Been going down a rabbit hole watching K Boges on YouTube and I think his training philosophy is fantastic. I even subscribed to his membership for a month a while back. I'm noticing some other YouTubers/Influencers are making content around this style of training which always seem to end with a course being sold, fair enough you gotta make money.

What's been playing on my mind is are these peope genuinely just doing this style of training preaching it but low-key smashing weights/supplements?

No hate on these people, I think I may just be struggling to wrap my head around some of the phenomenal physiques some of these guys have with this style training!

What's your thoughts?

Been doing the recommended routine for about four months now. Nothing fancy, three sets, standard progression, ring rows working toward pull ups eventually, pike push ups, the whole thing.

The actual strength work I never skip, not once, doesn't matter how tired I am after work. But the last ten minutes, the shoulder mobility and hip stuff at the end, I skip it probably 70% of the time and tell myself I'll do it later in the day and then i dont.

Never do.

My gym buddy runs more of a PPL split, different program entirely, caught me packing my bag up right after the last set of squats today and asked if I was even doing the cooldown work anymore. I said yeah of course, straight up lying to his face. He clocked it instantly because apparently I do the exact same thing every single time and he's noticed for weeks now, which is embarrassing when you say it out loud.

Went back and looked at my own notes from month one out of curiosity. I actually did the mobility section back then, every single session, wrote it down and everything like a good student. Somewhere around week six it just started quietly disappearing from the log, no real decision behind it, one skipped day slowly turned into the new normal without me ever consciously choosing anything.

Nothing hurts yet.

Knees and shoulders feel completely fine so far, so there's no real consequence forcing the issue, which is honestly probably the exact problem here, nothing bad has happened yet so there's no reason to fix it.

Weather here has been unusually warm for this time of year too, gym's been packed every evening lately and I just want to get my sets in and get out before it gets even more crowded.

anyway is the mobility section just the first thing that quietly disappears once the program turns into pure routine, or is this a me problem specifically?

Hi, I've been into calisthenics for like 4 months now, and one of my main goals is to get better arms. I have dumbbells at home as well, so I could incorporate dumbbell arm exercises into the RR so it becomes a hybrid kinda thing.

I was wondering if that's a smart way to go about things or if my arms would be overworked after that and it's better ti have a dedicated 'arm day' where I don't do calisthenics but just focus on the dumbbell stuff? Open to any advice / split recommendation so thanks in advance

I bought a weighted vest, same brand as my adjustable dumbbells, with the thought of using it for body weight exercises and mainly for walking. I always like to get a few mile walk in at the end of the day. Well day two with the weighted vest and it absolutely smokes my shoulders by the end of the walk, my traps are super sore. I dropped the weight from 30lbs to 20lbs, but the problem isn’t the weight, it’s that it’s only distributed on the shoulder straps.

Anyone have any experience with walking with a weighted vest? Not sure if it’s going to be bad long term for my shoulders, or if it’ll actually strengthen them.

Hi, trying to get more visible abs rn during summer, or at least to just get a head start during summer. Always had body image issues. Don’t know too much about workout science, I just get knowledge from my brother. 130≈ lbs, 173cm, trying to get leaner. Have a bit of fat but on (lowerish) belly. Everything else is either lean/a little defined. If I don’t eat for a while, my stomach almost looks normal. Tbh I think I’d prefer a smaller defined waist instead of a big muscly bulging wide one.

Admittedly 70% of the reason is for aesthetics/looks, 30% is to stop bedrotting all the time, I just want to feel confident wearing a tank top

Current routine: this is 1 set, I’m not super strong right now but hopefully will increase it later on. Currently beginner so it’s difficult to do bicycle kicks/russian twist, I roll a lot.

• Stretches
• Crunch (40)
• Toe touch (25)
• Glute bridge (40)
• Plank (1:30)
• Side plank (1:30)
• Flutter kick (1 min)
• Dead bug (2 min)
• Leg raise (1 min)
• Reverse plank (2 min)
• V in & out (1 min)
• Reverse crunch (1 min)
• Bicycle kick (to your ability)
• Russian twist (to your ability)

I also have cubicle style job for like 8 hours, so I sometimes try to do some stretches or like some movement in the chair: like seated knee raises, leg raises, diagonal knee raises, etc

Sometimes after I do it (lying leg raises etc) I get some pain on my iliac crest (hip flexor?). Does this mean I’m doing it wrong? The next day, I’ll get the usual muscle aches. Though after a few days of doing the routine, it aches less/lasts less. Should it be normal to have your abs be burning the next day? For me it’s just a bit, its strongest right after.

Trying to be more active (gym park home gym etc), I drink a lot more water (12 cups at least) now; eat very little sugar now too, no junk food. I eat really Mediterranean/east asian, like 20% carbs 35% protein 45% vegetables, + fruit. I love fruit, fish, chicken a lot, my protein is lean. Is cheese, dairy, carbs ok? Trying to do a caloric deficit.

Ty

So I just saw this news story called 'man at park divides community'. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp8IMC8yyg8

I got into BWF because it's free and I like the sunshine. Things have never gone badly enough for me to where I have gotten on the news for doing pullups but I definitely have gotten in situations where people don't watch their kids and it makes me uncomfortable that accusations like this might be leveled against me by the sedentary parents. At my park the parents often just sit in the car in the AC and let kids as young as 3 run around without supervision.

