserve. They think that it might be a great exercise for cardio circuits, for a finisher and for warm ups, but that there is no way Pushups could help you get bigger and stronger when you are past the beginner status, right? Well, I am here to tell you that they are completely wrong. The first reason why they think so is that they do not even know how to perform a strict pushup, not even the regular variation. They do them only half way down, with they elbows flared out to the sides and with shitty form.

The strict pushup is done by keeping the elbows close to your body, and going all the way down till your chest touches the floor. Once you have mastered the regular pushups, you should slowly progress to close pushups, by reducing the distance between your hands an inch or two once you get used to the new hand width.

Close pushups are awesome. They will blast you triceps and shoulders, and they are a prerequisite to one arm pushups. Don't rush things to avoid injuring your elbows, since you need to give time to your tendons to get used to the greater ROM (Range Of Motion).

In this video I'll show you how to progress from a total beginner level to the close pushup.

Hit the like button of my Facebook page and ask me anything you want.

Train hard!

Gabri

If you want to read this post in Spanish, click here.

How to do Australian Pull Ups

The Australian Pull Up is a splendid exercise for your back and arms, and a good one to start building your pulling power. It is also a good way to gain strength when preparing for your fist pull up, and it will teach total body tension, a good technique for pulling and proper posture for your shoulders and shoulder blades.

Besides, it will keep your shoulders healthy by balancing all the horizontal push you may do (push ups, bench press…).

They are also known as inverted rows and fat man pull ups, but don’t get me wrong, they can be as hard as you want them to be, going from a vertical pull for total rookies, all the way to one arm Australian pull ups to advanced trainees.

In these two videos I show you how to go from vertical pulls, which are the easiest version, to the regular Australian pull up, which is an intermediate level version. Even if Australian pull ups are not the hardest exercise you can find, it is important to do them with great technique and don’t underestimate them.

Once you have mastered this movement, you will notice you have a better mind-muscle connection with your back, an important thing to get bigger, and you’ll feel stronger. A strong back lays the foundation for a strong push, so you can expect your push power to increase as you train properly your back.

Here’s the video where I show how to do them on rings:

And here you can see me doing them on bars:

Don’t hesitate to ask me any question you may have, be it on this blog, on my Facebook Page, or on my youtube channel.

Train hard!

Gabri

                                       To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Calisthenics, why use them & beginner routine

            Calisthenics are the exercises, or movements, done without any external load, using our own bodyweight as the only resistance. The most known are the classic push ups, pull ups, squats and crunches.

            The word Calisthenics comes from the ancient Greek kallos, which means beauty, and sthénos meaning strength. It is the art of using your own body weight and qualities of inertia as a means to develop your physique.

            The legend tells that in a horribly cold day the god Kallisto decided to wrestle hand to hand with his friend the god Yemo (not sure if this is his name in English) to get warmed up. The thing is Yemo hated secretly Kallisto, so they begun a fight to death. Kallisto, horrified and about to die because Yemo was very strong, asked for help to the demigod Heracles. This one did not ignore his pleas and gave him the skill to move his muscles harmoniously so he could defend himself with grace. The legend ends with Yemo sent into exile to the barbarian islands.

           

           

            Talking about Greeks, how do you think that the Spartans became so strong and feared? It was clearly by the continuous and intense practice of calisthenics.

Why get stronger?

            I’ve heard many people say things like “I just wanna get big, not strong” and “I don’t care about strength, all I want is to get ripped”. Other times, they say worse things like “I just came to workout a little” and “I don’t want to get huge like Arnold!” The latter is the funniest, because if you add some weight to the bar, you will surely wake up in the morning looking like Arnold… Common! Do you really think so?

Poor Arnold, nobody wants to look like him...

             Strength is the foundation you need to build before anything, whatever your goals are. To gain 20 kg of lean muscle, you need to get stronger. You ain’t gonna gain a lot of muscle lifting the same weights year after year, especially if you’re weak. If your goal is fat loss, lifting big weights will make you many more calories, and even if you diet to lose weight, if you don’t strength train, you will lose all your muscle and end up like a scrawny kid.