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How to do Pike Pushups with Perfect Form and Setup

For several months, I did Pike Pushups as a progression exercise nearly everyday to build up the strength for Handstand Pushups. I documented that journey in great detail in a 3 part series here. And since I got intimately acquainted with this exercise, I am ready to share a ton of tips to help you succeed with it too! I will point out what is proper form & how to set yourself up for consistency.

Pike pushups are more technical to setup and execute than expected

Changing any single one variable can make the exercise seem a lot easier or harder so having a consistent setup is crucial for success. And because it’s a difficult exercise, it’s easy to do it with bad form without even realizing the body is taking shortcuts. Some people find pike pushups so frustrating to master that they resort to doing the barbell equivalent, the overhead press, because they can incrementally increase the load on the bar with far fewer variables to deal with. I’m here to help you to not experience that frustration.

Pike pushups done with proper form are deceptively hard.

I mean like, really hard. It’s very difficult to perform them with proper form. Be warned, most demonstrations on YouTube are shown with poor form.

  • And the reason for that is simple:
  • Ask any fit man to “drop and give me 20!” Most would be able to pull those pushups off.
  • But to do 20 decline pike pushups with the feet elevated? Most would be lucky to do a few with proper form!

Obviously they’re not the same exercise, but they are both pushups and have minimal equipment requirements and thus, provide a low barrier to entry, which means less excuses for you to work on them!

How to do Pike Pushups with Proper Form

Form Check #1: Just like with normal pushups, the elbows should not be flaring out to the sides at all

Since this is a progression exercise toward handstand pushups, it’s important to note that a real handstand pushup will never be performed with the elbows flaring outwards. As such, during pike pushups, the forearms or elbows shouldn’t be moving backwards or flaring out to the sides as well. They should remain vertical and fairly static. (To facilitate this, turn the hands out slightly so the index finger faces forward. You can even make it more extreme so the thumb faces forward if your wrists are bothered.)

 

Form Check #2: Your head should go MUCH MORE FORWARD than you think is enough

This is probably the #1 offender of all people: they dip their head down to go between their hands. No. Stop that. The head should not go down between your hands. The head should go forward and down. So far forward that your head ends up ahead of the fingers. So far forward that the elbows don’t move backwards whatsoever but maybe they even go forward a teensy bit when you’re even stronger. When in doubt, go more ahead than you think you can. (In any harder variation, like a hollow back press or bent arm planche, your head will need to go even more forward.)

What happens if you put your head straight down between the hands? The elbows flare out to the sides and it increases the strain on the elbow and shoulder joints. You’ll be able to do more reps with this improper form, misleading you to think that you’re stronger than you actually are. (Remember, this exercise is deceptively hard when done right.)

Form Check #3: Your nose should touch the ground

Rather than aiming for the top of the head to touch the ground, have the nose touch it. You get more range that way.

How To Set Yourself Up For Consistency

Setup Tip #1: Start with (Feet-Elevated) Decline Pike Pushups

Doing pike pushups with feet on the ground is OK but I suggest you start with decline pike pushups where the feet are slightly elevated. This will mitigate any hamstring flexibility issues and make the exercise feel less awkward. Even if the flexibility is not an issue, I highly recommend it. Also, one should be comfortable with regular pushups. If you have been doing them properly, the way I recommend, then you have a solid base.

Setup Tip#2: The hands should be about shoulder width apart

Setting the hands wider than shoulder width will feel easier because there’s less range of motion. Setting the hands narrower than shoulder width will feel very difficult and is an advanced variant. Keep the hands at around shoulder width apart for optimum range and intensity.

Setup Tip #3: Choose an object you could elevate your feet on and stick to that height

I put my feet on a chair (about knee height) and did that for 6 weeks minimum before elevating the feet onto the couch (about hip height).

Left: Feet elevated to knee height (on a chair) is about 77% of my bodyweight. Right: With feet at hip height (on couch), this is about 83% intensity.

The difference between the above settings for the feet is only ~6% which doesn’t sound like much, but it is considering the lower setting is already quite difficult at ~77% intensity so don’t start at the highest possible setting. This exercise is humbling. The height of the feet should be the same for a while.

Setup Tip #4: Place the feet near the edge of the platform

When I was using a chair, I would make sure my feet were placed right near the edge of the chair. If I placed the feet further back, toward the middle of the chair, the exercise would be far easier. (When I elevated the feet to hip height, I was using the side of my couch. Luckily, arm-rest was narrow so I couldn’t set my feet too far back or forth.)

Setup Tip #5: If using a movable object to put your feet on, always place them in the same spot.

When I was using a chair, I would place the legs of the chair exactly at the edge of the carpet each and every time. Then, my feet would go at the end of the chair and my hands would go on the same spot on the carpet everytime. And finally, when doing the actual pushup, my nose would always hit the same spot on the carpet as well.

Setup Tip #6: Use a landmark for where your nose should touch for each and every rep.

Do this to ensure you’re going forward enough. On the carpet, I chose a pattern to aim for. One inch forward or backward makes a huge difference so I always made sure I was going forward enough. On a smooth floor, I use a piece of invisible tape to mark the spot.

This is how I chose to remember where to place my hands and nose each time.

Setup Tip #7: The distance of the hands from the feet should always be the same.

Setup the hands close enough to almost be an L-shape, but not tighter than an L-shape. (This was a distance of about 36″ (1 meter) for me. Your mileage may vary.)

Setup Tip #8: Don’t place the hands too close to your feet even if your flexibility allows for it.

The closer you bring the hands to the feet, the harder the exercise becomes. So you might think closer is better to maximize the intensity. But it’s not the best course of action for consistency sake because placing your hands further back makes the exercise exponentially harder as mere millimeters change the load significantly. If your hamstring flexibility and pike compression is great and you can compress yourself tighter than an L-shape, you may be tempted to make the exercise harder by simply moving your hands backwards, but the inconsistency can cause frustration and make you think you’re weak, so don’t do it.

Note: I’m not saying you should NEVER bring your hands close. Eventually, you will be able to place your feet close to your hands, do a pike pushup and lift your feet up and press up into a handstand. You can even “teeter totter” like that if you stay piked and are obscenely strong. But you need to choose a setting that’s going to help you get the reps in.

More Tips for Success

  1. Warmup with wall facing scapular wall slides with protraction as well as palm pulses and wrist pushups for wrist work in the morning.
  2. To help you get through the tough reps, grip the floor like a madman and it will help you generate more strength.
  3. Don’t forget to breathe. Exhale on the way up. Inhale on the way down. You can experiment with the reverse as well but most importantly, don’t forget to breathe.
  4. Drop-set trick for the last rep: If you know you’re definitely going to fail the next rep if you go for it, put your hands half an inch or an inch forward and you’ll be able to complete it. I only recommend this for emergencies so don’t overuse this trick. A lot of the times when you’re nearing the final rep, it is psychological whether you can complete it or not, so don’t give in thinking there’s no way you’re going to make it just because the previous one was a real slow grind. Don’t sell yourself short.
  5. If your lower back feels strained, squeeze your glutes! During the ascent, the lower back will tend to arch. Eventually, when you do HSPU’s, with no L-shape, your hips will be in a neutral position the entire time and you will need to squeeze your glutes the entire time anyway, especially as you press up as your lower back will collapse if you are not firm there. So it’s a good habit to squeeze the glutes.  (This is also a bit tricky as the glutes are hip extensors and when pressing up and returning back into the L-shape, that’s hip flexion. So you may feel you’re fighting against the natural pathway, which you are, so don’t overdo this and only do it if you feel strain on the lower back.)
  6. Elevate your hands on anything to increase range. You can use yoga blocks, parallettes, decline handstand blocks or stairs so your head goes “below” the floor to increase your range.
I started to use blocks to increase the range of the HSPU.

Tempo Tips

  • Don’t rush the negative phase
    • Slow down the negative phase so it takes a solid 2-3 seconds rather than just one second or less. In doing so you build more strength and make better use of your time.
  • Pause at the bottom occasionally to reduce the stretch reflex
    • This strengthens you in the hardest part of the exercise and forces you to press up using all your strength without utilizing the elastic nature of your muscular tissues because you made all the potential energy dissipate from pausing.
  • Explode up
    • Press yourself up as fast as possible with perfect form. In the beginning it was hard to push quickly. It was actually impossible. But the intention is what matters. I tried to pushup as fast as possible and although it was slow, it got slowly faster. It wasn’t until exactly one month into the training where I was pushing actually faster for the first time during the concentric phase. After 3 months, I could feel the quality of my strength had changed dramatically. I could muster through reps where otherwise it would’ve failed in the past and perform the concentric faster than ever.

To recap…

  • Don’t flare your elbows.
  • Send the head and shoulders forward and down, not just down.
  • Make sure your nose boops the ground, not the top of your head.
  • Hands shoulder-width apart.
  • Elevate your feet on something and stick to that.
  • Place feet at edge of platform and hands far enough to make an L-shape, but not closer.
  • Use carpet patterns or wood grain (or tape) as target landmarks for hands and nose.
  • Take 2-3secs to go down, pause at the bottom sometimes and always explode up.

So there you have it! Your comprehensive guide toward tackling the pike pushups! If you have any questions, please let me know! And if you have not read the 3-part series on how I used them to gain the strength for the Handstand Pushup, click here to do so!

Which routine is right for YOU?

I have a few premium routines on my website that I’ve poured my heart and soul into creating. Two are focused on strength training and another two are focused on flexibility. None of them require lots of equipment as I’m a fan of working out with minimal equipment which allows me to do it at home or outdoors. So.. here goes!

Rings Routine (Strength and Skills)

No weights required. Just a pair of rings and you’re ready to have fun!

The rings-oriented bodyweight training routine is one of the best routines I have come up with that combines both strength work and skill work, which tends to be quite rewarding and fun. With a simple pair of gymnastics rings, you could potentially workout your upper body and core in a way that rivals weightlifting. It is a lot more gymnastics-oriented because you learn straight arm skills such as front/back levers and planche and also learn skills such as skin the cat, inverted hang, shoulder stand and more. There are a lot of very cool, wide ranging progressions so anybody from beginner to advanced will find the right intensity for them. And the template is absolutely one of my favorites. Instead of a push/pull split, it splits the days into straight-arm and bent-arm days. Click here to go to the page to get more details and buy the rings-routine.

The above video explains the rings routine.

Hypertrophy Routine (Strength and Mass)

The hypertrophy routine is a hybrid, bodyweight + weight training routine that is meant for gaining maximum strength and packing on mass. Whether you want to BE strong or just LOOK strong, this is the routine for you. It is not for rank beginners because the programming utilizes the concept of periodization that targets different rep-ranges and intensity depending on the workout-day which is meant for people with experience. It’s not too hard to understand however and it’s downright fun if you are well versed with bodyweight exercises. It doesn’t have the skill work that the rings-routine does as it’s less gymnastics oriented and more focused on purely aesthetics and strength. Click here to go to the page to buy the hypertrophy-routine.

The above video explains the hypertrophy routine.

Note: If you are struggling with some of the skills or moves in the rings-routine due to a lack of strength, the hypertrophy routine is perfect to do for 2-3 months and then go back to the rings-routine to find yourself much, much stronger at certain skills found in the rings-routine. This is one of the reasons why I switch between the two.

Easy Hamstrings Flexibility Program

This hamstring flexibility program is for those who have overall poor flexibility, tight hamstrings and want a simple program that will help them to get looser in a gentle, non-painful manner. It requires only 30 minutes, 2-3x a week and is perfect for anyone who is struggling to touch their toes or wants to be able to easily put their palms flat with straight legs in no time! You’ll be stretching the hamstrings, calves and back to improve your forward-folding ability (also known as pike flexibility) in an easy to follow along video that will increase your range instantly!

The above video explains the hamstring flexibility program.

Hip Flexibility Program

I’ve created this hip flexibility program for those that would like to increase the flexibility of their lower body in an efficient manner, with a follow along video that only takes 30 minutes, 1-3x a week. With it, you will improve both your passive and active flexibility in numerous ways. This program was months in the making and beta-tested with people of all levels to ensure both rank beginners and intermediates feel challenged in a fun and feel-good manner while gaining mobility efficiently.

The above video explains what the hip flexibility program is all about.

Using the Pike Pushup to do a Handstand Pushup (Part 3, The Finale!)

My dog Medax is my coach, naturally.

I am proud to announce the results of this 3-month-long nerdy and grand experiment! If you haven’t read the earlier parts, please do so as they are chock full of info!

Part 1: I set the stage for the plan to do decline pike pushups nearly everday for 6 weeks with the goal of 9 reps specifically. (Plus much more details like % intensity at different heights, 1-RM calculations and more).

Part 2: I share the results and experience of those 6 weeks in great detail. I was “able” to do 1 handstand pushup but with unacceptable form: back arching to the max with feet floundering uncontrollably. (It made for a great video!)

I clearly needed to keep getting stronger, so I continued with a new cycle of pike pushups with the feet elevated even higher and this blog post is all about this part of the journey…

The new goal was to achieve at least 7 reps of these:

With the hips elevated to hip height, these are about 83% of the bodyweight load. And according to the 1RM calculator table, at 83% intensity, one might be able to perform a single HSPU (100% intensity) if they can do at least 7reps.

These pike pushups at hip height felt extremely difficult.

They are only supposed to be 7% harder than the previous setup (feet elevated to knee height) but they were way harder experientally. Every step of the way was a struggle. Just achieving 6 reps alone was a big deal. I remember being elated that day. Then when it came to achieving 7 reps, it was a real doozy! I had to repeat the previous days rep-scheme many times to consider it conquered. It took some perseverance to hit two sets of 7 reps to seal the deal!

Onto the Results!

