Welcome to /r/bodyweightfitness! 🏸

Roughly two months ago I posted on this sub to discuss whether it is mandatory to squeeze the glutes during bodyweight movements - https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/1fucoc6/is_it_mandatory_to_squeeze_the_glutes_during/

I learned the hard way that I was focusing on the wrong cue. My focus should have been on bracing the core rather than squeezing the glutes.

Basically I was squeezing my glutes tight during pushups and inverted rows. For the context, I have almost non-visible lats and other back muscles. After a few workouts I started having glute pain but that action of squeezing the glutes didn't add any extra benefit to my movements when compared to previously not squeezing the glutes. Then I started working out beside a mirror. I was shocked.

During pushups, even when my glutes were squeezed (tilting my pelvis awkwardly), my belly was hanging like a squishy toy. There was no tension. That's why I was was not feeling my abs working or scapula moving, etc. Only my arms and upper front shoulder was getting worked and pumped.

Similarly, for inverted rows at an incline, due to lack of tension in my midsection, my body was arching excessively and barely not hurting my lower back because my short (and obviously weak) abs were holding back my body and preventing it from arching further back. When I moved to a harder progression, it started hurting my lower back.

Then it struck me, that what I was missing. I started to fully concentrate on bracing my core first and then initiating any movement in my workouts. I no more squeeze the glutes so strongly. They are just inline with a neutral spine. The difference is night and day. I feel soreness in areas where I have never felt before (like my entire back). I know DOMS is not a good indicator for a good workout always. But this is my start of good form. That's why I am happy with the DOMS.

But there is a voice in my head which still suggests that I may be doing things wrong. So I have a few questions:

1. Am I doing it the correct way? And how hard should I brace? Because at the end of the last set I sometimes feel a crampy kind of feeling near my upper abs region where it is really weak (almost non-existent visibly). I have very weak core to start with. And I feel a little uncomfortable to breathe through the brace. Not impossible, though.
2. Do people with strong back muscles find it easier to brace? Is that why most calisthenics YouTubers don't actively show that hanging belly vs braced position? Because for them bracing occurs naturally?

P.S.: I may be entirely wrong. I would love people to correct me and also add tips on how I can benefit more. I love bodyweight movements.

My ortho has taken X-rays multiple times over the past few years and hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, and suggests that I have a weakened lower back due to multiple injuries through the years. These are the things I have done to trigger it:

• hiking (8sh miles, with multiple breaks) x2
• dancing
• squats (after stretching and warming up extensively, and with a weight I’ve comfortably done before)

I am active and I am in shape. I’m not sure if there’s others like me but I figured I’d post and see if there are people in a similar predicament looking for guidance on preventative lower back exercises.

Welcome to the r/bodyweightfitness Daily Discussion! This is the place to post simple questions, anecdotes, achievements, or just about anything that's on your mind related to fitness!

Commonly asked questions about training and nutrition:

• Recommended Routine is the original full-body workout program of the subreddit.
• Fitness FAQ covers all questions related to nutrition - gaining muscle, losing weight, etc.
• BWF FAQ covers many of the commonly asked questions.
• Even though the rules are relaxed in this thread, asking for medical advice is still not allowed.

DISCORD SERVER:

Our Discord server is very active and is truly the heart of the community. It is not only a social space, but it is also a great place for live discussion on training and nutrition compared to the slow pace of reddit! Come say Hi!

---

If you'd like to look at previous Discussion threads, click here.

Hi everyone!
I’m working on my Anthropology Internal Assessment (IA) and would love your input. My research explores how training in public parks influences individuals' perceptions of their bodies and physical fitness. If you’ve ever worked out in a public park (calisthenics, group training, etc.), I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to fill out this survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU4B0Br86CKsAhlrPOrWNe2UUJroFt9h61KytLZUi3AlyjNg/viewform?usp=sf_link
Your responses will help me understand the social and personal impacts of park-based fitness training. It’s anonymous, and the data will only be used for my research.

