Grind Style Calisthenics

Training Bible Month 11

Introduction
Things are winding down as we head into the final 60 days of the Grind
Style Calisthenics Workout Program. To celebrate we’re going to be hitting
month 11 super hard.

This month’s workout is a routine I’ve practiced for many years and was
inspired by a guy I knew named Mark. mark was a guy I knew from one fo
the first gyms I worked at, and he was a true mass monster. Every muscle
in his upper body was not only big but also sculpted to perfection. His
physique was truly awe inspiring.

What made Mark unique wasn’t just his impressive physique, but how he
developed it. His entire routine consisted of only 3 basic exercises:

- Dips
- Pull-ups
- Close Push-ups

And he would routinely do them in a circuit fashion going from one exercise
to the next. Not in a fast and sloppy Crossfitty way but in a smooth and
methodical way as if he was there to pour every ounce of focus into doing
every rep with absolute perfection.

Mark, wasn’t just jacked, but he was strong as hell too. He would warm up
doing those three exercises with his bodyweight, then do them with a 40#
weight vest on. He would then swap that out and continue with a 60# vest,
and finally he would finish doing several rounds with both vest on. That was
a total of 100# and he made every rep look sharp, crisp and clean.
Years later, I was struggling to make sense of the miriad of all of the various
ways ot practice calisthenics and I decided to use an approach similar to
what Mark did in his workouts. I decided to spend the entire month focusing
on little more than dips and pull-ups for my upper body workouts. The first
time I did that was during the month of November and that’s been
something of a tradition ever since then.

So that’s what this month is going to be all about. Most of your training this
month is about going heavy and focusing on classic weighted /
nonweighted pull-ups and dips in one workout, and then we’ll do the squat
chains and support chains in the other workout.

Workout Format
Each workout will still include the 4-phases, however your upper body
workout is going to be a little different. You’ll start off with the classic
warm-up phases using tension control and stability and you’ll be doing
primarily dip and pull-up positions for those exercises if you can.

From there, you’ll start with a modest progression for your dips and pull-ups
doing between 5-8 rpes or so. From there you’ll move onto a “heavy”
variation of dips and pull-ups using which ever variation you can do for
about 4-6 reps. Finally, if you’re up for it, go as heavy as you can with good
technique and get a couple of really hard sets for 1-3 reps.

The goal for each set is to do the reps as clean as possible with power and
a forceful tempo. No slo grind reps where you’re straining or struggling.
Save a fe reps in the tank each time. Your goal is to basically do thos reps
as well as possible.

The hypertrophy phase is optional and you’ll finish off with a hard fatigue
set or two with horizontal moves, like rows and push-ups of yoru choice.
But your goal is to put as much effort into the heavy vertical exercises
before hand. You shouldn’t have much left if you want to do a hypertrophy
phase.
Workout #2 is going to include your squat chain and you can go about it the
same way as the other two movement chains, or you can use it in a more
playful manner however you like. The same goes for the support chains.
The goal here is to focus most of your time and energy into the dips and
pull-ups. The other chains are justincluded to help round things out.

Weekly Format
You have two primary workouts, with workout 1 benign your dips and
pull-ups and the second workout being everything else. You can also break
the second workout into two separate ones if you like with a full day of
squats if that’s to your liking.

As usual, you can structure your weekly workout routine however you like
to fit your schedule and preferences. Just so long as you get each workout
2 times or so each week you’ll get the job done. Use rest days as you wish,
but keep in mind the goal here isn’t to exercise, but rather to do your
exercises better with each workout. So if you feel yourself struggling a bit
give yourself some more rest.

Workout #1 Dips / Pull-ups

Training equipment resources:

You can use any sort of equipment you have on hand, rings, bars, yoga
straps, suspension straps etc. You can also find isometric trainers and
suspension straps through the two companies I highly recommend; Worldfit
and NOSSK. I also highly recommend the Duonamic Eleviia Doorway
pull-up handles which are a great quick setup option for small apartments.
Use promo code “Grindstyle” at checkout for 10% off!