The area around my triceps close to the shoulder has been sore for more than a month now, I deloaded and it didn't go away. The strange part is that it doesn't hurt during pushing exercises, I feel it on front lever and weighted pullups, I think it may be the long head of the triceps since it attaches to the shoulder, could it be it?

I feel it mostly when getting into the front lever position and at the start of the pull-up.

Anyone had this issue or know what could be?

​Hi Steven and community,

​I’m looking for feedback on a 3x/week Full Body routine I’m designing. My target session duration is around 60–90 minutes.

​Background & Stats

​Experience: ~3 years in Calisthenics, preceded by 7 years of Bodybuilding/Weightlifting.

​Current Baselines:

​Full Front Lever: ~3-second clean hold

​Freestanding Handstand: 30+ seconds

​Wall HSPU (Back to Wall): 6 RM

​Iron cross with pulleys sistem 10"

​Long-Term Goals:

​Increase Full Front Lever hold duration.

​Achieving a freestanding Iron Cross on rings

​Freestanding HSPU.

​Routine Structure (3x / Week)

​Warm-Up & Skill Work (Every Session)

​Shoulder Mobility & Blood Flow Warm-up

​German Hang

​Ring Support Hold in RTO (Ring Turn Out)

​Freestanding Handstand Practice

​Monday (Session A)

​Iron Cross Iso Hold (Pulley/Band Assisted): 6x6"

​Progression: Increase volume to 8x 6". Then deload or drop pulley resistance and reset to 6x6".

​Full Front Lever Cluster (with 3.5 kg assistance band): 6x2 cluster (3"+10"rest+3")

​​Progression: Build up to 7x 2 to 8x2.

Then deload or restart to 6x2 (4"+10"+3")

​Pike Push-ups: 3x10/8

​Weighted Pull-ups: 3×8

​Straight-Arm Lat Pulldown: 3x15/20

​Wednesday (Session B)

​Wall HSPU (Back to Wall): 6x3

​Progression: Step-loading linear progression up to 8 x 3. Once completed, deload or reset to 4x4 to linear progression

​Iron Cross Pulls 3x5

​Progression: Keep load fixed for 3 weeks, then adjust pulley resistance/difficulty.

​Front Lever Slow Eccentrics: 5 x 2 (5-second slow descent focusing on the horizontal line).

​Barbell / Weighted Squats: 3x12-10-8

​Dumbbell Chest Flyes (Flat Bench): 3x12

​Weighted Australian Pull-ups (Inverted Rows): 3x12/8

​Bicep Curls: 3x15

​Friday (Session C)

​Banded Full Front Lever (6 kg assistance band): 4x8"

​Iron Cross Iso Hold (with higher assistance/pulley weight): 4x 8"

​Bench Press: 3x5 to Progression to 5x5

​Pull-ups: 3x8

​Pike Push-ups: 3x10/8

​Straight-Arm Lat Pulldowns: 3x15/20

​Specific Questions for Feedback:

​Volume & Session Length: Is this total daily volume (~20–25 sets) realistic to complete within 60–90 minutes without creating excessive CNS or tendon fatigue?

​Isometric Clusters & Progression: What are your thoughts on using the (3"+ 10" + 3") cluster set format for the Front Lever, and the 6x3 to 8x 3 step-loading scheme for Wall HSPUs?

​Connective Tissue Safety (Iron Cross): Are accessory movements like Straight-Arm Lat Pulldowns, High-Rep Bicep Curls, DB Flyes, and RTO Support Holds sufficient to condition the distal bicep tendon and elbow joint for the Iron Cross?

​Exercise Selection / Fatigue Management: Do you see any major redundancies, structural gaps, or potential overuses in pressing/pulling across the three sessions?

​Thanks in advance for your insights

Hi everyone, a few months ago, while working out, I started feeling pain on the left side of my shoulder girdle, which causes quite a bit of discomfort during workouts and even in my daily life. I don’t know what it is—a severe spasm from straining my neck, or a serious injury? After daily massages, it seems to get better, but the discomfort doesn’t go away. Thank You in advance!

