ACHIM GÖLLES | Workout Advice combining Statics & Reps | Interview | The Athlete Insider Podcast #49

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If you have some goals you want to achieve try  to think about what is the next step that gets me   down so for example if i want to work on the front  lever maybe it would be good if you're strong   enough an attempt or if not just a pre-exercise  for it instead of only doing pull-ups for example   yo gorillas welcome to the athlete instead  of podcast by gornation my name is phil and   today's guest is the two times austrian champion  an extremely strong athlete in statics but also in   weighted calisthenics i'm happy to welcome  you founder of the new killer snakes ahem   girls from austria hey thanks for having me  yeah thanks uh for making this possible and   for the people who don't know you let's  directly kick off who are you what do you do   yeah i'm achim i'm 24 years old doing calisthenics  since almost eight years so i i started like   when the sport became more popular  in austria i was one of the first   people who did it like not who did it but who went  to like events and stuff like this so um yeah i me   and some friends of mine tried to make the sport  bigger in austria so i started i think it's four   years ago now daniel calisthenics so i'm doing  tutorials um and also just working videos online   providing material online and giving virtu  workshops and yeah before krona we also had events   so i have already been in the austrian street  head team so we so we organized some stuff events   meetings whatever and yeah that's that's  what i do with calisthenics i'm an athlete   myself since like also eight years like i said  before um i've been to the world championships   similar times like two times freestyle  two times power instrument and yeah so i'm   trying to to like manage being an athlete and  organize at the same time which is not always easy   since i'm also studying um to become a teacher so  yeah i'm doing many different things in my life   but that's that's it's mostly about my calisthenic  stuff i do yeah and when i like when i have   to describe you you're like a really busy person  like you're doing a lot of things at the same time   um you're like really um uh versatile is the the  word that pops into my mind but like you're you're   extremely you're doing freestyle you're extremely  strong in statics uh but you're also doing   weighted calisthenics you also competed there  which is really interesting because you combine   so many things in in one person um yeah and it's  like you're so well networked with you know a lot   of athletes in the scene uh you're like um also uh  helping with with fibo every year since since 2017   um so yeah i'm looking forward to the interview  and um yeah thanks that describes me a little bit   so i like i'm a person who likes to do everything  at the same time and sometimes it's too much yeah   yeah because your day also has only 24 hours  so um yeah that's uh i can totally relate   um let's kick off with the hard facts people  are always asking that uh how tall are you i am   173 centimeters tall okay 73 and how how heavy  are you i think i'm 70 kilograms maybe 71   at the time okay yes off of competition uh uh face  uh and yeah you already said uh 24 years old right   yes perfect then um yeah like uh let's kick  off with your story how did you get in touch   with the sport uh for me you're one of the  the faces maybe not even like maybe even the   the face of the austrian killers the next scene  and uh yeah let's let's kick off what is your   story how did you get in touch with the sport i  got in touch with the sport i think it was 2014   when i went to the gym so actually i  started working out at the gym when i was   15. before that i did some kind of calisthenics  i just wanted to get stronger i was very skinny   and i did just some push-ups crunches and stuff  at home and then i got to the gym i was allowed   to go there when i was 15 trained one year  at the gym and in the gym when i became 16   two guys they were training in the gym but they  did calisthenics there and they asked me if i   wanted to join them and through that i started  to try out some stuff like i think the first   things i tried was muscle up i already had some  good pull ups so i did some aggie muscle up then   and handstand against the wall and stuff like this  that's how i started even broke down with my first   handset against the wall i can't still remember it  i fell on my head and yeah so i like started from   not completely from zero because i was at the  gym before but before i got to the gym i didn't   have any experience with strength sports except  for this little homework on stuff i did at home   and yeah then 2000 i think it was 2016 maybe or  2015 i started to work out in the park more so   this was one of the first calisthenics  park we had in vienna and from there i   kind of got a little bit into the community  it wasn't very big the community back then   but there was a first competition it was the  austrian national championships no sorry it was   even 2014 when i got into the park the first time  but 2014 there was the first austrian championship   and i just went there i was not a pro but i i  had some skills and i even got seconds the level   wasn't very high and so this was my beginning of  getting into the sport as an athlete back then   so in 2014 there was already a calisthenics  competition in austria like a national   championship yes it was the first one yeah wow  it was even with edchecko from the bastards what   yeah in austria like everybody who doesn't know  austria it's like it's a quite small country   like uh not completely small but it always  um impresses me how like this the country   is like so far developed for calisthenics  uh in terms in relation to its size i think   yeah i think that we are good in organization  organizating things but we are not the best in   in being the strong-minded athletes because  we think very organized you know so if you   train in austria here a lot of people isn't that  dangerous and isn't that dangerous so we are like   maybe a country who is more about where it's  more about thinking than training so a lot of   people organize stuff but it's not like we are the  strongest have the strongest athletes in the world   yeah yeah but still so your goals in the uh  before before the gym what did you do like   you didn't do any sport not even uh like  football or um i was actually i was kind i was   a cardio guy it's a bad guy i was i was doing um  running when i was 13 14. originally 15 still i   i was chugging and running i also already competed  there a little bit but not on a professional level   so em was more like the guy i trained maybe one or  two times a month and then i just got to a cup and   ran there i was good at it maybe that's why i'm  also still not bad at endurance because it was   just like i i was born with it and before that  i tried some other sports as a child cut out the   tennis whatever but nothing never professionally  okay and uh when you started you started with um   you said like uh handstands uh muscle ups like  um did you start with i don't know the goal of uh   being becoming good in aesthetics or weighted or  was it just uh what was the goal in the beginning   i think the goal was to do if i'm honest just  to do impressive stuff i was not thinking about   categories like statics or dynamics or whatever  still not good at dynamics folk but um yeah i was   like just trying to be better than i was before  and i think i like the thrill of doing something   that seems hard or impossible like muscle  up for example because i wasn't able to do   it so it seemed very hard for me and i like  the idea of achieving it i think and since   it was something i had a chance to be good in  i i went into it i think