Euthoric Cali

🤸‍♂️ Working on Incline Pike Push Ups! Another 3 set clip review on one I’ve struggled with for a few years now, the Incline Pikes! This one isn’t so much the strength needed but getting the form right; I’ve had so many reviews on this exercise with Nudger at @caliclubltd but can never seem to get this one right at home! An absolute ballache with this exercise is that I cannot see anything to do with my form as I’m facing the ground (and hair surrounds my entire head here as well 😂) Set 1 is raw, how I’ve been doing them for the last few weeks at least with no filmed reference to check form. Set 2 - after watching back the first set, saw that it looks more like a straight up and down incline push up but doesn’t really do much for the pike part of the movement. Second set I positioned my hands further forward, used mind muscle connection to engage my legs and straighten them. The movement should be more like a 45 degree ascent/descent rather than the 90 degrees that I’m doing in the first set. Still not feeling 100% with the positioning here and it shows Set 3 - tried to settle in to the same form and position throughout this time. Emulated a lot of second set but still feels like the form is out from where it should be. Any corrections or critiques on this movement would be most appreciated in the comments below! Am really trying to get this one right for efficient prep towards handstands and eventually handstand push ups 🙏 “Until the Quiet Comes” turns out to be a great workout album as well 💪 @flyinglotus

🛝 Sliding Pike Push Ups, before and after filming! Getting back into the habit of filming some Calisthenics circuits again, last night I recorded a set of Sliding Pike Push Ups for the first time in ages. After watching back initially I realised one of the truly massive benefits of actually being able to record your exercises; my form on this has gone totally out over the year! On the first set my back turns into a banana when at the floor position and just isn’t straight at all, likewise with my legs at the top of the movement being too bent. The second set is my attempts to fix both of these and to try and maintain these fixes in every sliding pike push up going forward 💪 Didn’t gain anywhere near as much height the second time but what’s the point if it’s not done right?! @caliclubltd any advice or tips on what you see? #pikepushups

🏋️‍♂️ Weights sesh at ARU Old Factory! No Cali Club this week, always a good break popping back to @theoldfactorygym to smash some weights to @meshuggah 🤘 more Cali/Gym/Kettlebell sessions and content to come soon! 💪 #chelmsford

Trying Kettlebells for the First Time 💪 I’ve been taking my first swings at kettlebells lately, yesterday I ran through three beginner - midrange moves to get a feel for the flow: 1️⃣ Goblet Squat – 10 reps 2️⃣ Clean & Press – 10 reps (each arm) 3️⃣ Reverse Lunges – 10 reps (each leg) Along with my legs feeling destroyed, the kettlebells feel like such an amazing addition to my calisthenics work especially when it comes to shoulder stability. It certainly cures the itch for weightlifting without having to get myself over to the gym! (Sorry @theoldfactorygym , I’ll still pop in when possible 😂) Will hopefully see some solid cross over when it comes to rings with these soon! I’ve still got a long way to go with form and control, but I’m excited to keep learning and building from here. 📣 Any tips or beginner advice from fellow kettlebell swingers? Drop them below! #kettlebellfitness

📷 Some snaps from my earliest days at @caliclubltd ! September 2019 was my first ever session with Nudger Wills at the Cali Club in Chelmsford. Having been obsessed with Calisthenics as a teenager and looking for a change from weightlifting, the newly developed Cali Club (at the time) allowed me an opportunity to capitalise on that dream and learn how to hang with the greats like @frank_medrano . The journey has been amazing so far, incredible results and a slew of amazing relationships formed along the way! Last year marked 5 years of attending Cali Club but it still feels like I’ve only just marked the tip of the iceberg with regards to this beautiful discipline. 📸 #1 Sept 2019 Wall Squats 📸 #2 Dec 2019 Sphinx Push Ups, Mobility Work 📸 #3 Dec 2019 Bodyweight Squats 📸 #4 March 2020 Commando Chin Ups 📸 #5 March 2020 Ring Out Dips/Inversions

🥩Meathooks! After a new challenge in Calisthenics? Meathooks are a great exercise combining core strength and flexibility. Whilst hanging from a single ring, raise your legs and tilt your body in an “L” shape. Twist your hips in a windshield wiper position and fold your body accordingly. I still have much more to progress in this exercise (eventually performing this one handed!), stay tuned for more updates on my meathooking journey! 🤸‍♂️

📆 Here’s my current workout schedule for January 2025! I currently hit these circuits once a week with mobility work and some weights peppered in between. Pretty standard bro split methodology but it works well for my schedule at the minute! I’ll be sharing videos of all of these soon to illustrate them better. ✉️ Want to know more about any of these exercises or how to perform them yourself? Leave a comment down below or message me to find out more!

