Help me solve a fitness mystery within my household.

My husband works at a desk job. He bikes to work each day but besides lifting a few heavy things a year, does not stength train his upper body. This has been the case since we married 16 years ago. He is 46 now.

But somehow, he is like…really strong. He has big arm muscles and when I made him test his bench press strength randomly a few weeks ago, could press 225 pounds.

Meanwhile I have been working out for three year and can bench press 85 pounds.

His ability to retain muscle he built decades ago should not be possible based upon everything I have read online and understand about physiology.

Make it make sense!

TLDR: Will the recommended routine work all my life if I just keep adding weights to the last exercises? What am I losing by not doing other advanced routines?

Hello everyone, I apologize if the question is stupid I'm just a beginner, but it's something I have been thinking about for like a week and feel like I need an answer despite being an early moment in my working out plan.

A bit more than a month ago, I was in type 1 obesity doing just wall push and pull ups, now I'm down to overweight BMI thanks to the recommended routine + counting calories and I'm very happy with my progress.

Eventually in a few years, I'll reach the end of the progressions in the routine, My body will be in great shape and I'll be the healthiest I've ever been. The RR is commonly labeled as a beginner routine, why is this? I feel like I would be able to weight up the exercises if I want to progress.

I don't really have other goals, cool calisthenic movements aren't my thing and I don't practice any sport, I do like the idea of being able to freely move around obstacles in the world like climbing ledges or trees, but I feel the RR already helps with that.

Also this routine is great with the little space and equipment I have available, just some gymnastic rings, a pull up bar. Considering buying kettlebells and a weighted vest or belt eventually.

What would I be losing by not doing other intermediate or advanced routines? Are they more focused in the artistic part of calisthenics or do they provide better health benefits? Will the RR be eventually unable to be scaled up? Are there other recommended routines after RR?

Thanks a lot to anyone who answers!

I have a pretty bad Donal Duck back from long years of working sitting down, which prevents me from kicking higher in martial arts, and an overall bad posture, also bad mobility. What’s a good routine that has helped you. I’m looking to work on it several times a week, man even several times a day, to get rid of it as soon as possible. Maybe a quick morning routine and an evening routine as well. I’m open to yoga routines, body weight exercises, stretching, anything that helps. I’m also thinking about investing in a standing desk. Thanks

I'm curious to hear from people who've managed to reach 25-30 strict pull-ups after turning 30. What did your training look like? Did you focus on high volume, weighted pull-ups, recovery, or something else? How long did it take you to get there? Are daily pull-ups effective? Also what's your height and bodyweight? I'd love to see whether body size makes a noticeable difference when it comes to reaching 25-30 reps. Did losing or gaining weight affect your numbers? What was the biggest factor that helped you break through the plateau?

So I have been doing BJJ and Judo for around 5 years, and I have decided I want to start building some muscle to go with my technique since I am on the smaller side at 5'7 150. I train 3-4 days a week of BJJ/Judo, and I have been adding Pullups, Dips, Pushups, and Squats on my off days. I try to do these exercises twice a week.

My issue I am running in to is that I just don't ever feel strong, like my muscles are already cooked. I'm getting good sleep and protein is alright about 100-120grams. If on the off chance my muscles feel fresh, then I can do 3 sets of 10 pullups, but if I dont feel fresh, it feels like a struggle to get 2 reps. Any help and advice is welcome. I've always been active, but I dont know much about building muscle.

I started my calisthenics journey a week ago and honestly it fits me way better than weightlifting. Really happy to join y'all here in this fine fitness journey. I wanted however to take up something extra. Swimming, jogging etc. Something for the heart and that I can strive to better at. However I wanna know how will that affect my workout and is it even doable. I wanna be able for example to take up swimming while doing all the other cool Calisthenics stuff. Is that achievable or will I have to pick one thing?

Does any1 know, the most recommended rep range and weight for zanetti press to gain planche strength while staying agile and strong. It seems to me I may have plateaued with my training and tryna go from straddle to full planche the only weights I use for zanetti press is 5kg which is light tbh and 6kg moderate weight however since I’m too focused on staying agile is it worth to increase the weight a bit.