Click here to expand and see the training log for decline pike pushups with feet elevated to hip height
  • Date: reps over 5 sets, [rate of perceived effort out of 10 & notes]
  • 1/4: 4,3,2,2,3 [10, decided to start with 4 reps instead of 6 or 7 to make it far easier than before and ensure no recovery issues. less is more! But it still felt abysmally difficult.)
  • 1/5: 4,3,3,2,1 [8]
  • Day off
  • 1/7: 3,4,3,2,2,1 [8, must squeeze butt before each rep to protect lower back with the feet elevated this high.]
  • 1/8: 5,4,3,2,1 [0, despite failing the first set yesterday, I decided to pretend I didn’t fail a thing and added one rep and was able to hit 5 reps.]
  • Day off
  • 1/10: 5,4,3,2,2 [7]
  • 1/11: 5,4,3,3,2 [8] Grinding reps more hardcore now
  • 1/12: 5,4,4,3,2 [8]
  • Day off
  • 1/14: 5,5,4,3,2 [7] Grinding reps
  • 1/15: 6,5,4,3,2 [9]
  • 1/16: 6,5,4,3,3 [6] Felt really good.
  • Day off
  • 1/18: 6,5,4,4,3 [6] Felt boss as fuck.
  • Five days off due to skiing 🎿 + bicycling
  • 1/23: 6,5,5,4,3 [7] Failed 6th rep of 1st set. Rest felt easy.
  • 1/24: 6,5,5,4,3 [8] REPEATED YESTERDAY. Did a drop set of 6th rep of 1st set. Felt like a GRIND.
  • 1/25: 6,6,5,4,3 [8] First time hitting 6,6! 😊 (Did rings as well)
  • 2 days off
  • 1/28: 7,6,5,4,3 [4] Felt easy somehow!
  • Day off / went skiing 🎿
  • 1/31: 6,6,5,4,3,+2 [10] Couldn’t do 7 reps 😔 and needed to do drop set for last rep of 3rd and 4th set so I did 2 extra reps at end)
  • 2/1: 7,6,5,4,3 [8] I did “7,6” again! Rep #7 was crazy hard! Rest were doable
  • Took 2 days off.
  • 2/4: 6reps only. Felt 10/10 so I stopped after 1 set. 😔
  • 2/5: 5+2,6,5,4,3,+2 [9] First set felt impossibly difficult again, hitting 7 reps seems like a unicorn at this point. Pretended I’m Simonster to finish the rest.
  • Day off
  • 2/7: 7!,6!,5,4,4 [8] BREAKTHROUGH. Finally hit 7reps again. 7th rep felt 10rpe, rest were 8. 😊
  • Had strange rib pain after a long bike ride. Needed 5 days off.
  • 2/13: 7,6,5,5,4 [7] First set was rest-pause due to medax licks.
  • 2/14: 7,6,6,5,4 [5] All sets felt easy for the first time in a VERY long time. 😊
  • 2/15: 7,7,6,5,4 [6] Big fucking deal right here! Two sets of 7 reps!
  • I hit my goal of 7 reps!

Recap of the two cycles:

Coincidentally, each cycle was exactly 6 weeks long and I did them nearly everyday.

Pike Pushups with Feet Elevated to Knee Height

  • October 22, 2018: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1 reps (11 reps in a session)
  • December 7, 2018: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 reps (35 reps in a session)
  • 6 weeks to go from 11 reps to 35 reps with 76% intensity.

Pike Pushups with Feet Elevated to Hip Height

  • January 4, 2019: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1 reps (13 reps in a session)
  • February 15, 2019: 7, 7, 6, 5, 4 reps (29 reps in a session)
  • 6 weeks to go from 13 to 29 reps with 83% intensity.

Okay, so I hit my goal of 7 reps of decline pike pushups with feet elevated to hip height… could I do a proper handstand pushup yet?!

The answer is a resounding YES, YES, YES. Clearly, Medax’s licks were anabolic.

https://youtu.be/DUQN-pyXxmk

The form is very far from perfect. In fact, I consider it poor. My back is arched but at least it isn’t TERRIBLE like my previous attempts. And before this, in the previous cycle, when I tried 1 rep, I couldn’t muster up another. But yesterday, I did FOUR of these single reps. And today I did another 4 sets of singles!

Some musings on my newfound strength: The friction of the socks against the wall make it very difficult and keeping both feet pointed is a true challenge that actually makes it quite hard. I also learned that my hands were originally way too close to the wall and doing it slightly further away is perfect. The arching of the back, will get better with time as my pushing strength improves.

I feel really good about having this new shape to work on. Now my new goal is to do 5 reps of these in a row with perfect form. This will probably take a while.

So what’s next?

Well, as a result of this, I learned what it takes to do proper pike pushups perfectly! They are actually quite technically and very intricate to do consistently well. But lucky for you, I’ve been amassing all these tips for the next blog post so you can know you’re doing them right! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

 

Are Diets for Weight Loss as Simple as Eating in a Caloric Deficit?

Since it is the new year and the traditional food-laden holidays have peaked and everyone is trying to lose some weight, this is a good topic to write about. So… let’s answer the title first. Is weight loss as simple as being in a caloric deficit? Yes. The short answer is yes. If you eat less calories than your body burns, you will lose weight, but I want to go beyond those simplicities.

Many people will successfully maintain a caloric deficit for 5 days straight and then they freak out cause they go over on the 6th day. It’s more important that you’re in a caloric deficit for the week on average, than fretting about it on a day to day basis. There will always be some days when you’re going to be in a surplus even when you’re trying your best, but if you are in a deficit most of the time, you’re making progress.

Now, let’s get to what I really want to talk about: This infographic that’s been around the Internet town:

It basically lumps all the diets into one category: That they help you lose weight by creating a caloric deficit. While this is true, there’s A LOT more to these diets than meets the eye and I’d like to talk about some of them beyond just their use as weight loss.

Review the above pyramid from an older blog post about when a calorie is not a calorie… By looking at this, you’d think that “meal timing/frequency” is very unimportant compared to calories, macros and micros… so let’s explore this concept.

Does Intermittent Fasting (IF) work only due to the caloric deficit the time restriction creates?

I’ve written about intermittent fasting in length so I’d like to tackle this concept first. Let’s suppose you do “16/8 IF” where you basically skip breakfast and don’t eat anything late at night, so you have an 8-hour feeding window and you’re not eating for 16 hours (including sleep) out of your 24 hours.

Will you lose weight by implementing this? You probably will because you’re restricting the time you allow yourself to eat. But is it guaranteed? No, not at all. It’s still quite easy to over-eat within those 8 hours.

The more interesting quality this restriction provides is something Dr. Rhonda Patrick said on the Joe Rogan show: Researchers did an experiment with mice that were fed the SAME number of calories and did the same amount of exercise. The only difference between the groups was that one got all their nutrition throughout the day, while other group got the same number of calories in a single meal.  Researchers found that the mice that were restricted to eating in one meal had much better body composition in terms of greater muscle mass and less fat AND they lived longer with less metabolic disorders. This is quite astonishing because it shows that simply that little change of time restricted eating (not necessarily calorie restriction) is a powerful change for the better in and of itself without any change in calories.