​​​💎​ Diamond push-ups are a standard push up progression that foxues primarily7 on Tricep development as opposed to Chest/Pectorals. Whilst keeping a hollow body, place your hands over (or as close to) each other to form a diamond shape directly under your chest. Full extension of this movement will come in time, with further progressions having hands folded over each other. ​​ ​​​🗓️​ 2020 - First starting out, elbows flared but necessary at this point to build strength in new position. Core isn’t as strong or well built this year leading the hollow body to be lacking ​​ ​​​🗓️​ 2021 - Much stronger core and hollow body to the hold, allowing more reps in this movement and therefore more strength gains to follow ​​ ​​​🗓️​ 2022 - Hands are now folded over each other as opposed to fingers interlocked, can now focus on not having the elbows flare out which could potentially be damaging if kept up for too long. Because of this fix though core is feeling weaker again, needed to fix this ​​ ​​​🗓️​ 2023 - Core is fixed from previous year, diamond push ups are now comfortable with good form all over. ​​ ​​​🗓️​ 2024 - Decreased the amount of surface the hands are in contact with to increase resistance (i.e. moved hand over other to simulate more of a one arm push up) ​​ ​​​💪​ As of the start of 2025 I have temporarily retired Diamond Push Ups in favour of Archer Push-ups, a more logical progression in the same direction which will hopefully culminate in One Armed Push-ups . Feel free to ask any questions on Diamond Push-Ups or any other exercises in the comments below! #calisthenics #diamondpushups #pushups #caliclub

⏳ It’s been a while since I’ve trained rings outdoors! Back in 2019 I not only started my calisthenics journey at @caliclubltd but also became familiar with a figure who’s much more popular now, @iceman_hof . I became fascinated with the idea of not just fighting off illness and anxiety through his amazing breathing technique (which I still utilise a few times a week 5 years on!) but also the idea of being able to take on resistance in the form of cold weather training. Gym’s in Chelmsford would be hesitant towards me setting up rings in their establishment so for a while I had no choice but to train outdoors, come rain, frost or shine! Luckily the amazing team at @theoldfactorygym let me set up in theirs when they opened up in early 2020. Just a few months in however, all gyms across the world would be shut down and I would be forced back out to Admirals Park. In terms of counting blessings though, I still had options to train and develop during lockdown when nearly everyone else didn’t. My outdoor training would carry on over to Ipswich where I lived in 2021 all the way back to returning to Chelmsford and @theoldfactorygym in 2022. I do miss these sessions; being outdoors in nature, building resistance to uncomfortable weather and talking to people curious about what they’re seeing on the rings. However it’s just not as efficient as training indoors. Whatever gains you may make mentally by overcoming what nature has to throw at you are going to cost by not being able to hit those personal best records and overall end up ranging from being a minor to major distraction with regards to learning skill work in Calisthenics. 📷 - 26/06/2020 - Rings set up near Central Park Chelmsford, rainy day 🎞️ - 24/09/2019 - inversions on rings, Admirals Park 📷 - 25/12/2019 - Xmas morning rings sesh! 🎄Admirals Park 🎞️ - 25/12/2019 - Skin the Cats, Xmas morning at Admirals Park 🎞️ - 23/04/2021 - Inversions at Gypswyk Park, Ipswich 📷 - 13/05/2020 - Hill in Chelmsford, used for hill sprints (angle doesn’t help but was a very steep incline!) 🎞️ - 13/03/2021 - Ring Dips at Gypswyk Park, Ipswich #calisthenics #coldweather #chelmsford #ipswich