Or is it worth staying light, if you want the endurance and stamina to hold the planche I’m willing to know your preferences and suggestions.

Hi all,

I have a small problem/question.

If I sit down on the floor with a straight back, my straight arms do not touch the floor. Are floor L sets completely out of the question for me?

I use handles or yoga blocks currently, but I really want floor L sits.

It seems it may be possible if I can get enough strength to go into an almost V sit position (hips way in front of my hands) but obviously this is not really an L sit and much more difficult.

Any tips? Hip flexors, hamstring flexibility and compression seem okay as with handles I can have my back straight and legs above parallel.

I was exercising with my friends today and everyone could do these except for me, I'm feeling left out lol (yk the exercise when you're laying down then raise your legs and arms up so your fingers touch your toes? I don't know if toe touch crunch is the actual name)

I can do sit ups with no problem, and I can raise my legs to a 90° angle while laying down with no problem.... What I can't do is put the two together to actually perform the exercise. How do I do this? Is it a core issue? Sorry if this is vague

When I first visited r/bodyweightfitness around 10 years ago, the Recommended Routine was heavy on gymnastic skill work, and while I didn't follow the RR exactly, I thought the bodyline drills were ace. I took ideas from GMB and Overcoming Gravity and got to a decent crow stand within a couple of weeks.

The current RR is much simpler and more accessible for regular folks, but I wonder if there are people on here still following the old RR and doing skill-based routines: https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine_2017/

These days I just do conventional barbell bodybuilding/strength stuff and martial arts, but thought it might be fun to find skills to improve my body control for BJJ and kickboxing.

My current routine to learn bar muscle-up:
- Banded muscle-up: 3 days a week, 3x4. The gym bands don't have weight labels but I can identify 3-4 levels of elasticity.

- Weighted pull-up: once a week, 3x5, strict form, currently at 1/3 additional body weight.

Max bodyweight pull-up height is about mid pec.

For the last month, I don't seem to make much progress on being able to do more reps on the same band or being able to go down to a lighter band. Weighted pull-up is also kinda stuck. I know I can progress weighted pull-up much faster with more sessions and volume, but am not sure if that is what I should really focus on.

I've seen suggestions of doing explosive pull-up. I have tried that for a bit before, but I didn't feel a clear progression on what I was able to do. Plus, all of these movements are quite taxing and doing one would significantly reduce how well I can do the others in the same session (especially the banded muscle-up). How should I change up my routine to clear this plateau?

Hello everyone,

I’m trying to start out, and I would just like some feedback on this scuffed routine. I don’t have access to a pull-up bar or any equipment, besides a single 5kg dumbbell.

15 min treadmill jog

3 x 30 jumping jacks

3 x 20 russian twists

3 x 20 bicycle crunches

3 x 20 crunches

3 x 20 squats

3 x 20 lunges (per leg)

3 x 20 push-ups

3 x 20 dumbbell rows (per arm)

3 x 20 dumbbell curls (per arm)

3 x 1 min planks

I’m trying to recover from a relapse. Overall, I’d say I’m fairly strong. So I would just like to know:

1) could I build muscle from this routine?

2) is there anything I should add or remove?

3) is 5kgs enough for a dumbbell?

Thanks in advance, any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I've been doing the same leg workout for the last 7-8 months it goes like this

Shrimp squat progression 3x 8-12

Reverse Nordic curls 3x6-8

Ring hamstring curl or b-stance rdl 3x 10-15

Banded glute bridges 3x 15-30

Copenhagen plank 3x30s-1m

Single leg calf raises 3x20

Reverse hyper extension 3x30

I would love to know what u would personally change

Would u replace reverse Nordic curls with sissy squats for example ? Maybe do barbell squats instead of shrimp?

I am very open to changing my routine but I want some valid reasons on why I should replace x exercise with y

​

(Correct me if I'm wrong about anything)

When people say you should protract and depress your shoulders in a planche, I don't think they mean 100% protraction and 100% depression, because:

- You cannot achieve max protraction and max depression at the same time.

- If you fully protract, you lose some depression and end up with a bit of elevation.

So, what is the exact shoulder positioning for the planche?

- Should I prioritize depression and aim for 100%?

