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I have been running a circuit routine for about 7 weeks now.

I do 1 set until failure for these exercises:
squats, push-ups, dips, inverted rows, nordics, pull-ups, handstand push-ups, pike push-ups, planks, and deadbugs.
When I reach the last exercise, I go back to the first and start again. Since all my sets are until or near failure, each circuit is lower volume than the last, rep counts get lower and lower, unless I take a lot of time to rest.

On the last circuit I also do a bridge and a crow pose hold as extra.

My main goal is muscle building. I tried other routines in the past but found that I need something minimal or I get lazy and start skipping days.

My main concern is that I need to

I have been running a circuit routine for about 7 weeks now.

I do 1 set until failure for these exercises:
squats, push-ups, dips, inverted rows, nordics, pull-ups, handstand push-ups, pike push-ups, planks, and deadbugs.
When I reach the last exercise, I go back to the first and start again. Since all my sets are until or near failure, each circuit is lower volume than the last, rep counts get lower and lower, unless I take a lot of time to rest.

On the last circuit I also do a bridge and a crow pose hold as extra.

My main goal is muscle building. I tried other routines in the past but found that I need something minimal or I get lazy and start skipping days.

My main concern is that I need to

Im not even sure what to start but, I’ve been having just trouble in finding the right routine for me to get me to lose weight, I weigh 175lbs and have an apron belly and love handles, I wanted to see what’d be the best routine in order to fix, tone, or slim myself, I’ve also been noticing I’m getting arm flabs as well, I’ve tried going to the gym but lost time and motiviation, idk what I should be eating along with doing excersize, but now I have a job where I only eat in the morning, and won’t eat until I get home (about an 8hr interval) wanted to see if I could finally add some excersize routine to make a difference in my body, I also own the game Ring Fit Adventure

If anyone can give pointers in my situation I’d greatly appreciate it!

I'm getting into calisthenics. I've been a powerlifter for years, and so when deadliftinf I'm so used to having the bar rest on the underside of my knuckles. Because if I rested it in my palms during a double overhand deadlift the bar would just slide out and create huge calluses.

For deadlifting you're supposed to rest the bar on the underside of your knuckles for this reason. I've also been doing pullups for years with the same hand positioning.

Maybe it's just from years of powerlifting but it feels so uncomfortable to now switch to gripping the entire bar with my palm instead of knuckles, and I can hang like 1/4th the time this way.

Surprisingly, in spite of all tutorials on hanging. Ie found, I haven't seen anyone explicitly state what's best for the hand.

I can deal with being uncomfortable and just train through it to strengthen a different hand position over time so long as I know it's recommended, but I want to make sure in practicing proper technique.

The goal is to eventually transition into calisthenics and away from powerlifting.

First some background. I absolutely love his style and philosophy. I’m M35, and for the second time I’ve been able to stick with my a regular routine in my life, only because it’s simple, flexible and minimal. I like it.

I’ve modified it a bit. So instead of doing PPL everyday, I do 3 sets of Push + 3 set of pull one day, and 3 sets of Squats the next day. And I just repeat it.

Now to my question: he has a concept of Physiological Hygeine, where he thinks we must “move” everyday. My question is… some times i feel like not getting out of bed at all. Is it laziness or is it my body asking for well needed rest? How to know?

For context I’m 24m 175lbs 6’4”, and work around 30-40 hours a week depending on the days, I work Direct Service Delivery for a major bread brand in the US stocking the bread, up to 8 stores in a 10-12 hour shift. It involves pushing racks up to 240lbs and lifting trays up to 40lbs throughout the day and around 14,000 steps.

I’ve noticed that it doesn’t feel like my body has been recovering at all, to the point where it has become hard to just walk around and lift my arms above chest height. I’ve even started eating more and my weight has actually gone down since I started when I was around 190lbs 6 months ago.