Thank you so much for your time and help! Feel free to share this with others who might be interested.

I haven't worked out in the past 7 months, so I'm detrained. I'm about to get back into the thick of it and would like an honest review of the routines I created. I made an upper body routine along with a lower body push and lower body pull. I would like to build toward 3x per week upper body, 3x per week lower body (alternating push and pull days). For example, a week could look like: Mon - upper body, Tue - lower body push, Wed - upper body, thur - lower body pull, Fri - upper body, Sat - lower body push, Sun - rest. On lower body days, I also plan to do a full body mobility routine, so I removed the static stretches during my cool down on those days.

My goals are biased toward hypertrophy for at least one or two mesocycles in order to regain the muscle I lost and then some. However, I don't want to get injured coming back doing too much too soon. I read that detrained folks are the most at risk for injury since muscles bounce back faster than tendons. I regressed my hardest upper body exercises to previous progressions and was thinking that higher volume at these relatively easier progressions would be good for building up the tendons again as well as regaining previous muscle mass due to muscle memory. For exercises I didn't regress, I'm starting at low reps and high sets. I still may have been overzealous in terms of the volume I am trying to build up to (denoted by arrows).

Upper Body Push/Pull Routine (77-90 min)

1. Warmup (18-25 min)
   • Blood flow
     • Jump rope (2 min)
   • Mobility
     • Dynamic mobility routine (5 min)
     • RTO support hold (1 min)
     • 5x5s skin-the-cat (1 min)
   • Positional drills
     • 30s→60s plank, side planks, reverse plank, hollow body hold, arch hold (3-6 min)
   • Skill work
     • Handstand practice (5-10 min)
2. Strength work (33-37 min)
   • Pair A (16-18 min)
     • 5×3→8 CTB chin-ups
     • 5×3→8 Ring dips w/ RTO
   • Pair B (17-19min)
     • 5×5→10 Ring rows
     • 5×5→10 Bulgarian pushups
3. Isolation + Prehabilitation (9 min)
   • 5x10→15 Preacher curls (machine)
4. Cooldown (17-19 min)
   • Compression (3 min)
     • 3x10 Pike lifts
     • 3x10 Single-leg pike lifts
     • 6x10s Pike holds
   • Flexibility (13-15 min)
     • 2x60s Pike
     • 2x60s Hero pose → Reclining Hero pose
     • 2x60s Front split
     • 2x60s Pancake
     • 2×60s Middle split
     • 3→5×30s German hangs
     • 3→5×30s Back bridges
   • 1 minute of deep breathing

Lower Body Push Routine (66-89 min)

1. Warmup (18-25 min)
   • Blood flow
     • Jump rope (2 min)
   • Mobility
     • Dynamic mobility routine (5 min)
     • RTO support hold (1 min)
     • 5x5s Skin-the-cat (1 min)
   • Positional drills
     • 30s→60s plank, side planks, reverse plank, hollow body hold, arch hold (3-6 min)
   • Skill work
     • Handstand practice (5-10 min)
2. Strength work (29-43 min)
   • Pair A (12-15 min)
     • 3×3→12 Pistol squats
     • 3x20s L-sit hang w/ false grip
   • Pair B (8-13 min)
     • 2x5→12 Shrimp squats
     • 2x5→15 Ab-wheel rollouts
   • Pair C (9-15 min)
     • 2x5→12 Sissy squat
     • 2x12→20 Windshield wipers
3. Isolation + Prehabilitation (15-17 min)
   • 2x(20, 15, 10, drop set to failure) Standing/seated calf raise (pyramid weight)
4. Cooldown (4 min)
   • Compression (3 min)
     • 3x10 Pike lifts
     • 3x10 Single-leg pike lifts
     • 6x10s Pike holds
   • 1 minute of deep breathing

Lower Body Pull Routine (75-93 min)