it was the combination   of personal preference and also just having the  frill of doing something you haven't done before   and did you ever have like um um physique goals in  the beginning that you thought yeah i want to gain   i don't know 3 4 kg i want to double  the size of my arms i don't know   yes if i'm honest i'm a little bit ashamed for  it but i'm i i started calisthenics only for   physique goers wow and when i was 15 because  the guys i i mentioned before told me oh you   will get bigger with calisthenics and whatever  and i already built like 10 kilos of muscles   in this in the year of going in the  fitness center so i was disciplined there   and then i gained some more kilos even  with calisthenics but then the goer   just i just didn't care about gaining more muscles  or whatever anymore so then i switched to go to   the skills which was just the thing that was  fun to me so it was in the beginning i actually   started thinking oh i can gain even more there but  then i i did i haven't been interested in it like   maybe a few months later i i started to not care  about it anymore okay and uh yeah let's jump into   this time how did your um development go so today  when i see you performing you have like a really   really really subtle uh solid straddle planche  you have like um you're also like progressing well   that's at least my my last update uh for the full  planche um like the aesthetics are like really   solid um how did they go in the beginning people  are always interested in how long did it take   from the first work street workout ever like the  first calisthenics training to the first uh good   straddle planche hold yeah i can tell you the  example of the planche and also the front lever   maybe because those two are often asked um it was  like this in the beginning i did not even think   about branch because i didn't know it existed so  i was like was the the hardest pushing exercise i   could imagine was handsome push-ups against  the ward so this is something i did in half   reps maybe at the beginning so i can tell you  when i started calisthenics my lever and keen   was maybe 15 i think i did 20 but not keen one so  let's say 15 keen ones and from and maybe the same   amount of tips but i i even didn't do dips a lot  of tips back then but this was my general lever   so i was better in pulling that and pushing and  i started to train for the front lever just with   doing front lever races i just thought it was in  core exercise i didn't even think about holding   the front lever i just did front lever races  because it was a cool exercise i would i saw   and from the beginning on until i held my first  not perfect but i until i had my first front lever   i was maybe one year yeah one year of time like  from 10 to 15 pull-ups to a frontline horde but   cleaning it up cleaning it up took maybe another  year because i wasn't even focusing on stuff like   shoulder depression or stuff like this for the  straddle planche i can tell you that it took a   bit longer for me i had i started i think  one year after i started with calisthenics   or maybe half a year then i started working  on the branch and it was mainly with tact   and also with attempts on the floor but attempt  was like starting in a straddle stand putting   the hands on the floor and just trying to put my  feet up and the same on the parallel bars and from   this point of time until i got my first straddle  planche solid hold i think it was two to three   years so it took me much longer for this branch  i don't know why i think i'm not that talented   in it but it's not an excuse i was just stronger  in the pulling movements from the beginning on   and yeah this was the amount of time it took  me i trained it like maybe three times a week   maybe four times a week attempts like then i  switched to attempts for his planche i started to   go into the handsome and trying to calm  down and that's i how i got my first   solid horse then yes oh still  not the best at planche right now   yeah but uh like what i always um what i was  always impressed in because we did uh quite a   few fibos together 17 18 19 i think three feebles  we did together and um what always impressed me is   that like you did these shows and i think in the  beginning yeah like you did so many shows and then   also workshops and like um i don't know then you  also every evening after the fibo you you did your   workout and for me it was like what the [ __ ]  like what is he doing and um uh the like you did   three four shows in a day and the straddle planche  was always that clean and that uh like uh such a   solid form even though it was a a show you know  like and the general public doesn't care if you   hold it the the straddle plan for two seconds or  five seconds but this was always impressive for   me that you always kept the the form and that you  always had these uh this um muscle endurance like   uh strength endurance um to be able to hold it  again so um yeah maybe you can tell us more about   your training today and like um how is it possible  for you to combine the the endurance parts   the strength part with with aesthetics yeah yeah  thanks for that like you mentioned before i think   it's just something if i'm honest with since i  came from running and i i always had an endurance   mindset maybe when i started calisthenics i even  had some very intense workouts in the beginning   um maybe that was a reason why i or always  have been good at showing a lot of elements   like a long combos for example or a lot of  shows so i think this was also the reason i   won the championships in austria but maybe not  because i have the single best move but because   i was able to show a lot of moves in the short  amount of time so a higher variation of moves   and this endurance i i actually can't tell  you a method to get it or whatever but i think   it was the it's because of the reason i always  trained um aesthetics but also basics and   i always also trained basics with the mindset of  doing an endurance workout so not every day but   i still do it sometimes like this for example i  train branch and front lever and when i have a   short amount of time i do it in an intense in an  intensive workout it's not the best for gaining   the perfect form or the longest horse but for  the endurance sometimes it's good to have it   and right now i actually don't know it i would  have to try right now since there are no shows   and no competitions i already didn't do that many  combos because i was working more on c moves right   now but i think that my endurance at the this  point of time is a little bit worse but if i   would start to train longer combos again it would  come very quickly so i would say endurance is the   thing that um comes fastest and or can go away  fast but you can gain it back fast so i i also   trained for the power and strength championship  um which was only about endurance in basics like   pull-ups tips whatever and at this point of time  i also was able to do my strong aesthetics combos   so it was very interesting because i trained a lot  of reps and endurance and i think this order had   always helped me for my combos and aesthetics so  i think it's because i always combined basics with   statics okay so um if we jump into a peak phase  like really a phase where you were at the top   of your level um how did you train at these times  how did you manage to um yeah because like you   you share some some clips of really impressive  weighted numbers on your instagram um but also the   statics strength how does a like a week um look  like where you combine the the weighted or let's   also call it endurance workout if you do some  basic sets um with high numbers and the aesthetics   yeah how a week of training looks like do you mean  yeah yes yeah um so i'm actually i'm training very   similar at the point of time in some moves i'm  stronger than ever before right now in some knots   so you it's hard to always keep the labyrinth  everything you know but my training generally   looked and still looks like this i train upper  party strength or calisthenics specific training   four to five times a week so i have four times  where i like do it with a routine or like i have   the routine on it's days i just train on you  know and a fifth day is optional however i feel   and the sixth day is only for the legs so that's  how i train right now and it's also kind of the   mold i trained before i had the second leg day  back then but i i like tried to now have a more   intense like day once a week and the second day  of the week where or to do some legs but not only   but whatever i how my training generally looks  like is that i start off with statics or with hard   skills like maybe one on pull ups or deep hands  and push-ups whatever it depends on the day and i   always try to go from the hardest movements to the  easiest ones so in the very beginning i start off   with maybe not even with strength statics but with  balance like maybe handstand works or whatever   and then i come i come to training statics on the  most days i train statics not with combos but with   hordes just singing hordes or rather pull up  reps or whatever and on some days i train the   name combos so if i would be preparing for  a competition i would do the same but just   with combos so i would have a lot more aesthetics  in one set if i did a combo with it and i would   repeat that until i would say that i was fatigued  so i it's mostly one hour two hour whatever   um i had have longer rest times  in this part of the training and   this is my static training depending on the phase  i'm in so if i would prepare for a competition i   would not be going to stacked planche holes or  just drag flag max reps or whatever but if i'm   in the face where i just try to build up i do it  and in the end after i did the statics work or the   strength skills work i'm going to basics right  now it's a little bit less weighted only once a   week but i also had it twice a week and on the  other days where i'm not doing weighted basics   in the end i'm doing normal basics sometimes with  endurance like with just without uh break times   sometimes not it's a little bit spontaneous  actually so i'm not having it's planned all   the time everything but i have a concept in my  mind that i'm following it the concept is that   i do four times a week first skills on some days  days i try to do more straight arm skills like   front lever planche some days more bent arm skills  like a faster one and pull up hands and push up   one leg day and in the end of my upper body  trainings the basics or weighted basics so   that's it cool do you feel benefits from  the weighted workout for your statics   it's a good question because i don't know  the answer i i can't tell the difference   because i always trained um weighted so i don't  know how it would be if i haven't trained it   i feel like the general strength and also  endurance if i do reps with weighted it's   good so the strength i got from is it is  good but it's not that easy to say because   if you do a lot of weighted calisthenics it  will also influence the energy you have in   your next workout on the statics so for example  if i do um max reps weighted pull ups on monday   and i try to do front lever on tuesday  or on wednesday it can influence my power   so i would say it's a balance that's why right  now i'm experimenting with only trading weight   at once a week and not twice a week and i'm still  making progress at least at the weighted pull-ups   that's where i got some new personal records right  now and because i have a lot of work for one and   pull up or front lever it still helps me do to  gain strength there in this in the weight that's   but i would maybe describe it like this you  can like combine statics with weighteds and   it can help but if this if the weighted stuff  is your first preference it might come that   it influences your static work negatively so  the other way around it's okay if you do your   aesthetics and then if you feel good you do your  weighted stuff it's okay but if you max out your   weighted stuff and then try to go to statics  it's probably a little bit harder in this way   so i would say it helps it can help but it can  also be too much and it can also influence your   power you get in your aesthetics because you only  have a certain amount of energy every week true   definitely makes sense um general advice general  opinion on basics would you recommend to do basics   to everyone um may it be aesthetics athlete may it  be a free cell like dynamics athlete yes generally   i would say yes i would also say uh the the  further you get in calisthenics the less basics   you have to do but it can still be beneficial  to do it so if you're a beginner or if you just   started with calisthenics or if you may be one or  two years into it i would recommend to put a lot   of effort into basics like for a beginner i would  say probably 70 or 80 percent of the training time   should go into basics they can maybe try some  skills but the basics will be the most most   important part so if someone is an intermediate he  can maybe work around 50 of the training time with   basics and if you're advanced you can even go back  to 30 or 20 percent but it's always important to   have exercises in your training in my opinion  at least in some phases not in every week but   in general you have exercises in your training  where you're you are able to do just more than   one second hold or more than just one rep but for  example if you're very advanced and you can do ten   front lever pull-ups it's also a basic for you  so you will not have to choose another exercise   another pulling exercise where you get your reps  in because you'll get your reps in or your second   hold hold times in with skills so it depends on  the lever but i think there is also not a very   strict border between skills and basics because  as pull-up cannot be a skill for someone who is   learning first put up just like a front lever it's  a skill for someone who runs the first front lever   so i would say like it's important to have  exercises in your training where you have longer   hard times to get some volume in not always but in  at least in months where try to go for volume work   or if you don't have a periodization just to  generally have it in but it doesn't always   have to be basics if you're strong enough you can  choose advanced exercises as basic work as well interesting um you also already talked about uh  periodization um and um also about volume like   all these uh things that i hear are mostly in the  in the coaching uh side side of calisthenics um do   you have like a let's call it scientific approach  or like a really structured approach to your uh   training a little bit a scientific approach can  actually ruin your fun and even your quality of   the workouts if you're trying to figure everything  out what's the perfect way whatever there are so   many factors we don't know about calisthenics the  first it's a new sport the second is everyone is   different very different in this sport like  the physical measurements of everybody and   whatever it's a lot of factors that you cannot  scientifically um approach or know like really   know for sure so i try to have some things  in my mind for example the periodization is a   principle that is used in strength for sports like  powerlifting but it's also something that comes to   me automatically so i try to combine whatever i  feel like doing with the things i know in theory   and even before i got to know about periodization  or i heard something from it i did it initially   because i felt like it's like maybe i trained two  months of only very hard holds