Wondering if there’s anything i’m missing, I usually eat around 2000 calories a day and try to eat protein rich foods. I take magnesium, and vitamin D and drink a few liters of water a day. I typically sleep 10-14 hours a day intermittently right after work, and before work.

Hi everyone!

I'm a 34 yo and 92kg man, and have been training only with bodyweight for the last three years (though not consistently).

All in all I try to focus on my too main goals : HSPU and muscle up. Getting there really slowly but I'd like to know if my routine seems adequate.

Thanks for any feedback !

Here's my current routine: Monday: pull up routine (found online, trains pronated, supinated and neutral grip pull-ups+ scapula and deadhangs). Lasts for around 40min My max pull-ups pronated so far: about 4 on a good day.

Tuesday: HSPU routine+ legs (40min) Hspu drop set (back to the wall, elevated pike, pike on the ground, elevated regular pushups, four reps each approximately) X 4 HS back to the wall: 4x max (around 30s each so far)

Legs : weighted (7kg) pistol squats 3 X max (5ish)

Thursday: full body Pull ups with band assistance Elevated pike push-ups Bodyweight pistol squats 4 times in the 8-12 rep range

Currently I'm doing weighted pulls at 210lbs including bw. I'm not sure what my 1rm is.

My dip max right now.. is 1. Maybe 2. Push I can do 3x8 diamonds, and 3x8 normal, my chest is weak so diamonds are a bit easier.

I'm not sure what it is, but my push progression is just so slow. I stalled out heaps with pushing early on, and had to do some funky training to push through. I can add maybe a 1 rep every couple sessions to my push ups. Negative dips suck and they never seem to get easier.

I think a big part of it is simply not having the mass to make meaningful strength gains. I have no shoulder definition, and minimal chest. My triceps are disproportionate, and so is the rest of my upper body.

I'm thinking of just doing heaps of reps of pushing to get the volume up (10+ sets a session) to hopefully increase hypertrophy. That was the approach I took to pulling, and it seemed to work well. Not like I'm strong enough to induce significant fatigue.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced something similar. I see people talking about cranking out 30 reps of dips. Like man, that'll take me a couple years I think lol.

Also, I never had to work up to pull ups, I could do them untrained, so it's not that unbelievable.

So I broke my left thumb, had surgery to put two nails in it last thursday and cant use my left hand entirely for the next 6 weeks :/ So Im thinking of what I can do to keep my progress as much as possible. With both hands I was working on One-Arm handstand, Handstand-pushup and longer Front-Lever holds (yes my pull is stronger) plus some leg exercises. I have a gym membership as well. So far I plan to train legs, core and flexibility. I also had the idea to train planche raises with my arms laying flat on two boxes (hard to describe). Any other ideas much appreciated :)

Also if someone has tips on how to keep up motivation feel free to share :')

Hi, I've been following Recommended Routine for couple of months and even before that I was doing pull ups excercise. Right now I can do 7,7,7 regular (slightly hollowed) pullups with no added weight. But I cannot do a single chest to bar.

I know there are similar questions with extensive responses, but my question is - should I quit doing regular pullups and change it to something that's more targeted to scapula muscle? OR is it OK to keep doing regular pullups and move towards weighted pullups and I should naturally reach that point where I can do chest to bar (keeping in mind that I cover full recommended routine program that has rowing excercise (which targts scapula) included)?

ps. I tried doing Arch hangs excercise before recommended routine for about a month and I did not really feel a difference.

Thanks for advices

note: mixed pushups with pullups in the subject, cannot change it anymore.. its all about pullups :)

Welcome to the r/bodyweightfitness Daily Discussion! This is the place to post simple questions, anecdotes, achievements, or just about anything that's on your mind related to fitness!

Commonly asked questions about training and nutrition:

• Recommended Routine is the original full-body workout program of the subreddit.
• Fitness FAQ covers all questions related to nutrition - gaining muscle, losing weight, etc.
• BWF FAQ covers many of the commonly asked questions.
• Even though the rules are relaxed in this thread, asking for medical advice is still not allowed.

