Al Kavadlo - Latest Comments

Re: How to do a Back Lever

Al Kavadlo — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:15:40 -0000

Thanks for the suggestion, Robby!

Re: Diet and Exercise (Part Two)

Chris — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:03:56 -0000

Having long followed you on YouTube, You and Noel Polanco are the 2 people who got me involved in bodyweight training as opposed to weights. I try not to focus on the 10% of what I disagree with you(on diet) and instead focus on the 90% of which we see eye to eye on.

I'm just curious, You say you follow primarily paleo/primal diet, which generally puts a heavy emphasis on meat and animal protein(grass fed of course), as a vegan myself and someone who eats primarily potatoes, I'm surprised to see that you advocate eating them and that they are in your "eat as much as you want" list of Approved foods. Potatoes are usually vilified by the paleo crowd.

Do you eat a lot of potatoes? Are they a staple food for you?

Thanks for the inspiration.

Chris Ahmed
Australia

Re: Speed Reps

Al Kavadlo — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:25:37 -0000

I don't really have a set anything. Maybe you should try some yoga.

Re: Speed Reps

Al Kavadlo — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:24:35 -0000

Nice progress - congrats! Now go for a higher number of reps or do harder variations.

Re: How to do a Back Lever

Robby Taylor — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:45:36 -0000

Al, I recall reading somewhere (possibly in Raising The Bar) that you haven't been able to perform a back lever with a supinated grip. I would highly suggest that you train this maneuver, as I read over in the forum on gymnasticbodies.com that doing a back lever with a supinated grip helps train the bicep tendons in a way that is conducive toward the planche. Hopefully it can help you reach that goal!

Re: Speed Reps

Steve — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:18:31 -0000

Al, do you have a set dynamic warm up routine or does it vary every time depending on what you're doing that day? I'm fairly injury prone, think I need to spend a little more time on warm up/mobility/stretching.

Re: Mastering Your Body Weight

Ashton — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:22:18 -0000

That's what I figured, but I wanted to check with a pro first. Thanks!

Re: Speed Reps

Franc1989 — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:53:37 -0000

hi al, i've been using your 50 pull up challenge in the last 3 months do increase my reps on pull ups, i use the same approach do dips as well, all i can say is thank you!!! 3 months ago i was stuck as 9/10 pull ups and today i max out and i was able to do 21 pull ups, im so excited right now, cant what to hit the bars again tomorow, my question now is, what i do do continue improve my pull ups?

Thank you again al:):)

Re: Front Lever Training

Al Kavadlo — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:10:30 -0000

Front lever pull-ups are way harder than front lever muscle-ups! I can do several FLMUs but not a single FLPU.

Re: Front Lever Training

Robby Taylor — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:25:03 -0000

the front lever muscle up is definitely one of my long term goals. this and one arm chin ups are where i want to be as far as pulling exercises go. of course, there are always harder exercises, but i personally feel that these two exercises represent a very high level of development that's reasonably practical to maintain long term. moves like one arm front lever pull up and one arm muscle up just seem too intense to maintain long term. besides, if you're doing OAC and FLMU regularly, you have a great base to go from if you do decide to kick it up a notch in the future.

curious, clearly a pull up is easier than a muscle up, but is a front lever muscle up necessarily harder than a front lever pull up? because for the pull up you have to maintain the front lever position throughout, but if you're good with muscle ups then the dip part of the muscle up would be a pretty nice break, i would imagine.

Re: Mastering Your Body Weight

Al Kavadlo — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:16:47 -0000

It sounds like you need to drop some fat, so I'd recommend cleaning up your eating. If you want more advice, you'll find lots of it here on my blog and in my books.

Re: Pistol Squats

Al Kavadlo — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:11:37 -0000

It certainly wouldn't be ideal form, but it's a start.

Re: Speed Reps

Al Kavadlo — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:09:59 -0000

Thanks, Anil! Keep at it!

Re: Super Slow Workout

Etienne — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:44:46 -0000

By the way, great music for the slow reps!

Re: Super Slow Workout

Etienne — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:43:37 -0000

Hey Al, just curious if you ever include any weighted vest cals into your workouts?

Re: Pistol Squats

JamesAE — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:09:05 -0000

If your non-working leg isn't straight, would you consider that bad form? Also, whatever leg isn't pressing seems to stiffen and 'lock out' after a while. Would that just be poor flexibility?

Re: Mastering Your Body Weight

Ashton — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:20:08 -0000

What would you recommend for someone like me then?I'm 14 years old and I used to lift weights in school, so I'm 230 pounds from muscle mass AND body fat. We did basic free weights , bench press, straight leg deadlift, squats and power cleans. I can do about three REAL pushups and I can't do a single chinup let alone a pullup.

Re: Speed Reps

Anil — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:17:33 -0000

Great video. Infact the warm-up itself looks like a great workout itself :) By the way I have been working for the shrimp for a while now and it really helps about the pistol squats :))

Re: Epic Calisthenics Meet-up

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:23:01 -0000

Thanks, John!

Re: Epic Calisthenics Meet-up

John Ricci — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:15:40 -0000

Thanks for re-posting... Awesome as always.

Re: All About Triceps Dips

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:52:24 -0000

Russian dips are one of the variations I discuss in my new book, Raising The Bar. In fact, there are lots of exercises in that book that aren't on my blog. I can't give everything away for free!

Re: The Best Exercises For Abs

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:50:49 -0000

Good call.

Re: Mastering Your Body Weight

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:50:07 -0000

You have my blessing to make up any variations you see fit to.

As for the deck of cards thing, if you're talking about what I think you are talking about (pick a card from a deck and do that number of reps), then I think it's a very silly and gimmicky workout.

Re: Speed Reps

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:46:54 -0000

Hey Etienne - It sounds like you already have a good idea of how to progress to a full pistol! Keep working on it!

Re: Speed Reps

Al Kavadlo — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:45:56 -0000

Cool - give it a shot!