Calisthenics Puns

I do this routine:

Every other day I do:

• Thirty chin-ups, ten reps each set
• Thirty pull-ups, ten reps each set
• One hundred push-ups, thirty to twenty reps each set
• One hundred and fifty sit-ups, fifty reps each set
• Various other exercises mixed in (diamond push-ups, archer pull-ups, clapping push-ups, dips)

No matter how much I do I just can't fucking do a clean muscle up, at the end of every month I think 'alright, I can fuck this shit now' and I fail miserably. I understand there is a lot about technique and I follow that, but I still can't seem to do one fucking proper muscle up, there's always jumping, flailing, slipping, and kicking. Any advice/tips?

Hi, I’ve been boxing for about a year and a half now. I didn’t used to do much outside of what I did in the gym until my coach asked me if I wanted to fight and I’ve been all in ever since. I’ve tried a few different ways to strength train.

I’m 16 and slim so at first I was obsessed with getting bigger while also being obsessed with boxing and it didn’t really work for me. I started lifting heavy for as many reps as I could with my friend who trains like a bodybuilder. So while I could hit much harder and I was getting bigger, I noticed it heavily impacted my cardio when sparring or doing anything endurance focused. I also already hit pretty hard for my weight (130-135lbs) and I’m pretty fast. So I didn’t need the power boost in exchange for shittier cardio. I then did my research and learned that this was not how I should really be training.

I then got a concussion in sparring. And I was out for about 4 or 5 weeks. Still not sparring again yet. However since I didn’t want to risk heavy weights putting stress on my head, once I started feeling better I began doing high rep calisthenics and after just 4 weeks I found myself being much faster, hitting harder, and feeling like I am in great shape. The down side being that I don’t really have the time to fit them in each day especially since I increase the reps often.

So I have now taken to lifting heavy for low reps and training like more of an athlete, but I haven’t really noticed many performance improvements. Not as many as I did training calisthenics for the same amount of time. High rep calisthenics just feel so hard to fit in to my day as I am in school and have a job.

Anyone have any tips on what I should be focusing on?

Any help is appreciated, if you read all this thank you for your time.

Hey guys 😊

I just put together a video of my 10 years journey with Calisthenics, handstand and movement training. I have spent months digging through old hard drives, online drives, SoMe archives etc and a lot of time cutting this piece of content together 😅

my 10 year Calisthenics progress

For a more detailed picture for you guys, here are some more specifics:

I had some background in the gym in high school before 2011. Just the average “wanted to pack on some muscle so I did bench press and biceps curls 2 times a week”.

I could also do handstand walks and wall assisted handstand from playing around on my trampoline and back yard. Other than this I did football (soccer) for a long time, but skateboarding was my main thing from middle school through high school.

I am 179cm tall and in 2011 I weighed in at about 71kg. I am now 82kg. Body fat % never measured, never cared.

Here are the yearly milestones achieved from when starting Calisthenics in 2011:

Starting stats: 3 pull-ups, about 40 push-ups and dips (don’t remember the number)

2011: Somewhere between 5 and 10 pull-ups (remember I didn’t achieve 10), 1st wall assisted handstand push-up, one arm push-up.

2012: First free standing handstand, 10+ pull-ups, tuck planche, dragon flag and 10 leg raises.

2013: 1st freestanding HSPU, improved handstand (maybe around 30 sec hold and started working in form), back lever, human flag and 1st muscle up.

2014: 1st 90 degree push-up, improved handstands, hollow back handstand, 1st shitty straddle planche hold.

2015: Improvements everywhere, first one arm pull-up (barely and lost it later due to injury), started training for one arm handstand.

2016: More focus on mobility, improved strength and rep numbers for HSPU, 90 deg, MU, etc. And started working more on explosive HSPU work and creative strength sequences.

2017: 1st one arm handstand holds (10s best, but inconsistent), 1st straddle Planche press,

2018: Focused a lot on street workout for my last year of competing, started training different OAHS shapes (flags, tuck, full etc.)

2019: 1st inverted muscle up (bar), 1st OAHS to croc, 10 reps of 90 degree push-up, started training for the one arm handstand push-up (due to an injury preventing me from training the 90 degree range).

2020: More creative strength work and improvement in most strength exercises. One arm handstand improved a lot (very consistent holds and shapes).

2021: 1st full planche, 1st full f

hey guys! recently i've made a video about how to start doing calisthenics, where I'm showing the most basic calisthenics exercises and easier variations of them for beginners. I just wanted to share this video, since I know that a lot of beginners could benefit from something like this. I currently have been doing calisthenics for 2 years, and my goal right now is to help others who want to start working out and make the information easy to understand. if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to answer all of them. have a great day! :)

link to the video - https://youtu.be/ufutWvnwtCE

So I've been going to the gym for quite a while now and really enjoy progressing/increasing the weight. I'm curious about your personal opinions on certain calisthenics exercises vs Weight training exercises for muscle hypertrophy? I have a bodyweight program incorperating gymnastic rings and weighted calisthenics that incorperate some of the following exercises for when the gym is closed due to covid.

Which do you think is more effective and why, for muscle hypertrophy provided additional weight and progression can be applied to both?

Inverted Ring Rows vs Barbell Rows

Ring Pull Ups vs Bar Pull ups

Chest Dips vs Bench Press vs Weighted Deficit Push Ups

Pike Push Ups vs Shoulder Press

Bag Bicep Curls vs Barbell Curls

Just Curious what you guys think from personal experience.

Hi everyone!

I've been powerlifting for the past 3 years and I'm thinking of making the switch over to calisthenics. I've always found calisthenics to be very interesting, but at the time I started working out I just enjoyed powerlifting a lot more. Fast forward to the covid climate I'm just not willing to risk going to the gym anymore. Also, I would rather have a better looking physique than be big and on the fatter side. I know each discipline isn't exclusive to either, but I believe achieving each is easier depending on one's discipline.

A few questions:

1. How do you guys think the transition from powerlifting to calisthenics will affect my muscle mass? I started cutting on the 1st of January and have only been doing calisthenics based workouts at home - these mainly consist of push ups, dips, and pull ups.

2. I'm used to being in the gym for 2 to 3 hours at a time and doing a bodybuilding split after my initial workout of powerlifting. How long should my calisthenics workouts be?

3. How do you guys plan your workouts? Do you use an app or some online guide?

4. How does progressive overloading work in calisthenics?

5. Are there any pieces of equipment that you guys think are a "must-have" or would just be very beneficial for my calisthenics workouts?

Thank you for any replies!

I see both of them have their pros and cons, both are good to me but they're just different

Two questions come to mind,

Question 1: Which "type" of strength (calisthenics vs bench-squat-deadlift-ohp) has more real-life application?

Question 2: Which is more impressive in your opinion?

Question 3: Which would aid you more in terms of fighting ability? (Striking/grappling)

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this topic !

Personally, I've been weightlifting for about 2 years, I've been thinking about switching to weighted calisthenics as I like the body-weight style natural movements but I also love lifting heavy at the same time (e.g. I'd be doing weighted pullups, dips, pushups etc)

Or, regular calisthenics but the only weightlifting being done is bench, squat, deadlift, and overhead press

Tl;Dr: Is there a specific way to call the side aspect of calisthenics done on the floor in a flowing manner, like GMB or Animal Flow?

I started my fitness journey several years ago as an overweight person. I always felt like bodyweight fitness was the way to go, but I sincerely couldn't pull anything in my sad condition. Instead, I passionately started powerlifting, then moved to kettlebells at the beginning of the pandemic. I am now so many pounds lighter (30kg/65lbs) and younger as a 40yo dad than I have ever been. Never really cared about hypertrophy anyway.

I have discovered Animal Flow several months ago, then moved to GMB that I absolutely love. Finishing GMB Elements at the moment. While still a beginner, I have good mobility and sufficient strength to progress rapidly and pull tricks I am humbly pretty proud of.

Therefore, I would like to explore this aspect of calisthenics further: flowing, crawling, having fun on the floor and moving from one pose to the next in an "effortless" manner. How should I search for new ideas on the interweb? Calisthenics as a keyword brings a lot of stuff with rings and implements that I am less interested in.

Also, I would be very grateful if you fine people could recommend YT channels and stuff around what I described.

I am planning to buy a power tower, fill a backpack with weights, and progressively overload on pull-ups, dips, and pistol squats (the "calisthenics big three"). How dumb would it be if I only did these exercises at 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, 3x per week? Maybe throw some leg raises in there for abs? My main goal is hypertrophy, not strength.

I would consider myself an intermediate trainee (been doing a mix of calisthenics and bodybuilding for the past few years) and just want something simple yet effective to make gains while I'm out of the gym. I have ran the recommended routine for a while in the past, but I prefer the simplicity of just adding weight to the basic movements.

Hi folks,

I’m a noob in fitness and I want to start working my way up in calisthenics. I’m sick and tired of searching this topic on Google as I get bombarded with ads there and following that on Facebook and Instagram. I have no experience, so I can’t really tell which program is good.

Little bit about me. I’m 44, 6 feet and about 200 lbs. I consider myself on the beginning of the heavy side. I can run 2-3 miles with 5 mph on a treadmill and do not have any major injuries. I can’t really do any pull-ups and only 6-7 push-ups in a set.

What is the systematic way to start building my core for calisthenics? I need an easy to follow daily, weekly, monthly regimen. I have watched lot of YouTube videos, but no one talks about getting started from zero when one can’t do a single pull-up. Most of them are from trainers who want to sell their programs. I’m not opposed to paying, but as I said earlier, I have no way to know if these programs are any good. A lot of people say they’re ripoffs.

Thanks in advance and happy new year!

Hey guys,

I'm just about to start training for my second marathon and I want to try and include some strength training. During my previous program, I lost a lot of weight, and my body got pretty slim since I didn't do any cross-training and I lost a lot of muscle. I'm looking to stop that from happening this time around.

What are everyone's thoughts on training calisthenics and running simultaneously? I like that calisthenics only uses body weight and focuses on a full range of motion, which lends itself pretty well to running. I would imagine that improving upper body strength and flexibility will only help to improve running form, but I guess I could be wrong.

Has anyone tried this before, and if so, can anyone recommend a good place to get started? Totaly newbie to calisthenics.

Ok, so this might seem like a dumb question, so bare with me!

But do you guys think Spider-Man physique is more achievable through calisthenics or weightlifting?

https://imgur.com/gallery/AGP3bot

Hey everyone, it’s officially been one year since I started my calisthenics journey. Just thought I’d share progress and potentially motivate some people.

Stats: Male, 5’10”, 150 lbs, 23 yo.

Diet: For my diet I kind of just stopped tracking calories. But if I had to guess I’d say I eat around 2000-2500 calories a day. Most of my food is home cooked and consists of a lot of chicken, rice, beef, fish, pasta, vegetables of all kinds and fruit.

Routine: I split my workouts into four sections and take one rest day in between cycles. My split is back and biceps, chest and triceps, shoulders, legs. I like to change things up so sometimes I add weight to certain exercises, sometimes I decrease rest and sometimes I slow down the pace, just depends how my body is feeling on any given day. Also I usually do abs for 10 minutes at the end of each workout. Also I train skills randomly, I’ll do front lever work on off days or at random points of the day before I actually workout and same for planche and handstands. Currently I can hold a solid front lever for about 8 seconds, advanced tuck planche and the handstand for 5-6 seconds.

Back and biceps: Pull ups 3 x 10, supinated straight bar dips 3 x 10, neutral grip pull ups 3 x 10, body weight bicep curls 3 x 10, chin ups 3 x 10, resistance band curls 3 x 10, isometric holds with chin above the bar then arms at 45 degrees then dead hang 3 x 10 seconds in each position.

Chest and triceps: Dips 3 x 10, deep pushups on parallettes 3 x 10, archer push ups 3 x 6 on each side, diamond push ups 3 x 10, pronates straight bar dips 3 x 10, body weight skull crushers 3 x 10, bench dips 3 x 10, tricep extensions 3 x 10, decline push ups 3 x 10.

Shoulders: Tuck planche 3 x 10 seconds, wall assisted hand stand push ups 3 x 7, wall assisted hand stand holds 4 x 30 seconds, pseudo planche pushups 3 x 10, scapula push ups 3 x 10.

Legs: pistol squats 3 x 8 on each side, one leg glute raises 3 x 12 on each side, one leg calf raises 3 x 12 on each side, Squats 3 x 15, lunges 3 x 15 on each side.

If anyone has any questions or comments feel free to leave em. Thanks!

I used to live in a city where calisthenic parks had a community of regulars who would work out in public. Some were just dudes doing reps. Others had guys doing freestyle or parkour. I miss that. Where does that happen in Richmond?

A quick search of the rva archives shows this post with a pretty good list of outdoor excercise parks.

I've checked out the one in Bryan Park and it was deserted. I went to the one at Mary Mumford and it was spread out along a track, no obvious groups of regulars.

Where should I look?

It is often said that one should balance the training between pushing and pulling exercises. For example, in Steven Low's book "Overcoming gravity", it is stated: "The simplest method to maintain shoulder structural balance involves utilizing pull and push exercises, which will offset one another. This will allow you to maintain a healthy balance of strength and hypertrophy at the shoulder".

But what are exactly the consequences of an imbalance, especially doing almost only pushing? Can it be a real issue or is it just a matter of preferences? Or maybe, this push/pull method is too simple and reality is more complex?

I think it is a common imbalance as pushing exercises are easier to put in place: they require no bars or equipment. It can be trained with the floor only.

Hi, I am new in the community. I just joined the subreddit. I am also a newbie in the reddit platform. I am a full-time Business Executive working at a 9-5 office structure in Bangladesh. I used to workout at the gym but as I live in the capital, traffic takes away most of my time. I get only 5 hours to spend with myself, my family and wife (which includes daily chores as well). I am currently following a routine where I do mainly three exercises. I workout 6 days a week. My sessions are very short. Because I struggle to convince myself to workout after a hectic office day. I have read the atomic habit book and incorporating some of the techniques from the book. I believe a lil every day will take me far in the journey. But, my hopes are high - my ultimate objective is to look impressive as a natural through building muscle with calisthenics. I also want to learn Wall supported handstand Pushup and one arm pullup. I have realised one arm push up is not cup of my tea. Currently, I can only do 8 strict pull ups. I am following a program to take 8 pull ups to 15 in next 5 weeks.

Here is my routine:

Sat Push up 5*15, Table Dips 2*AMRAP, BW Squat 3 sets
Sun Weighted SandBag squat, abs.

mon Pull up day: Pull up= 4*4, Curls 4 sets

tues Push up 5*15, Table Dips 2*AMRAP, BW Squat 3 sets

wed Pull up day: Pull up= 5*5, dead hang, plate pulls for forearm

thurs Rest

fri Pull up day: Pull up= 4*6, dead hang, plate pulls for forearm

On pull up sets, each week I keep increasing the set by one for next four weeks cycle.

What are your suggestions? I will appreciate your advice.

Anyone know of pull up bars around town where I can go work out?

Title.

Isn't there a way to add some stuff to the sidebar, or maybe directly link to the bodyweight fitness wiki if we don't have resources of our own? Like for things like form checks and the like I see no issue, keep posting. But for the rest, the answer pretty much always boils down to get a pull up bar and/or a set of rings, work consistently and then a selection of exercises usually (pullups, dips, rows, pushups).

Looking for an outdoor place with parallel bars and other kinds of bars and what-not.