Ok let’s be real not every exercise comes with the same risk/reward ratio. But does this really mean that some exercises are dangerous by default or is everything just a matter of preparation? Well let’s take a look at 5 popular calisthenics exercises and skills, find out how dangerous they really are and learn how to do them correctly!
Deep Dips
The dip requires a hefty amount of mobility and stability and if you’re not prepared for that, it can cause pain in the shoulders, or the sternum.
Sternum pain often occurs from an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum (costochondritis). Shoulder pain on the other hand can have several causes like shoulder impingement due to bad technique or a lack of shoulder mobility and stability.
The deeper you drop into the dip the higher the chance of irritating your shoulder joint or any of the tissues that cross the joint. This includes muscles, tendons, and even nervous tissue (i.e., nerves from the brachial plexus).
To avoid these issues right from the beginning follow these 5 steps:
Choose the right grip width. A too wide grip can be a pain trigger because it puts the shoulder into a more internal rotated position and with that decreases the subacromial space. A shoulder wide grip width is the best option to make the deep dip a bit more shoulder friendly.
Aim for the right joint alignment. So when you go down, retract the shoulder blades to give your shoulder joint enough room to move.
Work on your Mobility. Here I suggest shoulder and chest stretches as well as active mobility work for proper shoulder stabilization (side rotation, butterfly sit, bridge)
Decrease dip depth. So if you feel any kind of shoulder or sternum pain, simply work with a decreased range of motion and try to increase your dip depth slowly over time.
It is also recommended to lean your upper body a bit forward to get the safest and most stable shoulder position.
Summarized: deep dips are not dangerous by default and are actually useful for building shoulder stability & strength. They can also be very effective for hypertrophy training because of the massive chest stretch at the bottom. However deep dips also come with some risks you should be aware of and prepared for!
Muscle Ups
Similar to dips, muscle ups can cause shoulder problems, especially if they are looking like that:
To make the muscle up save for your shoulder it’s important to control the transition. So please avoid chicklen wing muscle ups! To make it more clear here’s a little personal story: Back in the day when we filmed our Muscle Up Tutorial, Sven did several takes of bad form muscle up to demonstrate the mistakes. Right after this shoot he got shoulder pain for over 3 weeks!
So if you aren’t able to do a clean muscle with both arms at a time, you should definitely take a step back and work with easier progressions first. We recommend partner assisted or band assited muscle ups! It’s also recommended to get comfortable with deep dips first to minimize the risk of shoulder problems drastically. So you can apply the same adjustments and tips we explained in deep dip preparation before.
The Human Flag
The human flag looks impressive but I’ve seen many people that got serious shoulder problems while practicing it.
Most of the time the injury occurs in the shoulder of the lower arm because this is the point where the most joint pressure takes place. The lower arm is your supporting beam and presses with extreme force into the shoulder joint in order to hold your body horizontally.
Sometimes problems can also occur in the upper shoulder because this part has to be strong enough to pull your body into the horizontal position and stabilize it there.
So If you’re not strong or prepared enough the load of your whole body could be too much for your lower and upper shoulder and with that damage your muscles, tendons, bursae and the whole shoulder capsule
To avoid this right from the beginning, please make sure to prepare your shoulders correctly. You can work with easier progressions that put a lot less stress on your shoulders.
Do support exercises like wide handstands and hanging side pulls that mimic the shoulder position of the human flag.
The Backlever
The backlever is one of the easier calisthenics skills, but still not easy at all!
This skill comes with a high risk for tearing your biceps if you’re doing it with a supinated grip aka underhand grip. The pronated aka overhand grip is much safer because it puts your biceps in a less vulnerable position, while letting the front deltoids do most of the work.
However if you still wanna learn it with this grip, maybe to improve your straight arm biceps strength for even harder exercises I suggest preparing your biceps very slowly for this position. So make sure to strengthen your biceps tendons with other low impact exercises first and then start with skin the cats or tucked back levers.
Of course the backlever is not the only exercise with this problem. The same counts for any other movement that puts your biceps in a similar position. So be careful when doing reverse biceps and pelican curls as well as planche variations, and korean dips with an underhand grip.
Sissy Squats
This is another controversial exercise and comes with a very high risk-reward ratio.
The sissy squat is very good to primarily target the quadriceps with much lower glute and hamstring activity than regular squats.
It can also help to build strong knee tendons as well as balance and control in the lower body. However all these benefits can come at a cost. The sissy squat is no easy exercise and requires an exceptional amount of strength and control to be able to do it safely. And even if you do everything right it can still be very tough for your knees.
So it is really a double edged sword. For some it’s not worth the trouble because you can also isolate the quads with more knee friendly exercises like leg extensions, while others like the challenge and are willing to take the risk.
However when you decide to use or learn this exercise make sure to hold on to something and/or practice the movement with a decreased range of motion first. Never rush it and always learn the proper technique. If you take your time and learn it step by step the sissy squat can actually be a great exercise, not only for training your quads but also for building bulletproof knees.
One last thing: If you got a previous or existing knee injury, I suggest working with less knee taxing exercises like bulgarian split squats and lunges.
If you want to have detailed and well explained workouts to train safely, please make sure to check our complete programs on calimove.com. The Full programs not only teach you how to train safely, but also learn and master many exercises. If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide that actually works, get your calimove program and start progressing today!
Watch The Video 5 Dangerous Exercises You Should Avoid (If You’re Not Ready Yet!)
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