Now… Are we mice? No. We aren’t. But we aren’t entirely different either and we can glean some insights into this. The fact is that we know when you restrict the amount of time you spend eating and less resources are spent digesting food, your body can spend more time performing autophagy (cleaning up dead cells, repair and recovery). So is it any wonder that one may be in better shape overall? (The other excellent benefit that often goes unmentioned is that you have A LOT more free time when you have one less meal to eat per day and don’t snack as much.)

Moving on… How does a Low Carb or the very low carb Ketogenic Diet help with weight loss beyond just calories?

I’ve also written in depth about the keto diet and what I actually eat on that diet but here’s the gist of it: The ketogenic diet is a very low carb diet where the carbs are to be replaced with fat and protein. After a few days of this, your body will have depleted the glycogen (carbs) stored in your muscles and liver and will break down fat for energy by creating ketones. Ketones are molecules your body created from fat for energy when there isn’t any glycogen. Keto refers to ketone and genic refers to genesis (the creation of), hence the name ketogenic diet.

Does that mean that you’re guaranteed to lose fat on the keto diet? No. Not at all. Your body can use fat for fuel and you can still very easily overeat and be in a caloric surplus since foods high in fats are more than double the caloric density relative to carbs or protein. (That’s why a tablespoon of olive oil is a whopping 120 calories.)

Is it more likely you’re losing weight because your food selection is so far limited and you’re eating more meat and veggies (which are quite filling) and avoiding sugar/grains/pasta/bread and so forth? Yes, that’s very likely.

But does the keto diet work cause carbs make you crave more carbs and eliminating them normalizes appetite… or is there more to this story?

When you eliminate carbs… and then go back to them, you will likely notice something many people have noticed: that carbs make you crave more carbs.

But then how is it that countries like France, who are very proud of their croissants and crepes have very low obesity rates? 🤔

To finally answer this, I will summarize this massive and fascinating write up by Richard Nikoley that elucidated me on the mysterious matter. Grains are well known to be quite low in their nutritional density (relative to vegetables and meats) and many texts from the 19th century (before our breads and pasta were “enriched” with vitamins), noted that humans and animals become less hungry when fed deficient and nutrionless food as a protective mechanism to prevent cravings of those foods. In other words, unadulterated carbs are NOT supposed to stimulate the appetite at all but in fact… reduce it!

So then why is it that carbs make us crave more carbs? Well because in the US, Canada and the UK, the flour and grains are mandatorily fortified with vitamins which are typically responsible for increasing appetite and promoting weight gain! Turns out that the mandatory fortification/enrichment of refined grains with B vitamins & niacin is a causal reason for the carbs to be stimulating our appetites beyond the norm and thus, contributing to obesity!

In 2014 Zhou et al showed strong correlations between enrichment levels and obesity trends in developed countries, and developed countries that do not fortify have much less obesity and that obesity epidemics occur immediately after increases to enrichment levels. (Source)

The interesting thing is this was ignored by researchers thinking it’s a correlation rather than causation because they too have an inherent bias and urge to want to blame the carbs themselves!

So for those of us who went keto or low carb and removed these processed carbs from our diet and we felt better and lost weight and controlled our appetite better, we demonized the carbs, but really, the problem seems to be far more complex than that. What politicians thought was an honorable addition (vitamins!) to our food actually shot ourselves in the foot!

And why did this mandatory fortification happen? Because the American Bakers Association (ABA) was well aware of the fact that people will eat more of their foods when the foods had these vitamins that opened up their appetite and so they lobbied for the FDA to increase their guidelines under the guise of enrichment. Shady stuff. This goes to show how complex some things really are. (I’d also like to point out that the French have gone the other way and prohibited enrichment.)

In conclusion, things are not as simple as some infographics make it seem

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that “Calories in versus Calories out” is KING. Caloric deficits are why most people will lose weight on any diet whether it’s the celery diet or any diet. That is for damn sure. But I just wanted to show you some subtle nuances that were note worthy. How you go about achieving that deficit is where the complexity has no bounds and intrigues me. We just have a few hundred more pieces to fill in the puzzle to truly get the full picture of what matters and what doesn’t matter and I’m excited to be alive when we do complete that puzzle because the jury is still out on what is considered “healthy.”

Update

I posted a YouTube video explaining the last section here while I was still invigorated and passionate about the story:

Antranik’s Hip Flexibility Program

I’ve created this hip flexibility program for those that would like to improve their flexibility in an efficient manner, with a follow along video that only takes 30 minutes, 1-3x a week. With it, you will see improve both your passive and active flexibility in numerous movements. This program was months in the making and beta-tested with people of all levels to ensure both rank beginners and intermediates feel challenged in a fun and feel-good manner while gaining mobility efficiently.

Watch this short video to understand what it’s all about!

This program is best suited for anyone who wants to…

  • Improve overall hip flexibility.
  • Stretch all the muscles of their lower body.
  • Follow a video without worrying about programming (exercise selection & sets/reps/hold times)
  • Improve hip flexibility without hurting the knee joints.
  • Prepare their body for splits.
  • Improve squat mobility.
  • Get better at yoga.
  • Take the guess work out of improving their lower body flexibility.
  • Build both passive and active flexibility so the flexibility is useful.
  • Experience therapeutic actions that feel great.
  • Feel blissed out in just half an hour.

What goals are targeted?

The hips can move in many ways and all of these actions are covered:

  • Hip Extension by stretching the hip flexors and strengthening the glutes.
  • Hip Flexion by stretching the hamstrings, glutes, piriformis and activating the hip flexors (quads/psoas).
  • Hip Abduction by stretching the adductors which will allow you to straddle your legs wider apart.
  • External Rotation of the Hips by stretching both the proximal and distal sections of the piriformis/glutes with the hips in flexion.

100% Knee Friendly

All the hip stretches are safe on the knees!

If there is a lack of hip flexibility for certain positions, the knee will twist to compensate for it. The knee is not meant to twist. So I have specifically chosen the most effective hip stretches that are safe and won’t twist the knee. Major emphasis has been placed on designing a program for the masses where I feel confident that I’m not going to hurt people. My number one priorities are simultaneously safety and effectiveness.

“But I’ve been inflexible all my life, will this work?”

Yes! I used to be inflexible too!

Usually, those who demonstrate great flexibility either had to work hard at it OR had lots of flexibility to begin with due to hypermobility.

I did not have good flexibility. I had to work hard at it. And in doing so, I now know many of the best ways to go about it. I personally find that people who had to work hard at something are often better aware of how to help others going through the same struggle. Whereas those who had the flexibility to begin with, while they might look impressive, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily the best teachers.

  • Other qualifications:
    • I’m nearly a decade deep into training both flexibility and strength training consistently.
    • I train clients both online and in person to help them reach their flexibility goals.
    • I have a keen understanding of anatomy and kinesiology due to my past education with nursing school (hundreds of blog posts on this site cover those areas).

Is the program easy to follow?

  • Yes! I’ve made it purposely simple and easy to have a high success rate with the same format as my Hamstring Flexibility Program.

