Starting my Calisthenic journey

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

Soldato
Joined
15 Feb 2013
Posts
3,089
Location
Edinburgh
Hey all,

I've been gymming for a while now and I've decided to take my exercise in a different direction and thought I'd write up as I go :D

I recently got into going to a Chinese pole class, and seeing some of the people there I thought they are on the right track to getting fit!
Now I don't have the time for 6hrs gymnastics a day, but I can change my daily exercise to be something more, rounded?

I'm not sure, but I'm definitely feeling that doing exercise that's more about moving the body around, against its own weight, will help develop that overall fitness I'd like.

First day will be today, I'll give an update later :)

I'm not sure if I should include a log of food? As nutrition is just as important as exercise, but I'll see if I get any feedback on yay or nay.

Just as a 'progress bar':|

Weight: 65kg
Height: 5ft 9
 
Last edited:
Tuesday: 30/08/2016

I know posts are dated, but I'm going to title them anyway :p

So, I started with this today, and I'll admit it wasn't the best of starts!

I decided to use a workout routine from 'MadBarz' and used their app to track it.

I used to do back on Tuesday's, and thought I'd continue with that. I'm unsure whether this is the best way to approach Calisthenic training.... maybe I should do more 'full body' variations, but I can work that out in time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I started with the 'Devils mix' back exercise circuit:

Wide Pull ups: 6 reps
Close grip chin ups: 8 reps
Chin ups: 6 reps

Wide Pull ups: 6 reps
Close grip chin ups: 4 reps
Chin ups: 1 reps

Wide Pull ups: 4 reps
Close grip chin ups: 0 reps
Chin ups: 0 reps

I was meant to do 3 rounds like the first, I did not have it in me.

Undeterred I decided to make up my own routine (Note to self, plan better next time!) I had not looked at the 'Madbarz' routines enough and didn't realise they only seem to be 15-20 (if you do them right) so will need to plan tomorrow better.

So, moving on to what I made up:

Hyperextentions (roman chair): 3 x 10 reps with 20 second rests

Inclined chin ups: 3 x 10 reps with 10 seconds rest

Supermans (A type of hyperextention): 3 x 10 with 20 second rests

Hyperextentions (legs lifted with chest down on bench): 3 x 10 with 20 second rests

Handstand pushups: 5 reps (Decided that was more shoulder than back)

Wide Pull ups: 2 x 5 reps 20 second rests

Close grip chin ups: 5 reps

Inclined chin ups: 3 x 10 reps with 10 seconds rest

Hyperextentions (roman chair): 3 x 10 reps with 20 second rests

Diamond Push ups 3 x 10 reps with 20 second rests


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Food Diary:

Breakfast:
Porridge with a banana and a teaspoon of honey: 327 cals

Lunch:
100g portion of huel: 400 cals

Snack to nibble through the day:
4 Brazil nuts: 105 cals
14g of Almonds: 80 cals

Dinner:
(I won't really know cals, as I don't make the dinner :p )
Quinoa and hallumi salad with sweet potato.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, first day!
Defiantly need to plan things better, know what i'm really going to do the whole time, and what to move on to if I struggle.

This is a learning process though :)
Maybe you can learn from my mistakes hahaha
 
Last edited:
wozza2k said:
Following. Been interested in calisthenics for the longest time but always thought to get myself stronger and leaner first not sure why.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow,
Well I'd have to say my first try was an eye opener as to how hard some of these exercises are, and I would have considered myself of alright fitness.

There are lots of variations and ways to start out easier. I'm going to try and choose my next routine better, focusing reps of the 'easier' moves, so that might give you a couple exercises you could try.

Leaner's a nice goal, I've pursued it for a while, dieting etc. You can be strong and healthy without being lean :) I just let narcissism/Vanity pull me to my goal haha
 
So,
Due to the way my first day went, I've spent the last couple hours reading haha
So I'm going to adopt a more 'full body every day' rather than dedicated 'chest/back/legs' days.

While the exercises will vary the muscle groups they're heavy on, each day will target a number of areas.
Also there will be far more cardio and warm up than I'm used to on a gym day, but it seems these bodyweight focused exercises are more likened to gymnastics, so I'll go with their suggestions.
I'm an injury prone person haha, I've hurt too many muscles in the past.
 