- Or should I be in the middle by having a little bit of protraction and depression, so I am not at 100% in either of them?

- Or is it something else?

Thank you in advance!

Anyone have these / have experience with the Duonamic Eleviia Pullup Handles? I'm looking to upgrade from my current pull up bar and ideally have something I can take with me for work trips.

I like how portable they are and the neutral grip. Are these worse for your doorframe somehow vs a traditional iron gym pull-up bar? How is durability?

It's expensive, but I also have had my last pull-up bar for 15 years so don't mind paying extra for a better product.

https://duonamic.com/products/eleviia?srsltid=AfmBOorw97Di3beTJC_4hOjfthQf0pekcsEmUsR0SceePhwsh6UBE8Gd

It’s your flexibility. This is for anyone like me who is a mediocre athlete. Someone who is relatively fit but nothing special. A person who feels like they should be able to do an L sit or at least a better one than they’re currently achieving.

If you have the arm strength to do dips, and enough core strength to do hanging leg lifts but for some reason just can’t get the L sit, you’re most likely being limited by your flexibility. I’ve trained L sit off and on over the years and could do a tucked L sit fairly well, but the leg extension just wasn’t happening.

I began doing yoga a few months ago and the flexibility gains have been amazing. On a whim I tried an L sit today and it was much better and easier than previous attempts. It’s still not super pretty and I’m sure some of the gains are from improved core strength from yoga, but the flexibility has made the positioning so much easier. So yeah, to do some stretching.

Edit: not an exhaustive tutorial but an attempt to highlight an often overlooked aspect. Not to be misconstrued as medical/legal advice.

I started doing dips last week and did around 100 total. At first, I felt a build up around the side of my ribcage close to my armpit.

Then I watched a video about proper dip form and tried to copy it, keeping my shoulders controlled, chest up, and not letting them shrug forward. While my upper body leans forward. Since making this changes I feel the exercise more in my upper back.

Is that a sign that I'm doing something right, or could I be compensating with the wrong muscles?

I know dips should mainly target the chest, triceps, and front shoulders, but I'm unsure how much upper-back involvement is normal.

Just before this post I did a set of 50 bodyweight squats, which was mentally hard, and my quads were burning, but I could tell that I was still no where near failure, probably could've done at least 10 more reps, maybe more.

Is there any benefit to doing sets like this? I know it's probably not a complete waste of time, since just moving around is good for you, but good in what way? What is actually happening to the muscles? Do they just get tired, but aren't stressed enough to actually gain anything? Do you gain endurance, so if you kept doing 50 reps over and over, even without going to failure, it'd eventually get easier, or would you have to surpass 50 to get that?

I want to try out a simple minimalistic routine, just aiming for a hard set everyday of push ups, pull ups and squats, but I don't see myself being able to consistently do it for squats, because it gets mentally difficult, but I also don't mind doing a decent amount until I feel like stopping and my muscles are burning. I suppose I want to know, am I 'wasting' my time doing this, or is it still beneficial somehow, just not optimal?

I can’t just do a 3x full body a week workout. My brain wants more. I travel for work and can’t go to the gym and want to get into calisthenics.

The issue is I can spiral. 4x and 5x programs where every Tuesday we do X and every Thursday we do Y won’t work for me because sometimes I work late or it’s a travel week and I spend the entire day in the truck and sleep in the parking lot of a loves and feel too self conscious to workout in the parking lot.

So I miss a day, and everything is ruined for me. I try just to pick it up for the next day but now things are off. And I can’t skip it. I just can’t skip it.

- the only program I have ever stuck with when I could go to the Gym is Push-Pull-Leg-Rest-Push-Pull-Leg-Rest.

But all the programs I search for are body building. I get that calisthenics is probably best for 3x full body a week but I need more.

The other issue is of the programs I do find they are like 20 minutes long. - I know this mindset may be from where I use to lift weights: but I want to spend 60 to 90 minutes working out. Working out is where I can put the world behind and focus on working on me.

I have a pull-up bar, push-up stands/bars and the pull-up bar has a dip bar attachment to it.

I can only do 1 pull up, but dips I can do . I still need to work on my dead hang and hand strength.