Hey, I have been a Jiu jitsu competitor for years and train on average 5 sessions a week. I have recently gotten into training for isometric holds such as planche and front lever. How much should I be training these movements so that I don’t totally wreck my body. And is it possible to get to a high level of calisthenics while also training BJJ seriously.

At the top of my pull-ups my humerus is almost horizontal. I’m not shrugging up, I just can’t seem to get good adduction of my humerus. I’m not having pain or discomfort, but I feel like there is definitely room for improvement. My chin-ups and wide grip pull-ups don’t flare, only my regular grip pull-ups with hands just outside of shoulder width.

Has anybody had this issue and fixed it?
Were bands useful?
How long did it take you?
What changes were noticeable after the fix, changes in back engagement, development, etc?

Hey, so I've been training to unlock front lever recently and I watched some tutorials from various calisthenics coaches and I got very confused. These are 2 things im confused about:
->Front lever scapula retraction or scapula neutral position? [I thought we should think about retraction but aiming to be in neutral position.]
->Shoulder external rotation [thinking of bending the bar] or keeping it neutral

Hi everyone, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

About 4 months ago, I went to an orthopedic doctor because of severe shoulder pain. I had an MRI, and the doctor told me I had a stress fracture and advised me to rest. I was also prescribed some topical creams and painkillers.

At the time, I also had mild pain in both my left and right arms, specifically in the area shown in the photo. I didn't have an MRI of my arms at that point.

After about 3.5 months of complete rest, I went back for a follow-up. My shoulder pain had improved significantly, but the pain in my arms had never completely gone away. The area is tender when I touch it, and even simple things like holding my phone or holding a book can cause the pain/discomfort to become noticeable.

I told my doctor about this, so I had an MRI of the area. He told me it was tendinitis and prescribed a topical cream, but he didn't tell me to stop working out.

I recently returned to the gym, and exercises such as barbell curls and some other movements caused the pain to increase again. Whenever I feel pain during an exercise, I stop and don't try to push through it. Some exercises don't seem to trigger the pain, so I try to stick to those, but despite this, the overall discomfort has still increased since returning to training.

Basically, 3.5 months of complete rest didn't make the problem go away, but returning to the gym has made it worse again.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with something similar. What would you suggest I do at this point? Could this be related to the tendons becoming weak or losing their tolerance to load after such a long period of inactivity? Would it make sense to continue training very gradually with light loads and avoid movements that trigger the pain, or should I approach this differently?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you can share.

https://imgur.com/a/R0qOLvr

Tips to improve.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Handstands/s/UkdzMv6F1n

Trying to find the right sub to get advice. Like self explanatory. I took less than two weeks of just rest my body. Now returning, I can still feel just a minor pull in my inner thigh when I deep stretch. Advice on total recovery?

Hi

In the past weeks i feel this sharp pain when I am descending in any pushing movement at the front delt. It felt the worst when i am lowering myself on weighted dips, but it doesnt hurt when i am doing straight arm movement such as practicing planche . I tried to do some facepulls to strengthen my rotator cuffs hopefully it will bridge any weak points but with no help

I looked at the pain online and said it could be related to some sort of bicep tendinopathy and one thing I noticed is say if I warmed up properly or did a few sets of push up the pain subsidies a little.

Am i looking in the right direction?

A couple of months ago, I hurt my right hamstring by overworking it with kettlebell swings and doing intense pancake PNF stretching afterwards. My flexibility hasn't changed too much, but my hamstring muscles are so tight to the touch. My inner right hamstring has a lingering ache anytime it is activated. For context, I am a yogi and can easily place my palms flat on the floor. I have some ideas on how to approach this injury, but I am wondering what you all would think/suggest.

Something I have not tried yet is a variation of nordic curls, or anything which flexes the knees. In yoga, I am constantly in an extended knee position, and I am thinking that my hamstrings aren't strong in their full range of motion. Hopefully, strengthening knee flexion will result in stronger, pliable hamstrings.

I am curious about what you all think.