Wednesday 31/08/2016

Right, day 2.
Done my research, got a plan.
It says 6 months, well, we'll see how it goes :p

This has a good mix of:
Warm up
Stretch
Exercise

So I'm hoping it does me well :D

----------------------------------------

Warm up:
Skipping: 5 mins
(man skipping's hard)

Stretch:

1 Minute Wrist Mobilization In Alignment

1 Minute Wrist Mobilization Out Of Alignment

(basic wrist stretches)

3 Minutes of crawling on hands and balls of feet.
(Felt a bit silly in the gym, but meh)

Exercise:

Chin ups: 3 reps
Wall sit: 30 seconds
Tricep Dips: 12 reps
Squats: 8 reps
Push ups: 8 reps
Pull ups: 2 reps
Hanging leg raises: 3 reps
Decline Push ups: 7 reps

2 min break

Chin ups: 3 reps
Wall sit: 30 seconds
Tricep Dips: 12 reps
Squats: 8 reps
Push ups: 8 reps
Pull ups: 2 reps
Hanging leg raises: 3 reps
Decline Push ups: 7 reps

2 min break
At this point I was comfortable with the exercises, so decided last round I should push it a bit

Chin ups: 11 reps
Wall sit: 94 seconds
Tricep Dips: 25 reps
Squats: 30 reps
Push ups: 20 reps
Pull ups: 5 reps
Hanging leg raises: 6 reps
Decline Push ups: 11 reps

----------------------------------------

Food Diary

Breakfast:
Porridge with a banana and a teaspoon of honey: 327 cals

Lunch:
50g portion of huel: 200 cals

Snack to nibble through the day:
4 Brazil nuts: 105 cals
14g of Almonds: 80 cals

Dinner:
Bean & pasta stew with meatballs (Dunno cals)

----------------------------------------

So day 2, defiantly feel happier with the routine.
I'll adjust their reps, a bit easy to begin. If I hadn't ramped at the end I would have finished disappointed.
Tomorrow is leg heavy, we'll see how that goes :p
 
Thursday 1/09/2016

Day 3!
Legs, fun....
This plan has legs twice a week, might need to adjust it as I've got other stuff to do Mondays, but I'll see how it goes.

----------------------------------------

Warm up:
Skipping: 5 mins

Stretch:

1 Minute Wrist Mobilization In Alignment

1 Minute Wrist Mobilization Out Of Alignment

Exercise:

Lunges (Each Leg): 10 reps
Squats: 8 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats (Each Leg): 5 reps
Squat Jumps: 12 reps
Wall Sit: 31 seconds

X 4 Rounds, 90s pause between rounds

After the 4 rounds, it's 'push as much as you can' same exercises:

Lunges (Each Leg): 50 reps
Squats: 50 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats (Each Leg): 25 reps
Squat Jumps: 25 reps
Wall Sit: 64 seconds

----------------------------------------

Food Diary

Breakfast:
Porridge with a banana and a teaspoon of honey: 327 cals

Lunch:
50g portion of huel: 200 cals
Leftover pasta bean stuff from last night

Snack to nibble through the day:
4 Brazil nuts: 105 cals
14g of Almonds: 80 cals

Dinner:
Tacos made with quorn mince (Dunno cals)
Chicken breast with a side salad (I had 2 dinners.....not my fault, I was just served it and wanted to be Fat polite)

----------------------------------------


Well that leg day was hard haha
pushing it at the end was a killer exercise, I'm going to use those 'max values' to adjust the earlier workout rounds.
To build up the 'grind' before the exhaust at the end.
Till tomorrow!
 
Last edited:
Your food intake looks like it could be on the low side although it depends on the size of your dinners as you're only hitting circa 700 by the time dinner comes.

And BSS are killer
 
Yeah, part of the reason I wanted to start writing it down was to help my diet.

Since I pretty much gave up running I dropped a lot of my meals, I was doing the whole 'eating 5 meals a day' on the build up to a marathon.
And now I don't run 5 times a week I didn't feel I needed the energy.
Also I like being thin, just need to keep it from effecting my repair & growth.

I'm not sure on eating plans, people talk of bulk then trim...
A number of Calisthenic groups seem to push the Paleo diet, which I thing is full of ****

But yeah, I was noticing when it was added up it was falling a bit short.
 
Friday 02/09/2016

God I'm feeling those leg exercises from yesterday.
Cycling into work was dire.

Time for round 2 of some full body:
----------------------------------------

Warm up:
Skipping: 5 mins

Stretch:

I completely forgot to stretch......

