My Bodyweight/Calisthenics Program

[slowrollerbjj]

Hey all- I'm requesting some advice and a look over from the bodyweight/calisthenics big brains here .

I typically train kettlebells and have a heavy/light split, training 4 days a week. However, recently I'm traveling very frequently abroad and changing locations often, so a gym membership and/or kettlebell is not in the cards, I have to focus on calisthenics.

I mainly want to build strength on the heavy days, adding a little weight every week as possible, since my "weights" will likely be a variety of water containers and miscellaneous objects lol. On the light days I want to focus on the movements and techniques without too much strain.

Is there anything obviously unbalanced or sub-optimal in my training plan below? Any advice appreciated.

 

[Gary W]

Ive been doing bodyweight only for over a year, went back to kbs for about 6 weeks in that time.
My routine

Monday
3x Ring Dips
3x Ring Rows
3x Single leg DL
2x Hollow body holds

Tuesday
3x Pullups
3x Pike Pushups
3x Split Squats
2x Planks

Thursday
3x Ring Dips
3x Ring Rows
3x Single leg DL
2x Hollow body holds

Friday
3x Pullups
3x Pike Pushups
3x Split Squats
2x Planks

I use Pushups sometimes but want to get better at pikes at the moment.
I use a weight vest for sldl and Split Squats.

Ive tried push pull and upper lower but always come back to the above.
I like higher reps geard towards hypertrophy and aesthetics most of the time.

 

[Gary W]

Sorry i know you wasn't asking for a routine!

 

[renegadenate]

Hey all- I'm requesting some advice and a look over from the bodyweight/calisthenics big brains here .

I typically train kettlebells and have a heavy/light split, training 4 days a week. However, recently I'm traveling very frequently abroad and changing locations often, so a gym membership and/or kettlebell is not in the cards, I have to focus on calisthenics.

I mainly want to build strength on the heavy days, adding a little weight every week as possible, since my "weights" will likely be a variety of water containers and miscellaneous objects lol. On the light days I want to focus on the movements and techniques without too much strain.

Is there anything obviously unbalanced or sub-optimal in my training plan below? Any advice appreciated.


View attachment 21611

I would switch your Thursday and Friday sessions so your Heavy days are Mon & Thur since Wednesday is an off day.

I recommend using Ladders for both strength and adequate volume (1-2-3, 2-3-5, 2-4-6, etc.) rather than straight sets of 4x3 or 4x6.

Do you have a Resistance Band? You could always do this:

 

[slowrollerbjj]

I would switch your Thursday and Friday sessions so your Heavy days are Mon & Thur since Wednesday is an off day.

I recommend using Ladders for both strength and adequate volume (1-2-3, 2-3-5, 2-4-6, etc.) rather than straight sets of 4x3 or 4x6.

Do you have a Resistance Band? You could always do this:

View attachment 21613

Ah thanks for the advice. If I switch those days, then I'd have 2 pull days next to each other only separated by 1 rest day, is that ok you think? Also, wednesday doesn't have to be a rest day, how would you organize the days ?

Ladders are a great idea too, I will change it up and implement those.

 

[watchnerd]

No horizontal pull / row?

 

[slowrollerbjj]

No horizontal pull / row?

Front lever tuck pulls

 

[watchnerd]

Front lever tuck pulls

Not full scapular retraction, though.

 

[slowrollerbjj]

Not full scapular retraction, though.

What do you recommend? Not sure it’s worth adding yet another exercise in there just for “full” scapular retraction.

 

[watchnerd]

What do you recommend? Not sure it’s worth adding yet another exercise in there just for “full” scapular retraction.

I happen to think it's pretty important for shoulder health.

Ring rows / inverted rows are the usual.

 

[Anders]

If you are able to do handstand push-ups then you are quite advanced. Somehow you must be doing something right
You seem to work the chest and front deltoids more than your lats and posterior deltoids. This could lead to problems down the road. I personally always try to train the same volume with pulls as with push, or sometimes even more volume in terms of pulls.

Maybe you have a very active lifestyle or job, if so you can ignore the following advice. But if you have a desk-job or something similar I would have considered adding some cardio of some sort in your program. Maybe some LISS or some running in stairs.

Have you read Overcoming gravity ? He also gives some advice about programming.

I personally also like to do some exercises for my posterior deltoids and middle and lower trapezius using a relatively light band. With a couple of bands you are able to do a lot of weighted exercises and you can do them when you are traveling too.

Hope this was of help.

 

[GovernorSilver]

I just saw a post from Stephen Low (author of Overcoming Gravity) recommending the one-arm chinup progression as an alternative to weighted pullups. OAC will not require external load which is one advantage over weighted pullups, unless you are already a freak of nature who can do 10 reps per arm or something.

He published this free article which was last updated in 2022

The Fundamentals of Bodyweight Strength Training - Steven Low

The Second Edition of Overcoming Gravity has been released on Amazon (Digital Edition on my site)! The popularity of this article inspired me to write Overcoming Gravity in conjunction with there being very little resources out there about programming bodyweight strength training routines...

stevenlow.org

Unfortunately the article does not go into detail about the row progression. Presumably he wants you to buy his book to get it - which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I've seen it recommended to peeps willing to put in the work for designing their own calisthenics program.

The Recommended Routine on Reddit was based on Overcoming Gravity and fleshes out the row progression and other progressions more:

kb/recommended_routine - bodyweightfitness

r/bodyweightfitness: Bodyweight Fitness is for redditors who like to use their own body to train, from the simple pullups, pushups, and squats to …

www.reddit.com

I was surprised they didn't include front lever rows as a progression option after elevated feet rows start feeling too easy, but perhaps it was just their personal preferences. Fitness FAQs does include them in his row progression:

 

[renegadenate]

Ah thanks for the advice. If I switch those days, then I'd have 2 pull days next to each other only separated by 1 rest day, is that ok you think?

You can adjust the schedule so your pull days are not so close together.

For example:

Mon: Light Push
Tues: Heavy Pull
Wed: Off
Thurs: Heavy Push
Fri: Light Pull

Also, wednesday doesn't have to be a rest day, how would you organize the days ?

If training 4 days/week, I like either one of these schedules:

1.) Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
2.) Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri

Ladders are a great idea too, I will change it up and implement those.

That are fantastic!