DISCORD SERVER:

Our Discord server is very active and is truly the heart of the community. It is not only a social space, but it is also a great place for live discussion on training and nutrition compared to the slow pace of reddit! Come say Hi!

---

If you'd like to look at previous Discussion threads, click here.

Hey guys, little bit of background. I've always been interested in calisthenics, but I've stuck mainly to the basics for most of my life. More recently I've been more focused on learning more advanced forms and skills including the planche. I'm definitely no master but I feel like I have enough of a base from consistently working out over the years to be beyond just a beginner, but then again, maybe not. Anyway I've been trying to work on getting planche for somewhere around a year at this point with more focused and specific training in the past 5ish months. However I really feel like I'm struggling since there really hasn't seemed to be much progress. Other skills have been tough but there's usually a point where they start to make sense or I can diagnose the issues I'm having, but the planche doesn't feel that way. Even when I feel level, my legs are sticking up in the air and most of the time I'm going forward. I'm working on different progressions such as tuck or one leg planche, but I still feel like I'm in pretty much the same spot. I think it's also been frustrating because I'm pretty small and light so it seems like it should be natural for me. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Am I far too impatient with my progress? I know there are lots of tutorials on the matter, but progress always seems to allude me.

Hey everyone,
I used to be a hobby weightlifter for training. I was doing cleans and snatches mostly. And last 12 months I have been travelling so no training at all. I feel super weak lost all my strength, pretty depressing but I know I will get there.

Now, I am back to my routine life and I wanna start working out but this time I wanna give bodyweight calisthenics a go. Started doing basic stuff like run, air squats, pull-ups, push-ups etc. Super fun but on pull-ups my grip gives up super quick. I can feel like my back is still strong enough but my grip gives up.

Should I just trust the process and it will improve or is there a better way to train and get stronger grip? Not sure if the question makes sense even but I am super frustrated and need guidance.

How do you get your shoulders strong enough that they don't get destroyed by doing something like this? I have frequent shoulder injuries from climbing and don't understand how this guy gets away with doing things like this without getting injured.

Trying any one of these things, i'm pretty sure something in my shoulder would break.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBq8WkixFwH/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Hi all

I would like to build an outdoor pull up bar for pull ups / muscle ups, and then attach to one of the poles a set of parallel dip bars.

Something similar to this https://i0.wp.com/sportsinstaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/sports-installer-pull-up-bar-dipping-station.jpg?resize=2000%2C1200&ssl=1

What would be the best pipe size for this?

I have found a local steel supplier with the following sizes below:

1. What would be the ideal outside diameter of the pipe? I have large size hands
2. Should I opt for the thicker wall thickness? I am hoping to have a large pull up bar width (possibly 1.5m - 1.8m)

Would the 2mm bend?

https://imgur.com/OLslo2O (table of pipe thickness and diameter)

I am doing the Recommended Routine which occupies me on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I also want to incorporate at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise (cardio) into my week but I want to keep Saturday and Sunday free for relaxing or going out. Would doing a 40 minute run on Tuesday and Thursday be enough to get the physical and mental health benefits from the running, or does it need to be spread across more days? Also note that I walk 30 minutes with my dog everyday Monday-Friday and on Saturday and Sunday I usually like to do a full 60 minute walk.

Hi all, I started the recommended routine about two months ago and I'm having some trouble with the pull up progression. I'm currently doing arch hangs and am able to do the 3x5 30 second holds. However, when I try to progress to the next stage (negative pull ups), I find that I still lack to strength to do it correctly. When I try to slowly lower myself from the top position, I almost immediately move down to a hanging position within a few seconds.

Is it better to keep doing arch hangs for now or should I keep trying to do the negative pull ups at this stage?

Hey everyone.

So basically I have been training abs every other day for 30 minutes for about 3 months and I have somewhat increased my core strength and I have more visible abs compared to 3 months ago.

But keeping this program up consumes a lot of time and I want to start working on other skills.