Exercise:

Chin ups: 3 reps
Wall sit: 30 seconds
Tricep Dips: 12 reps
Squats: 8 reps
Push ups: 8 reps
Pull ups: 2 reps
Hanging leg raises: 3 reps
Decline Push ups: 7 reps

1 min 30 break

Chin ups: 3 reps
Wall sit: 30 seconds
Tricep Dips: 12 reps
Squats: 8 reps
Push ups: 8 reps
Pull ups: 2 reps
Hanging leg raises: 3 reps
Decline Push ups: 7 reps

1 min 30 break
Now for the 'Push as hard as you can'

Chin ups: 12 reps
Wall sit: 93 seconds
Tricep Dips: 20 reps
Squats: 30 reps
Push ups: 18 reps
Pull ups: 6 reps
Hanging leg raises: 6 reps
Decline Push ups: 9 reps

----------------------------------------

Food Diary

Breakfast:
Porridge with a banana and a teaspoon of honey: 327 cals

Lunch:
100g portion of huel: 400 cals

Snack to nibble through the day:
8 Brazil nuts: 210 cals
28g of Almonds: 160 cals

Dinner:
TBC(Dunno cals)

----------------------------------------

So, still getting started with this plan, Second run at those exercises not quite as good as the first but still good.
I don't really like the difference between my final round and my start sets, so might build gradually or flat increase the earlier sets.

I'll see how it goes.

I'm gonna take wozza's note on board and keep an eye on my intake, try and think out what I'm needing
 
Track your food and weight over a course of a few weeks and see where you're going and tinker with calories as required dependent on whether you want to gain or cut :)

How are you finding Huel? I was looking to try it as it would save me a lot of time but not sure I can handle the lack of eating something
 
I've been using huel for a couple of weeks now, it's good I find.
A 100g portion makes a thick shake, and if you mix it with milk it's really thick and filling.
Not the best tasting shake tbh, but it's got a decent amount of protein and other nutrients which it can't hurt to get.
Also it's in my drawer at work, no need to worry about prep in the morning
 
When playing with calisthenics, it may be a good idea to play with some heavy triples for the big three to get your nervous system wired for explosions.

Check out Clarence Kennedy: whilst not exactly a calisthenics person, he does a lot of "tricking" whilst being close to the top of his global class as an Olympic weightlifter.

Get strong, keep the rep ranges low to keep hypertrophy down, and then devote the last two thirds of your workout to crazy open-chain stuff.
 
Monday 05/09/2016

So I thought I'd update this at my usual time, regardless of not doing proper exercise haha.
On Mondays I spend and hour practicing handstands/cartwheels and doing flexibility stretches, I plan to do my Monday workout in the evening, so will update it then.

----------------------------------------
-1 hour mixed floor things.

Exercise:

Decided to up the reps, didn't want to be pushing out too much on the last circuit and not getting the most out the exercises.

Chin ups: 6 reps
Wall sit: 45 seconds
Tricep Dips: 20 reps
Squats: 16 reps
Push ups: 16 reps
Pull ups: 4 reps
Hanging leg raises: 6 reps
Decline Push ups: 14 reps

1 min 30 break

Chin ups: 6 reps
Wall sit: 45 seconds
Tricep Dips: 20 reps
Squats: 16 reps
Push ups: 16 reps
Pull ups: 4 reps
Hanging leg raises: 6 reps
Decline Push ups: 14 reps

1 min 30 break
Now for the 'Push as hard as you can'

Chin ups: 9 reps
Wall sit: 67 seconds
Tricep Dips: 27 reps
Squats: 24 reps
Push ups: 11 reps
Pull ups: 4 reps
Hanging leg raises: 7 reps
Decline Push ups: 9 reps

----------------------------------------

Food Diary

Breakfast:
Porridge with a banana and a teaspoon of honey: 327 cals

Lunch:
50g portion of huel: 200 cals

Snack to nibble through the day:
8 Brazil nuts: 210 cals
28g of Almonds: 160 cals

Dinner:
Fillet of fish with peas and mash(Dunno cals)

----------------------------------------

Felt that went better, doing more on the previous sets made it a lot harder to squeeze more out in the 'all out' cycle, I'll keep these reps to see how it goes!!
 
Last edited:
GiraffePencils said:
So, would you suggest starting the workout, 3 times a week, doing this?

Pretty much 3 reps of the heaviest I can perform correctly of Bench/Deadlift & Squat?
Click to expand...

Three reps of your 5RM... At the start of your workout whilst you still have the beans. Three sets of that should do you nicely. :)

Do bench one day, squat the next workout, etc.
 
Updated workout, I'm liking the upped reps!

I might try out the heavy triplet on wed, when I'm back to this circuit.
Tomorrow's a leg set, but I've signed up for a 10km with work, so I'll be going for a run.
Cardio can't hurt :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom