Hey guys, For the past few years, I have been involved in unconventional training methods such as sandbags and sledgehammers as well as freeweights (power cleans, squats, etc.). However, recently i have began training with calisthenics only and absolutely love it! However, I have been hearing different things regarding the principles of training with calisthenics and am really new to all of it.

I am just curious about a couple of things:

1.) Is it alright to train around 5 (maybe 6?) days a week with good intensity (about 2-3 reps short of failure on all sets and exercises)? In weight training, I was taught to train hard heavy for 3 days a week for the most gains. does this still apply to calisthenics? I find training fun and would like to do it more often even though it is fatiguing, so i was just curious about this.

2.) Is a set routine really necessary? or is it better to just go out and practice and make sure you are hitting all of your body parts?

3.) If a routine is necessary, what sets, reps, volume etc. would you guys reccomend for someone with my stats:
pullups:24
pushups:76
dips:27
hanging leg lifts: 23

Hope you guys can clear this up, Thanks!

hey vince, welcome! here my opinion:

1) yes!!!! np with that. i work out 7 days per week since months now. no problem. if a muscle is too sore for u to work it out skip it and train another muscle group. maybe you want to have a routine day 1 upper body day 2 lower body day 3 cardio + balance practice. so that one musclegroup rests while other is being worked. if u work out that much make sure you eat good and healthy and a good amount of food and that you sleep enough!

2) no routine is the best routine some people say. but okay nothing wrong with deciding what you are going to workout and when. make sure that every workout is a challenge and spice things up in a while or change exercises. use all types of grips and hand/leg/body positionings. you can change those in every set if you want. make sure u get in the hardest and most challenging moves you can though, and work hard on the BASICS!

3) well depends on your goals. you got already some nice numbers there! well done! you can start doing basics and add static holds on every rep. makes things much harder. you can add some weight to bodyweight exercises if that is moraly ok with you. lol. and start working on challenging moves, planche, one arm pull/chin up, front lever, back lever, handstand push ups and many more. but again depends on what your goals are what do you want?

sorry for big text, and good night

Hey, Thanks for the advice

As far as my goals go, I want to get more endurance, strength, and get better at different moves on the bars. Since I started, Ive been viewing calisthenics almost as much of an art as an awesome form of exercise. So another goal of mine is to get more control over my bodyweight and more comfortable with the basics so that I can do more advanced freestyle type of moves as well as improve my body and overall health along the way.

Thanks again, and I will probably try the weighted pullups tomorrow and see how they go!

Wow, you've got great starting numbers. I'd say that if you're sure that you want to do only calisthenics, then go for it. However, it isn't necessary. Weights are useful as well. I, for one, like using both weights and calisthenics. Weights for lower body strength development and calisthenics for upper body strength and full body power work. I'm looking into kettlebells as well, but that's beside the point.

You don't seem to have an issue with endurance. You may want to consider working towards harder variations like muscle ups, one arm chins, handstands, planche, pistol squat, glute ham raise, etc. Working with towel pull ups, weighted pull ups, explosive pull ups, handstand holds, headstand/handstand push ups, plyometric push up variations, etc.

You may want to check out a few books like Ross Enamait's "Never Gymless" or Coach Sommer's "Building the Gymnastic Body"