TAYO "ABNORMAL BEINGS" | Workout & Nutrition | Interview | The Athlete Insider Podcast #53

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Motivation for me it just comes and goes i feel  like the reason why i've been um i've seen the   most progress or i've seen progress throughout  the years is just maintaining consistency Yo gorillas welcome to the athlete insider  podcast by GORNATION my name is phil and today's   guest is tayo from abnormal beings a youtuber  athlete with over 230 000 subscribers on youtube   somebody who shares calisthenics advice and  challenges on his youtube and instagram of course   i'm really happy to welcome you to the show taiyo  welcome welcome philip i appreciate you having me   on this uh it's been a pleasure so yeah looking  forward to this and hopefully i can answer each   and every one of your questions man yeah i'm also  really looking forward to the interview um it was   quite spontaneous that we did this interview like  a really short term uh decision which is uh which   i like and uh yeah like uh we wrote a few days  ago on instagram yeah uh tell you would you be   would you be up for for an interview and i  said yeah that's that's perfect uh like uh   you would be the perfect guest and uh yeah now you  are here thanks a lot for accepting the invitation   and um for sharing some some of your some of your  workout advice about your life etc yeah no worries   i appreciate you having me on this and yeah like  i said hopefully i can you know help people with   any questions they have or whatever and just  share my own experience so yeah looking forward   to it bro awesome let's kick off with the hard  facts um how how tall are you how heavy are you   yes the metrics all right so i'm 176 centimeters  so that's like five foot nine and i weigh   currently 75 kilos so i'm not sure how much that  is in pounds but 75 i can search now actually um   you said 167 or 176 centimeters 176 176 okay  so quite heavy for your uh for your height yeah   fairly i mean i feel like uh i'm comfortable at  this weight like i can maintain it well so like   yeah 75 is like my current current weight um let  me see that in pounds uh and lb's is 165 pounds   so yeah okay so matrix and uh how old are you  i'm 26 years old so yeah i know baby face but no   i'm a bit older man a bit older awesome yeah do  you want to start um yeah by presenting yourself   and also how you got into touch with with  the sport with calisthenics yeah for sure so   um i've been training for almost like it's coming  up to ten years now so nine ten years so i started   when i was like 16 years old um literally started  calisthenics mainly because of like football for   soccer because um i used to play a lot of football  back in the day and um played at like a semi-pro   level and like i wanted to kind of push for a  professional and like a lot of my friends were   were like playing professional football  or in academies and stuff so it kind of   like motivated me to like make it as a pro  so one of the main things i needed to do   was like look bigger on the pitch and get stronger  and like back in the day 19 years ago i was   a proper skinny kid like i was a lot yeah a lot  less heavier than i am now so i didn't really look   strong on the pitch and i needed to change that  and i did a bit of research and i came across like   um calisthenics just through like youtube videos  so i saw the likes of bar stars hannah buffer king   zeff like all these og guys that are amazing  at calisthenics and i was like you know what   i want to do this like obviously your core is  going to get stronger so it's going to help on   the pitch but also like you can learn all these  crazy skills so i was just more drawn towards   that versus like kind of the gym if that makes  sense um i did still lift weights as well i i've   always lifted weights throughout my whole life as  well more so for legs but again just calisthenics   took my main attention and focus and then yeah  just been been training since then so oh it's   been a while that's really interesting what what  position did you play in football in soccer oh   yeah i saw the left back left wing so yeah running  down the line yeah and you're you're uh like he's   good in sprinting you're you can run quickly yeah  so um i did like a lot of athletics training as   well in school and stuff so it was like um i do  enjoy like kind of the athletic side of training   as well so yeah really enjoy sprinting and jumping  and all of those things as well nice and the so   the main motivation for you to start with with  calisthenics was uh at first the physique or like   the strength not physique the strength um aspect  so to have like a better um upper body strength um   in in i don't know in battles how is it called  like in uh wonderful ones yeah exactly yeah   literally like again exactly like that so on the  pitch you just have like a stronger core and um   just better balance and like i guess uh physique  wise it was kind of physique as well because like   teams look at you and they judge you by your  appearance as well so you need to look the part if   that makes sense as well yeah definitely but you  said that the motivation was also the skills so   what what skills uh did it uh like were the most  attractive for you i think the most attractive   obviously like you know the human flag i think  everyone when they first see it they're like oh   my god this is crazy it's like the best thing and  then when you actually dig deep into calisthenics   you realize oh okay it's it's it's a tough skill  to achieve but there are harder things out there   in my opinion personally like you know the  planche or iron cross or something like that so   you know it's um yeah i think though that  move and muscle ups as well i think as a kid   you just want to like you know throw yourself  over the bar i think those two are like opposite   drawn to you at the start i was just  amazed with everything really to be honest   nice yeah but it's true like the the human flag  always when when i have to explain the the spore   to a p person who's not uh into calisthenics  it's always do you know this you know like   once you do the flag you know the flag would  you know what can you muscle up out of like ah   they knew it's like you do a planche  and everyone's like ah this is whatever   yeah and that's the craziest thing about  calisthenics because like i know it from   a lot of shows and presentations often a  straddle planche for like somebody who is   not into calisthenics looks much better than  a full planche like from the front you know so   exactly and there are moves like dragon press i  think it's called on on the floor like that look   like from aesthetics they look completely ugly  and but they are so hard you know like exactly   exactly i think you only start to appreciate like  the how hard certain skills are when you actually   do them or practice them whereas the average  person if they see it they're gonna think you   know a handstand is amazing as well or something  like that so yeah yeah all back level looks more   impressive than the front lever but uh exactly  yeah exactly so interesting so um yeah tell us   more how did you start to work out how was your  beginning were you already a pro like did you   achieve your muscle up in the second workout