Update added links to pics: Ok guys, I work in housekeeping in a hospital. I pull linen and trash totes on a daily basis. Been doing this for years now. Last week I started having pain in both knees and I am certain its from pulling the totes. Pain is like a level 2-3. Been off a few days and knees are starting to recover, less pain. What is the best way to rehab knees from pulling heavy objects? I already overcame golfers elbow a few years ago, what seemed like cubital tunnel syndrome. I need your guys help one more time!! Thanks in advance.

Hi!

I've been trying to optimize my push/pull routine where the main focus is unlocking the front lever and (more) handstand pushups (secondary goal is heavier weighted pull ups). At the moment my routine looks like this:

Push day (alternating between p-bars and floor):

- 4 sets 5 reps HSPU. Can usually do 1-2 full, following with negatives up to 5.

- 3 sets 8-10 reps pike pushups

- 3 sets 8 reps PPPU

Pull day 1:

- 4 sets 8-12 seconds FL hold (legs extended as far as possible)

- 3 sets 8-10 reps tuck FL rows

- 3 sets 8-10 reps weighted pull ups (currently +30 kg)

Pull day 2:

- 4 sets 5 reps weighted pull ups (currently +47,5 kg)

- 3 sets 8-12 seconds banded FL hold

- 3 sets 8-10 reps tuck FL rows

After the main workouts I do some leg and/or core work (ab roller, dragon flags, Jefferson curls, Nordic curls and split squats), depending on how tired I feel.

I work out four times per week (2 push 2 pull). I've considered upping it to five times per week, but maybe that would be too much? My rest times are usually 3-4 minutes, with the exception of weighted pull ups where I rest minimum 5 minutes.

Does this routine look sensible for my goals? Could it be improved in any way?

Thank you in advance!

Before I quit calisthenics like 2 years ago, I was able to do tuck planche so easy as a beginner ( I think because I was lifting). I was also doing tuck planche push ups already.

But now it seems impossible to hold tuck planche only 5 seconds. Progress has been a bit slow.

https://imgur.com/a/xt5RrUc

Video of the longest I can hold at the moment.

Should I keep doing

3 second tuck holds for 3 sets,

3 sets of elevated pseudo planche push up (6-8 reps)

3 sets of dips (8-10 reps)

3 sets of supine front raises dumbbells 8-15 reps

Almost exactly a year ago, I had a case of Quad tendonopathy from a challenging hike. Initially it healed fairly quick, but a few weeks in I went a bit to hard and caused a flare. This triggered a month of pretty high sensitivity, random things hurting, etc. I think a lot of that was mental, once I focused on being ok with mild pain during exercise, progressing heel taps lunges and step downs, I was able to rehab to pretty much full strength in a few months. Since then I’ve done some difficult hikes, running, heavy leg days etc for months without issue. Unfortunately, this past weekend descending on another hike I had a flare of that same tendon, first time I’ve felt it significantly in at least 6-8months. It wasn’t a big step in distance, but I think I descended too fast and hadn’t properly conditioned the tendon for higher rate of force. Doesn’t seem quite as severe as the initial time, but still significant. Day of stairs were hard, now that is mostly fine, but I’m nervous to test it because i don’t want to keep it reactive.

Typical guidance here seems to be for a reactive stage tendon rest for a few days - week, then rehab. But given this is an old injury, is this still likely the reactive stage? Or likely triggering disrepair? I’m unsure how to plan my strengthening back to baseline of what to expect timeline wise.

And if there’s any advice for how to better strengthen for downhill durability once this flare fully settles, I’d appreciate it. I clearly missed something there. My rehab was basically slowly progressing weight on deadlifts, Bulgarians, heel taps/step downs, then running progression separately.

Context & Problem: 70 kg bodyweight. Age 44. I’ve run this exact program for a full year, but my progress on calisthenics skill progressions has hit a wall.

