6 Principles For Better Calisthenics Gains

If there is one big lesson I’ve learned as a personal trainer over the years, it’s this;

 

People seldom achieve the results they want by following the rules.

They get the results they want by fulfilling fundamental principles.

 

We, humans, love to be told what rules to follow for success. The most popular YouTube videos are the ones that tell people how many grams of protein they need and the precise number of push-ups to do to build muscle.

The more we know the details, the more we feel in control of our bodies. Using such approaches would be fine if those rules fulfilled that promise of control, but they seldom do.

Sometimes, strictly obeying those rules can handicap you from making the best choices for your circumstances. Following the rules can take control away and replace it with the illusion of the very control you seek.

Every rule has its reach. It has a time and place where it’s the best thing to do.

Other times, it’s fine to follow that rule, but other options may exist. Sometimes a hard-set rule may be counterproductive.

If you want the best chance of success, you’ll need to understand when these times come up to make adjustments. One of the best ways to reach this understanding is to focus on the most important principles to your success.

These principles act like a compass needle showing you which direction to go. You are then free to adopt, discard, and modify any rules necessary to fit your situation.

Let’s explore these principles now.

Principle #1 Plan for consistency

Your training success depends largely on adopting training habits you can maintain for months at a time with as little effort as possible. The more you struggle to stick to your workout habits, the more you put your success at risk.

It’s common for beginners to push their habits to the limit to make as much progress as possible, but this is a mistake. No one can invest 100% of their effort all the time. There may even be times when 50% will be a stretch, and that’s fine.

It’s far more important to maintain your regular habits, no matter how small or trivial they may seem at the time. Even the most optimized plan will produce the same results as a bad plan if you can’t execute it regularly.

The calisthenics advantage

Bodyweight training is one of the most efficient forms of physical exercise available. You don’t need a gym, costly workout gear, or space-hogging equipment to practice it. You don’t need much time as you can work in a couple of sets when you find a moment throughout the day.

This efficiency is why many people find they can stick to their bodyweight routine far more easily than any other high-maintenance workout program.

Principle #2 You gain that which you challenge

You can exercise your body in countless ways, but only a few exercises and workout methods will help you achieve what you want. Most options will probably be a waste of your time and energy. Some may even distract you and become an obstacle to what you want.

So how can you know if something will flop or fly?

Simple; your body adapts to accommodate the specific functional demands you place upon it. Or, to put it another way, you gain that which you challenge.

Practically speaking, if you want to get stronger, use exercises that challenge your strength. If you want endurance, challenge your stamina. If you want ankle stability, grip strength, or even better posture, you just need to use techniques and methods that challenge those abilities.

As a beginner, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of fitness information, especially on the internet, with people telling you what you should and should not do. You can cut through all of that noise by simply contemplating if an exercise or workout will be an adequate challenge for the abilities you want to develop.

The calisthenics advantage

Bodyweight training is both holistic and endlessly customizable. You can adjust your training to place almost any demand on your body to train any capability you want. While you can emphasize any available quality, calisthenics training will also require a holistic recipe of functional ingredients.

You may be doing archer push-ups to build pushing strength, but you’re also challenging your core strength, scapular stability, wrist mobility, and lateral control.

You may not care too much about those abilities, but the exercise will include them as a bonus just to ensure you have a full tool kit to handle what life throws at you.

 Principle #3 Progress from where you are now

Progression is all about expanding your current physical abilities. So the first thing to do is consider what you can do right now. It doesn’t matter if you struggle to stand up from a chair or can do a perfect single-leg squat.

Simply start by doing whatever you can.

I’m not a believer in issuing general advice for beginners. In my twenty years of coaching experience, I’ve never met a standard beginner. Some people start off being able to bang out push-ups like they just came out of basic training.

Others consider themselves seasoned veterans, yet they struggle to do a decent set of lunges. No two people start their calisthenics journey from the same place, so it makes little sense to issue the same cookie-cutter advice to everyone.