or  how did it go yeah so finally enough so literally   i couldn't do like a single pull-up so i had like  very minimal strength but i think i could do maybe   like one one or two like at the start i didn't  i tried to do one from behind i couldn't do this   at all so i like all my friends were like not  laughing me but you know i mean make jokes and   i was like watch watch like i'm gonna get so  it kind of like motivated me to like you know   get stronger and better at it and so at the start  i was i still was mixing kind of gym so again you   got like the basic kind of bodybuilding routine  like you do like you know your four sets of   eight to twelve obviously you know increase  the volume over time progressively overload   use like the lat pull-down machine as well  a little bit rose stuff like that i i did do   that as well at the start i can't lie so i've  always been mixing weights and calisthenics   but i was more drawn to the calisthenics side  of it so you i would usually probably at the   beginning start with like training like four to  five times a week and then i'll do my sessions   would be like an hour or two long and then there  would be again mainly like if i was to go to the   park and do like circuit style so i'll do like a a  bunch of pull-ups with a band or something or then   dips or rows or you know australian pull-ups just  kind of a basic circular routine and then as i   got kind of stronger i'll start to do more like  sets and rep style and like increase the volume   so i'll do like maybe things on like four sets of  a certain exercise or five sets and then start to   like do more research on how to make the exercises  harder and that's when you start to learn about   the muscle ups and the back lever and stuff so you  train you know the back lever holds you know i did   a lot of those um l-sit chin-ups all of these kind  of other exercises and i think it literally just   kind of that shifted towards more the calisthenics  side of training and then yeah just been doing   that throughout the summer and i think i learned  maybe my first skill i learned was the l-sit i   think the l-sit or like you know the pull-over  eventually the muscle up stuff like that so yeah   just kind of and i think the book that helped me  as well i bought a book called overcoming gravity   so that was a really good book like as a base  introduction to calisthenics and like kind of   open my my eyes as to how to kind of structure a  calisthenics workout so i highly recommend that   book to anyone that wants to start and again  there's so much more information now online on   youtube like you've got you've got my channel  you've got thenx you've got barcelona you've   got so many different calisthenics channels that  you can pick and pull like pieces of information   valuable info from fitness faqs you know there's  so many amazing athletes uh calisthenics movement   you know there's loads of people so yeah that's  that's how i started really true so we'll put   the the book in the description like uh it  gets recommended a lot of times in this uh   in this podcast so um yeah definitely worth  reading it's a big thing it's a big book yeah but uh yeah it's like it's it's meant for this  for the committed ones i guess uh so it's not   something if you're like uh doing calisthenics a  little bit every two or three weeks um but it's   something for really for the committed people  exactly exactly yeah but um you said uh   throughout the summer you did your basics etc so  a common question from the communities always for   how long did you only do basics in the beginning  yeah that's good that's true um so i'll say   actually it wasn't that long i spent maybe about  a solid month or two just like drilling home the   basics and when i started to get like comfortable  with pull-ups so when i say comfortable i could   like maybe do like eight to ten clean reps of  pull-ups in a single set something like that   um that's when i started to like um switch  it up if that makes sense so i didn't spend   too long on the basics if that makes sense um i  then kind of again using overcrowding gravity or   like other pieces of information i would make i  would like start to train for certain skills so   like the back lever for example so i would do  a lot of supinated grip tuck holds um or skin   the cats you know german hangs those kind of  exercises um with like l-sit chin-ups or like   you know i mean just switching it up with kind of  um harder exercises that's gonna kind of involve   multiple muscle groups if that makes sense that's  a bit more intense so i would say that like kind   of two months down the line that's when i started  to really kind of get a bit more creative with the   workouts and then kind of structure them towards  certain skills so again i'll do like pull push   splits so like again probably train paul twice  a week and push twice a week if that makes sense   and maybe do like a day a leg day in the gym so  i was like training five days a week and again   obviously because i was younger i could afford to  do that and like you know i mean i wasn't really   you know i wasn't thinking of like warm-ups  or whatever or mobility work i'll just like   straighten it smash you know what i mean and then  um down later down the line as i get more advanced   i start to realize oh mobility plays a big factor  in learning certain skills i.e either handstand or   again back lever you need relatively good shoulder  extension you know certain thing you just need   your body needs to be moving in a certain way  to like do certain movements pain-free and then   i didn't take that into account in my younger  years so i highly recommend to people if you're   starting calisthenics as well to like get into  the mobility side of it as well from early on so   again one it avoids injuries and two it's going to  progress your training a lot quicker if that makes   it you're going to see a lot more fast progress  yeah okay yeah true definitely um also working   on this uh the split right now like uh uh hip  mobility for the throttle planche stuff like this   exactly you also get uh like i think you get a  lot of pain after if you don't like it's easy   to start from the beginning on to just to like  uh five to ten minutes in front of every workout   and it pays off later um learning more advanced  skills yeah 100 just a little bit it doesn't have   to be like a full full-on like mobility workout  literally just do a couple of 5-10 minutes before   your workout or whatever and it those kind  of sessions add up in in the end so yeah   okay so um from the basics from the  two months i think i think you said uh   of basics uh you went into skills  um so uh like doing more aesthetics   more holes more specific exercise progressions for  the skills um and you built your program yourself   with the book with um like mostly overcoming  gravity but like content that you found online   yeah and also um a shout out to so like i  used to train in like these london parks   um one being primrose that's probably like one  of the first parks i went to so it's like a   popular park in london it's not the greatest  facility wise now because you've got the kangaroo   parks that are popping up everywhere in london  which is great but um yeah they've got um so   loads of people around you just