1. Warmup (18-25 min)
   • Blood flow
     • Jump rope (2 min)
   • Mobility
     • Dynamic mobility routine (5 min)
     • RTO support hold (1 min)
     • 5x5s skin-the-cat (1 min)
   • Positional drills
     • 30s→60s plank, side planks, reverse plank, hollow body hold, arch hold (3-6 min)
   • Skill work
     • Handstand practice (5-10 min)
2. Strength work (33-42 min)
   • Pair A (11-13 min)
     • 3×(3x3s→7s) Nordic curl eccentrics (band assistance)
     • 3x20s L-sit hang w/ false grip
   • Pair B (9-15 min)
     • 2x5→12 Single-leg Romanian deadlifts
     • 2x5→15 Ab-wheel rollouts
   • Pair C (13-14 min)
     • 5x10→15 Hip thrusts (machine)
     • 2x12→20 Windshield wipers
3. Isolation + Prehabilitation (20-22 min)
   • 3x20s Dorsiflexion squat hold
   • 2x15 Dorsiflextion squat get-ups
   • 2x(20, 15, 10, -25% drop set to failure) Standing/seated calf raise (pyramid weight)
4. Cooldown (4 min)
   • Compression (3 min)
     • 3x10 Pike lifts
     • 3x10 Single-leg pike lifts
     • 6x10s Pike lift holds
   • 1 minute of deep breathing

Looking for a adjustable step up stand, so I can do step ups, Bulgarian split squats and also box jump on. Some are really expensive. In the uk a company called blkbox they have one for £440, how is it so much, was tempted by a height adjustable single squat stand, the one with a roller for split squats and around £100 it's not bad but can only do them. Anyone got some suggestions? I also have a plyometric box but it's very big and awkward to lift, have minimal space and the gaps between height is quite big

After all those years i finally need new Shoes. My current one lasted for 7 years now and i finally decided they need to be replaced. But i'm quite unsure which one i should get. Ideally i can use them for both Calisthenics and cardio work such as running, rope jumping, incline walking on the treadmill. The running is pretty limited tho. I only run outdoors for 3-6 miles and 5-10 minutes on the treadmill at the beginning of every workout.

I know theres no such thing as a one for all shoe so i was wondering if cushioned running shoes are really that bad for doing calisthenics? I saw Nike Metcon 9 mentioned quite a lot but i also heard they pretty much suck for running so i'm not sure. I don't fancy bringing 2 pair of shoes for the gym to be fair.

Ideally i'd love to hear a recommendation from Nike since i still have a 60€ coupon for their website.

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I have just had AstroTurf laid in my garden and I have an area I'd like to use to build an outdoor body weight gym.

I have to make sure anything I build can double up as an area my kids can use for climbing etc, so I'll need monkey bars that are not too high with something to climb up onto to get to them.

Has anyone built something like this or has any ideas, designs or photographs I can use as a reference. I'm thinking as a minimum I want a pull up bar where I can hang rings with space to practice skills and dip bars as well. Maybe something got rowing.

Let's be creative 😊

TLDR: Could I get help to make a routine including resistance bands for a newbie? Context bellow.

I found myself on a situation where I can only workout indoors for the next six months. Pollution is so bad outside I can’t breathe, and I can’t afford a gym. So here I am. I only have two resistance bands, a thin 5kg one and another broad one pushing 30kg, or so I think.

My go to sports are out of the picture so I wanted to ask for some help on how to maximise the use of resistance bands. I have never incorporated them on any routine before. How should I use them properly? what are they good for?

I can workout every day for an hour with my current schedule. I am also not super versed on body weight routines so any guidance is appreciated. I am very unfit due to a bad lower back and knee injuries, so treat me as a newbie please!