Do you guys know any daily, or 3 times a week abs routine that is maximum 10 minutes and it will ensure that you won't lose your gains? Not for increasing gains or strength but just for keeping what is already there. Is there a bare minimum abs routine for not losing gains? And if so should it be done daily? Give me your most crucial and necessary but short and consice abs workouts.

Thanks for your time and attention.

Hi, I'm 20yo male, 100kg weight with around 30% fat(according to my galaxy watch 6), around 185cm tall. I started doing weightlifting about 2 years ago with current results being 8 pull-ups at best(was 12 when I was around 70kg at 14yo), 160kg deadlift(after achieving the 160 I stopped doing it because it didn't feel as effective as pull ups), 120kg squat and 90kg bench(in bench I got to 7 repetitions, didn't try 100 yet).

With moving from deadlifts to pull-ups I noticed that my back got much stronger so I want to try training more with bodyweight instead of heavily focusing on weights with keeping the division of back-legs-chest a week.

My back day: 3 sets of max pull-ups(if unsatisfied with either of first 2 sets then switch with lat-pulldowns) Cable pulldows in standing 16kg dumbells bicep curls 3 sets 3 sets of rows with 24kg dumbell

Leg day is mostly random but always includes doing up to 100kg squats in as many reps as I can, leg curls and extensions(100 and 80kg max respectively) and leg press with as much as I feel I can(got to 200kg last time with a full set of 10 reps)

Chest(probably the most consistent): Bench press aiming to get to 8 reps of most recent pr, then try new one. Currently on 7 reps of 90kg Bench dumbells 30 degrees 3 sets, currently 26kg Cable iron cross 3 sets from 5 to 10kg. Whatever this guy did but one hand holding the pole, only one pulling 3 sets from 5 to 10kg. Lately added dips 3 sets of 7, with adding weight belt if too easy.

Diet: I eat a lot of meat, rice and lately picked up more vegetables, also according to lab test I have low iron and flouric acid which I try to fix now. Also daily 3 eggs at the very least. I have some issues with sugar eating and drinking cola, trying to hold it under control.

Tldr: I want to move from weights to body weight exercises with intent to lose fat even if some of the muscle is lost.

Hi everyone. I was looking over the complete calisthenics workout plan and was trying to decide what level to start at. I saw their chart which shows requirements for each level. I satisfy all of the requirements for level 5 with being able to do 20 strict full ROM pull-ups, 25 dips, 27 sec L-sit, 9 skin the cats, and 1 min handstand hold. I’ve done calisthenics for like 2 years off and on but have recently been doing a lot of Jeff Nippard power building plans. I’m also able to do handstand push-ups wall supported. I just don’t know if this means I should just start with level 5 or not. I guess I’m asking are the requirements pretty close to which plan you should use?

I was wondering when I should start doing weighted calisthenics? I'd say I'm pretty close or there basically to being able to start it.

I'm 14, 145 lbs and 5'7 which is pretty good.

I can do around 8-9 dips depending on how hard I push myself, and my joints and everything work fine. Never had sternum/shoulder pain from anything ever

I can do 3 pullups and around 5-6 chinups, those are the main things I'm working on (greasing the groove).

I've only been doing this for around 6 months and my progress has been going great so far (muscle and strength-wise). Lmk any tips!

I can also do around 20 pushups in a row

I'm looking for a pull up bar that do not have to secure to a wall, high quality, and stable. Something like The Big Bar Plus from Base Blocks.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2EL5S90XJU

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I'm very new to calesthenics, I was wondering what other brand I should look into when it comes to calesthenic equipments.

--

I used to buy equipments from REP Fitness. Unfortunately, their calesthenic product line are very heavy duty. It's over kill for what my needs are. Their calesthenic products are an adaption from their weight lifting product lines.

--

Thanks.