learn from other  people as well so like there was a proper a couple   of older guys that i would like ask help for or  like you know what i mean i'll just pull pieces   of information from everyone like i was never shy  to ask for help so i think that really helped if   that makes sense so yeah i can imagine that's  also maybe directly a hint that you can give   to the people and advice is to not be shy to ask  for help and for advice to somebody who is more   experienced and in some fields trust me because  like i'm forever learning myself as well like i'm   never like you know i wouldn't say i've mastered  any of everything like i'm just always learning so   i'm always open to you know experiencing new  things so if you've got something that's good   and works certain things let me try it i'm down  for you know i mean to try it out and see see how   it affects my body so yeah just don't be shy  to ask for help awesome today you're um yeah   you mastered uh some some uh really advanced  skills uh i think i saw your uh your full plan   planche uh video like um a few weeks a month ago  so um yeah maybe um how long did it take take   you to learn the planche uh maybe first straddle  planche from the first workout ever like um that's   always what the people ask from the first workout  ever to the first clean struggle planche hold yeah   see that's thing it's it's always hard to kind  of give a a good you know i mean time range it's   it's very hard like i want to say it took me  fast but i can't lie my training for the planche   was again lack of experience and knowledge  before it wasn't it was the progress was slow   for example so i was strong in certain areas weak  in certain areas um i started training probably i   think properly for the planche maybe like a year  or a year and a half into calisthenics training   so like i mean i would do like top planche and  stuff like that a couple of times if that makes   sense but like seriously kind of training for the  straddle and stuff like that i would say maybe   like a year or a year and a half into my training  and then it took me about i would say maybe like another another year to kind of properly hold  like a straddle planche if that makes it so   until i would say maybe like a year or two if that  makes sense and then again over the years it kind   of just got cleaner and cleaner but the problem  is again because i was gaining weight building   muscle size you know what i mean i would have to  my relative strength would have to keep matching   up so the progress was quite slow if that makes  sense and again my training for it wasn't the   greatest so it took me quite a long time to kind  of achieve it but i would say like a year or two   for the straddle if that makes sense and then for  the full planche like that was again slow slow   progress and again maybe because of genetics  or what not you know the way my body's more   but i feel like i'm i'm not too um placed at a  disadvantage so a lot of people depending on where   your weights kind of distribute in your body so if  you're someone that naturally has bigger legs or   like you know me carries a lot more mass on your  legs you're gonna find the planche a lot harder if   that makes sense so it's like luckily i don't feel  like i have the biggest legs like they're they're   strong and like you know what i mean tone but i  don't carry that extra excessive weight that's   gonna oh i'm not exactly i'm not like you know 180  or plus so it's i feel like the progress for me   was a bit faster if that makes sense it was  still kind of slow because i know people that are   a lot shorter as well that are learned planche in  like a couple of months so it's it's just there's   so many factors at play but i would say like a  year or two so yeah okay and uh front lever oh   front lever um i would say it took me about  uh a year a year i would say so again like   again it just over the years it just gets cleaner  and stronger and because you've practiced that   movement so many times your body just gets better  at you know what i mean firing the muscles and   just being able to hold it so um yeah about a  year and again it's probably like a two three   second hold by then and then again just over the  years it gets stronger and stronger and stronger   and again obviously as you gain weight gain size  you know it's you kind of like try and maintain   that level of strength with your skills providing  you practice it so i wouldn't say i saw some crazy   progress but literally that's that's how it is  like it's gonna take long like people realize you   you're not gonna just get a front lever like that  you still have to put in time and and work for it   so and again that's a [ __ ] that front lever is a  funny one because a lot of people some people find   it harder than the planche some people find it  so easy it's easier than back lever so it's like   it's it's such a weird skill you know  everyone's different though again the way   your morphology set up the way your  body's like composed plays a big factor   but i do say one thing for front lever i  would say if you can like build thick lats   like really really big lats you know build up  your pulling strength it's going to help better   your chances of holding a front lever because  essentially that's what you're doing you're   placing yourself in like shoulder extension and  your lats are the main moves when you when you   hold the front knee but for me i feel it mostly  in my lats and my triceps when i hold the front yeah that's also really interesting because a few  years ago when i started i thought the triceps was   only for pushing movements um but then when you do  like a lot of rolling and front lever practice you   feel that uh really in the back of your triceps  you have like a extreme uh muscle pain after the   front lever yeah exactly because you're like  literally you pull it so you're still engaging   your muscles you're literally full body tension  so you need you need like everywhere to be strong   really like all these skills you need to be strong  and everywhere but um that's why the basics is so   important you want to have a strong foundation  but i do feel for the front lever if you have   like a decent kind of if you can do like weight  pulls with a decent amount of straight weight   on you you you're going to better your chances to  be able to do it do you want if that makes sense   because um you need strong strong lats to  hold in front of you so yeah yeah switching   to today uh how does your workout schedule  look like today uh in um yeah in 2021 uh in   in may yeah no june june it's it's it's yesterday  june yeah um so uh yeah feel free to um to present   it also as detailed as as you want and um because  people are always interested in like the the split   per day like the intensity you work on in the rep  range like all this stuff for sure so like for now   i would say again it's changed up a lot from  when i started before it was like one two hour   sessions you know beast mode volume volume volume  smashing it no mobility work no warm up nothing   whereas now it's like a bit more kind of like  um structure to it so i would i would usually do   my skill work first and then i'll do like kind of  like more sets and rip space style of work so for   when i say skill work i wouldn't