I've been doing pike push ups to progress to HSPU for 4-5 months. Lately, I've started to feel that my shoulders take too much of a beating after training them for several workout sessions. So even if I am aware that they are pretty much the only progression towards HSPU, I wanted to ask if any of you know alternative exercises to bulletproof my shoulders and prepare them for the intensity of pike push ups and future HSPU. Maybe isolated dumbell exercises? Or maybe some other bodyweight exercises? I seriously don't know.

If you wonder why I don't simply do pike push ups, since I've been doing them for a while, I don't want to get into many details (so as not to break the rules), but let's say they are painful in the mid-term. Maybe it's simply I am not giving my shoulders enough rest?

Hello everyone, I have been training the back lever for the past 2-3 months and I'm progressing toward the straddle progression. I perform wrist and shoulder preparation exercises before going for movements that involve these body parts, but I don't know what to do for back levers specifically. I already perform a few (usually two) sets of skin the cat (each of 4-5 repetitions), but I would like to add something more. Does anyone have any advice? I always use the pronated grip if that's of any use.

Hi guys!

What do you think of Mini workouts like the KBoges training philosophy, i.e. 2-3 hard sets of a push, pull and leg exercise every day compared to an upper body, lower body split over 4 days?

What about recovery with the KBoges method? And is the method suitable for muscle growth if the stimulus is not quite as intense as with upper body/lower body?

The Higher freuquency makes the Body adapt the Stimulus faster, therefore more Reps and Efficie cy of the body's movement can be increased. On the other Hand, with upper Body/lower Body deadlifts and squats can be implemented.

What do you Guys think?

Cheers

I have been doing bodyweight calisthenics for quite a while, and I only began weighted calisthenics a few days ago.

Before, when I was doing bodyweight calisthenics, it was pull day (only pull ups) - push day (dips and push ups) and no leg day (very rarely I did one).

The 2 days of weighted calisthenics that I did:

• Pull day (weighted pull ups, some bodyweight pull ups) - Push day (weighted dips, weighted push ups)

And now thinking of structuring workouts like this:

• Pull day (weighted pull ups, bodyweight pull ups, weighted rows) (2 exercises on lower back) (4 core exercises)
• Push day and leg day together (weighted dips, weighted push ups) (4 leg exercises, or maybe 2 or 3, so to load different lower body muscles)
• Rest day
• Rest day
• Rest day
• Repeat

Is it even viable? After these 2 days of working out I feel some soreness, but it mostly gone. I train max 2 sets MAX intesity (to failure), for some exercise I'll probably increase it to 3 sets MAX, resting 6-7 minutes between sets.

Welcome to the r/bodyweightfitness Daily Discussion! This is the place to post simple questions, anecdotes, achievements, or just about anything that's on your mind related to fitness!

Commonly asked questions about training and nutrition:

• Recommended Routine is the original full-body workout program of the subreddit.
• Fitness FAQ covers all questions related to nutrition - gaining muscle, losing weight, etc.
• BWF FAQ covers many of the commonly asked questions.
• Even though the rules are relaxed in this thread, asking for medical advice is still not allowed.

DISCORD SERVER:

Our Discord server is very active and is truly the heart of the community. It is not only a social space, but it is also a great place for live discussion on training and nutrition compared to the slow pace of reddit! Come say Hi!

---

If you'd like to look at previous Discussion threads, click here.

I went mountain climbing for a month. Was carrying a 12 kg backpack. What I noticed is that after 10 days the backpack was almost unnoticable. I could jump and run with it. My body adopted to that way of life. It had to support that weight, as there was no other option. So now, I am thinking that exercising is just making your body think that you need all that extra muscle. Once you gain your perfect body would it be posible to do 5 minutes of stress training to remind you body that you still need to be this strong. Like do handstand pushups or hold a huge rock for 2 minutes. If it is possible what would be the exercises you would do in those 5 minutes.

