5 Top Tips for training Street Workout

Jason Ahipene

Calisthenics

July 28, 2016

Today’s blog post comes from Marcos Torres. Marcos is a member of the Perth Calisthenics Community and today Marcos is going to give his 5 top tips for training Street Workout (also referred to as Calisthenics)

Jase

For those who love the bar.

My name is Marcos Torres. I’m originally from New Jersey and now live in Perth, Western Australia. I started training Street Workout two years ago and fell in love right away.

Now let me give you some background on my fitness journey. As a teenager I enjoyed weight lifting and practiced karate, boxing, and I wrestled in High School. When I graduated HS I joined the US Army and served for 4.5 years. After I got out I stopped training until my wife convinced me to sign up with her to do the Tough Mudder. We signed up together and I started training again. Having that goal was the only thing that kept me focused though.

For some reason, I just couldn’t stay committed to any training program. Lifting weights always got boring after a few weeks and being a natural ectomorph I had to eat like a trillion calories just to gain a pound so I always got discouraged. However, this time I was determined to stick it out. I kept training and even got certified as a Personal Trainer. However, the passion just wasn’t there. But then a friend introduced me to Frank Medrano and from there I was catapulted into the subculture of Street Workout.

Having trained Street Workout for 2 years now (technically 3 though I don’t count the first year as you’ll later see) I have learned a few things along the way. Below are my top 5 tips for training Street Workout.

My 5 Top Tips for training Street Workout

1. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

This is a big one. It shouldn’t be, but for some reason it is. I meet people who think they can master a planche in their first year and they can’t even do 20 strict push-ups yet. I’m not saying its not possible. Those who have 5 hours a day, money to have their nutrition on point, and willing to go the roids-route may be able to pull it off; but for the average human being it just isn’t possible. The problem with this kind of mindset is that because it’s unrealistic those who attempt them get discouraged and quit easily. So let me save you the heartache by putting it this way: Strength takes time. For the average Joe/Jane, dragon fly push-ups, planches, and front levers won’t even enter the picture until 3-5 years after training has begun. Mastering body control is a long journey that depends not only on muscular development but the development of your nervous system as well. And the results of such intense training are reserved only for those who are willing to commit to the long haul. If you are looking for quick results or want to start doing all the cool moves without mastering the basics prepare to be disappointed. Unless you have roids. But don’t do that. Roid’s are lame.

2. Don’t get behind yourself.

When I first started training I used to think that before I progressed to more advanced moves I first had to be able to do a minimum of 100 pushups, 200 situps etc. I spent an entire year trying to reach those goals. The problem was – in relation to mastering body weight and moving to more advanced levels of training that year was almost an entire waste of time. It wasn’t until I spoke to more advanced athletes that I realized you don’t need to reach such ridiculous endurance levels before moving on. If you can do 30-40 strict pushups, move onto some clap pushups. If you can do 10-15 of those, move on to a more advanced move, etc. In other words, don’t stunt your progress by chasing irrelevant goals or moving to slowly. My personal rule of thumb is, once you can do about 12 reps of a particular move you are ready to try the next difficulty level. Of course, everyone is different so you have to determine how it works for you. But don’t get stuck.

3. Find the most intelligent way to progress.

Having an intelligent system of progression is super important. Its not the end of the world if you don’t have one, but it is really helpful. How will you reach the muscle-up, for example? Do you just hop and a bar and spend the next year desperately trying to get over it with no visible signs of progress? Or do you have a progressive system where you are meeting goals, achieving victories, and all the while moving closer to your objective? The first method may work for some people, but for most it would only take a matter of weeks before they gave up. So when you are trying to master a particular movement, do some research and find the progressions that will help you get there.

4. Remember, everyone is different.

Some people find human flags easy, others take ages to master them. Personally, I have managed to achieve the L-sit, Dragon Flag, Pistol Squat, Muscle -Up, Clutch Flag, Toes to Bar, Archer Pull-Up, Back Clap Pushups, and other movements with reasonable effort. But while I have been consistently progressing in each of those movements one has repeatedly escaped me: the handstand. For some reason, I just cannot hold a handstand consistently no matter how hard I try (and I have been trying for about a year). However, other people I know can hold a handstand without any problems while struggling to get other moves. And then of course, there’s the guy who is just good at all the moves. And yes, we all hate him.

5. Be your own competition.

I can’t stress this enough. Don’t look at guys like Frank Medrano, Adam Raw, or Hannibal for King and think “I’ll never be that good”. I recently saw an interview with Small Spartan from the BarSparta crew. I was shocked to hear him say that he trains for five hours a day. An likewise, most of the guys competing in the higher levels of Street Workout train for many hours each day. Personally, I will never have that much time to train. This means that I will never progress as fast, or possibly as far, as many of these guys do. So I have decided that my competition needs to be against myself, not others. Am I better this month than I was last month? And I steadily mastering difficulty levels? Then I’m good, regardless of how much slower or longer my journey may take.

So there you have it guys! My top 5 tips for training Street Workout.

Peace!

**This article was originally published at barculturex.com and has been reposted with permission.

If you would like to hear more from Marcos you can read more of his blogs here at Bar-CultureX.com or check out his FaceBook page Bar-CultureX

Thanks

Jason

Calisthenics Coach

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