train for a stack  because move so like my current split is like pull   push legs um uh pull push on one day and then legs  again so i'm training legs twice a week because i   want to beef up my legs you know my main focus now  when i get my legs stronger and and yeah i've been   really enjoying you know weighted leg training now  so i've been doing a lot more of that but yeah i   would i would always do kind of my skill work on  on one of those days and i would spend about 20   30 minutes so right now i'm working towards the  one on handstand so like i would do um sets of   that at the start of my workout um as like again  it's a good warm-up and just to practice you know   obviously i'll do my wrists mobility work whatnot  for like a couple of minutes then i'll get into   like my my sets on each side and yeah just play  around with it really and then just practice the   holds the light on currently on like one finger  and stuff and then just kind of slowly letting go   and then just trying to do that each side for  about 20 minutes again just practice and then   once i've done that i would do let's say if it's a  push push day then i'll go to like i don't know um   weighted dips for example then into like  maybe some some form of push-ups or like   um pipe push-ups on the rings anything like  that so just volume on like any push exercises   and then again my workout wouldn't be too long  so i'm because i'm training more frequently   i'll say a max will be like  60 to 90 minutes each workout   so that's how i would do it just again because  right now i'm just trying to again maintain my   current physique i'm not really trying to you  know um obviously the main goal for me is just   get stronger so i'm not trying to like it's not  hypertrophy is the goal so yeah just trying to   keep the volume the same but obviously try  and push when i can and be smart about and   not injure myself and then again um the other  skill i'm working towards is kind of the planche   so i do like again on poor days i'll still do my  like a pushing skill at the planche because those   are my mate two main focus so i always pretend  to pick two skills to work on usually i would   i'll do like a a pulse pulling skill but like i'm  comfortable with my front lever my you know back   lever um so it's like yeah i'm i don't that's  not the main focus main focus is planche on one   arm handstand so i always practice that before my  workouts for like 20 minutes and then i would have   like a 60 to 90 minute session where i do like  a lot more sets of reps work so whether it be   like weighted pull-ups where your chin ups or it  dips wherever depending if it's a push-up all day   so that's how usually i structure it and then in  terms of mobility and stuff so every evening i do   a lot of passive stretching so that's more relaxed  i just chill you know laying stretches maybe slap   on something on the tv to watch to or listen to  a podcast or something just for like 20 minutes   you know before i go to bed and then um i might  even do in my workouts or like um just after my   skills i might do a little bit of mobility work  so i still kind of do sets and rep style of it   so it's more like active stretching or like loaded  stretching so i'll use a weight for example let's   say for my hamstrings i'll do like maybe stiff  leg deadlifts or jefferson car something like   that you know what i mean that's gonna improve  that so just depending on what my goals is really   i'll factor in certain bits here and there but  that's how i kind of maintain my my level of   mobility as well just by doing daily daily things  little small things that add up in the long run so   a bit of a long answer but yeah it's cool training  four or five times a week you know skills first   then more you know sets of rep style work in the  middle that's it yeah nice and i always see like   um there are two kinds of people i want to say  the the ones uh there are um the the ones who   are like having a lot of accessory uh exercises  in in their workouts and uh like doing uh really   exercises also for small muscle groups and um and  then there are the other people who are just doing   their pull-ups chin-ups dips uh push-ups and  that's it like um like really only the basic   uh movements what uh what do you think of of  this um i can't lie i like to keep it simple   just because like it's a like for example i  do a lot of weighted weighted calisthenics so   for for me i feel like that's a good way to build  strength and you can again progressively overload   like smartly like you can increase the weight in  small increments over the weeks so for me i like   to keep it simple i'll do a lot of like weight  chin ups weight pause stuff like that wait dips um   and then again body weight exercises so again  if one arm kind of assisted paws as well great   exercise or like rose i i tend to keep tuck rose  again i tend to keep it very simple i don't do any   crack like crazy fancy exercises or like accessory  work as such mainly a lot of compound heavy lifts   and again i might do some again some  some rows or just exercises that are   a bit easier that you can go for a couple more  reps so yeah i'm more of this simple there okay   and um yeah also we received some questions about  your prs in weighted um do you want to share some   for dips for pull-ups maybe also muscle up  um i haven't haven't checked my new prs now   i assume they've gone up um for a lot of things  actually but i need to retest but the last time   i tested i think was about a year and a half ago  and it was uh a 75 kg dip i think which isn't that   amazing i think it is it's all right and then i've  got um a weighted a weighted chin up of 70 kilos i   think wow yeah i'm so close together yeah yeah  so literally i'm so um my my um chin up's very   strong but i've been practicing that so  i think for me chin up is i found good um   for squat it was 1 120 but i know that's increased  now because i've been working my legs i think it's   i think it's more like 140 now because i've  i've been really going hard on on squats um   so yeah uh dead lift my dev lifts are quite  strong uh the last i did one uh 180 uh comfortably   i tried 200 i failed at 200 but i need to  like retest again soon so those are my pr's   that's uh interesting though 17 kg uh 75 kg  dip that's yeah not unusual that they are so   close together yeah honestly like my d you know  what it is it's like my dips as well i'm very   i'm very scared to go heavy heavy on them if that  makes sense like i feel like because i've kind   of like i've i've had a shoulder injury in the  past so i've got to be careful with with certain   weighted that's why i never i really test my my pr  because i don't want to snap anything but but yeah   when i did test it was 75 dip and then 70 chin so  yeah and that's the good thing about like doing um   i don't know lighter sessions in general you  just know that you're progressing you know   that the numbers are rising but um you you don't  have to test uh them all the time because the pr   is always like a big stress for your body and uh  100 i think like people need to realize as well   that you there's a i know there's amazing street  lifters out there that live some crazy weight but   they also they themselves train smart they're not  lifting that weight like