Im 16, at 64kg BW and i need some help. so basically i started off without a proper structure and stuff ive been going CONSISTENTLY for a year now. so like 4-5 times a week. i feel like im not progressing now and its time for a proper workout structure. im doing +16kg pullups for 6 reps deadstop. and i dont know what to do to increase the reps? im stuck on 6 reps. could someone give me some structure or something? also, is it fine to do normal pullups after the weighted pull ups or does it reduce progress?

hope anyone can help. thank you

Hey I'm trying to refocus myself after have a year or two of on and off lifting/working out after a back surgery. I've decided to go full into bodyweight fitness (with some auxillary weighted exercises) and wondering if I should do a full body workout 3 times a week or a split variation 4 times a week. I know full body is amazing as a beginner, but I'm not a beginner in the traditional sense even though I'm definitely out of shape compared to how I used to be (I can do 5 unassisted good form tempo pull ups and probably 20 good form tempo push ups or more, used to be able to do a pistol squat but my mobility is completely shot).

Any suggestions for if I should start as if I'm a beginner or jump into a more complex routine? I have both written out for myself just wondering if people have thoughts

Hello everyone! I am trying to find myself a good pull up and chin up bar that goes in-between a door.

The issue is I see so many of these (I have also seen a huge amount of videos of these slipping and falling and people getting hurt). I am trying to find one that would be pretty good that is easy to take on and off quickly that is also SAFE and not one of those ones I always see people falling with and getting hurt.

Anyone have any good recommendations for one? Prefer one through Amazon with a black Friday sale if possible! Thank you :)

I have been watching an interview that Alphadestiny made with Fazlifts where they also talked about having to lower the frequency of training to once a week per muscle group once you get very strong or older, just because your joints, tendons and ligaments take longer to recover than your muscles. What is your opinion on this in terms of bodyweight training? Do you ever get to this level where you need to lower the frequency?

I can't imagine doing like only shoulders day with just calisthenic exercises and then just chest day and just arms day. I mean in reality your shoulders and elbows get worked during all the presses so if you do chest day and then shoulders day and then arms day, your elbows get streesed 3 times a week.

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/F9jlVE45NQo?si=1fBkt7LqYhOPelsN They talk about it at around 70min mark.

So i have just started with bodyweight fitness and fitness in general and im COMPLETELY lost in what i should do to gain muscle which is my sole objective but with all these apps and whatnot im not sure about what to do. But the other day i read something about "Progressive Overload" and i was wondering Can i just for example take 5-6 excersices that target like Biceps Triceps Lats and Shoulders for Monday another 5-6 for Lower back and Core for Tuesday and so on so forth for like 4-5 different routines and ending up targeting all the big muscle groupsand just do each set of each excersice 3-4 times for like 10 reps per set, and just like do it for 2 weeks and then try to do the next progression and if can do X ammount switch e.g. Kneeled Push ups by Push ups? Would that be an effective way to get muscle eventually? Also i remember there was a sort of rule of thumb that was like: If you can do 30 or more of X excersice go for the next progression if you can only do like 10? I think it was go for the lower "progression" (I dont think thats the word but whatever) so my point is is that effective? Also how many days a week should i do some sort of cardio like running or whaetver?

Hey guys, I do a lot of push ups. I recently started to go beyond failure, I do push ups to failure and then, I just directly without rest switch to knee push ups and I can do 3 or 4 reps until I reach failure again, is it a good thing to do ? Then I stop my set and I rest. Sometimes I can even go even more beyond failure by doing inclined push ups on something high to make it easier, and reach failure again, so I reach failure 3 times in a row. Is it useless stress for muscles ? For now I do my push ups like usually because I doupt about it. What is your opinions? I feel like my muscles worked very well after all of this, no pain and I feel like I save time. I can do 3 per days of these "super sets" instead of 6 normal sets per days for example.

When I want to try my pullup max reps in the gym, it's quite simple to warm up: I just need to hop on the lat machine, start REALLY light and do 3 warmup sets under half of my normal set's weight. After that I'm ready to hit my max np. Right now I'm at 4 or 5, so I could start adding some 3x3 or 5x3 pullups in my routine, or maybe swap them in for the lat machine. It's quite the same process with dips, I'm still not able to do 1 rep though.

