What do you think of splitting by 2 or more workouts per day, like say morning and afternoon, with split muscle groups?

For example:

• Morning: Lower body
• Afternoon: Upper body, Core

This should allow 24 hours for each muscle group to recover.

Steven Low mentions splits quite a lot, recommending them as an alternative for intermediate-advanced athletes, if full body at their level is too strenuous.

But Low seems to focus on whole day splits. For example, upper body one day, lower body the next, etc.

I'm curious what people think of splitting within a day, as mentioned above.

Advantages might be that the total volume can be increased, as it can allow more sets / reps per week than splitting by day.

Disadvantages might be the usual issues with higher volume like fatigue or overuse. Also maybe some muscle groups would be activated in both workouts, which reduces the recovery window to less than 24 hours, not allowing full recovery. Maybe this latter can be addressed by carefully isolating the muscle groups, or focussing one or more workouts to targeting smaller muscle groups that recover faster.

(Most appreciate, of course, if Low himself would chime in, but obviously he might by busy! 🙂)

I (30F) have never in my life been able to do a proper push up. I work with a trainer and he said that my collarbone to forearm ratio is very unfortunate for doing push ups and therefore it's extra hard for me to do so. For this reason, I started doing inclined pushups a while ago and have progressed all the way to knee pushups (I can easily do 12x3 knee pushups).

The problem: If I lie down on the floor, I can push myself up to a plank without issue however if I start in a plank, I cannot lower myself down more than like a quarter of the way. When I try, my arms just lock up and won't do it.

Has anyone experienced this? From everything I've seen online, this is super atypical as negative pushups are supposed to be a fairly easy day 1 exercise. I probably am just lacking strength somewhere in my upper body but I have no idea what the issue could be.

Hi! I have been doing bodyweight exercises for 3.5 years consistently, but feel like at this point I have reached a bit of a plateau. I currently have rings and 2 10 kg dumbells at home. I was hence thinking about buying equipment to further progress, but not sure what's recommended to get for this purpose. I have a small room at home I could use, and if I'd move, I'd ideally be able to use this 'setup' in an appartment as well.

So what would you consider as the minimum essentials for a homegym, which would allow me to target all muscle groups and progress for the foreseeable future at least? Any input is welcome, thanks!!

hi everyone! i used to be an athlete (swimming + volleyball), but i got injured (achilles tendon). i was told by the doctor not to do sports anymore so for a few years i was a bit inactive and a bit depressed.

i started taking up running after a few tears, and now i have injured myself again. im still not 100% recovered from my metatarsalgia, but i really would like to improve my health.

now i live at a small dorm room, i dont really have access to parks and gyms but i have a yoga mat and two dumbbells.

what workout would you recommend? and which would you recommend that doesnt require much space + are generally easy on the feet?

i feel like i need to improve my health as im growing older, and i would prefer to build muscles before my 30s

thank you

For the at home pull up bar owners, what do you guys do to add weight to pull ups. After a certain amount of weight I put in my backpack, I find it to be extremely uncomfortable. Not only that I do think it limits my shoulder movement. Also, long term I don’t think it’s good for my posture.

Obviously the best thing is a weighted belts, I find it feels the most natural. Keeps the center of gravity low, also feels good on hips.

But the weighted belts require plates, which I don’t have at home.

weighted vests are limited aswell.

Understandably, negatives/eccentrics are recommended to people to achieve their first pull up (given you are 120-150% stronger on the negative). Personally, they worked really well for me.

I'm just wondering why they are not recommended more for strength gains as progression continues to weighted pull ups? I'm currently doing 5x3 8kg weighted pull ups. Wouldn't doing 12kg negatives for a few weeks be a really good way to increase strength? Nothing has increased my strength faster than negatives (I feel) but I'm not doing them atm because they don't appear in any advice about "intermediate" pull up progression that I can see?