every time for the gram   if that that makes sense they have a structure  to their training so don't feel like you have to   push like your maximum on every session because in  the long run it's going to lead to cns fatigue and   just injury so you don't want that just like  you know work at a good working set you know   60 70 rpe or something depending on how you want  to structure your program or whatnot and then have   weeks where you push and then weeks where you  you regress and like you know take it easy and   i thought that way your your your strengths gonna  accelerate and fly so yeah that's true because if   you see like a smart training program from a coach  or something you always see the that the weeks are   like building up um and then there is somewhere  the peak uh like i'm not too much into it but   like after some rest or like uh after loading  i don't know how you call it but uh yeah then   one day there's the pr and exactly you could  now already plan that the pr is in six weeks and   my pr attempt is in six weeks and not in two  weeks when somebody says hey yeah let's let's   try out something and trust me yeah man because  i've had that before where people are let's just   let's go hard like 100 and i'm like oh no  i shouldn't and then if i do it i might   injure myself and i'm like i should have  done it but i feel like the main thing is   you just enjoy it and the strength will come  and just just enjoy it and it always depends   like in of your goals it really depends uh  what what are your goals if you're like not   if you don't have the the performance uh 100  performance aspect in your training you can   do your prs you can just just train for fun you  should take care uh of like of your joints because   joints are something and injuries that uh that are  like that can really throw you back but yeah um as   you said it um it's yeah it depends a little  bit do you want to go the really performance   thing like performance way or do you want to go  the fun way but the fun way will always not have   the same results as the performance way because  it's it's um yeah yeah it's not that well planned   trust me yeah i think like you like you said you  need to have a clear idea on what your goals is   and you've got to understand as well certain  goals might be um you know i mean not the same   or counter intuitive to you another goal that  you have so a lot of people have two different   goals that are like opposing so you have to kind  of make sacrifices and prioritize or focus one   versus the other so i feel like a lot of  people need to understand that as well if   that makes sense do your pla planche and one arm  handstand do they um go against each other or   um not too much not too much i don't think so  because like again this i don't trade i don't over   train the skill like how i train skills i usually  like to get a lot of practice of that skill so   frequency for me is is everything so i'd rather  do lighter more frequent sessions than let's say   one or two heavy sessions of that specific skill  because it's not enough practice for me i need   to be to how i've seen like the best progress  with all my skills is literally just through   repetition practice practice practice so so the  more i practice the better i feel you know at   it and i feel like it hasn't been too opposing  with the one on hands and the planche because   um i still maintain like a level of pulling  during the week like through my my pulling   sessions if that makes sense so i don't feel  like i'm balanced in any way or i don't feel like   it's as taxing so i'm at a level of strength now  where it won't drain me to do 20 minutes of one   arm handstand training on my shoulders if that  makes sense like i know my shoulders are strong   enough and have enough endurance to that that's a  comfortable amount of stress and it won't fatigue   my workout or it won't like you know i mean make  my workout [ __ ] if that makes sense so kind of yeah and it's uh something that you  did on purpose to just select two   main goals because uh three five something  they would they would that would be too much   yeah honestly like that the worst thing i think  you can do is like just do one thing here one   thing there trying to master everything at once  is it's not gonna work you need to pick so you   need to pick and choose and you need to pick and  choose the right ones at your level of strength   because a lot of people they may be like a total  beginner but they're like oh when i learn planche   i'm like bro you're not ready for that you need  to first learn the l-sit or the top planche or   something like that you know me do something  that's kind of relative to your strength so   um train for that first once you master it move  on to the next thing move on to the next thing   and again if you maintain a certain level of  strength and you still kind of practice it every   now and then you're going to maintain that skill  if that makes sense that's how i see it anyway   do you ever have these moments where you lose  motivation where um you have like a lack of   progress and uh you you just lose motivation oh  for sure man all the time like a lot of people   feel like i'm just 100 percent motivated 24  7. i was like nah that's it's not the case   man like motivation for me it just comes and goes  i feel like the reason why i've been um i've seen   the most progress or i've seen progress throughout  the years is just maintaining consistency so again   trying to stay consistent like even if i'm not  like feeling if i'm feeling low or like you know   i mean i don't really want to push or whatever i'm  just tired i still get it done but i just won't   give it my all you know i'll just go through the  motion so don't feel like you have to push like a   beast on every like session like you're not you're  never going to be fully motivated to train all the   times even sometimes i'll be like oh you know what  today i'm not feeling it i'm just going to rest   you know so for me i feel like in the long run  you're going to see you're going to be a bit more   consistent if you just kind of listen to yourself  and like um you don't force yours it's just you   kind of force yourself in a way to like just do  what you can but don't feel like you know you   have to be beast mode 100 and on the days that you  lack motivation maybe just do like a light session   do something that or just do a little something at  least and um that way you're still getting it done   but you and you're not just like doing nothing  at all so that's how i deal with motivation   that's like i'm never at 100 motivation  mode honestly like so yeah i'll say just try   do what you can and then yeah if you if you're  really really not feeling it that day then just   rest man that's that's how i'm very more much  laid back with my approach to my trainer so yeah   oh yeah it's i think it's important to know that  uh not everybody who seems motivated on social   media because you only mostly only see the the  bright side um from somebody's workouts um and   uh yeah it's uh good to know that also somebody  who is like who seems really uh passionate and   uh motivated uh also has this moment yeah for  sure like for me is what i was going to say   um like i've had i've suffered so many like a  couple injuries i wouldn't