At home it's a whole different story: not having access to weights, I have to find a warmup routine with only my bodyweight. With dips it's not hard at all since I can start all the way from incline knee pushups to normal pushups or even decline, diamond or pike pushups, but one for pullups I'm still far from finding.

I tried it all: from hanging to scapular pullups, from standing active stretches to floor stretches, none of them seem to work. Considering that I don't have access to parallel bars for doing rows, what could I try?

Hello, firts post here!
Over the last 6 months or so I've gotten really into home workouts. started with pushups and added pullups then bought some dumbells and added curls and concentration curls, standing shoulder press.

Currently doing 5 sets of 30 pushups and looking at switching up my workout/what's the best progression.
a lot of 'harder' pushup variations seem to focus on one muscle group rather than that of the well rounded pushup? psudo planche pushups seem to be a good progression while targeting the same groups? should I simply switch out standard pushups for PPPU and work up those numbers/sets?

I guess a followup question would be is there any muscles id be sevearly lacking in this workout? seems hard to find a clear answer online.

Any advice would be great!
cheers

Hello everyone,

Any tips on how to achieve the front lever ? 

I’ve been working out for about 15 years, mostly going to the gym, running & boxing.

I started doing calisthenics about 2 months ago so I’m fairly new to the sport & I’m aware that the front lever is an intermediate exercise.

Right now, I can do a front lever straddle with a good form for like 2 seconds before my hips starts to sink & a frog front lever with good form for about 10 seconds.

Here is my front lever routine that I do once a week :

- 15min warm-up

- 3x20sec tuck front lever (still kinda part of my warm-up)

- 3xmax front lever straddle 

- 3x10sec frog front lever

- 3x20sec adv tuck front lever

- 3xmax reps adv tuck front lever rows

- 3xmax reps weighted L sit pull ups

- 3xmax reps australian pull ups

Is there something wrong with my routine ? Should incorporate other exercises or remove some ? I don't want to get CNS fatigued but should I do this routine more than once a week ?

Please note, that I do not have any bands yet but willing to buy some very soon !

Any tips will be appreciated !

Willing to read from y’all ! :)

I am not shaming or criticising anyone's personal choice. But, to me, the hourglass body structure seems like there is some weakness somewhere.

Our body shouldn't be so much narrow or constricted in the middle if we are aiming for good upper body strength and flexibility. Especially so narrow around the lower ribs.

Which muscle(s) atrophy or absence leads to an hourglass shape which is so worshipped in the fashion/glamour industry?

Also, those who have maintained an hourglass shape were you satisfied with yoir body's ability or did you find something lacking?

Edit: Carefully reading through the comments I have realised that I have put my question forward in a rather hurtful or discriminatory manner. Rather my question should have been "Is there any difference in specific muscle strength in an hour glass shaped physique vs a fully jacked box kind of physique?".

Sorry for coming out as hurtful. My intention was to really know about the difference in muscle strengths. Not coming off as venting my frustration.

TL:DR Is forward hip bend (flexion) in pushups acceptable? What would you call a "standard pushup"?

Objective: There are a lot of available pushup definitions, and they don't all agree. I've been trying to find a "general purpose, standard pushup" for my own purposes. I aim to exercise chest, shoulders, and triceps in one movement. I am not in a profession that measures fitness with timed pushups. These are just for me.

Current Form: I've been placing my palms slightly wider than shoulders, slightly "below shoulders" (toward nipple line), and elbows rearward (as opposed to "flared"). I start at lockout, do a slow eccentric, pause at bottom and allow points of contact with my nose and chest to ensure I'm even with the ground, and then press up to full lockout at whatever speed is comfortable, and repeat. I typically feel a pleasant soreness in the 3 target muscle groups for about 3-4 days.

