Complete Calisthenics Warm-up Routine in Less than 12 minutes

(Find all the details regarding the warm-up in the top pinned comment below)

Today I’ll be sharing with you a routine that I’ve been refining for years in order to create the shortest, most dense, and efficient calisthenics warm-up!

This routine:
a) mobilizes the whole spine
b) "it greases up” all of your joints (meaning it mobilizes synovial fluid)
c) it increases range of motion

and thus it prepares the body in the best possible way for a dynamic calisthenics workout!

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OTHER BOOKS (Beginner and Intermediate):
- All you Need is Pull-up Bar (My Story):
- How to sculpt a Greek God Marble Chest with Push-ups
- How to Carve a Gymnast's Ripped Back with Pull-Ups:
- Easy Weight-Loss] Lose weight with 30 easy tips
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ADVANCED HOME-WORKOUT PLAN:
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Disclaimer:
All information in this YouTube channel is presented with good intentions. You must always consult your physician prior to starting any exercise/diet program, especially if you have any medical condition or injury that contraindicates physical activity. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. You must take full responsibility for your safety and know your limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, make sure that any kind of equipment or surface you train on is well maintained. Do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training and fitness. If you experience any acute or chronic pain, consult a physician. This publication is intended for informational use only and I will not assume any liability or be held responsible for any form of injury by the utilisation of this information.

[BodyweightMuscle]

ROUTINE GUIDELINES
The main idea behind this routine is that for each body-part you typically start with light static stretching followed with more dynamic stretches and mobility routines. So, keep in mind that everything is sequenced in a targeted way!

*1) Neck-extensor stretch (20 seconds)*
Lift your chest off the ground and with your nose pointing downwards cross your fingers behind your head and push lightly against them while keeping your elbows rested on the floor. This will stretch the typically tonic muscles of the back of the neck and lighten the load forward head posture puts on your cervical spine.

*2) Neck rotation (4 reps)*
Gently turn your head left and right (that’s one rep), starting slow and gradually increasing your ROM as you loosen up.

*3) Neck flexion and extension (4 reps)*
Bring your head backwards as if you’re trying to look at the sky and next downwards as if you’re trying to look at your sternum (that’s one rep). Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth on the way up since this will allow your neck flexors to stretch more efficiently on the way up.

*4) Shoulder-rolls (8 reps)*
From the same position, make big and smooth backward circles with your shoulders. Remember to look downwards and avoid hyperextension of the cervical spine.

*5) Prone angels (8-12 reps)*
Lift your torso slightly so that your chest and head are not touching the floor, maintaining your cervical spine is in neutral position (nose pointing downwards). Brace your glutes to keep the lower back light, brace your quadriceps and extend your knees while keeping them off the ground, and point your toes backwards.


*6) Cat – cow pose (8-12 reps)*
Begin on your hands and knees in table pose, with a neutral spine. As you inhale and move into cow pose, lift your sit bones upward, press your chest forward and allow your belly to sink.

*7) Figure 4 Stretch (20”-30”)*
This is a great stretch for the deep gluteal muscles such as the piriformis which tend to put pressure on your sciatic never and often become problematic for lower back issues.
If the stretch becomes easy, you can cross your fingers on top of your left shin for a more intense stretch.

*8) Lying Hip & Glute Stretch (20”-30”)*
From a lied down position, keeping your shoulder blades square on the floor, use your left hand to guide your right knee across your body and towards the floor on your left side. Maintain this position for 20-30 seconds and repeat for the other side.

Sidenote: Don’t force your knee to the floor if your flexibility does not allow it.

*9) Lumbar rocks (8 reps)*
This my favorite spine and lower back mobility exercise. Lie on your back, with your shoulder blades square on the floor again, and extend your arms like your trying to form a capital T. Keep your upper body as stable as possible by pressing your palms against the floor and rock your knees to the right and left. That’s one rep.

*10) Glute-Bridges (12-14 reps)*
Place your feet at an arm’s-length distance. Press your heels against the floor and bring your pelvis at a height were knees, pelvis and shoulders are aligned. Squeeze the glutes at the top while making sure your pelvis is in posterior pelvic tilt and go down again.

*11) Lying knee-extensions (12-14 reps)*
Next, straighten both legs on the floor and lift one of them by bending the knee and crossing your fingers behind your thigh. From this position, extend your knee as much as possible, and return to the original bent position. This is one rep. To increase the stretch pull your knee closer to your chest.

*12) Seated hamstring-stretch (20"-30")*
Sit with one leg extended your other leg bent (with the sole of your foot rests against your mid-thigh and your back straight. Reach towards your toes without hunching the upper body. Repeat for the other leg and next with both legs straight in front of you. Don’t force yourself to grab your toes if you can’t. It’s ok to only go as far as your ankle or shin, as long as you’re feeling the stretch in your hamstrings and you maintain proper posture.

*13) Seated windmills (10 reps)*
Next, open both legs in front of you at an angle you feel comfortable and twist your upper body right and left, extending each hand’s fingers towards the opposite foot’s toes. Keep your chest out and once again avoid hunching forward. Even though this decreases your range of motion, always bend at the hip.
One rep counts as one left rotation followed by one right rotation.