say so many but like   one serious injury in the past i tore like my left  labor and my shoulder so that was like a serious   injury and it it like kind of annoyed me for like  a good couple of years and i had to be kind of   very smart when i train so that really demotivated  me um like i can't because i would i would have   loved to get into like freestyle calisthenics  you know what i mean a lot of the tricks like the   shrimp flips the swinging 360s and i was starting  to learn a few of them when i get i was enjoying   it but like now with this shoulder it's like  it's still an ongoing thing where it puts in a   very risky position and um yeah it just it's it's  a lot of risk freestyle calluses for me so that's   why i tend to stick to the more statics the safer  kind of like you know elements of calisthenics and   um it's a sacrifice but yeah it's just again that  kind of demotivated me but this you just got to   look at the bright side just do what you can you  know so let's say if you're injured right now you   can't do anything other body wise just focus on  your legs or do some kind of stretching mobility   just do what you can doing so that's how i kind  of keep motivation motivated as well cool so   except the the planche and the juana hansen what  are your goals right now uh in in workouts yeah   so um again i've enjoyed like i said i've been  i'm enjoying training my legs very like i i love   leg training now so again i shouldn't i want to  get to like um a solid like so strong squat so i   would be happy with like a a 140 160 squat i would  love to do that again i'm training towards it so   again just um yeah seeing seeing improvements and  again just maybe to gain a little bit of weight   as well like just to look a little bigger but i'm  i'm i'm pretty much happy like trying to maintain   currently the skills i like really nail the full  planche and the one on handstand like have it down   like mastered and then um yeah we'll see from  there if and any other skills but yeah those i   would say the main goals cool and yeah let's talk  a little about your youtube channel um where does   the name abnormal beings come from yeah so if if  you for those of you that don't know i started   this channel with a friend called neville close  friend of mine um known him for for a long time   and then literally we we're the we we both played  football you know and again we wanted to kind of   um share our progress through calisthenics and  like we saw like a good amount of progress in a   short period of time in a year and like back then  i think our first video was like in in april 2014   so it's like long long time ago so it's like as  calisthenics was still kind of underground you   know and then i was like oh let's just let's just  film this let's get like a little montage of clips   and so we threw that up on on youtube and then  like it kind of like went viral after like a   couple couple months and stuff and like and then  people like and we we made an instagram and then   yeah we gained some traction and then we're like  oh [ __ ] this can actually work this is like a   thing and then we just kept sharing our progress  and like i guess we kind of stopped so i kind of   stopped then we didn't really post continuously  that was just the first video just to show   progress and it was just kind of there on the side  and then like when football didn't really work out   for me and like i was studying at university  i started in accounting at university so   um once i kind of like graduated everything's  done foot wouldn't really work out for me um i was   like what can i do and i was like i really love  fitness i really love personal training you know   i've always been active and i've got this little  youtube channel that has like a small small   following i was like let me just post more often  so i started to make tutorials on calisthenics   and stuff like that and then the challenges start  to grow and grow and like i did a lot of like hit   workouts so again like just basic body workouts  and stuff and that that exploded there's always   like one viral video that explodes your channel  so that kind of grew it and then yeah just it   started to kind of morph into like oh damn this is  like i could actually make a career out of this so   yeah just started to take it more seriously  peeting on the side and then merging the two until   like now what it is now so it's like it's been a  it's kind of like i never wanted to be a youtuber   or like you know i mean get into the youtube game  but it just happened like so it's it's a very nice   feeling you know and i'm just i just hope that i  can kind of give advice to people because it was   kind of hard as well when i first started to have  that advice if that makes sense so yeah definitely   and the name came from literally just abs thinking  like abdominals and then i was like oh what's not   what's cool and then we're like abnormal is not  normal like we're a bit different you know we want   to look like you know beasts freaks or whatever  so like abnormal beings that's that's the name   wow i i didn't expect the the app  thing like yeah no so it's so silly   just think of it as a kid so we're like  oh yeah we got you know i just oh my god   yeah yeah but nice congrats on that um especially  we had like a lot of things a lot of comments for   your original um original challenges like  especially the the challenges that people   like um that's something that we saw a lot of  uh times in the question sticker so um yeah   interesting so how does your week look like uh  as a as a youtuber so and and personal trainer   yeah so usually i'll have um clients scheduled  throughout the week so right now i'm not part of   a gym i just train people outdoors or other  houses so i've got like mobile clients so   i've got like a a good um kind of like clientele  that i know that's like uh my clients and i'll   train them throughout the week and then um i  would always pick like one or two days where i   just film content so i've got a videographer  he comes films me in the park or whenever   um once or twice a week and then we'll take stuff  for like instagram and for youtube so we'll just   schedule one or two days um to do that i just get  out of the way with and then i try and upload like   every every sunday or monday on a youtube video  just to maintain consistency and then have like   content throughout the week so i feel like that's  a lot easier to manage and maintain and then um   in between i might have so i've got like an  online program right now so i've got like   coaching clients so i'll make a couple calls um do  a couple check-ins see how they're doing and stuff   and yeah that's literally how my my week's up so  i have them in between my other clients and then   yeah usually past like 7pm i don't i'm done i'm  just chilling and then yeah to pass the time i   watch a lot of netflix just chill um when i play  a little bit warzone you know just that's just   how it is so it's very much chilled now i have um  a lot more time as well to um do certain things   and like yeah beginning to starting  to outsource certain things as well so   it gives me more time and freedom to to do other  things as well so yeah cool who are your clients   so if somebody's listening now for who could it  be interesting to do