I was recently asked about how one would go about starting their fitness journey. My immediate thought was calisthenics. It's relatively low skill, cheap, and easy to access. So here's how I would recommend most people start their journey.
Let me be clear upfront. When I say calisthenics, I mean bodyweight training. I don't mean those fancy tricks and skills you see people do at the park (like human flagpoles, for example). Although these tricks are a good display of bodyweight strength, they are NOT a good way to develop bodyweight strength. So let's get to the basics of bodyweight training.
Basic Theory: So how does exercising build muscles? Well, it damages muscle fibres, and when you eat a balanced diet with protein, these fibres are repaired to be stronger, and thus bigger. But your muscles also require more calories to maintain, so as you gain more muscle, the amount of energy your body spends to keep that muscle increases, so your body fat decreases. Also, when you actually move your body, you feel less like a useless sack of shit and feel more like a young, healthy, capable and sane human being. So let's begin.
1. The Pushup
The pushup is the most fundamental movement in all of calisthenics. It's used by the military, powerlifters and athletes of all types to develop pressing strength in the chest and triceps.
A pushup should be done with full range of motion. Start with the arms extended, and reverse ONLY when your chest touches the floor. Keep your arms tucked, do not flare them. As far as programming, pushups can be done for a ton of volume. I'd say 5 sets until failure done 3x a week is plenty. If you can't do a full pushup yet, just do pushups on your knees. You'll eventually build to full pushups. Rest about 2-3 mins between sets.
People often regard the pushup as a beginner exercise, but I do genuinely think it can be progressed to add difficulty. Of course, you can add weight via a weighted bag of backpack. You can emphasize the upper chest more by elevating your feet. Of course, you could also progress to the 1-arm version. There are infinite possibilities.
2. The Pullup
Along with the pushup, the pullup is a foundational movement of all bodyweight training. It develops your lats, biceps and grip. You grab on a bar or a wall, and pull your chin over the bar, and then return to a dead hang with your elbows extended. This is one, full range of motion rep. The pullup is certainly much harder to master than the pushup. Heck, I haven't even mastered the pullup! So don't be discouraged if progress is slow.
Pullups should be done for 3-5 sets 3x a week, with 2-3 mins of rest between sets. Keep in mind pullups can be done with a variety of grips. Pronated (palms over the bar), neutral grip (if you have access to a neutral grip bar), or supinated (palms under grip, also called a chinup). To progress, consider adding weight via a dip belt or backpack, or slow down your reps. If you don't have a pullup bar at home, don't be embarrassed to find one at a park; there are always bars at parks.
3. The Squat
The squat is the most athletic movement you can do. It's pretty simple, you stand up, you squat down as far as you can go (your butt should be pretty close to the floor!!) and then stand back up. The bodyweight squat is the easiest to get good at on this list, and you could probably do at least 20 reps on your first day! As a result, you should aim to do more difficult squat variations. My 2 favourites are the lunge and the pistol squat.
The lunge can be done in many ways, but my favourite is the walking lunge done outdoors (that's right, you will have to leave your stinky room). The pistol squat is considerably harder than the lunge, so try building up to it. For the lunge, I recommend just doing walking lunges back and forth until you can no more (yes, it will hurt). If this takes you too long, try adding resistance via dumbbells/backpack, and this will make the exercise harder such that you achieve muscular failure quicker.
Note: I HIGHLY recommend that you add wight to ANY leg exercise you do. Your legs are made up of the strongest muscles in your body, and they are already adapted to carrying around your own bodyweight every day! This is why you should be adding weight to your leg exercises; to actually provide enough stimulus to those strong muscles in order to encourage them to grow.
4. The Leg Raise
The leg raise is a tried and true method of develop the core/ab musculature. Either lay on the floor and lift your legs up whilst keeping them straight, on hang onto a bar and raise your legs as far as you can whilst keeping them straight (although I do prefer the hanging version). Think about rounding your spine when you do these; this will ensure your abs (which are on the other side of the torso to your spine) are fully contracted. If you don't want to do leg raises, just do situps. 3 sets until failure done 2x a week should suffice.
5. The Parallel Bar Dip
This is a great substitute for the pushup if you feel the pushup it too easy. The dip will bias more of the triceps and the lower sternal head of the chest. Just grab onto 2 parallel bars you can find in a park, dip, and get back up. Try leaning forward for more chest emphasis, and staying upright for more triceps emphasis. 3-4 sets done to failure 2x a week will suffice.
Advanced Exercises:
The following exercises WILL take you time to build up to, so please do not try to go all-out on these instantly (even I haven't mastered some of these!):
6. The Muscle Up
A classic show of testosterone and calisthenics mastery! The muscle up is just a harder pullup, where instead of pullup just up to the bar, you bring your body even higher until your hands are extended over the bar. That best way to build up to a muscle up is to ensure you can do at least 15 pullups regular, and then practice using body swing to pull yourself up. Same sets/reps as the pullup
7. The Nordic Curl
This is a phenomenal exercise for the hamstrings, but it is SERIOUSLY hard. You must find a wedge to put your feet under, and slowly lower yourself to the ground whilst keeping your knees bent. PLEASE make sure you have a pillow or are ready to catch yourself, because if you fall (and you will on your first try!), then you don't want your teeth getting knocked out. 3 sets till failure done 2x a week is plenty. You should build up to these by slowly increasing the range of motion.
8. The Handstand Pushup
Just a pushup, but done whilst in a handstand. I recommend using a wall as support here, and even elevating your arms onto books or an elevated surface to really get a full stretch on those shoulders. Same sets/reps as the pushup.
Final Note: Diet + Sleep
I will keep this short and sweet. If you want to lose weight, eat less calories than you burn. Search up a calorie calculator online, and find you maintenance level of calories. Then download an app called MyFitnessPal (or Cronometer), and track the calories you consume every day.
eg. If my maintenance level of calories was 2500 cal/day and I wanted to lose weight, I should eat around 2300-2000 cal/day (200-500 calories less).
My top tips for losing weight for most people are: do more walking, it burns more calories than you think! Drink more water, and eat more protein, since protein will keep you satiated and less hungry.
The opposite applies if you want to bulk up and gain weight: eat more calories than you expend.
Finally, eat your damn protein. My general recommendation is 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. The food tracking apps mentioned above can also track protein, so make sure you hit your daily amount (proteins are the building blocks of solid muscle!). I don't really care how you get it: tofu, beans, eggs, milk, steak, chicken or salmon, just eat the damn protein.
And get enough sleep! You should sleep at least 8 hrs a day, no matter your age! So stop reading this damn blog and go to sleep.
- Prem