and exercises where   i was um like bad at or just attempts whatever it  was a little bit too much for my tendons maybe or   for my nervous system and my body automatically  gave me the feeling of switching to exercises that   are a little bit easier for me but that's actually  periodization where you say i have maybe one month   of training very hard exercises or two months  whatever then one or two months with training ex   intermediate exercises or like the same exercises  but with longer hard times and harder progressions   easier progression sorry and maybe then one month  with even more volume that's periodization to try   to just switch the intensity in different months  or different phases of your training so you can   approach it scientifically or you can approach  it however you like to feel it but i would just   recommend to listen to your body for example in  some point of training i feel like my tendons   of the tens of my wrist i don't have a very thick  wrist so sometimes i feel like the tendons of my   wrist it's a little bit too much for them on those  weeks or months i will not pull a lot of hephestos   i will more do more faster rows or whatever  for still being strong there and then at some   point of time i just feel like doing infestos and  then i go for it and it's interesting it's mostly   automatically like i would say automatically  periodization automatic periodization yeah true   like if you listen to your body it it  automatically uh like gives you a direction and uh   yeah basically advice but you also work  together with uh dennis like uh if i have it uh   correctly in mind as a as a coach or like um can  you explain more how um an advanced athlete uh   like you um why does it still make sense to have  a coach and to have somebody who who guides you   he's not coaching me at the moment at least not  officially like i was he officially coached me on   a regular basis for half a year it's some time  ago i decided to right now be my like not my   own coach but i'm not being into a strict coaching  program with him but i'm still in contact with him   since he's ordered a personal friend of mine so  what he is very good at or what i can say from   the outside he's very good at is um is teaching  athletes with with a like scientific approach or   also with an approach that is more about planning  very strictly the workouts and he's bringing a   lot of athletes that are working with him on a  very good level with that my personal opinion   about it is that there are some people who like  to work this way and who also progress this way   but for example if you're a fan guy who just  wants to go to the park and do whatever he   feels like doing i'm not saying that you  should do stuff with platform or whatever but   a guy who just is more about like let's  say having a more emotional approach   this might not be the best way for you because  it might get on your nerves that you will have to   write down every set and every hole and whatever  i also don't like it do it all the time so i can   say there are very very good athletes with a  very emotional approach on training they just   do whatever they feel like doing and they get very  good at it because their body tells them what to   do and they listen to it and then there are also  some athletes who have more scientific approach   i personally like to combine both but if i would  if i would be allowed to only choose one i would   choose the emotional even for i'm a trainer and  even for i like to think a lot about what's the   best way to work out and to make my thoughts about  it it can somehow also put the fun away of it   because you try to be make everything perfect  but for example sometimes maybe you need to do   everything perfect you just need to put your  headphones in and do what you like doing and   you will be even stronger than if you think about  everything perfectly because you automatically do   what you should be doing but yeah this is my  thoughts on this topic it's it's like i think   there are different opinions in it and it's not  wrong or right i think it's just a personal thing   definitely is so the people that uh are  coming for coaching to you uh what what uh   what kind of people are those i would say they the  most of them like a mixture um i am i'm writing   programs for them so i like this approach of  having a chadur and whatever especially if you are   not an athlete who can afford to only work out and  do nothing else you will probably need some kind   of rhythm so you even work out and you just have  a plan about what you would be doing but i like to   combine a scientific approach or let's let's  say a very um let's say a strict approach or a   planned approach on training i like to combine it  with some with let's say this emotional approach   where some people just feel like they want to do  so they feel like doing whatever they want to do   and people who come to me i like to write programs  for them but in those programs i also have some   open space so i maybe tell them on this day you  can do this if you feel like doing it but if you   don't feel like doing it don't do it so i like to  combine both of it and the people who come to me   are of course people who like let's  say a professional approach because   otherwise they would not have a coach but they  still they are not like people who who want to   or most of them are not people who want to compete  in the new new food near future or whatever   um most of them just like to do it for fun  so i combine i try to combine both approaches   okay so again you combine everything like   yes it's it's part of your personality i think yes  yes some some people hate me they not hate me for   it but i know that there might be some coaches out  there who talk maybe behind my back or whatever i   don't know it because it's bad i think but i think  some people might think this guy is crazy why does   he do this but i think that if that if you if  you're only into the scientific approach you   will also lose some of the realities in the in the  practice that's why i try to always think about it   so when i write a program i use the scientific  approach but i still leave some space open for   uh for emotional things like if you feel like  doing handstand on that day just do it so   yeah yeah i definitely know that from  conversations with uh like your competitive   athletes who um have like a really crazy  schedule and who are like uh being in the   gym at uh midnight and doing their workout because  they have to do it and they are not allowed to go   home before they end the workout the whole workout  that's in their head and um that's how they um   where they need a lot of willpower to do this  and i think only a few people are able to do   this over years and years and years and like for  example you're in in calisthenics since uh 2014   so like around about eight years now um which  is or seven years which is um yeah like um   i think there are really few people who are  able to do this and who have the the mindset   and the willpower to push through this and uh  yeah i can definitely i always also see this   as kind of periodization where you have like  one year of really extreme preparation for a   competition you do like everything that it takes  but then the next two years or next one year um   yeah you just you follow your heart a little  bit more you listen to your body more yes so   that's why what i'm trying to do and that's what  i was trying to do with my with my clients yes um leg workout i'm always impressed when i see  your instagram clips where you do some uh heavy   heavy squats um and uh like i when i see your  shows your static shows i wouldn't expect that   at all so um how does it influence your static  skills do you feel it when you do your planches   your front lever is it maybe even uh yeah  productive does it does it