Hello everyone,

Hope you're having a great Sunday! So, I want to start off by saying that I'm 6'5/195cm tall, around 230lb/105kg and I've been lifting weight on and off for a few years but I noticed that it is quite hard for me to progress and I just got bored of just lifting and wanted to give myself some kind of challange/goal.

I come from eastern Europe, more specifically the baltics and in the last 5 years we've had quite a big growth in calisthenics here, having world freestyle champions and even full on groups formed to put on performances for the public. I've always been amazed by the sheer strength that goes into performing the static holds and how they fly around the bar and that really made me want to research and learn these tricks. Now because of my height I kind of brushed it off and decided to stick to weight lifting because I noticed that most of these athletes are on the shorter side.

Evidently, I'm not going to be flying around a pullup bar like they do but I would love to really get into it and learn the static holds like front or back lever and eventually a full planche. I haven't worked out for around 2 months now because I got bored of lifting weights and I think this would be completely different for me and it would make it even more fun since I could do the workouts at home or anywhere really.

So, fellow tall calisthenics people, what was your experience starting this new sport and do you have any tips to share of where to start (my guess would be the basics like dips, pushups, pullups and squats?), ways to progress an exercise, what gear to get (should I get wrist wraps or parallette bars). I would really appreciate any help as I've been really wanting to try this but been scared.

Welcome to the r/bodyweightfitness Daily Discussion! This is the place to post simple questions, anecdotes, achievements, or just about anything that's on your mind related to fitness!

Commonly asked questions about training and nutrition:

• Recommended Routine is the original full-body workout program of the subreddit.
• Fitness FAQ covers all questions related to nutrition - gaining muscle, losing weight, etc.
• BWF FAQ covers many of the commonly asked questions.
• Even though the rules are relaxed in this thread, asking for medical advice is still not allowed.

DISCORD SERVER:

Our Discord server is very active and is truly the heart of the community. It is not only a social space, but it is also a great place for live discussion on training and nutrition compared to the slow pace of reddit! Come say Hi!

---

If you'd like to look at previous Discussion threads, click here.

I've been doing the Recommended Routine (RR) full-body workout three times a week for the past three months, and I’m loving it! I’ve seen noticeable improvements in my strength, body composition, and balance. However, I feel like I could use a bit more volume specifically for my biceps.

I know it’s still early in my journey, so patience is key, but I’m considering adjusting my routine to add more variety. My idea is to stick with RR on Mondays and Fridays, then dedicate Wednesdays to legs and isolation exercises like lat pulldowns and dumbbell curls.

Has anyone here tried combining bodyweight exercises with weights like this? My main concern is losing progress on my full-body gains due to the reduced frequency. Would this approach make sense, or should I consider adding higher-rep bodyweight exercises on an extra day instead?

For context, my main goal is to lose body fat. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated!

Sleep is the most powerful drug that we nattys can get our hands on. Now we signal our muscles to become strong when we exercise, but the process doesn't happen until we sleep.

Optimal testosterone is one of the most important factors in building muscle fast. And people that are sleep deprived on average have testosterone levels lower then 200Ng/DL, whether they worked out or not.

If you are not getting optimal sleep, you are robbing yourself of optimal gains, or at least leaving much on the table and you could be getting only 60% of the gains you should be getting if you're not getting at 8 hours of sleep a day.

If you are natural, you need to take advantage of sleep. TL;DR, get your sleep people, it's important.

So when doing a support hold, I can only do it while protracted. If I push down as hard as I can, I always protract and my shoulders round forward.

If I try and push down, while depressing and retracting, I can't actually lift myself up off the ground. Keeping my shoulders back and down while just standing and pushing down is physically really challenging.

Assisted dips or banded dips don't really seem to be that helpful, as pushing straight down without my shoulder coming forward under no load is hard.

I can still do dips, I also don't really get much retraction on the way down. A lot of the travel comes from my shoulder rounding foward as I go down, it's not like it's they're by my ears or anything, but it's sorta like I start protracted, go down and start to retract, then my shoulder blades start to come up as I get near parallel.