What’s in it?

The main portion of this program is a follow along video that covers several parts of the body, including a nice warm-up very specific toward the hips. (If you like my follow along yoga videos on YouTube, it’s similar in flow and pace, except it’s professionally recorded and with a voice-over allowing for better cues.) This isn’t an ebook where you have to read a bunch of stuff or watch a patchwork of individual stretches and try to figure out the programming. It’s all figured out for you.

Watch the video anywhere!

You only need 30 minutes, 1-3x a week to follow the main video.

I know we all have very busy lives so I’ve tried to make it as efficient as possible.

How long will this program last me?

This is a program you should follow for at least 1 month and you will likely see consistent progress up to 3 months. In just one month, you should be far more flexible than when you started. (Please take “before” photos for evidence!)

What are the benefits of increasing active hip flexibility?

  • Most importantly, increasing your range of motion and then building strength in the end range tends to not only increase ones athletic capabilities but also keep joints healthy and robust.
  • Also helps to counter all the tightening done by sitting, cycling, running and other sports.
  • Improve your ability to deep squat.
  • Reduce stiffness of the overall body.
  • Be able to reach your toes more easily.
  • Alleviate lower back pain from tight hip flexors.
  • Yoga will feel easier and transitions will be more fluid.
  • You’ll be able to kick higher and have a better straddle.
  • Beneficial to many sports such as skating, wrestling, martial arts, gymnastics/circus arts, soccer and so forth.

“Warrior 3” … one of the many active shapes you will be transitioning in and out of to both stretch and strengthen major muscles of the hips.

What equipment is required?

None! I’m a huge fan of working out with minimal equipment. This way, you have less excuses and can do it anywhere! The only thing you might need is a chair (or block or book) to elevate your hands on to modify a certain stretch.

Support is available

  • If you have a question or aren’t sure if your form is correct, I encourage you to leave a comment and post a “form-check” video of yourself on the program page. (Comments are enabled.)
  • If you use instagram, use #antranikdotorg and I’ll check out your form there.
  • If you’re a redditor, feel free to post questions at /r/antranik as well.

Money back guarantee

I practically guarantee that you will experience a significant increase in flexibility after a month of running the program. If it doesn’t work for you or you don’t like it for any reason, you could always contact me and ask for your money back. No questions asked and no risk to you.

Recap of Highlights

  • Clear Instructions and Strong Cues
  • Easy to Follow Video
  • No Equipment Necessary
  • No Paralysis by Overanalysis
  • Gentle and Pain-Free
  • 100% Knee Friendly!
  • Support Available
  • Money Back Guarantee

What are you waiting for? Let’s get flexible!

Register now and get instant access!

With a one-time payment of only $49.95 US, you get lifetime access! And with a 100% money-back guarantee, you got nothing to lose, so why not give yourself this gift?

Antraniks Hip Flexibility Program

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Using the Pike Pushup to do a Handstand Pushup (Part 2, The Results!)

In October 2018, I started doing feet-elevated pike pushups to build the strength necessary for a proper handstand pushup against a wall which I wrote about in a previous blog post here. Did I reach my goal? Let’s delve in and find out, shall we? 😊

Recap: Goal was to achieve at least 9 reps of these feet-elevated pike pushups

Why 9? Well, the question was… since those pike pushups are around 75% intensity of full bodyweight, and the 1RM (1-rep-max) table says you need to be able to do 9 reps of something at 75% intensity to potentially exert 1-rep at 100% intensity, will I be able to do one clean, proper handstand pushup if I can do at least 9 of these pike pushups with perfect form? That was the test.

So I did pike pushups almost everyday for 6 weeks to get to those 9 reps.

Initially it was simply a matter of getting used to the exercise and it was great that I was doing it so often. It felt truly difficult pushing in that vertical direction and it was quite humbling overall as to how difficult the true HSPU must be. In just 6 weeks, I tripled the volume!

  • October 22, 2018: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1 reps (11 reps in a session)
  • December 7, 2018: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 reps (35 reps in a session)

Click here to expand and see the detailed training log

Each day, I simply add only one rep to only one set of the previous day with ample rest (5-60 minutes between each set, usually about 5-15 minutes). I also log my rate of perceived exertion (RPE) on a scale of 1 to 10 and any other notes.

  • Date: Reps (over 5 sets), and [Rate of Perceived Exertion and any notes]
  • 10/22: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1 [8]
  • 10/23: 4, 3, 2, 2, 1 [7]
  • 10/24: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1 [5 + traveling rings + tyler twists]
  • 3 days off
  • 10/28: 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 [5, tried to be explosive, but had zero effect on tempo.]
  • 10/29: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [6, failed 4th rep on 1st set but ended up with low 6 RPE]
  • 10/30: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [4]
  • 10/31: 5, 4, 3, 2, 2 [3, feeling really easy now]
  • 11/1: 5, 4, 3, 3, 2 [3] 18 reps, felt easy peasy.

Notes: Initially I noticed I cant even push out of this move FAST when I try to explode up. So, hopefully in a month that will be very different. Already 8 training days in and it’s starting to feel really easy as the nervous system is able to fire up the muscles in coordination. There’s a saying that strength is a skill and it definitely is, especially for a lot of these compound bodyweight exercises as they are somewhat technical and the body needs to work it repeatedly, like a skill, to refine it and be able to execute it easily.

  • Three days off
  • 11/5:  5,5,4,3,2 [3]
  • 11/6: 6,5,4,3,2 [3, felt cool achieving 6 reps in a set for the first time]
  • 11/7: 6,5,4,3,3 [6]
  • 11/8: 6,5,4,4,3 [5]
  • Four days off, long weekend
  • 11/13: 6,5,5,4,3 [7]
  • 11/14: 6,6,5,4,3 [9, Failed reps 5 & 6 of 2nd set. Failed 4th rep of 4th set.]
  • 11/15: 7,6,5,4,3 [7, also did rings + OMB, hit 7 reps in a set first time!]
  • Day “off” (went swimming and stand up paddleboarding)
  • 11/17: 7,6,5,4,3 [8, pushing faster for first time, actually faster! + 30 mile bike ride.]
  • Two days off
  • 11/20: 7,6,5,4,4 [8]
  • 11/21: 7,6,5,5,4 [7, felt like I could explode up even more!]
  • 11/22: 7,6,6,5,4 [6]
  • Five days off
  • 11/28: 7,7,6,5,4 [7]
  • 11/30: 8,7,6,5,5 [7, last rep was grind like no other!]
  • Two days off
  • 12/1: 8,7,6,6,5 [9, failed last rep of 3rd and 4th sets = sign to take day off]
  • Two days off
  • 12/4: 8,7,7,6,5 [7, paused reps + 20 mile bike ride]
  • Day off
  • 12/6: 8,8,7,6,5 [8, Quality is changing. I man muster through reps where otherwise it would’ve failed.]
  • 12/7: 9,8,7,6,5 [7.5, 2nd set was my fastest set ever + hit milestone of 9 reps]

By this point, the last set on the last day was more reps than the first set of the first day! (From “4,3,2,1,1” to “9,8,7,6,5” in 6 weeks)

Final notes: In those 6 weeks I got very good at doing pike pushups and developed the ability to push faster, too. Also, in the first couple weeks, if I was going to fail a rep, I would put a foot down abruptly to stop. But as time went on and I got stronger, I found myself being able to grind through some really difficult reps without letting my feet drop.