support uh the   front lever with the lower back or whatever what  what you what what what's the thought behind   it and the fault behind it is i do it because i  like to do it but it's not good for my aesthetics   so i can feel one it's interesting i don't know  why it's probably because of the lever and because   of the angle but the the front lever pull ups  are the exercises exercise where i feel the most   my leg work out the most so if when i got  heavier because of training more legs the front   lever pull-up was the number one exercise that got  harder for me um so right now i am at 70 kilograms   when i was like 63 kilograms i think i had my  best front end perhaps better than right now   sadly but that's it um and since i gained some of  the kilos i gained or on my legs and on my butts   it got harder and it makes it harder it's really  like this you you have to say it it's like this   is a reality it makes your aesthetics harder  to train legs try to put a maybe let's say   1.5 kilogram plate or a 2.5 kilogram plate  on your knees while you do a front lever   you will feel that it's really harder and it's  not much if you if you train squats for a longer   amount of time it might be that you will even gain  five kilograms on your legs and if you try to do   a frontal with five kilograms on your knees or  maybe even just on your fights you will feel that   it makes a bit big difference um so you cannot  lie about it it makes it make statics harder   and i know that i am also making it harder for  myself because i'm training x i still like to do   it but i also give my my skills a bigger let's say  a bigger birth because i can i can if i can hold   a front lever with doing 100 kilogram squats for  reps it's harder than being able to do a problem   without training legs at all and that's why i know  that like maybe from the outside it looks like i   have very statics or whatever or it's it makes my  statics harder but for myself i i it still has a   birth because i know that it's harder because i  do it so whatever you want to uh to call it there   are a lot of athletes by the way who also have  strong statics and also strong gags for example   like denton or from england or for example misha  from germany um so it's possible but yeah it's it   makes it harder the the lower back is just a very  smart factor that gets stronger but it's not like   it will help you very very much okay and yeah  that's mainly i would say this is one thing   actually maybe we can talk a little bit about it  that a lot of athletes and people who train don't   understand it's the biomechanics of calisthenics  so i see even a lot of very strong guys who don't   think about it but it's very logical it's just  like if you let's go from the front level if you   do a front lever the the center of your weight  might be around your belly so if you draw a line   from your hands downwards it might face your belly  or your hip so that's the center of your gravity   there and everything that's below this center  of gravity will make the lever harder so your   shoulders and your back will have to be stronger  to hold the weights and uh yeah if you if you have   heavier legs you will actually just have to have  more strength in your shoulders to be able to hold   the lever if you have like heavier legs you will  have to lean forward more in the full planche for   example and this it's harder to hold it then so  it's just the biomechanical factor of it does   weight on the calves make the front lever uh a  lot harder than weight on the butt for example   because it's uh closer to the to this line yes  if you if you think about it like this it will   be like it because like you said it's closer to  the land uh it will be like this but i would say   it's around the same because if you start maybe  squatting the weight you will gain on your butt   will be much more than the weight on your calves  your calf is a smaller muscle so the percentile   gaining will be this may be the same but  if you gain 50 more on your butt it will   be much more weight than if you gain 50  more 50 on your calves that's why it may   be sums up for it i actually don't have the  exact measurements we had it in university   it was interesting a guy measured the percentile  weight of every muscle in comparison to the whole   body weights but the calf is not a muscle  that has a very high weight in comparison   to your body weight but yes it's much harder  to put one kilogram on your calf than you   put one kilogram on your butt or on your hip  while doing the front level you can try it out   wow okay so um yeah definitely um and what  is the way or is there a way if we like   approach this topic from a health perspective  and it's healthy to work on on your legs um   what way is there to have like um let's say skinny  but strong legs um yes you can try to do that   it's even something i kind of try to it's not  possible to have very very various kidney but   strong eggs strength is also like you  you need some muscle mass first right   but um you can try to generally um work on more  let's say coordinative exercises for the legs so   for example if you do maybe champs or maybe more  balancing work on your legs you can still have   intense leg work out but which is more about  coordination than about gaining muscle mass   but you cannot go around gaining mass on your  legs if you work on them so for example if you   look at the physique of a sprinter or the physique  of a marathon runner the marathon runner will have   much smaller legs but odds are not like they will  be strong at being good at endurance but they will   not be strong at doing a heavy squat so what you  could do is having an endurance approach for your   legs so you will train the muscle fibers that are  strong at endurance more those muscle fibers are   not as as heavy and as big as the muscle fibers  who are working on maximum strength so in this   way you could train legs without gaining a lot  of mass there but if you want to be strong if   you want to do a maybe a 100 kilogram squat or a  150 kilogram squat or whatever you will have to   gain at least some mass in your legs and you will  not like the only thing you could say is i'm not   eating anything so i can't gain mass but this will  also influence your upper body mass and it will   also probably be not good so what you could try  to do like i i also heard it it's not working but   it's a joke you can try those squats and not  eat all the day you squats and if you work   on your upper body you eat a lot but your  body is not working like that so you cannot   uh like your upper body and your legs are one  part of your body and you cannot try to gain   mass in your upper body and doing strength work  for the legs and trying to not gain master it's   it's just hard but you can train like maybe more  endurance or more coordination then you will be   able to have leg workouts without adding a lot  of mess there probably is there a reps number   that uh somebody can aim for to um strain the  endurance part is it everything about 15 or 20   or what's what's the number yeah it depends like  i would say it's um it's like scientifically you   could say like you said maybe 15 to 20 or 12  to 20 there is not the strict border of course   you always train some part of the other fibers as  well um but of course the higher the reps the less   you it will it will the more it will be  due for endurance and the less it will be   for the maximum strength but yes for example  uh for the squats you could say if you do   much more reps with with uh less weight you  will not maybe not gain that that much mass   but still it's a strength exercise so maybe if you  go for a long run that's really something that's   that might not influence your mess very very  much but you can still gain some calves from   that so it's not like it doesn't do anything