Heres an example of how I start my dips off https://www.shape.com/thmb/g6gG-aOStyg0MgKbiRQtcdbV2fo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/l-sit-700_0-4e808dcae42449d88f043e26b2382f14.jpg (The B image). Shoulders protracted, hips behind body.

Question about body weight dips

A few months ago I started the 5 4 3 2 1 ladder (for dips) and got all the way up to 10 10 9 8 7 then set a new body weight PR of 15 reps.

Then I started again but 10 9 8 7 6 and got all the way up to 13 12 11 10 10. This day was really tough and I was confident I’d be able to go on like this much longer so I took a few days off and tested again - I got 18 bw dips which I was really happy about!

But now I’m not sure what to do. Should I add some weight or try get my max reps at bw number up? And if so how should I/would you go about this.

Any input greatly appreciated 🤝

I recently hired a personal trainer (PT) to build muscle and strength. Everything was going well until about two weeks ago when I switched from doing my sessions at the gym to the instructor's apartment complex to save on membership fees. Since making this change, I’ve noticed that the instructor has become less intense and less attentive.

During the last workout, the trainer surprised me by saying he would join me on the workout circuit and brought a video camera to record for social media. He also mentioned that we would be doing something different that day. We warmed up with dynamic stretches, followed by jump lunges, high knee tuck jumps, squats into high heel lifts, and finally heel lifts followed by a high jump on the count of three. We paused to catch our breath, but the break felt longer than usual.

Next, we went straight into the trainer's "modified" HIIT circuit, which consisted of one normal exercise and three modified ones, all to be completed within five minutes. The HIIT exercises included 15 pull-ups, 15 goblet lunges (front and back), 15 suspended push-ups with knee tucks, and deadlifts to calf raises 15x. This session was by far the most engaging since moving to the trainer's complex and really pushed me to finish—all while being recorded on video. We both completed two sets in under five minutes, with at least seven minutes of downtime in between.

During the third set, I started to feel weird but continued to push through. After we finished the third set, I was exhausted, drinking my water while the trainer sipped on coconut water. He even commented that the coconut water tasted bad and that he needed cold water, trying to persuade me to switch. However, I was fine with my room temperature water. After the third set, we waited for about 15 minutes before starting the next one.

In the fourth set, he left me to work out by myself. I sensed a change in his energy, as if he was upset about something. While he sat down and played on his phone, he began asking me odd questions like, "Did you eat today?" and "What did I eat?" He also jokingly said, "Don't let me catch up to you, bro," as a way to encourage me to keep moving. After I finished, I was left sitting there waiting for him to complete his fourth set—something he had never done before. While I sat there, I started to feel nauseous. I tried to take the nausea away, but it was no use. I asked the trainer if we were done for the day, and he said no; we still had more to do. When I told him I had to leave because I wasn’t feeling well, he tried to persuade me to stay, but I refused. Before I could exit the building, I vomited violently and felt queasy for the rest of the night.

Has anyone else experienced this with a PT, or has a PT ever treated a client in this way?

I believe the PT was trying to get me to vomit on camera so he could post it on social media. The exercises we did were exactly what I found when searching for "workouts that make you vomit." He seemed frustrated during the third set because I didn't vomit on camera. He even told me to stay within the camera frame while I was working out.

So as of today I reached 110lbs x 16 per set on my dumbbell row yet when I tried doing pull ups from dead hang specifically, I just cant seem to budge upwards. If I do chin ups without going to dead hang I can do 5 which is cool, I started off much worse but I am still disappointed with pull up progression. Even deadlifts are strong as heck. What could I do to fix this problem?

I have tried doing negatives which helped me reach 3 chin ups without dead hang. I also tried greasing the groove but my elbows are unhappy about it. I do not have the pull up assistance machine at my current gym and that probably wont change for at least 6 months. Didnt try banded pull ups though.

For the record, dumbbell rows are done with very solid form, full control, pause at the bottom.