So after I achieved that, the time came to test if I could do one HSPU. What were the results?

Not really a success, but not really a complete failure either considering this was only one training cycle in just 6 weeks.

I was able to do 1 rep with bad form. Then, a clean negative but couldn’t press out of it. And then a couple partials which felt really good.

Lucky for you, I took video of these candid attempts complete with laughter at my graceful fails:

So I couldn’t muster up a clean, proper HSPU yet from this single training phase, but I am very close. I feel stronger than ever and the negative felt super solid and I knew I could push back at any earlier point. It’s that final point where the nose boops the ground where it’s hardest. Note that, I’m also doing my darndest to make sure my forearms never move backwards. Also, if my hands were further away from the wall, it would’ve been much easier probably, but I’m doing it with my hands close to the wall because this mimics the true HSPU.

So what now? More Pike Pushups?

I spent a couple days to rest and research how to proceed:

  1. Do I do more reps of pike pushups with the feet at the same height?
    • Nope, I’m way too bored of this exercise already.
  2. Do I do partial-ROM HSPU and increase reps/range?
    • It sounds nice but a failed rep would mean my head hits a wooden yoga block.
  3. Do I raise the feet up higher to increase intensity and build the reps up?
    • This was the winner!

New cycle: Pike Pushups with feet elevated even higher (and hands on blocks for more range)

This is my life now:

Fun Fact: With feet at hip height, it’s 6-7% harder than when my feet are at knee-height.

  • OLD: Pike Pushup with feet elevated to knee height (18″/46cm) = 135lbs / 61kg (77% of 180lbs)
  • NEW: Pike Pushup with feet elevated to hip height (30″/76cm) = 150lbs / 68kg (83% of 180lbs)

I thought 6% was not going to be a big difference, but the exercise felt significantly more difficult.

The decline blocks elevate my hands by 1.5″ which results in a solid 13° increase in range due to the elbow angle bending further!

And now, with the blocks elevating my hands, I know that I’ll be stronger in a fuller range, more akin to an overhead press using weights or a handstand pushup using parallel bars. Also, a 13° gain in range is great!  Strength is built in the range you train it in (+7°) so I know that one day I could just go into a tripod headstand and push myself up into handstand. (Oh boy that’s gonna be cool!)

Side Note: The decline blocks are one of my favorite tools. They help reduce all wrist pressure off any hand-balancing endeavors. (By the way, should I make and sell these decline blocks? If anyone would be interested, let me know. I might make a limited batch of them.)

So according to the 1RM calculator table, at 83% intensity, I might be able to perform at least one HSPU if I can do 7 of these pike pushups.

Source: NSCA’s calculations from their book Essentials of Strength and Conditioning 4th Edition.

Click here to expand and see the latest training log for decline pike pushups with feet elevated to hip height

With this new, more difficult setup, I had to find out how many sets and reps are appropriate. I figured it’s only 6-7% harder so I could do close to what I was doing before… so I started with 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (25 reps) but I could feel it was extremely difficult and the next day I couldn’t even perform the same number of reps.

So that was a blow to my ego because I started with too high of a number. Plus, I noticed I was feeling a bit burned out from doing pike pushups for nearly everyday for 6 weeks. When you notice you have a lack of motivation and feeling more tired than usual, it’s a sign of overtraining, so I took a long break for three weeks which coincides with the holidays, until the new year came up to get reinvigorated with it naturally.

Volume Discovery Phase for these pike pushups

  • 12/14: 4,3,3,6,7
  • 12/15: 6,5 –
  • 12/16: 7,6,54,4,3,2
  • Two days off
  • 12/19: 7,6,5,4,3 + 40 mile bike ride
  • 12/20: 5,5,4,4,3, repeated yesterdays workout and failed reps of first 3 sets! Thought ran through my head: “I want to give up.”
  • ^ This lack of willpower was a sign of burn-out creeping in so I took 2 weeks off, which coincided with the holidays anyways.

New cycle for decline pike pushups with feet elevated to hip height (2019)

  • 1/4: 4,3,2,2,3 [10, decided to start with 4 reps instead of 6 or 7 to make it far easier than before and ensure no recovery issues. less is more! But it still felt abysmally difficult.)
  • 1/5: 4,3,3,2,1 [8]
  • Day off
  • 1/7: 3,4,3,2,2,1 [8, must squeeze butt before each rep to protect lower back with the feet elevated this high.]
  • 1/8: 5,4,3,2,1 [0, despite failing the first set yesterday, I decided to pretend I didn’t fail a thing and added one rep and was able to hit 5 reps.]
  • Day off
  • 1/10: 5,4,3,2,2 [7]
  • 1/11: 5,4,3,3,2 [8] Grinding reps more hardcore now
  • 1/12: 5,4,4,3,2 [8]
  • Day off
  • 1/14: 5,5,4,3,2 [7] Grinding reps
  • 1/15: 6,5,4,3,2 [9]
  • 1/16: 6,5,4,3,3 [6] Felt really good.
  • Day off
  • 1/18: 6,5,4,4,3 [6] Felt boss as fuck.
  • Goal: Get to “7,6,5,4,3” reps and test if I can do one HSPU.

It’s been exactly two weeks and in another week I’ll be at my goal of hitting 7 reps with these new pike pushups.

If that’s not enough, then I will probably go until 9 reps and then test again. We will see. I’m trying to keep the exercise selection to a minimum to see what has the most direct approach with the least number of changes.

In conclusion, in 6 weeks, I tripled the amount of pike pushups I could do with the feet elevated at knee height. When I got to 9 reps, I tested to see if I was strong enough to do a single HSPU. I wasn’t, so I continued the pike pushups, but with the feet higher up, making it about 7% more intense. When I get to 7 reps of that, I will test to see if I can do one HSPU and then this experiment will be over. But the journey never ends and by that point I’ll have a goal of hitting at least 5 HSPU’s, which I will probably methodically document as well!

Update: Here’s Part 3 of this HSPU Journey!

Hope that was helpful or inspirational in some way! In the meantime, I’m almost done with my Hip Flexibility Program, woohoo! It’s one of the most progressive, feel-good videos I’ve ever made that includes fantastic passive and active flexibility including functional flows that end up stretching nearly every muscle of your lower body all in a nice flow. (Yep I’m kind of proud of it!) Anyhoo… see you soon! (Update: Here’s the hip flexibility program, too!)

Wrapping up 2018 with lots and lots of thoughts.

I started this blog post as a way to tie things up for the year and thoughts kept pouring out so much that I realized I missed creative writing. In just one week it has allowed me to write a little bit everyday and so, here goes nothing.

You want what you can’t have and take what you have for granted. So be grateful for what you have.