so  i can understand if people say i skipped working   on my legs completely or i just do mobility work  on my legs it's like if you try to stay healthy i   would at least recommend to do some mobility work  on your legs if you're not working physically and   sitting all the day like most people are today  with if they are not training then i would   recommend to still do some work for your lower  body just for having hip mobility and whatever   um but you can skip the strength part of course  for your health approach it's good to have some   basic strength but you don't need to be able to  squat 100 kilograms or 150 kilograms if you want   to stay healthy it's also okay to just  have a little bit less less intensity there   cool thanks for the insights that's uh really  interesting um in my opinion like the um the   like because you're not i wouldn't it's not  like a conversation with a um with aesthetics   athletes let's say who never squatted and  who is like completely against squatting   um but it's really uh like that i the interview  somebody who is um kind of neutral like kind of a   neutral perspective i would say and that's that's  rare in the calisthenics you you have the street   lifters who are like what you don't trade legs  you're not a you're not an athlete you're you   have to be a complete athlete and then there  are the aesthetics athletes who don't work on   the legs at all yeah i think it's just i think  it's stupid to have an approach where you will   where you say this is what it needs  to be this is what it needs to take   so if i'm honest some people might not like me  for saying that but it's sometimes an ego problem   i see in i won't call any names and i also don't  have names in my mind but i think it's a general   generally something that can happen if you oh if  you define yourself by your skills in this sport   then you will start being like oh if you don't  do it exactly like i do then you you're not as   good as i am and if you don't work everything i  guess for example if you don't work statics and   basics and legs you're not a real athlete but i  think it's stupid to have a concept in mind what   you have to be to be a real athlete but because  it's just a concept it's not reality so i would   recommend to everyone to just work on the things  that they like doing and if it's squatting then   do it and if it's not then don't do it um because  this comparison to each other takes the fun away   takes the motivation away i think there is no  point at all in doing that i would just recommend   everyone to do what they feel like doing of  course to stay healthy but if you're already into   calisthenics there is a much much higher um chance  that you are healthy because you're actually doing   something with your body because most people  don't even do anything for their body so   if if you even if you do aggie push-ups and  that's it it's still better than doing nothing and   that's why i think that it's that it doesn't make  sense to compare yourself to others all the time   or do other training like principles or whatever  of course you can try to get the best out of   everything for yourself but i would not recommend  you to compare yourself with with everyone sure   and there are so many different goals so many uh  different uh motives and motivations behind the   people that you see on social media why they train  and what are their goals and you should never   judge somebody just because he's skipping  legs but maybe it's his goal to set up some   some static records and like why should somebody  who is who wants to uh do a statics world record   why should he be able to squad 150 kg at the same  time like it doesn't make sense yeah it's true so   yeah records or like really focus always  needs um to say no to other things um and   yeah yeah that's why i'm actually happy to not be  only into calisthenics and into coaching it's part   of my life of course but i'm also like a normal  guy i'm even working for a local church and doing   some other stuff and sometimes when i think about  those calisthenics problem and then i look into   the real world let's say outside the calisthenics  scene it looks stupid what are those guys arguing   about they could be thankful for having a nice  sport but instead of being thankful for just   being able to do something they argue about what's  best and it's an unnecessary problem that we make   for ourselves i think and i think it it hinders  and it like it really slows down the growth of   the sport um if the the sport itself doesn't  uh uh stick together then it's it's harder to   to grow because nobody wants to be  part of a hating community or something   yeah well it's a general human problem it's not  understandable actually i think the calisthenic   scene is one of the friendliest portraits true  definitely nothing against the characteristics i   really like it true that's that's definitely true  um yeah i'm just like always scared that uh the   the the many directions that are in the sport with  freestyle slash uh dynamics with statics with the   street lifting with endurance that it's too much  to stick together you know like um yeah but yeah   i understand but you're trying yourself to  be a i think like donation is a brand that   tries to support everything yeah i always think  that it's good to not be only about one thing true   that's it so we're a little bit the ahem girls  of the the calisthenics team we do everything we yeah um yeah we also received a lot of questions  about your front lever like um what are the   the mistakes that you see people doing in  their front lever training uh what is the   your general advice for for front lever training  maybe um the most useful like people are always   interested in something practical so the most  useful um progression for you or i don't know   just your experience and the mistakes that  you see for front lever training yes yes very   interesting question because actually i have a  front lever tutorials it also got watched a lot of   times but some things in there i would maybe say  differently right now and i can do it right now   um because i think that there is like one of the  biggest problems not only in front level but in   skill training in general is not to train specific  specific enough so if you are just working   on tucked front lever it's good for your  shoulders maybe but you will not get used to   being in the same angle than if you are in the  forefront level so your your let's say your   hip and your hip flexors and your abs will not be  contracted or not at least not very much during um   the attacked one and in the fourth one it will be  completely so if you for example only work on tact   and never go to a progression where your hip is  opened you will not get this part of the movement   another so this is one mistake i see people  not including exercises where their hip is open   so for example front lever raises or front  lever negatives full front lever negatives   on the rings or even half variations are  movements where your hip is open so i would   recommend to try to at least at a certain level  put some of those variations into your training   and yeah another problem might be um only working  on the core and never working on the shoulders   because this is also like if it's a core part and  it's a shoulders and back part in the front lever   and i think you will have to combine both of them  um and one of the main main mistakes is of course   to only work on progressions with bad form it  won't strengthen the muscle groups you actually   need so just going for the hardest hardest  progression without being able to do it with   any good form it's also not the best thing  to do it but i think there is not like just   one mistake people do it's just a combination of  everything but try to keep in mind to be specific   and maybe one last example example i can give  you a matching a guy doing a tucked front lever   and then straightening his legs and body  going into a full front lever imagining   a guy being able to do it and you will look at  him from the side while he straightens his legs   the angry of his uh of his arms in comparison to  his upper body will be a little bit smaller so   his shoulders will go backwards while his while  his legs go forwards because of the principle   we talked about before of the center of gravity  so he will be in a different shorter position   so you cannot also not only just go into training  tucked front lever for one minute and expecting   to be automatically able to do a very good front  lever because it's a different angle so that's   just an example i can give it's why it's important  to train specifically and to try to also progress   yeah so right now if i could only choose one  exercise it would maybe even be negatives on   the rings for for getting there step by step  but of course it's good to have a variation cool um that's uh good you already said how  long it took you for the fourth first front   over i think it was one year after uh  like the the first uh workouts um yeah   i think we're um mostly done with the with the  workout park uh part work on park a workout part   um how does your day look like right now um  as you said you're like doing a lot of things   right now so maybe you want to share a little bit  uh your your day right now how does it look like   yeah a typical day of achieving corona looks  like that i'm getting enough sleep which is nice   because my university is online and right now also  not in the mornings but more in the afternoon so i   get enough sleep right now which is good sometimes  maybe a little bit too much if i'm honest   and yeah i get up in the morning however i i just  try to sleep seven to eight hours if possible   mostly it's actually eight sometimes even nine if  i'm exhausted from working out or doing a lot of   things and since it's a lockdown i'm i'm going  to university as i said before i'm studying to   become a teacher at religion sports and biology  those so those are the subject i'm studying and   i don't have a very typical day because  it's a mixture of a lot of different things   mostly but mostly i try to do some stuff outside  in the mornings so since it's a lockdown and i'm   staying at home a lot of time and i really love  nature i often go outside in the morning not every   day but often um actually i'm doing like let's  say inspirational prayer part in the morning i   i like to do it for myself i'm reading the bible  or whatever that's what i do in the morning mostly   it's reading the bible praying or whatever maybe  dating sometimes just being a little bit quiet   not starting into the day with with a very big  rush um yeah they like to do it outside and often   i even combine it with with organisatorically  stuff that i can do from my phone sometimes even   with the laptop outside not always but sometimes  so sometimes you could catch me sitting on the   forests organizing my emails just because i  like to be outside not every day but sometimes   and then i might get home have some only  university work to do there for example   um having the lecture or having to write an essay  or whatever it's very different then i might have   one or two hours in between it's not planned  where i have to do some organ organizing stuff   so um since i'm not only working as a coach as i  said before i'm also working um like it's not not   not very officially but sometimes it's officially  sometimes not planning events for the church i'm   leading a youth group there so sometimes  i'm doing some organizing stuff in between   i'm having a personal training in between and  yeah it's a mix of a lot of things i don't have   a very typical day but i mostly work out on  the evenings or afternoons of these days and   yes in the evening i like to meet some friends if  i haven't met them while working out anyways and   to be with my wife at home so yeah it's it's very  it's i don't have a very typical day if i'm honest   so it but mostly my days a mixture of at least  two or three different things so i'm not having   sometimes i try to block it i try to just  do one university day and then one day   just for calisthenics stuff or whatever  but it's not always like this right now   at this point of time in my life i'm also  making a lot of thoughts about the future   so me and my wife also think a lot about stuff  like global poverty and um also global aid and   whatever so we have some connections to african  countries and friends in africa who are working   there and yeah maybe this will also be part of  my future life doing something for this i am not   seeing myself only as a calisthenics person  i like the sport because it's something that   gets people together but in general i'm yeah  not only focusing on this part of my life so   you might i don't know it i don't want to promise  anything but you might see me living in africa one   day working for something else and still working  out on some bar there probably whatever but i'm   not knowing it right now it's just something  we are making thoughts about uh yeah it's just   because we feel like we're very blessed with our  lives in austria we have a lot of like we are   rich people everyone who lives in australia  germany is rich in comparison to the world   and that's why we think about maybe doing  doing something for where people don't have it   and helping development helping developing like  stuff there but it's not nothing that's that's   fixed yet it's just something i'm making thoughts  about and so that's also i also have some projects   for example a project in uganda i'm working  on with friends and also some parts of my time   are are spent for stuff like this so as  i said before a lot of different stuff   but thanks for sharing sounds uh really really  interesting and uh definitely a respect for that   and um yeah definitely really interesting and good  luck for that so um something that uh i would be   interested in how does your food look like in a  day do you take um care like um for healthy food   is it do your meal prep what do you eat yes um  one like i talked about the topic right now it's   one thing i made some more thoughts about in  the last time is like biological foods and or   buying more local food so i had a food approach  of just buying whatever has the most protein   or whatever uh is the best for gaining mass this  was my food approach some years ago but then i   made some more thoughts about the production  of the meat for example i was eating and the   production of the milk products and of the plants  everything i was eating where does it come from   is it the goods um like is it a good  relationship to the one who is is   producing it and whatever um like are the workers  in good circumstances so right now i'm combining   like trying to combine thinking about um having  quality foods best from roker like from the locals   um how do it how do you carry it the local  producers yeah and whatever yeah not buying not   buying meat from argentina or whatever and trying  to have a like biological food if i can get it   so yeah my my nutrition is mostly vegetarian  i'm not the strict vegetarian to be honest so if   i'm invited for example i will not say no to  meat but i don't cook meat or buy meat on my own   same goes with milk but with that i'm not that  strict so i'm normally drinking biological milk   i'm just not trying to drink some trash kind of  milk and yoghurts as well it's produced from milk   so it's the same um so i'm not a vegan but i'm  i'm making a lot of thoughts about or try to make   more thoughts about where my food comes from i'm  not a professional and i'm not perfect when i'm   honest with it so i still have some things i  buy where i'm