Fundamentally, what I am asking is this: if negatives/eccentrics are lauded as a great strength building technique (I found they were), why can't they continue to be useful for weighted pull ups? It's not like your muscles know you've achieved your first pull up and no longer respond to a negative/eccentric stimulus, right?

A few months ago, I was struggling to perform dips consistently and make meaningful progress. After getting a pair of gymnastic rings and incorporating ring dips into my training, my strength absolutely exploded. I eventually built up to doing 10+ parallel bar dips with little to no effort. Now, I feel ready to take things to the next level by adding weight to my dips, but I'm unsure which variation would be best to focus on. Should I go with weighted parallel bar dips or weighted ring dips for the best results?

Hi there. I recently purchased a pull up tower from amazon. Intent was for my son (9 year old 4'8") and wife (5"6') to use. The tower i got had a few issues:

1. too cumbersome to adjust heights: it used a screw knob mechanism
   

2. had two sets of grips; one was too narrow and one was too wide for me to be comfortable

3. the back rest was too close to the bar; when doing pull ups would knock against the rest a little bit

any tips on power tower or standing pull up bar that would solve the issues above?

I'm looking to stay fit while travelling and haven't used either before, but have run into the two types with the support straps being more popular, but i can't really see why. I can't find anything i can do with them that you can't with rings.

Am i missing something?

Also, for those wanting to go above your body weight in some exercises. Would a heavy backpack and rubber bands on a different hitch point work?

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Quiero mantenerme en forma mientras viajo y nunca he usado ninguno de los dos, pero me he encontrado con que los dos tipos con correas de sujeción son más populares, aunque la verdad es que no acabo de entender por qué. No se me ocurre nada que se pueda hacer con ellos y que no se pueda hacer con anillas.

¿Se me escapa algo?

Además, para aquellos que queráis levantar más peso que el de vuestro propio cuerpo en algunos ejercicios, ¿funcionaría una mochila pesada con gomas elásticas sujetas a un punto de anclaje diferente?

Hi,

I've started taking calisthenics seriously and I'm looking to maximise my weighted pull up, and work towards doing 10 clean muscle ups.

I can currently do 5 clean military style reps of 25kg (roughly 55lbs). I'm looking to get this number all the way up, and get explosive for muscle ups.

My current routine is one easy set of about 12 reps on the assisted pull up, then straight to a weighted set of about 15kg to get warmed up, then 3 sets of 25kg for about 4 reps.

I'm wondering what the perfect routine is according to you guys? How many sessions a week? How sets per session, and reps per set? How many reps short of failure, etc?

Also another thing, do standard parallel bar dips strengthen the dip portion of the muscle up later, or should I start doing straight bar dips (if thats even a thing)?

I saw a recent video of KBoges explaining the WTB 3 set method for more pull ups. For anyone doesn't want to watch the video, WTB is:

- 1 warm up set: ~50% of max pull up counts

- 1 top set: perform maximum reps until technical failure

- 1 back off set: ~70% of max pull up counts

Each set has 3 - 5 mins rest in between. Do it when you feel fresh or at the beginning of the workout to avoid accumilating unnecessary fatigue. Perform for 8 weeks with only one variation only (pull up/chin up), 5 days/week, and trying to make sure you can increase at least 1 reps of total reps every week (I think what he means it's that if the first week I can do 40 reps, then next week I should be able to get to 41 reps for example)

Because this is a specialization program and not meant for keep doing it in the long term, he advises to do this method only when you have a solid base of pull ups volume already.

My max is 8 chin ups, and I want to try this method to get to 10 chin ups. I wonder what is the logic behind this method and how can it work, like trying to increase volume weekly for example. One thing I also concern is about recovery. I go to the gym 4 times/week, doing upper lower split, so I'm worry that doing a pull up method like this can mess with my recovery. Is this method worth trying when incorporating with my workout?