🤸​ My Wall Walk journey from 2020 to now! As a progression to learning handstands, Wall Walks are a great way of strengthening your core and shoulder muscles as well as preparing your entire body for being in an upside down position. One of the biggest shocks at the start is the blood running to your head, learning to exert control in a position that is unfamiliar. With the added incentive of not wanting to fall on your head (which unfortunately happened a couple of times), Wall Walks are an essential movement for being getting comfortable with the handstand whilst still feeling supported. ​​ ​​🗓️ 2020 ​​Getting started, not very close to the wall but familiarising myself with the movement as well as building shoulder strength. ​​ ​​🗓️ 2021 ​​Wrists and body much closer to the wall, with the body being in a much more vertical position just holding this helped loads with core stabilization. ​​ ​​🗓️ 2022 ​​Building up endurance towards a freestanding Wall Walk by taking one foot slightly off the wall at a time, being careful to extend it out too far and risking losing balance. Trippy stuff! ​​ ​​🗓️ 2023 ​​Starting to experiment with actual Handstand Push Ups, however this part was of my own thinking and without Nudger’s (@caliclubltd ) expertise. The issue here was that my elbows were flaring out sideways which put undue pressure on the elbow joints which could have led to injury. The lessons to this part are 1) no shortcutting to a further on progression and 2) to keep the elbows in, similar to a pushup. As soon as I learnt this I regressed the Wall Walk back to previous progression. ​​ ​​🗓️ 2024 ​​Wall Walks are still at the phase of one foot slowly coming off the wall. I am now much closer to the wall than I was in years previous and, with much improved core stability built up over other exercises, am comfortably holding these for much longer. ​​ ​​With success in other exercises such as the hollow holds, crow holds and incline push ups, I should hopefully not be too far off from being able to perform a free standing handstand. Make sure to follow @juanstonecali to stay updated on my Wall Walk journey! ​​ #calisthenics #handstand

Give these Weighted Split Squats a try in your leg rotation! Also known as the Bulgarian Split Squats, these squats are a an amazing way of keeping both legs honest in their strength and conditioning. Rather than using both legs for the same function (which could hide inconsistencies in form leading to injury), the split squat and lunge precursors offer different ranges of motion and work great alongside actual body weight or bar squats. This month, I am doing 8 reps with 5 second holds in between to really work on my hip flexor stability. This exercise is part of a 5 exercise long leg circuit which I repeat 3 times in one session. A strong core is also very helpful. Give the weighted split squats a try and let me know in the comments how you find them below! Stay tuned for more fitness and calisthenics content to come #squats #bodyweightworkout

​​​🤸​ What am I working on right now? I usually have 3-4 big workouts a week following the conventional “bro-split” method of Push, Pull and Legs (sometimes with an additional Weights or Mobility session). ​​ ​​My push session exercises are mainly focused on chest, triceps, shoulders and core stability. The circuit in the above video is repeated for 3 sets with light dynamic stretching and mobility work to warm up as well as long, static stretching for recovery after. For December 2024 my Push routine contains: ​​ ​​​🔹​ Archer Push Ups (3-5 reps, each side) ​​ ​​For building strong chest and triceps and also as previously said gaining needed strength for one arm pushup ​​ ​​​🔹​ Slider Push Ups (3-5 reps) ​​ ​​Shoulder strength, scapular endurance and hip flexibility building towards handstand ​​ ​​​🔹​ Side Plank Holds (8 x 5 second holds, each side) ​​ ​​Strengthen’s your core, also helps with hip and spine mobility. Builds “Meathook” exercise endurance ​​ ​​​🔹​ Sphinx Push Ups (6-8 reps) ​​ ​​Primarily targets tricep’s but this is great for core also. Slower the better with these reps! ​​ ​​​🔹​ Decline Push Ups (6-8 reps) ​​ ​​Added a chair to push ups for front delt activation as well as activating the clavicular head of the chest. Using these to build towards handstand ​​ ​​​🔹​ Hollow Holds (20 seconds low, 40 seconds knees up) ​​ ​​A minute long hollow hold, keeping whole back glued to floor at all times. Focusing on strengthening my transverse abdominal muscle (TVA) for greater core stability. ​​ ​​​📨​ Want any suggestions for your exercise routines? Leave a comment below or follow for more ideas! ​​ 🎓 Student of @caliclubltd #bodyweightworkout #calisthenics #homeworkouts