Humans are really funny. They want what they can’t have. Then when they get what they want, they don’t really care for it anymore. I’ve always tried to be hyper aware of this and count my blessings and be grateful for what I have. For example, for the past several years, I used to live close to the beach in Los Angeles. I made sure to take advantage of this and went often because I know many people who live close to the beach but barely go once a year. I tried something new in 2018 and ended up making five high energy motivational beach-workout videos and it was really cool that I did cause now it’s not as easy to do because…

Now I live further from the beach

In the middle of last year, I moved away from the beach to live with my amazing girlfriend. This is a pretty big change: Living with another is not easy but when you use that as an opportunity to accelerate your self development and communication skills, it’s a truly divine experience with all its ups and downs. So divine indeed that I want to write a book about it. (Btw, watching this speech by Alain de Botton was incredibly helpful for understanding relationships better. I highly recommend it.) Being away from the beach is a sacrifice though, I can’t surf as often, but instead I’ve gotten into bicycling…

Bicycling again feels really good

The benefit of being far from the beach is that I’m really close to some epic mountains. I could start biking uphill out my door and climb nonstop for 20 miles, which is something most people don’t have access to so I’ve been taking advantage of it. (Plus, the town I’m in is small and fun for commuting.)

Recently I went riding with my brother who has a ton of experience in extreme bicycling and I was having trouble staying consistent and he gave the following advice:

Pick up the pace but know your own limits.
Don’t try to exceed what is sustainable.
Pick a pace that you know you can keep up with.
And don’t worry about being able to catch up.
You will catch up if you pick a sustainable pace.

I felt that was very helpful. Not just for bicycling, but as a metaphor for all things in life. Moving on…

Fuck Self Doubt

Earlier in the year, I was inspired to make a couple food-related blog posts and videos. But when I told my brother about it, he said “Nah man, stay focused.” And this was a surprise because to me, food was relevant to health and fitness because it has to do with nutrition and everybody eats, every day, too. But with that doubt inserted in my head, I decided to not do it which I somewhat regret because the motivation for it is gone…

If that creative spark for a new idea isn’t captured and executed on quick enough, it fades. So I’m learning that I need to trust my intuition a lot more and reduce noise from outside sources (not to say my brothers opinion isn’t valuable, it surely is). And one of my new year resolutions is to figure out how to make everything flow better. Balancing exercise with content creation, Medax appearances, beach time and girlfriend time.

Being your own boss is a double edged sword

I’ve been building my online presence for several years now. And it wasn’t until this past year where I decided to do this full time. So I don’t have a 9-5 and people think having the freedom to do anything you like sounds like a dream, as it should be, but the reality is that it’s hard to stay disciplined and motivated when creativity comes and goes, and especially stressful when I am barely making ends meet.

Every other morning I create work for myself by refreshing my to-do lists and make grand ideas of how much I’m going to get done, but if I don’t get it all done I get stressed out. It wasn’t until a friend of mine told me “You are the one who creates this work for yourself” when I realized that I am unnecessarily stressing myself out and feeling self-created guilt for not working “fast enough.” The reality is that I will choose quality over quantity, so I don’t publish things as fast as I think I expect and shouldn’t get bogged down due to it.

I hope for 2019 that this online business becomes sustainable for me because at the moment it isn’t and so I plan on making more premium programs and it’s why I started up a Patreon where you can donate monthly to help me out (bless your souls who contribute!). I also realize that that the more money I make, the more I think I need to make, so it seems like a never-ending feedback loop but it does provide great peace to have some sort of consistency. I notice I’m happiest when I don’t worry about the rate at which I am making money. I hope I get to that level so that I could be churning out more content effortlessly without stressing myself out. 2019 might be that year.

Existential crisis’ won’t stop, can’t stop

Several years ago I kept thinking how we are all going to die. It took me a while to get over it. I even wrote a blog post in 2013 called, we’re all going to die and that’s okay. So I thought I was over the whole existenstial-crisis thing. But apparently I wasn’t because I recently watched Bohemian Rhapsody (loved it) and when Freddie Mercury died, I cried my eyes out. He was so talented and yet was taken away so early.

But that’s not all. I cried my eyes out when Frosty the Snowman melted. That’s right. Frosty. My mom used to play this cartoon every Christmas on the VCR when I was a child. It was one of my favorites. And I hadn’t seen it for over two decades and something deep stirred up in me because I started balling so hard when he melted in front of the little girl who was all alone because it again reminded me how short life is and how short on time we really are. So make the damn best of it and hang out with only GREAT people who lift you up, not drag you down!

I’m trying to write for 15-30 minutes a day

I’m realizing that I feel much more fulfilled when I write blog posts like this. Making YouTube videos doesn’t cut it. Writing allows me to vomit my thoughts and then later I can edit them. If I could somehow make my YouTube videos complex like my blog posts, I may be onto something, right? People love it when I talk about complex subjects. Maybe I should work on that for 2019.

Social Media and spreading myself too thin

Social medias effect on mental health isn’t very good…

I got really distraught and discombobulated by social media use. As someone who does everything from the marketing, video editing, to Instagram, blog, YouTube, reddit… it’s easy to spread myself too thin in regards to content creation and get burned out.

I personally find myself feeling depressed when I open up Instagram and viewing other peoples Instagram stories and posts when I’m not in the best of moods. I get this notion that everybody else is having a better time than me, making more money than me, and just all around living better lives than me. But it’s complete and utter bullish. When I zoom out, my life is overall pretty good. I workout daily. I have an astounding girlfriend. I connect with nature often. I’m building an online presence where I could make a living doing what I love.

But if I’m not in the best state of mind and I’m watching other peoples perfectly curated posts, it drags me down into some weird unfulfilled sad mood. Very few people actually talk about their harsh realities. Like the fact that making money and making ends meet is really hard and depression is a serious issue. I commend those who just have a knack for posting things daily without giving two shits about what others will think. But given how short time is, I personally try to limit the amount of time I spend on those things. (For more reading, apparently a study points that Instagram has the the most negative effects on a persons image followed by facebook and snapchat but Youtube has the most positive.)

Consistency trumps everything 💪

I experimented with pullups a lot this year. In late 2017 I ran the Russian Fighter pullup program, where you do pullups nearly everyday and had excellent results in just a few weeks in a very easy manner (documented here).

And then around August 2018, I was intrigued by the strength required to do a one-arm pullup as I was nowhere near such power. I applied the same fighter pullup program toward towel-assisted one arm pullups on a bar, for 4 months and made huge progress. It also made me realize that it requires so much strength that I will most likely (unless I lose a significant amount of body fat), not be able to even achieve a one-arm chinup by the end of 2019 without risking injury! Luckily, there’s no rush. The journey is all there is and I’ll do my best toward it with however nature deems fit.

Along side these pullups, I did pike pushups to get toward handstand pushups. I’ve been documenting my progress with great detail and I will share the details in a separate blog post next.  The point was, I made great progress because I was consistent with my workouts and logged everything. And the trick to staying consistent was to not over-do each training day but leave lots of gas in the tank for the following day!