online coaching or even like   coaching in london um so like anyone that's  really into calisthenics a lot of my clients   want to get better at calisthenic skills so it's a  lot of focus on that and again the online program   that i've got is like very much for total  beginner as well so if you're like a new   to calisthenics or just someone that wants to get  into it then it's a great program as well because   it kind of gives builds you like um a base a nice  base level um where like you literally don't need   to be able to do one single pull-up you can you  can start a program so it's a nice kind of like   guide for them to start calisthenics and get  into it if you don't know anything about it   so i'll say it's that and then also for someone  that's a bit more advanced you might want to as   well check it out a lot a lot of home workouts in  there so i made it during lockdown so um because   obviously a lot of people are struggling um not  knowing what to do so it's like a good if you   don't have if you don't if you don't have a lot  of equipment if you need if you literally just   need to pull up on rings if you're more advanced  you can get a good workout done through that   program so yeah i would say it's for that kind  of that's the client already okay cool so um yeah   diet another thing that we received a lot of  questions um uh is diet like nutrition how do   you eat um how important do you think is is diet  for your performance yeah very important i can't   like it's yeah it's a majority of the results  like you need to you need to be on point with it   if you want to especially for physique as well and  strength like you need to know what you're putting   into your body and you want to have an idea so  like um i've never really done huge bulking and   cutting phases like throughout the years if you've  if you've seen my physique i've never really like   you know put on a massive amount of weight  and then cut i've never really enjoyed that   i've never been one to do that um however i have  maintained a certain um caloric like surplus or   small small surplus throughout and then drop it to  a small deficit or something like that so i would   like have phases where i i would kind of like  have a small bulk if that makes sense because   if i for especially for calisthenics if  you're trying to learn all these skills   any weights that you put on excessive weight  it's going to make it a lot harder like you   want to be as light as possible so having  like a low body fat percentage is just so   it's so much advantageous to if that makes sense  like to learning any kind of skill so i've always   kind of tried to maintain a certain level of  leanness and then um that has helped me with   my skills if that makes sense so i just like  i'll say usually right now i'm eating around   3 000 calories a day so that's like um almost  like a maintenance level slash a slight kind of   caloric surplus for me um so that's 3 000 calories  roughly and then certain days let's say come now   summertime as well and let's say you want to  shred down a bit i'll drop it to maybe like   2 500 to 2 200 something like that where slightly  less and then if you if i try to maintain i don't   really track everything through myfitnesspal but  i have a rough idea if that makes sense as a pet   i kind of like know you know certain foods and  like calories and certain foods and amounts so   if i were you if you if you if you have  no idea at all i would say just get like   myfitnesspal or any kind of calorie tracking app  and actually just track what you're eating for a   week because you'll be surprised like certain  foods you know have like like look at oil for   example one tablespoon is like 120 calories or  something a lot of people don't know this so   it's like if you're cooking a lot of oily foods  fried foods calories gonna you know skyrocket   so it's like those things you need to educate  yourself on once you have that understanding   then you can kind of have an idea on what you're  eating right now and then you're kind of like   for me i always tell people just test it out so  test out a certain if you don't know your calorie   amount it's like what in order to gain weight  or lose weight just test out if you're eating   let's say 3 000 calories oh every week and you're  maintaining the same weight then you no need to   bump up your calories keep doing that track your  weight throughout if you've noticed you've gained   weight then you know that's the number you need  to eat at to to gain weight if that makes sense   so it's a bit of trial and error but that's always  worked for me if that makes sense and i've always   like stayed in a slight slurpless and then if i  ever felt like i was gaining too much weight or   wanted to shred down i'd go i'll drop it to a  deficit and again certain days like i said you   i enjoy food so i might order a pizza or wings  you know i mean it don't matter like i'll eat   unhealthy as well you it's all you have to like um  be consistent with it and it has to be sustainable   so you it can't be something a diet can't  be something where you're you're not looking   forward to because you're not gonna maintain  it so i always tell people don't worry man like   eat that slice of cake or something just enjoy it  but at the same time just know what you're taking   in and like what you need to hit in order to  achieve your goals that's it oh cool um a typical   meal for you yeah um so usually um every breakfast  again like i love pancakes so i'll probably make   some pancakes like oatmeal pancakes i spelt flour  you know make the pancakes what not maple syrup   blueberries banana whatever that's i love that  or have like a bowl a bowl of oats so porridge   maybe like 80 200 grams honey you know with i  love um coconut milk or like um oat milk as well   almond milk as well so i yeah i just have that as  for breakfast maybe as an example then for lunch   maybe like a tuna sandwich so like canna tuna  mayonnaise you know sweet corn just like add   different ingredients and just salad have it in  like either a bagel or a you know slice of toast   have some nuts on the side if i want to bump up  my calories maybe some cashew nuts i love so that   would be another meal then i might have like um in  the afternoon i have like a shake so i've got like   a plant-based protein shake i'll have that it's  like extra bit of protein in my diet and then um   let's say for example for for lunch i'll have  maybe a bowl of some pasta so again pasta with   a little bit of just like red sauce or whatever  um dinner i would have maybe like salmon so   like salmon phillips with sweet sweet potato um  greens keep it nice and simple and then dessert   let's say dinner i might have some um like chicken  breast chicken breast rice um against a bit of   bitter salad and then i'll supplement again with  like another shake like a plant-based shake and   then for dessert i might have like this is where  i treat myself i usually get like a little bit of   some ice cream oreos i love the ice cream oreo  combo i love it so ice creams oreos you know   um might have like a yogurt as well or something  like that so that's usually how i eat in a day   if that makes sense but it's kind of like a lot of  meals four or five meals in a day um and then yeah   if i want to bump it