Background: I have focused mostly on pulling strength and so far I have peaked out around 3 sets of 5 reps + 90 lbs at a body weight of 160 lbs, I was also able to do a OAC on both sides. I'm at the weight limit of my pull up bar so the only way to go heavier is to lose weight first, and I'm not even down to 160 anymore anyway. On top of that, I wind up taking extremely long rests between sets if I am lifting heavy due to how hard they are for me.

Motive:

I want to do some weighted pull up variations to break up the monotony

Question:

Does anyone have experience doing weighted variations like L sit pull ups or archer pull ups etc? I have just been adding to L sits for example, it seems that the added weight is mostly hitting my abs so I wont be able to go very high. I am thinking to add weight to archers next but I'm concerned it might overload some tiny muscle on my straight arm or something that is liable to hurt me.

Hello community!

Currently, I can hold a front lever with good scapular retraction, pelvic posterior tilt, and proper body alignment for 3 seconds. I’d like to reach a 5-second hold, but in my training, my front lever duration drops from 3 seconds in the first set to 1–2 seconds in the second, and 0 seconds in the third (at which point I switch to an easier progression). Would you recommend training at an RIR 1 (80–90% of my maximum hold time) for each set, so that I can increase the total volume per session? I train the front lever 2 days a week, performing 3 sets with 3–5 minutes of rest between them. Thanks!

Looking for some advice.

I am losing weight(down from 148.8kg 6 months ago). I have never in my life been able to do a pullup or a dip, I am focusing on dips first, pullups feel very fsr away for me.

Should I just wait until I'm much lighter? To be honest, when doing either decline reps or even static holds, my shoulder joints feel absolutely torched for the next 3 to 4 days. I do 2 push sessions a week, which include bench, OHP and then 1 session decline dips and another static holds, followed by some accessory work.

One problem I am noticing is in my decline reps, I definitely cant keep my shoulder blades depressed, my shoulders 100% come up.

I can do static holds for ~35-40s, usually do 3 sets of 1 for these.

Should I give up on dips for now?

I like to do body weight exercises like pull ups, push ups, etc. in public outdoor workout areas.

Unfortunately this means I don't have access to weights like I would in the gym or at home, such as weight plates, dumb bells, kettle bells, etc.

Given the above do you have any tips for how to add resistance to these exercises?

Some ideas I'm considering:

• Bringing a kettle bell along with me. However I found this too awkward to do when visiting parks before / after commuting to work.
• Bringing large 1-2 L empty Coke bottles, filling them with water when I arrive at the park, then using them for weight. Maybe less awkward if I use collapsible storage, like foldable silicon water bottles.
• Wearing a weighted vest (though again, could get awkward if I have to go to work shortly after).

What do you think of the above? Or do you have any ideas?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I’ve been trying to run GTG for my strict overhead press on my off-days to build up some extra pressing strength without frying my shoulders for my main workouts.

The method itself feels great, but the actual scheduling side of it is driving me a bit crazy. If I set repeating alarms every 2 hours, they inevitably go off in the middle of a work meeting or while I'm out, so I just end up turning the alarms off entirely. But if I don't set reminders, I straight up forget to hit my sets until like 8pm.

For those of you who've successfully run GTG for a few weeks/months:

1. How do you actually manage the reminders/tracking throughout the day without it getting annoying?

2. Also how's your overall experience been with it? Did you actually see solid transfer to your main lifts once you re-tested?

Would love to hear what's actually worked for you guys (whiteboards, specific apps, just winging it, etc). Appreciate any input!

I like to do body weight exercises like pull ups, push ups, etc. in public outdoor workout areas.

Unfortunately this means I don't have access to weights like I would in the gym or at home, such as weight plates, dumb bells, kettle bells, etc.

Given the above do you have any tips for how to add resistance to these exercises?

Some ideas I'm considering:

• Bringing a kettle bell along with me. However I found this too awkward to do when visiting parks before / after commuting to work.
• Bringing large 1-2 L empty Coke bottles, filling them with water when I arrive at the park, then using them for weight. Maybe less awkward if I use collapsible storage, like foldable silicon water bottles.
• Wearing a weighted vest (though again, could get awkward if I have to go to work shortly after).