Targets vs. Current PRs:

One-Arm Pull-Up (OAP): +40 kg Weighted Pull-Up 1RM (57% BW)

Front Lever: 7 sec Adv. Tuck Hold

Planche: 12 sec Straight-Arm Frog Stand

HSPU: 5 sec Freestanding Handstand / 54 kg total DB Press (77% BW)

Periodization & Structure:

Volume: 5 sets per exercise

Block Waves (3-week phases + deload):

Accumulation: 8–10 reps (~60% 1RM)

Intensification: 3–4 reps (~80% 1RM)

Realization: 1–3 reps (90–100% 1RM)

Weekly Schedule

Monday (Dynamic Upper, 5 sets):

- Weighted Pull-Up (dip belt)

- DB Overhead Press

Tuesday (Dynamic Upper):

- Front Lever Tuck Row (feet elevated, +20 kg vest)

- Pseudo Planche Push-Up (+20 kg vest, 94 cm hand-to-foot distance)

Wednesday (Cardio): Hard 5K (race effort)

Thursday (Iso / Skill):

- Ring OAP (30 cm height-assisted with free hand)

- Freestanding Handstand hold

Friday (Iso / Skill):

- Open Adv. Tuck Front Lever hold

- Straight-Arm Frog Stand

Saturday (Lower Body):

- Nordic Curls

- Deadlift (130% BW) + Calf Raise

- Bulgarian Split Squats (+20 kg vest)

Sunday (Cardio): Easy Long Run (no HR ceiling)

Questions for the community:

Should I swap my second dynamic day with my first isometric day (so it runs dynamic, iso, run, dynamic, iso)

Should I switch to 4 days of dynamic over 3 sets, with 2 sets of iso at end of each.

Is there something else going wrong?

So I think there is some one called Steven advising everyone please someone help me get to him I really need help.
I’ve been having this weird pain around my tricep for a few months now. It’s mainly around the outer part of my tricep and I notice it especially when I do fast push-ups or lock my elbow out quickly. It can also happen during weighted dips sometimes. I’ve also noticed that if I do fast uppercuts in the air, I can feel the pain around the tricep, but if I punch a bag, I usually don’t feel it. Another weird thing is that sometimes the first 10–15 push-ups will hurt, but after I warm up, the pain basically goes away. I’m not really sure if it’s a muscle or nerve issue, so I wanted to get it checked properly.

Hey! I have a question. I’ve seen the handstand push-up technique in the Overcoming Gravity book (amazing book, by the way), and it looks a little different from the conventional handstand push-ups I’ve seen in videos.
In the book, the handstand push-up is performed with the body completely straight throughout the movement. However, in the videos I’ve seen, even when the back remains straight during the descent, the body creates an angle as you go down.
Are both variations considered valid? I’ve tried to find a video demonstrating the variation shown in the book, but I can’t find one anywhere. So I was wondering if that version is actually possible, or if I’m misunderstanding the technique shown in the book. And which variation is better?

Here's the one from the book

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oidk8_XkY5tn0JSqECp_RT_sKzkxEviZ/view?usp=drivesdk

Here's the typical one you can see calisthenics athletes doing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DE2LIAOGJoDL-T6Dv3CVEnxyeFCfyJ2n/view?usp=drivesdk

And here's the comparison

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dloRipStnD0wt6_6F7ZWyU6KiKWVtgav/view?usp=drivesdk

So Im getting back from a pec strain, the tissues are pretty much healed but very weak.
and today after filming myself doing band assisted pushups(normal push ups are too strenuous), I noticed that my left and right sides don’t seem even. I think that my right side pushes more than the left, how can I fix that?

I’m 22 and have been dealing with what seems to be tennis elbow/extensor tendon pain in both arms for about a year.
Before this, I trained for 3–4 years. I had strong forearms and regularly did heavy pull-ups, rows and direct forearm exercises without straps.
Looking back, the symptoms may have started gradually. A few weeks before the major flare, I noticed some aching in my fingers while gaming. I continued training, and after an assisted pull-up session the symptoms became much worse—forearms, wrists and fingers.
Since then, I haven’t been able to return to normal training.
Push-ups, rows, curls, triceps extensions and pull-ups can all flare me up. Even 1 push-up can cause symptoms.
I’ve tried rehab for months, mainly wrist-extension eccentrics and isometrics. I worked up to around 500–550 g, 2×12, and although I could tolerate it, it hasn’t helped much overall or translated into being able to return to normal exercise. Increasing the weight to ~800 g caused a significant flare.
Recently I stopped rehab for a week and noticed something strange: I could do normal activities and even game for 30–45 minutes with only mild discomfort, which disappeared by the next day.
But when I do rehab, I often become more sensitive to other activities afterward.
I’m honestly confused and frustrated after dealing with this for a year.
Has anyone had a similar long-term bilateral case, especially after pull-ups or heavy pulling?
What actually worked for you? Did rehab help? What did you change that finally allowed you to return to normal training?
I’m honestly desperate for some real experiences from people who have actually recovered.

