Getting Started with Progressive Calisthenics Okay, so by now you’ve peeked around the site a bit and read those rough intros to the different forms of calisthenics that are prevalent among the bar athlete community. Since then you’ve dabbled or even delved into them. Maybe you’ve found some plans or programs. Gathered a little more knowledge. Now I’m going to build on what I’ve left you with and give you a tad more thorough education. What is Progressive Calisthenics? To sum it up, progressive calisthenics is the ideal that your own bodyweight can provide more than enough resistance and versatility to meet your fitness goals. Whether it’s muscle building, fat loss, cardio conditioning, functional strength, etc. Of course most people are chiefly concerned with building lean muscle mass and functional strength. So this article will cover it in that context. How Does Progressive Calisthenics Build Muscle and Strength? Progressive overload is the name of the game. You’re probably tired of me saying that but I can’t stress it enough, really. Progressive overload is the only way to build strength or muscle. The methods employed may vary based on implement, style, and goal. But it’s all for progressive overload. Progressive overload drives your body to adapt to handling such loads. This is why I prefer to refer to time under tension as time under load. Because it’s more accurate. Progressive Calisthenics achieves progressive overload much different than weight lifting does. With weight lifting you simply add weight to the bar. Especially when working within a specific set/rep scheme and protocol. With progressive calisthenics, however, this is achieved by working through progressions. You have to hit your chest with standard pushups, then wide pushups, then diamonds, and so on. You have to hit your shoulders with progressively overloading inversions. From the pike, to the elevated pike, to the handstand, and so on. The overload comes from changing the way you load your bodyweight onto your muscles. When you do pushups on the floor, you’re typically working with 60% of bodyweight. But when you add an incline you increase by anywhere from 10 to over 20%. There are also other little mechanical nuances that make huge differences in how the weight is carried. Such as achieving and working with progressions such as elbow levers and planches. In the BarLord school of thought, it’s important to have a general working knowledge of these things. You don’t have to be some genius when it comes to kinesiology or physiology. You just have to have the basics of time under load, mechanical tension, and the like. This makes a world of difference in how you train and how you progress. And the type of progress you can make. How Do Progressions Work? They aren’t set in stone. And while some swear by not skipping any progressions, I stand by the fact that spending time on progressions that aren’t challenging serve very little to no purpose. And can even stunt your growth as a bar athlete. Below is a chart of progressions that is almost universal. Okay So What Would a Program Look Like? This is a general program template for a beginner. It’s concerned with building the strength to get through the progressions as well as building muscle. It’s a simple template. Very adaptable. Though I wouldn’t suggest messing around with it unless you know what you’re doing. Full Body "A"
Full Body "B"
How About Bodyweight Bodybuilding? If you’ve gone through that beginner program and you’re ready for something a little more down and dirty. Or you’re already a seasoned beginner and want something that can really challenge you, here’s a program for you. It’s a bodyweight bodybuilding program. Designed to hit your muscles hard and, provided you’re macros and diet are dialed in, pack on some lean mass. Full Body "A" - Bodybuilding
Full Body "B" - Strength Work
Okay. So Why Am I Doing This?
Because it works. Okay, that comes off like an absolute. Nothing is an absolute. A lot of people train differently and nothing is absolute. However many things are proven and sworn by. As are the principles upon which I based this program. This includes three sets of six to eight reps for strength and hypertrophy. The progressions are a little looser. I mean, technically, you could use this for any progression. But if you’re a beginner I’d stick with these. Why so few progressions on the given days? Because you’re a beginner. You need to ease into this. It’s for the same reason that Stronglifts and Starting Strength has you doing very little accessory work. Mind you, this is a bare bones template for absolute beginners. If you’ve got a little experience under your belt. Albeit not enough to consider yourself much more than a beginner. Then you can add to it. Doing 3x6 is one of the most exemplary modes of strength training. This will make you stronger and as your strength improves, so shall your physique. As far as the 2nd template goes, it’s way more geared toward hypertrophy. Start out with 3x8 and work your way up to 3x12. Then to 4x8 on up to 4x12. On the “B” workout it’s all strength work. Just because your chief concern is hypertrophy doesn’t mean you should forego strength work. Because like I said, improving strength improves your physique. With both templates you alternate the “A” and “B” workouts until the program runs its course. Where do we go from here? New progressions. Some people who belong to certain bodyweight communities (cough cough) will criticize and dislike this. They think that something like this can’t be used for strength. The truth is, a lot of these people just regurgitate information found on the internet. They’ve read no academic or scholarly works. They don’t study diligently. They just follow what the next person says. The fact of the matter is that I could sit up here and give you lengthy dissertations that run the whole gamut fitness. But I don’t have the time. And nine times out of ten, that’s not what people came for. Anyway, another key part of the 2nd template is that I followed a sort of traditional bodybuilding set up. Two movements for each major body part. I included shoulder work but not arm work because I feel like even in weightlifting people very seldom love shoulder work until it’s time to get some aesthetic shoulders. I just want you to have an appreciation for shoulder work from the beginning. Arm work is optional. Depending on your level, diamonds and pullups will be enough. The more your pushing strength increases the more your chest, triceps, and shoulders will grow. And the more your pulling strength increases the more your back and biceps, and to some extent your shoulders, will grow as well. Okay. So What Now? Now you’ve got to put it to use. Go to the bottom of the page where I include sources and references and study. Physical Culture is all about education. Physical culture is all about maintaining this sustainable lifestyle. And the pillar of that is education. You have to educate yourself enough to know what you’re doing. And to know how to do it and how to make it last. Yours in Bodyweight Badassery, BarLord Further Reading An Excerpt From Overcoming Gravity Some Tips on Building Strength Rough Strength
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Shredded ShamanLifelong athlete and martial artist. I'm on a mission to bring back the good old days of Physical Culture and make this fit lifestyle a lot more enjoyable. Archives
October 2022
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