So start doing whatever you can do. You can even hold back and not push too hard at first to build some momentum if you like. The key is to move forward at your own pace to make the progress you want.

The calisthenics advantage

Fundamentally, there are no true beginners to the world of bodyweight training. All bodyweight exercises are just moving through space, and you’ve probably been doing that since you were a toddler. You’ve been using bodyweight exercises your whole life.

The exercises in this book will refine and structure that movement to further challenge your physical fitness. You can adjust calisthenics exercises from very easy to insanely difficult. All you have to do is start with some of the variations you feel you can practice and progress from there.

Principle #4 Be flexible and change

The idea of linear progress is comforting, but it seldom survives contact with real life. There are many twists and turns, not to mention setbacks, on the way to any destination you wish to reach.

Understanding this simple lesson can make it easier to handle inevitable challenges when they happen. It also makes adjusting your plans to fit your situation easier. Don’t be afraid to change your plan whenever you see fit.

Change up the exercises you do or the number of sets and reps. Alter the training frequency or your split routines. Try out full-body training if you are working on a four-way split. If you worked out in the morning, try working out in the evening.

There is no such thing as a best or optimized workout plan that you have to force yourself to stick with in all situations. Most of your success depends on being able to do almost anything at all, and being flexible in your approach goes a long way towards making that happen.

The calisthenics advantage

Calisthenics training is one of the most flexible and versatile exercise methods. You can plan to work out from a few minutes to hours at a time. You can adjust and adapt almost any exercise to suit your resources and circumstances.

Plus, the lack of dependence on a gym or fancy equipment means you can be physically active wherever and whenever you find yourself.

There’s no need to force yourself to stick to a strict calisthenics program that doesn’t bend and be flexible when the discipline inherently affords a great deal of flexibility. 

Principle #5 Align your environment for success

No matter how motivated and disciplined you are, there’s no getting around the fact that everybody is a product of their environment. While you may be able to fight against environmental factors, like bad weather or having too much junk food in the house, sooner or later, we are all either propelled or held back by our environment.

Try cultivating your environment as much as possible to align with the behaviors you want to promote in your life. If you want to eat healthily, make sure you have healthy food choices that are easy to prepare while minimizing unhealthy ones. If you want to be more active, keep your kettlebell where you can easily grab it rather than tucked away in the corner of a dark basement.

Of course, you won’t be able to control everything about your environment. You may even find yourself with very little environmental control, depending on where you find yourself. If this is the case, it’s even more important to be proactive about the few things you may be able to control.

Even little things like keeping your workout clothes clean and ready to go or your kitchen clean can go a long way towards making a habit easier to maintain.

The calisthenics advantage

Calisthenics works in almost any environment. It’s also fairly easy to set up a personal calisthenics home gym. Even something as simple as placing a pull-up bar in the doorway and ensuring your floors are clean is all you need to promote regular exercise.

Principle #6 You’ll get there when you get there

There is seldom a reliable timeline for achieving a particular goal, especially regarding health and fitness. I’ve known people to achieve seemingly long-term objectives within a few weeks. I’ve also seen some people struggle to reach even basic milestones after several years of training.

Quite a few people quit because they feel they aren’t making progress fast enough or have been working longer than they should achieve their goal. They feel frustrated even though they are making steady progress and will surely achieve their goals eventually.

So do what you can with what you have, and you will achieve your results in time. And there you have the five rock-solid principles for helping you achieve what you want from fitness and working out. They may seem vague and not specific, but they must be general.

Everyone achieves success on their own by fulfilling these principles with different techniques and methods. If you contemplate these five principles and look for ways to fulfill them in your life, you’ll find the specifics that will work best for you. 

This is an excerpt from Coach Matt Schifferle's "Progressive & Weighted Calisthenics" ebook, which is part of the Ultimate Bodyweight Bundle!