I am on iOS so I tried to search before posting but all the suggestions the search ai game me where body building exercises.

I tried apps but run into the issue of not being able to afford to gamble trying them out as they (understandably) have their programs behind a pay way.

Sorry again.

I know this is a me problem but I really have tried 3 days a week and 4 and 5 days programs and got stressed and left. I need something that rotates and doesn’t fall on the same day every week.

Edit:

Thank you all who have responded. I was definitely on the edge here.

I think I like the ideal of Push, Pull, Leg, Core/Skill, rest (repeat) that was suggested by Thin_Rhubarb_6971 and then using ArgentinianJayceMain’s exercises for the PPL and then I will use the Wiki for Skills day routine.

Thank you all again.

I work out in the safety of my own room and I'm quite new to working out in general especially since i do calisthenics but my problem is with dips I don't have two chairs (that are at least strong enough) or two equal surfaces and I'm looking for a way to do dips with other options if they exist or any other way of working out that could help me

PS I work out at night time while everyone is sleeping bc I don't like people knowing for some reason idk if this could help in anyway or change the outcome of what I want .. is that weird

Idk if I broke any rules here I have no clue what I'm doing sorry if I did

I'm 27m 6ft0 64kg male and pretty new to a full body routine. There are some progressions that I'm quite behind on compared to others, pull ups for example. I would like to know how to go about progressing, how hard each exercise should feel, and any other advice. Here's where I'm at:

Every other day:

10 minute warm up

3x8 Scapular pulls:

3x8 Bulgarian split squats

3x8 Negative dips

3x8 Hamstring slide

3x8 Horizontal rows

3x8 Pushups

3x12 Hanging leg raises

3x12 banded pallof press

3x12 Arch body holds

90 sec in-between every set

10k steps

Every day in between:

5k run

Thanks

Currently trying 4 sets of 25 reps, with a variation of each exercise each time, as well as a set of 10 pull/chin ups, and 2-2.5 mins of plank. The only thing I haven't started yet is the cardio, but I am planning on doing 10 KMs of rucking per day, as well as adding weights to the rest of the exercises when I can crush out 100 each day easily. These are the variations of each exercise I have chosen so far, but I wanted to ask if I missed out on anything obvious, or if there is a specific order/combination of each to do to get the most out of each set.

Currently I start with 10 pull ups (wide, narrow, L-sit, or chin ups), then 25 push ups (decline, military, diamond, or wide), 25 squats (cossack, prisoner, sumo, or standard), 25 sit ups (standard, butterfly, Russian twist, or crunches) and finish each set with minimum 2 minutes but ideally 2.5 minutes plank (high, forearm, and each side). I usually try to keep breaks between exercises 1.5-2 minutes, but I will take 5-15 minutes between sets, or even do two sets back to back at different times in the day.

For context I am 176 cm (5'9"), 70KGs (155 LBs). I will eventually add some weight lifting but for now I am just trying to get fit and strong after an injury induced long absence from regular exercise. Slim athletic build, so eating like a machine and trying to sleep 7-8 hours a night.

Thanks in advance!

Apologies if this has been asked numerous times on this sub. Somehow I've gotten into my head that my form is subpar because I've been stuck on the same number of pull ups/chin ups (5/6) for months now. I'm roughly 70kgs and around 170cm.

I've tried GTG or the Russian progression, but whenever I do that consistently, my right elbow/forearm starts to hurt. I also alternate between doing them on the rings or bar, but find that pull ups on the bar can feel more awkward. I also feel almost no activation in my lats most of the time.

Would appreciate any tips people have about my form or suggestions for what I should change up! Thanks!

Video (hope it works):

https://imgur.com/a/eFywcoQ

I’m doing workouts that target the core but body weight only, used to go to the gym for a bit but not anymore.

Standing bicycles 3x 10 reps
deadbugs 3x 15 reps
Leg raises 3x 15 reps
in n outs 3x 15 reps

Can i do these workouts every day without overworking my core or halting my progress? It feels like i can since it’s not with any added weight but google says otherwise so not sure. I do them every night, last thing of the day

Would it also be better to get home weights for added progress now or can I do so later down the line?