thinking where does it come from   whatever but with that i try to eat still enough  eating it healthy my typical day i can tell it   to you is maybe some oats uh with some maybe you  know it we have i'm happy about that we have it   in um biologically it's the yogurts maybe  you know it it has a lot of protein so   um in austria and we say  toph more and german quack   it's something like this and i eat it together  with some oats and some fruits maybe i will   have some eggs with some bread as a snack in  between and maybe i will have a second main meal   of the day maybe it would be some noodles with  vegetables or whatever and i will have some snacks   like maybe nuts in between and eating of course  fruits or vegetables also in between so i don't   have a strict eating written or shadool but i'm  trying to eat healthy and i'm also trying to think   about where the food i'm buying is coming from  which i didn't do before but it's a challenge for   me to be honest so sometimes you buy something in  the store and then you think about where does this   meat come from maybe this cow was one of million  cows who was slaughtered in bad conditions and   i don't want to buy it if you think about it but  it's something you wouldn't have to start doing   so i'm trying to think about more to think more  about it at the moment i'm not a pro at it so   yeah that's what i eat trying to have healthy  stuff uh and if possible or the local stuff   cool great um yeah the interview is already  uh over an hour so we um come to an end slowly   um maybe to sum up all the um yeah training  advice workout insights that you shared with us   um maybe you want to sum up um what are the  main three things that if people improved these   things in their workouts um they would get much  better results much healthier results whatever one thing i would recommend to the people i know  i don't know if it's an international problem or   just an austrian and german problem is to to  actually try to work out and to have a written   like trying to get try to get some kind of plan  you want to follow it doesn't have to be perfect   but but just some structure because as i said  before if you're not a professional athlete you   might even struggle to work out at art so it's  it's good to start with having like at least   some kind of rhythm with it so it doesn't  have to be strict all the time and you don't   have to worry if you skip training  for once but try to at least have   some kind of rhythm you want to follow it will  help you to stay into it this is the first thing   um the second thing i would say if you  want to achieve some exercises actually   go for it i see a lot of people who are just  doing basics which is good and very healthy   but if you want to achieve a skill you will also  have to start working on it specifically so try   to choose try to think about what can get me where  i want to get so not only what can i do right now   some people just work out for the sake of it and  that's good but if you have some goals to progress   some people don't have discourse they just want to  work out to stay healthy which is good but if you   have some goals you want to achieve try to think  about what is the next step that gets me there so   for example if i want to work on the front lever  maybe it would be good to do to if you're strong   enough an attempt or if not just a pre-exercise  for it instead of only doing pull-ups for example   yes and the third third thing would be try to  have fun when working out because um i feel like   we have so many informations about calisthenics  out there it gets even more and it's good you   have some people say you have to do this and then  you have to do this and then you have to do this   and then you have to do this um but if it's not  fun to you and if it's not something that gives   positive energy into your life it will probably  not be something that you will keep doing   and even if it will not be something that gives  you a lot of positive energy so i would recommend   you to try to have fun when you work out so work  out with with partners if you if it's better for   you try to go outside something for me it's  very important in those times of the lockdown   to work out outside and not only staying at  home all the time so try to meet people maybe   try to do something that's good for you  with with this part wow well that's cool   thanks a lot for all these insights we always have  some quick questions quick answers at the end of   the each interview so um yeah pizza or burger  um burger verga um sorry weegen if possible   like they are like vegan burgers but it's okay  true are you a dog or a cat person dog person   do you have a favorite location for holidays just nature spots but not one specific um  yeah what are the athletes that inspire you   athletes that inspire me i would say a  lot of different ones so i don't have one   but i try to try to take the  best out of each one i have   one one i can tell is for example victor camanov a  friend of mine cool um do you have a favorite book   yes the bible i expected that  uh do you have a favorite movie um maybe the chronicles of narnia i don't know  if you if you know the movie yeah but i i still   liked it as a child very much and i still like  it very much even the story that's behind it   i like it a lot cool um yeah do you have a  favorite skill like what is your favorite skill i would say maybe one finger  front lever effect yeah i like it   yeah the best calisthenics  event you've ever been at oh wow that's hard that's hard   there are so many good ones but i think  the first fibo was a very nice experience   until 2017 the first people i have been to but i  don't know if it's there are a lot of good ones um so shout out to bars flakes and two  world of buy heroes for for the great   fibos where we also get to know each other uh by  this by the way um yeah and then the last question   not a quick quick uh not a quick answer but uh  yeah what's your message to the calisthenics   community what do you want to say tell the the  listeners i would say um as i said before as   well try to make the best of out of the sport  try to not compare yourself to each other but   try to help us each other and try to try to take  the positive parts out of this part for your life   sure true words um how can people get  in touch with you where do they find you   what links can they expect in the bio uh in the  in the description of this video yeah um first of   course my youtube it's a german channel but there  are subtitles for some videos there or for some   tutorials um it's daniel calisthenics my home page  it's for um for if you want to have a coaching   with me or whatever it there's my homepage then  calisthenics.com and of course also my instagram   ahimgoelis great um yeah then we're coming to  an end ahem thanks a lot for your time i really   appreciate uh i think it was a really practical  episode that's what i always really enjoy if it's   really something where you listen and you can take  a lot of things for your own workout um so thanks   a lot for sharing these insights and uh yeah  showing giving giving us your experience in in the   sport your long experience so um yeah before you  can end the episode and i want to say thank you to   everyone listening to this till the end it's been  a long interview i always appreciate it extremely   if somebody is sticking with us till the end so  big big thank you if you are listening to this and   yeah if you want to support the episode give it  a thumbs up that helps a lot and if you want to   have someone in the show just leave a comment  down below with the athlete's name and yeah then   thanks a lot to you and you can say goodbye and  end the episode thanks very much for listening   thanks for being there and yeah and don't  have nothing else to say have a good one bye.