So, what will the new year bring?

The dream would be to eventually hire a video editor and marketing agent to take care of the nitty gritty stuff that takes up a lot of time so that I could write more and make more videos at a faster rate. (Maybe a business partner would be in order. Contact me if you’re the one.) I’d love to write blog posts more often (and eventually a couple books) to continually spark that inner openness I used to share. Plus, if I could open up more on video and share complex topics, I think that is useful as well. This internet medium is powerful. I must keep at it to get better at it. I also must remember what the great George Carlin said 6 months before his death: it’s important to not give a shit about what others think.

Thank you for reading this.

I must stop here before the inner perfectionist wants to make more changes.

“Done is better than perfect because perfect never actually gets done.”

Have a splendid year, everyone.

Body Image Perceptions and Issues as a YouTuber

My latest YouTube video was in response to a question about my physique. This video got a lot more comments than usual and so it is deserving of its own blog post. I touched upon a lot of topics and basically just told it like it is. Watch it below or just read about it below since you’re on my blog and it’s for reading. 😊

Summary…

Over the years I’ve often gotten negative comments online about my physique or comments alluding to me being average looking and as such, over the years, I’ve become hyper-aware of how I look on camera to the point where I don’t do as many shirtless videos. Before, I didn’t used to care whether I had my shirt on or off. I was even known as the shirtless mod at one point. And here we have someone genuinely wanting to know why I maintain the body fat percentage that I do and why I’m not leaner.

The reason I maintain the body fat percentage that I do is because I don’t care to have a 6-pack. I‘m very happy with my journey toward building my strength, skills, and as a side effect: my body is a reflection of my capabilities. I don’t workout to look a certain way. I workout to have fun and I look better than average because of my better than average abilities.

Skinnier doesn’t mean healthier

I also mention how whenever I am leaner than usual, people at the beach will often mention that I’m “looking strong.” And they do so because they see more muscle definition because there’s less fat over the muscles. But that doesn’t mean I’m actually stronger due to having more muscle. It’s the opposite usually. When I’m leaned out like that, I am usually not at my strongest. In fact, I may look that way because I’m dehydrated, or worse, if I’ve been sick and not eating much. Or if I had alcohol and my body is dehydrated the next morning, I look more “cut” but in reality maybe I feel like shit. It’s all an illusion.

Conversely, just because someone looks fat, doesn’t mean that they’re not strong. Nor does it mean that they don’t know their shit. In the video, I show a clip of Eddie Hall (the winner of the strongest man in the world) because he looks like a really fat guy just to prove that you’d never be able to tell he’s the strongest man in the world.

The camera adds 10lbs

I also touched upon the fact that the camera tends to add 10lbs due to a wider screen lens that skews the body wider. This is why models and actors/actresses tend to be very underweight when you see them in real life because they want to make sure they don’t look fat at all on camera. Another somewhat related thing I didn’t mention is that the camera tends to zap 50% of your energy as well. So on-camera, you’re supposed to act more hyped up and excited than usual so you don’t come out as drab. I’m sure I come off kind of drab on camera, but people know when I’m at the beach I’m much more excitable.

Nobody is just one weight all the time.

I also say how our weight fluctuates all the time. I can be very bloated one day but very leaned out on another day. Everything in nature is cyclical and we go through our bulking and cutting cycles purposely or not purposely. I’m somewhere around 175lbs in the lighter/summer seasons and closer to 180-185lbs in the heavier/winter seasons when I tend to eat more.

Skewed Perceptions from Online Fitness Celebrities

I also talk about how people have very skewed ideas of what people actually look like because what they see online is really, really rare. Also, do you think fitness-celebrities always look the way they do in their photoshoots? No. Trust me, they’re not going to take their shirt off immediately after thanksgiving dinner and do a photoshoot shirtless. Trust me they aren’t doing that. They’re starving and dehydrating themselves before photoshoots. If they’re indoors, they’re using spotlights overhead to exaggerate shadows and reveal muscles.

Drug use is rampant

And I didn’t even mention that many men (or even women) are on steroids or testosterone replacement therapy. The “fitness” industry is a drug filled world where many people do drugs just to look a certain way. It’s disgusting and nobody talks about that truth because it’s a stigma, nor about how they really feel. They’re often just trying to sell you a product with their image.

What you are seeing is not reflecting reality and if you think I should look like those few rare people who look absolutely HUGE and RIPPED all the time, then you are in a world of hurt with your perceptions. The best coaches in the world don’t even look remotely athletic. Also, even in the YouTube world, there aren’t even that many people who look absolutely shredded and huge. So it goes to show you how rare it actually is.

You were all supportive

Now, with all this said, I got a ton of supportive comments that were agreeing with me and saying that they follow me because I look like a normal human being and promote healthy proportions. Thank you for that.

In the end of that video I proudly told it how it is: The reality is that if I go to a pool party where people are shirtless, I look better than most of the people around me. Sorry if that sounds douchey but most people are not in great shape and for someone asking me why I’m not leaner just sounds absurd. So if you think I’m fat, sorry, I’m not. I’m on my own journey and I like who I am.

So if you haven’t seen this video I’m talking about, go ahead and watch or listen to it now, or just at least give it a thumbs up and share this with others.😃

Mindful Motivation Series

 

For 2018, I had a dream of putting out a motivational video series and eventually my notes turned into this 5-part video series that is a collection of tips for reducing anxiety, stopping panic attacks, figuring out how to do the right thing, dealing with unforeseen circumstances, and getting through depression. I hope it helps you and please share it with your friends who may benefit from these tips!

Part 1: How to Reduce Anxiety & Stop a Panic Attack in 1 Minute

In this video I share the simply breathing technique that helps to calm me down instantly. This has worked very well for close friends and family that have expressed nervousness or anxiety, so I hope it helps you as well! It can also help you fall asleep at night.

Part 2: How to Reduce Stress and Anxiety About the Future

One of the biggest causes of anxiety is the constant overthinking about the future. It can be so stressful that it consumes us and it’s all we think about. If I get caught in this loop, I try to break it by reminding myself that things are actually OK in this very moment, at this exact time, and it helps me to think a lot more clearly. This was the most viral video of the entire series.

Part 3: How to Deal with Unforeseen Circumstances and Problems

Life often throws curveballs at us and we have to deal with unforeseen problems and it might be really stressful but here’s how I deal with them to just keep moving forward in life.

Part 4: How to Get Through Depression

Here are all of my personal tips for getting through the sad times of depression and sorrow, when we are in a dark mood and can’t get out of the hole. Sometimes, we just need time to help pass, but it helps the most when we can connect with others, stay physically active, and a ton of other tips are mentioned in the video!

Part 5: How To Do the Right Thing

Turns out that whenever you give advice to your dear friends, you’re probably giving great advice… so why not turn the tables onto yourself and give yourself that advice as well by pretending it’s your friend in need of the help? Interesting mental trick! Try it out now! Any problem you have or issue you want to resolve… apply it!

And that sums up my mindful motivation video series! Let me know how you liked these tips!