Ask HN: How easy or difficult is it to overtrain using bodyweight workouts? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How easy or difficult is it to overtrain using bodyweight workouts?

4 pointsdebanjan165 comments

I have heard quite a bit about strength training on HN, though it may not be the main focus of this site. As a programmer with a desk job, I don't want to live with back pain starting as early as my 30s.

I have weighed several options and calisthenics or bodyweight workouts stand out to be the best option for me as I can do them from my home.

Now my question is: I hear that in the gym if you train full body more than 3 days a week, it is very easy to overtrain and halt progress. But, using calisthenics, is it possible to train full body everyday? Has anyone been doing it? Or will it lead to overtraining very fast?

I found a youtube channel called Kboges: https://www.youtube.com/@Kboges where the trainer advocates for daily training without going to failure. Maybe a few sessions to failure. The training style is very simple: One push, One pull and a Lower body movement, daily 7 days a week for 3 to 5 sets.

I would love if you share your experiences regarding training calisthenics in different styles and the results and wisdom you obtained.

My goal is to put on muscle and be generall fit and strong to move around till old age. I do not want to get huuge, I am not suggesting it is easy to get big, people always get me wrong, I am just stating that is not my goal.

I generally prefer strength training with free weights in the gym, but have experimented with a bit of everything over the years. I don't have a certain answer for you about training daily: I think if you do it right it's fine, but it depends on the person and intensity. However, with starting any new workout regimen the biggest risk in my opinion is over-planning, not over-training. People (especially when a new year is coming up) make workout regimes and worry about how often to train, how long to train for, over-training, whether they'll get too bulky, whatever. But most people do this before they even start doing the actual work and building the habit. It's just a waste of time and mental energy.

I'm prone to this as well, since I _love_ reading about different schools of thought, exercise styles, schedules, etc.

For now, I'd suggest not even worrying about overtraining. Just start training. Research the movement you're doing to make sure you do it with good technique, and listen to your body. If you're super sore the next day, maybe hold off and train something else or take a rest day. For the majority of people starting out over-training is not the issue: actually sticking to their workouts is.

Seconded. Great advice. I share the same mindset and have learned to just start doing SOMETHING, because usually your amazing plans will fall through anyway, and having too firm a plan makes adjusting to circumstance discouraging, rather than simply the next step you take as part of a process of constant adjustment.

I don't have a strong answer for you, but I can absolutely echo calisthenics. I've only just started (can't even perform a full pull-up yet, just hang for a few seconds), and I've already noticed my shoulder pain is disappearing rapidly, and my posture, both sitting and standing/walking, has improved a lot, I almost feel like I'm being pulled upright by some force, which is not only good for my body, but it actually makes me feel more confident.

For people sitting at a desk all day, 100% recommendation, no holds barred.

Returning to your question. I've tried a number of workout regimes over the years, including full-body twice a day, every day, and various splits, and for me, the one I've managed to stick to is full-body every second day, and I'm now testing out sticking cardio inbetween.

I do feel that doing full-body every day does just catch-up with you pretty quickly. You get overtrained and also just burn out mentally on it.

Personally I don't like the mental overhead of a split, and I also like to work out every part of my body due to chronis pain that the workouts really help with, so if you're anything like me, I recommend starting with doing full-body every second day, and then experimenting from that base once that has become routine. You don't want to be experimenting too much without first building yourself a base from which to launch out from in my opinion; but having said that, I only reached that conclusion through experimentation. Haha.

Just listen to your body. Start doing your training a daily and see if you can keep it up.

It’s not bad to let your body rest, so you should add a rest day here and there even if you are not tired after weeks on end.

For your goals, consistency is key, so just stick to it and you’ll start to see changes with time.

And since you won’t get huge overnight, you can always adjust if you notice you are getting bigger than what you want.

Make sure you compliment the exercise with a good diet to maximize results :)

I don't train every day rather 4 times a week. 2 running days and 2 days calisthenics/gym.

I find that to be a good mix.

For calisthenics pull ups are a staple so you'll need a pull up bar if working out from home. Personally I prefer the outdoor gyms unless the weather forbids then I hit the indoor gym.

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