*14) Hip & Quad Stretch (20"-30")*
Step forward with the left leg as your right knee comes all the way to the ground. Placing your hands on your sides, gently push your hips slightly forward. You can also pull your leg behind you (opposite hand - opposite foot) for an extra quad stretch if you're flexible enough
You will feel the stretch in your right hip flexor.
Switch sides and repeat.

*15) Doorway or gymnastic-ring Pectoral Stretch (20”-30”)*
This one is great for the Chest and front delts, muscles that are typically tight due to slouching on an office and overall bad posture. I prefer the gymnastic ring version, but you can also do them on a doorway, the main difference there being that your elbows are bent.
Grab the rings, walk a few steps away from them until your elbows and arms extended, and gently lean forward with your palms facing away from each other. Take a step backwards if you want to increase the intensity.

*16) Straight Elbow Push-Up (10 Repetitions)*
From a straight elbow plank position, with your knees locked and your quadriceps braced to keep your pelvis from sinking, protract and retract your shoulder blades. After I do ten of these, I like to finish off the set with an extra five easy push-ups.

*17) Passive Deadhang (20-30”)*
The passive dead-hang is the best exercise to get you out of your hunched office posture, and realign your body. It stretches your lats, pecs, and biceps and it decompresses your spine. Most importantly of all though, it’s one of the best exercises you can do for flexibility, mobility and overall shoulder health since it pulls the shoulders back into their natural alignment. It is also a great exercise to prepare your shoulders and increase their range of motion before working out.


*18) The Egyptian (12-14 reps)*
Stand up straight and extend your arms away from the body. Turn one palm up (external shoulder rotation) and at the same time the other palm back (internal shoulder rotation) and reverse the opposite way again (that’s one rep). The movement resembles a bit the unwrapping of a candy which is why I also call these candy-wrappers when I train kids! Do a total of ten repetitions.

*19) Straight Elbow Pull-ups (12-14 reps)*
From a passive deadhang, move to an active deadhang and back. That’s one rep. I like to call these straight elbow pull-ups since when you’re performing them your body moves up and down while your elbows remain straight. To accomplish this, you want to slightly retract your shoulder blades and next depress (pull back and down), pointing your chest a bit upwards as your body rises. Move smoothly and slowly, especially on the way back down.

*20) Bodyweight squats (12-20 reps)*
There are enough tutorials on squats online, so I won’t elaborate on form here. Your goal here is to gradually increase your ROM, going as deep as possible with perfect form. Aim for fifth-teen repetitions.

[adamperl]

Anthony, yet again a great video. I tend to do more dynamic stretches and mobility when warming up . Definitely going to incorporate a few things from this video. Tnx

[marcelloantoniodreier]

I love follow along videos like this... as always thank you for your service! =)

[MichaelMatisko]

thank you Anthony. I've been following your stuff for a while now. Ive been doing a lot of Steve maxwells slow protocols for bodyweight for about three years now. It just feels great and this will be a great added warm up to the workouts.

[jamesmorwood]

This is a really great routine Anthony! Been using it daily and really feeling the benefit. Some constructive feedback - if you were ever to redo the follow along section it would be really useful for it to be real time all the way (ie no cuts between transitions from movement to movement) as it means pausing the video a lot. Also the music is awful😂 please take this as positive criticism, its still awesome content!

[SSTrueLoveMarinus]

Hey Anthony. Would you be able to make an updated video regarding what you eat over the course of a week, your meals and intermittent fasting? I'm very interested because I have been doing IF every day for 3 weeks now (fasting from 2pm - 6am) and I am amazed at how fast weight comes off. I am also sticking to a diet under 1, 200 calories/day. So far I have lost 6 lbs and now weigh 133 lbs (I am 5 feet tall). My goal is around 120. I was the biggest skeptic when it came to Intermittent Fasting but now I'm am so excited about it. Best thing I could have done for my body. Thank you again for all your videos. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 -- Marina from NYC

[JD-dmqo]

How would warmup look like for about half that time from video and without possibility to do it on the floor i.e. no mat and the floor is dirty. Thanks

[epicliving]

Useful video, I'm assuming this is if you're going to do a full body calisthenics workout though. Do you do this extensive a warm up for every workout?

[ftafollajr]

Will this stretch be good for a 300 LB guy? I am going to do calisthenics versus weight lifting. I usually do 100 jumping jacks before doing push-ups, body squats, etc. This warm up is what I will incorporate. Thank you for sharing.

[jonathanlazaro]

i started doing this every morning, my body feels so good and loose afterwards, like applying oil to an engine

[bartomiejbielecki]

Hej Anthony! One question to this. I was following the warm up routine from your website for a while now, did you stop using jumping rope in the warm up at all? All the best for you.

[exilio]

Hi Anthony. Thank you for this awesome and helpful video. A couple questions: Does this warmup replace your beginner's warmup from your web site? And I had a discectomy c5/c6 about eight years ago..any concerns with these stretches; namely the next-extensor stretch? Thanks again for the great content.