What's a good calisthenics program that you have used personally?
For beginners, if you are thinking of skills-based training I'd recommend focussing on 1-2 skills at a time and developing them (e.g., front-lever and handstand push-ups). A cool thing about calisthenics is that even the most advanced exercises start with simple progressions. Also, contrary to popular belief, you can develop a lot of muscle mass through body-weight exercises.
There are many great instructors out there, some I'd recommend off the top of my head are Simonster Strength, Eryc Ortiz, Gabo Saturno, Coach Sommer, and Victor Kamenov. Simonster has some really good tutorials for beginners as well as advanced athletes which I've used (https://simonsterstrength.com/project-calisthenics/ plus loads of great workouts on his insta/youtube).
In terms of split, there's a few common approaches like Push/Pull/Leg or Upper/Lower and unless you are doing supersets I'd recommend 3-5 exercises for 3-5 sets each with 2-3 min rest between sets. The number of reps/time under tension will depend on the exercise, your strength level, and your goals.
To give an example, a really simple split for beginners could be something like:
- Push Day: Warm up, Pseudo-planche Push-ups, Dips, Pike Shoulder Press, Plank, Side-Plank, Warm down, Stretch
- Pull Day: Warm up, Pull-ups, Tuck-front Lever Hold, Front-level Raises, Warm down, Stretch
- Leg Day: Warm up, Squats, Lunges, Hip Thrusts, Calf Raises, Warm down, Stretch
- Rest Day: Cardio or Light Stretching
Just go on youtube if you are unsure about any of the exercises. Also, feel free to use a band or look for easier progressions for any of the exercises and
Happy to answer any questions.
Go here: https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/
Read the FAQ's and training guides, progressions in the right column.
It explains how to work out your whole body and increase the load via harder workouts instead of increasing just reps.
E.g. how to go from kneeling push-ups all the way to one arm push-ups.
Great follow-up is The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsoulin
I had done squats and walking lunges for my legs but they interfered with running so I stopped.
I subscribe to the "heavy weight, compound exercise" theory of muscle building, which is why I think pushups and pullups are enough for the upper body unless you're targeting some specific muscle. I'd definitely be interested in hearing criticism though.
The same is probably for pull ups, you can add chin ups at least on every other day.
I would say that push-ups and crunches beat any other exercise combination in terms of unit benefit per unit effort. Distractions and shyness can be practically eliminated as you can work-out from home, you can work-out while travelling as you don't need any equipment, risk of injury is relatively much much lower, warm-up is quick, rapid (sometimes _very_ rapid) progress is almost guaranteed, etc. Combined, this allows almost anyone to get the physiological and psychological benefits of working-out cheaply, safely and rapidly. There is just no substitute for the confidence boost that you can now easily do X amount of push-ups after just a few weeks of training. Best bang for your buck for most people IMO.
Of course, long-term it's probably a good idea to have a more diverse set of exercises =)
I strongly disagree with this. You need progressive overload of muscles to continue growing, meaning you should be in state of doing 12 reps max of given exercises per set and not more (6-10 reps range is better).
Once you start being able to do 12 push ups, muscles growth stimulus becomes low, and it becomes more about suffering than benefits.
The benefits of simple calisthenics for muscle building aren't necessarily that great, but just doing them in the first place is already a big win. You will definitely get "fitter", but maybe not _that_ much stronger/bigger.
Close-grip pushups: To perform close-grip pushups, place your hands closer together than shoulder-width apart. This will increase the challenge on your triceps.
Wide-grip pushups: To perform wide-grip pushups, place your hands further apart than shoulder-width apart. This will increase the challenge on your chest muscles.
Elevated pushups: To perform elevated pushups, place your feet on an elevated surface such as a step or bench. This will increase the difficulty of the exercise.
Plyometric pushups: Plyometric pushups, also known as "clap" pushups, involve pushing up with enough force to lift your hands off the ground and clap them together before returning to the starting position.
One-armed pushups: As the name suggests, one-armed pushups are performed using only one arm. They are an advanced variation that requires a high level of upper body strength.
Knuckle pushups: Knuckle pushups are performed with your hands in a fist position, with your knuckles facing down. They are a more challenging variation that places more of the load on your wrists and forearms.
Diamond pushups: Diamond pushups are performed with your hands placed close together, forming a diamond shape with your index fingers and thumbs. They are a challenging variation that targets the triceps muscles.
- Zombie pushups: Offset hands instead of aligning in a straight line (one upper, one lower) - alternate after a set
- Asymetric pushups: Move one arm/hand farther out than the other, try to go down to the center. Alternate sets. Use as progression to go towards one-arm pushups. Another variant is to go with symetric hand position, but lower your body towards one hand at a time (think "nipple to the thumb").
That being said, I strongly believe they are not healthy for your joints, the one-arm pushup in general feels just bad for the joints given the performed motion.
For a while I was doing them with a backpack full of books as well, but I went back to just trying for really good form.
No need for an expensive machine :)
I will still do some 5BX inspired routine if I have to travel, it is pretty decent for a zero equipment workout.
[0] - https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rfburger/5bx-plan.pdf [1] - https://www.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Simple-Sinister-Revised-Up...
See also:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Air_Force_Exerc...
Originally designed for bases without any fitness equipment.
The big thing with calisthenics/gymnastics is developing the tendon and ligament strength in your joints which take several months/years, but is the foundation to doing the advanced stuff like planches and levers. Good luck!
One goal.
2.5 minutes of perfect plank. Legs straight, shoulders square. Body shaking and burning. Plank.
I love how each exercise has a difficulty "slider" so you can choose the one variation that fits your current fitness level. Really good shit!
Benched 225 in my first year, did 10 reps of 135 military press as well. It builds strength and muscle shape.
However, I don't want to be this strong meatball. I want the mobility first and foremost. My goals have changed. This is why I asked about a calisthenics program. Typical strong cali translates to very strong lifts. Very rarely does it go the other way around. Strong lifters are rarely good calis.
I'd like to push back on this. Oberst's evidence for this claim is entirely anecdotal, and I don't think it's accurate. Here's a more evidence based opinion:
https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/forums/training-q-a-with-d...
There's far more involved in injury risk than a specific type of exercise. The guys at Barbell Medicine have a lot of content that you may find useful with regard to these ideas.
Biggest issue is that they don't offer long term training plans but everything is a la carte (and a bit repetitive because they always structure every video with the exact same overarching monolog).
(Doing this for more than 4 months already, happy and leaner :))
Just for completeness - saw this source here first in the comments of another story, earlier this year.
I had great results using it in my youth, marking my progress using mspaint, and having a few friends do it as well.
I remember doing it every other day. Also some of the progression jumps were a bit hard, but always doable.
[1] - http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/01/basic-routine-infogra...
PS: if you open the image, you can replace s1600 with s3200 for a readable resolution.
Works for me, started during the Covid "at home" period and continuing since then. Complete and no-nonsense. It's illustrated with pictures of body building champions but no worry, it's fine for normal people like me too ;). There are different programs for different levels.
I would replace the situps with the plank now that I know better.
I could not figure out a simpler habit than "wake up, start"
I chatted to the trainers at mine and told them how I'd like to do a muscle up. Each one gave me some advice (similar but different) and demonstrated how they do it.
They also watched me attempt one and gave me some tips based on my form.
I can't do a muscle up yet but have increased the number of pullups (6 -> 10) I can do along with using an overhand grip position.
2023 will see me crack it.
Not really a program but I just mixed&matched and rotated through three of them during a week and switched it up after a while according to the equipment I had available.
I think these are great for something that is easily accessible.