Issue: I'm undecided about whether to keep my body stiff, as in "position of attention", or putting a slight forward bend (flexion) in my hips, which provides an excellent pressing position. Stiff body is what seems to be most widely accepted, but the slight bend might have an edge in improving the exercise as a whole. There's a chance I'll show this to others, and I don't want to steer anyone wrong or create an additional confusing instruction for newcomers.

Question: What are your opinions? Also, do you have an "all purposes" pushup? Thank you for your time.

Welcome to the r/bodyweightfitness Daily Discussion! This is the place to post simple questions, anecdotes, achievements, or just about anything that's on your mind related to fitness!

Commonly asked questions about training and nutrition:

• Recommended Routine is the original full-body workout program of the subreddit.
• Fitness FAQ covers all questions related to nutrition - gaining muscle, losing weight, etc.
• BWF FAQ covers many of the commonly asked questions.
• Even though the rules are relaxed in this thread, asking for medical advice is still not allowed.

DISCORD SERVER:

Our Discord server is very active and is truly the heart of the community. It is not only a social space, but it is also a great place for live discussion on training and nutrition compared to the slow pace of reddit! Come say Hi!

---

If you'd like to look at previous Discussion threads, click here.

Hey all,

Could I get some feedback on a short routine I’ve done a few times?

• 4 five-pump burpees

-5 pull-ups -20 air squats -8 dips

Begin the next set every 4 min, repeat 5 times (20 minute workout)

My plan is to increase these reps or add difficulty to the movement as I get better. The burpees, pull-ups, and dips are each at about 80 percent of my max in the first few sets. 5 pull-ups, 8 dips are all I can do by the time I get to the 5th set.

Do this 3-4 times per week. Cardio 2x a week.

Anything crucial I’m missing here? Would you go about it a different way?

Hi everyone, looking for advice on how to progress. This time last year I was about an inch away from my first pull up (a main goal) and long story short I took time away from calisthenics whilst I was pregnant (continued strength training and climbing and retained a little strength). I'm 3 months postpartum now, my weight loss has plateaued and I'm 5kg heavier than last year. I'm not focusing on losing weight as I'm breastfeeding, trying to eat around 120g protein a day as breastfeeding uses a lot too apparently...

So I'm currently using all my resistance bands to do assisted pull ups aiming for 3 sets of 8 reps. I realised by filming myself that my form is really bad and I'm hunching my shoulders a lot which I never did before. Is this general weakness or lack of core strength after pregnancy? I think having the rings wider than my shoulders is making it a struggle too..

So yeh, I'm trying really hard with each set and not seeming to be able to improve the form or feel the burn the next day (I don't know if that's necessary or not tbh!).

I'm adding a few core exercises in too but I never seem to feel that burn.. I m focusing on engagement but something feels lacking..

I wanted to see what the consensus is on dead-hang pull-ups (disengaging shoulders/lats at the bottom of a pull-up) vs an active hang (keeping shoulders/lats engaged at bottom of rep).

To be clear, on both active and dead hangs the reps are performed the exact same with full range of motion: starting at a complete hang, pull up chest to bar, lower with a 2-3 second eccentric movement until arms are completely straight, pausing for one second before doing the next rep. The only difference being muscles remain engaged at the bottom of the rep for an active hang and muscles disengaged at bottom of rep for dead hangs.

My understanding is that most coach’s/ calisthenic athletes encourage a dead hangs at the bottom of each rep. My experience has been that my shoulder joints seem to wear out far more when doing dead hangs reps well before my muscles do and I’m not able to sustain weekly workouts doing dead hangs. However, remaining active at the bottom of the rep I feel full muscle engagement and I feel like I am actually working my muscles vs wearing out my joints.

So my question is, what am I really missing out on by remaining active at the bottom of each rep? And why is the dead hang technique seemingly encouraged over an active hang? To me it seems to only add a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on the joint.