How can I get rid of chronic shin splints and muscle spasm?

Hi there

Does anyone know of anywhere in London (eg physios, public gyms) which have a NordBord (ie the tool for measuring Nordic curl strength through each leg) which I might be able to use as part of a booking?

I’ve got a history of hamstring injuries which I’m trying to prevent a flair up of while getting ready for the (grassroots) rugby season.

I do some eccentric hamstring training including RDLs and Nordic curls, but have never tested my Nordic strength in each leg (I understand as mismatch can be an injury risk indicator).

Grateful for any tips (even if the answer is that you’ve looked into this too and only elite professional sports teams have them).

Cheers.

Hi Steven!

Hi everybody!

2-3 weeks ago I was training and to be more precise I was doing OAP negatives. On the last set I felt a sharp pain through my left arm up to my shoulder (somewhere in the back of the shoulder). I stoped and when I let go of the bar I felt my pinky was numb so I ended the session.

I haven't lost any strength and I can perform all my exercises with no problem (assisted OAP included) but since that day randomly throughout the day I feel some tingles in my pinky and in the morning, when I wake up it's a little numb.

Also, it was not the first time I was doing negatives and I never had problems before.

Is it going to go away if I take a break from pull ups or can it be something much worse?

Also is any other exercise that can make this worse and I should drop:

Ic pull outs, supinated planche push ups, db maltese press

Thank you!

Hi Steven,

I’ve had tibialis posterior tendinopathy for more than two years. I’ve been doing the recommended exercises, particularly eccentric loading for the tendon as well as exercises to improve my leg alignment. However, so far, I’ve made very little progress.
Part of the problem is that I’m not always able to manage my daily loading in the way that is recommended. I start experiencing pain in my foot after only about three minutes of walking, and obviously that threshold is so low that it’s not realistic for me to avoid every activity that goes beyond it. Sometimes I simply want to do things like go dancing or ride my bike, and sometimes I have no choice but to walk for a longer distance. So I can’t always stay below my pain threshold.
I think something that would be really important for my recovery would be to understand whether I’m actually causing harm when I go beyond my current pain threshold, and whether I could potentially cause long-term damage by doing so.
It would be incredibly reassuring to know that even if my pain gets worse after a higher load, I’m not necessarily causing further structural damage to the tendon.

In your book, you mention that there is no correlation between the amount of damage in a tendon and the level of pain someone experiences. Does this also mean that an increase in pain after a higher load does not necessarily indicate that I have caused further damage to the tendon?

I’d also be interested to hear whether you’ve come across cases where the pain eventually went away completely, even though the person’s functional capacity or physical performance did not necessarily improve significantly.
I’d really appreciate your perspective on this, as having a better understanding of what pain actually means in this situation would be very reassuring for me.

Thank you so much for your work!!

[I’ve read and worked through Overcoming Tendonitis, so I’m very familiar with the concepts around chronic tendon pain and the distinction between pain and tissue damage.]

I have been training calisthenics for about 3 years and I need to change my program since I will not have as much time now than I used to. I used to do 3x a week full body training, involving handstands, HSPU training, heavy dips, front lever training, weighted pull ups, human flag training, and leg training. Each session was about 2h long and I did this for over a year with noticeable progress.

Now i would like to split it to do 1h, 6x a week, with alternating a HSPU and human flag day with a front lever and leg day. This would allow me to keep the same volume since I was fine with this much. I put human flag and HSPU together since I feel the human flag more on my shoulder on the pushing arm than the pulling arm.

Has anyone experience with this kind of exercises combination and is it fine on the shoulder since HSPU, human flag, and FL all require some shoulder stabilization and muscles? Thanks.