up i might include another  meal extra meal or something like that you know   i mean i just play around with that but that's  usually how i eat so there's loads of videos on   youtube if you check out i've got those a full day  of video videos so you can see how i eat but yeah and yeah you always said plant-based shake what's  the reason like at first i thought oh he's uh like   vegetarian or oh no no and then the tuna and the  salmon and chicken breasts chicken breasts i was   like listen i love my videos i can't lie i do you  know what it is it's like i don't i try not to so   i'm trying to reduce my meat consumption again  one because obviously environmental reasons and   like just i i just know my body best and i feel  like um having a little bit of meat in my diet   i i just feel like i i function the best at if  that makes sense like i've tried going vegan and   um i just i maybe i need more time to adjust to  it but i just didn't feel like i was performing   at my best so that's why i included a little bit  like most of my i felt like most of my meals are   plant-based in terms of like the the carbs and  the rice the pasta you know what i mean there's   i'll say i just do have maybe it's like  again the salmon or the chicken breast   in there as well so and for me the shakes the  reason why i do plant-based again just because   i want to try and reduce my dairy consumption as  well like i feel like waves well i might i'm a   little bit lactose intolerant so i feel like again  what what doesn't react with my body it goes out   it goes i replace it so having the plant-based  shakes i felt a lot more comfortable and better   that makes sense my body felt a lot better  so it's also a lot of testing for you just   uh testing and feeling what your body wants and  whatnot exactly like for me i can't say to someone   oh try the plant-based one you know some person  might find the way one day they perform better   so like everyone's different just experiment  that's my my best opinion to people experiment   works for you do it right yeah cool really  nice we are coming to an end of the interview   uh we always have some quick questions  quick answers at the end of every interview   favorite food favorite food i'm gonna say rice  peas jerk chicken so it's like oh jollof rice   and chicken it's like a nigerian dish jollof rice  and chicken done so yeah i'm half a nigerian so   it's gotta stick to the wreath nice that's it are  you a dog or a cat person uh dog person dog okay   uh what's your favorite color green green  favorite color yeah uh what are the athletes that   inspire you so many months so many there's  there's just too many bro there's so many   in the in the uk and around the world like it's  to list all of them yeah it's hard like you got   the likes of obviously eric ortiz you got um  you know small spartan you know the uk you got   you got um daniel lyson you got you got so many  beasts out there you go oh there's there's so   many victor cameron oh my god there's just so many  crazy people i can't i would love to say so many   different names but it's just you know what i mean  it's hard so anyone that does calisthenics for me   is like an idol because like i know what  they're going through i know their journey   and i respect them so did you get me like  anyone that's a calisthenics athlete really   yeah oh that's a good answer keep  it simple what's your favorite skill   favorite skill planche just because  of how long it took so planche yeah pull or push i'm push i'm team push i love push really even though  like your your pool is so strong   yeah i love me i'm full i don't  know why i'm just like bored   push i won't push fighting your genetics  yeah but yeah uh cool uh favorite book   oh that's a good one um uh don't hurt me i think  david goggins book that's a really good one or   can't hurt me i can't remember cool can't hurt me  can't hurt me that's the one yeah great book nice   um favorite music genre general you maybe you  could tell me how to pronounce it i just know   the french word genre yeah genre yeah genre  i think genre okay cool i would say like rap   rap or rap yeah that's it uh the best  calisthenics event you visited oh the best one um i haven't been to too many you know i've been to   i would love to do more obviously  you would covered in it it's hard um   it's the event i've been to i haven't really been  to i haven't really been to anyone like i've been   to one in uh there was one in sweden i went to  use like a fitness festival that was quite sick   and there was like a calisthenics competition  going on so i'll say that one there that was   that was sick when was it ah i think a year or  two ago in december uh yeah i think it was that   one i think it was that one we were there as  well uh how is it like where um simon the the   underdog from from sweden won the freestyle  competition against tom and dan rosenberg   i think so yeah i think so yeah i think so yeah  that's saying that we didn't meet you immediately   yeah i don't know i was there for a bit yeah  so it was it was sick i loved it i thought   so shout out to daniel fairfield who organized  this uh yeah but it was his work and his uh like   first big competition i think that he organized so  yeah i saw i saw him there and i spoke to him for   a bit so he's really cool man we've been chatting  on instagram as well so yeah he's cool guy man awesome um yeah and the last question always  what's your message to the calisthenics community   what's something that you want to tell the  listeners um just enjoy it man trust the   process and and enjoy your training because like  we're all going to get there we're all going to   get that enjoy the journey you know whatever your  goals is you're going to achieve it so just just   trust the process and enjoy it man that's that's  my best advice and like yeah let's just all learn   and grow together and hopefully we achieve all  the goals we want so that's my message awesome   thanks for the interview we're coming to an end  and before you can say goodbye to the listeners   and you have the last word i want to say thank  you to everyone listening to this uh i forgot one   question how can people get in touch with you how  can they contact you best best thing you can do is   um instagram dme so at abnormal underscore beings  because like i do i'm still quite active on   instagram i reply to a lot of dm so if you just  message me there or you can email me abnormal   beings at dreamweaver.com me there cool we  will put all the links in the description   to your instagram youtube and email address um  yeah as i said we're coming to an end thanks   to everyone listening to this till the end it's  always a big pleasure if somebody takes the the   time to listen to such an interview to the end  so big thank you if you stuck with us until now   if you want to support the the series give it  a thumbs up it always helps for the algorithm   i think you know there you and uh yeah you have  the last words and can say goodbye big thanks   again from my side for your time now philip i  appreciate it thank you for having me on this   um it's been a pleasure and hopefully i answered  each and every one of your questions but yeah no   really amazing interview and so glad to be a part  of it so thank you guys and yeah take it easy bro.