What do you think of the above? Or do you have any ideas?

Thanks

I think my toddler would love a Swedish ladder. We are moving to a new home soon where he will have a playroom upstairs. The walls are vertical for the first few feet, then sloped after that (like a half-story room). Would it be safe or doable to have a Swedish ladder on those walls? I don’t mind building something, but I don’t want to build something that will harm his growth or hurt him in some way. I also thought some rock climbing rocks would be fun, but I’m afraid it would be too hard to use. There will be a pad beneath whatever we do, but I would love some kind of gross motor skills activity area in his new playroom!

I'm in my late 30s with two young kids (2 and 7), and I can realistically train 20 to 30 minutes, a few times a week. I used to train regularly with a coach and got in good shape, then stopped completely for a few years. Now I'm restarting gradually at home, and my joints aren't what they used to be, so I'd rather build back slowly than jump straight into something too hard.

If you've done a similar restart:

• Did you follow the Recommended Routine as-is, or modify it for a restart?
• Which exercises felt the most forgiving early on?
• How did you handle a few weeks off without feeling like you'd lost everything?

Thanks in advance, I'm trying to learn from what actually worked for people before I commit to a plan.

This feels like a dumb question but I’m genuinely asking. I started my calisthenics two months ago and have had my focus on building foundational strength and recently started learning the handstand and l-sit. I’ve also been going on moderate runs during the same period.

I want to do something more and I think boxing could be fun. I (m20) tried out some MMA when I was in my early teens (judo and taekwondo), but I never fully committed to any of them past yellow belt. I think boxing looks fun and challenging but I don’t know if it would require me to abandon calisthenics for whatever reason.

What are your thoughts on the boxing and calisthenics combo? And are there any other sports you’d recommend if not boxing? I think rock climbing is pretty cool too.

For me, one thing I’ve started realising recently is that doing more reps doesn't always mean your making more progress.

I used to focus quite a bit on getting more reps in, but I found that when I slowed things down and actually focused on my form, my workouts felt alot more effective. Even if it meant lowering my reps, I could control the movement better and pay more attention to what I was doing instead of just trying to get through the set.

I think its easy to get caught up in numbers and forget that doing an exercise properly is just as important, if not more. I'm still working on it myself, but its definitely changed how I approach my training.

Just wondering as I've had experience with both separating the 2 to different times of the same day and just doing both of them back to back in the same time. There's a couple things that made me question this, one of them was of course the performance aspect. I can push myself a good bit harder when the workouts are separated. The second thing was the time aspect of separating the 2 becomes a bit more prolonged as you would have to shower (or just change depending on how much you sweat) and make more of an effort to be clean for the rest of your day. I would say those are the 2 main pointers that I think about in terms of this, if theres anything else I'm missing that you have encountered or thought about don't be afraid to point them out and I would also appreciate any thoughts or perspectives out there, Thank you!

29, female, 69kg, 5ft 2.

I've not been able to do any type of pull up for a very long time and decided I would lock in and work on some chin ups. I only have the time and energy to work out twice a week so this means I do 2 full body days. To make sure I'm hitting all muscle groups I can only really dedicate 1 exercise to chin ups each work out. So I chose to do negatives on day 1 and assisted chin ups on day 2.

After a few months of doing this continuously, I finally got to the point where I could do 3 sets of 8 negative chin ups and decided to put my skills to the test. Doing just these two exercises I can now do 3 sets of 3 full range chin ups.

My question is now I can do 3 solid chin ups, should I stick with the negatives and try and get to maybe 3 sets of 10 or even 3 sets of 12 or should I focus on doing actual chin ups now? Or should i take out the assisted chin ups and do actual chin ups and do the negatives another day???

When I was younger my personal best was 5 chin ups. I would love to get to 6 -8 chin ups one day. What would be the best way to achieve this now I can do 3 and only can put aside 2 exercises a week for improving this movement?