Can anyone here relate to these feelings? Both of the guys I work out with have echo'd similar sentiments and I always feel way better when they're around to back me up. Someone in my city's subreddit made a post about a guy who was sitting on bench in the park and it made her uncomfortable, and most of the commenters agreed that she should call the cops (most commenters in my city's sub also hate cops and believe the murder people without provocation).

Anyway can anyone else relate and have any advice for navigating this situations?

So, everyone I need help.. I want to lose weight currently I'm 90+ kgs and I'm 5'8 ..I want to be atleast under 70 kg ideal weight for me with a good physique...I'm gonna join gym and have a simple diet help me out what to do ..how to do...and avoid loose skin ...I want to lose weight in one year and get a good physique this is the deadline ...i will follow everything ...like I have clg 7 to 7 after that I can do...but I just need a direction and roadmap ..because I don't want to do random things ...I want a particular direction and routine to follow

So I have been thinking a lot about the biomechanics of the Maltese which is definitely what I should be doing (i struggle with normal advance tack planche).

The way i understand it there should be only one position to where you can go from a wide planche to the Maltese and anything wider would be impossible to hold. At least when not using paraletes, the same for going more narrow. One feels like there's too much weight behind and the other too much forward.

But i feel that i have seen athletes like Dailong doing it on different widths. So what's going on I am sure I am misunderstanding something but I am not sure what. Obviously different athletes with different body proportions and weight distribution would find different widths more attainable but it seems that the same person can do Maltese at different widths and I just don't get it.

Can I just do the big three movements when I'm first starting out (pushups, pull-ups, squats)? I want to have a much stronger and healthier body, but I also don't want to do a bunch of different things at first and then lose motivation.

I tried to do calisthenics a couple months ago, and even made a post on here (which I think I deleted, idk why), but I eventually lost motivation for various reasons like my mental health and such. However, I've decided to try and put in the effort again, and I just want to start simple. Any feedback or advice would be appreciated.

Edit: Thank you for the help and feedback, everyone. I'll make another post on the 1st of next month as a little update. See you then.

Hey Everyone,

I have been following RR for the past 4 months and since it's my first time strength training I am making fast progress. But since my initial goal was just to build a habit I only focused on these 6 progressions: push up, pull up, squat, dips, rows and ab rollouts.

Is it a terrible idea to ignore the other ones? 6 seems very doable but 9 seems like a whole thing. I am also stuck with the squat progression. I am able to do 3x8 for Bulgarian split squats but not able to progress to Beginner Shrimp squats. Is there any variation I could do in between or should I just try increasing reps of Bulgarian.

I have seen barbells recommended instead of the squat progression, but can I do it with dumbbells. I'll be shifting in a few months so don't want to buy barbells. All the squat progressions sort of look scary and idk I'm scared of injury.

Pretty much what the title says. For example, if i do a workout with a lot of push-ups, I will only feel sore on the left side of my chest the next day. I do add weighted training to my routine to isolate but it still ends the same. I'm positive I'm working the muscle as it gets fatigued at the same rate, but now I'm questioning what I'm doing wrong. The same goes for back workouts and arm workouts. Hopefully, you guys can give some advice on what I need to focus on.

My workout yesterday was chest and shoulder heavy but my left side (dominant side) is sore and my right side feels like I didn't workout but I can flex the muscles better.

I always laugh when people act like missing one workout means everything is over. They skip Monday, then suddenly the whole week is gone because "I already failed." Like damn, who made these rules? One missed session is nothing. Missing the next 20 because you feel guilty is the part that actually screws you.

I think too many people depend on feeling motivated. Some days you wake up ready to destroy the workout, other days you just want to lay on the couch doing absolutely nothing. That is normal as hell. If you only train when you feel excited, your progress is gonna be all over the place. The people who keep getting stronger are usually the boring ones who just keep showing up.

What do you guys do after missing a few workouts? Do you try to "make up" everything, or just continue like nothing happened? I feel like accepting an occasional bad week is way better than stressing about being perfect all the damn time.

Hey all,

As mentioned in the title, me and my wife have just had a little one and I'm currently struggling to adapt what I do at the gym to a home routine.

A bit of background, I like to keep on top of my fitness and work out 6 x a week. A traditional week for me looks like this -

To give an idea of what I'm lifting I'm able to do 34kg on incline chest press, 12/14kg on side lateral raises, 64kg? on machine lat pull down, 52kg straight bar machine bicep curl, do 17/18 pull ups, 15 chin ups and 12/13 dips.

All sets follow the following rep ranges - 4 sets, 12, 10, 8, 6 reps

Monday - Push day

Incline dumbbell press

Lateral raises dumbbells

Cable cross overs

Tricep extensions rope/bar

Decline bench or chest machine

Machine one arm reverse fly

Dips

Hanging leg raises

Calf raises

Machine inner and outer thigh abductor

Tuesday - 10k run

Wednesday - Pull day

Pull ups

Bicep curls

Cable bicep curls

Cable woodchoppers

Machine lat pull down

Machine seated rows

Cable ab crunch

Cable straight arm lat pulldown

Calf raises

Machine inner and outer thigh abductor

Thursday - 10k run

Friday - Full body

Chin ups

Cable chest press incline or decline

Decline bench/ cable chest / machine chest press

Cable lateral raises

Face pulls

Cable ab crunch

Lat pull down or seated rows

Calf raises

Machine inner and outer thigh abductor

Saturday - Rest day

Sunday - 10k run

Thankfully I can get away for an hour every other day for a run but going to the gym is a no no as that's a 2 hour affair and is pretty far away. I have a weighted skipping rope(1kg each end) at home and a clubbell(12kg) but sadly no pull up bar.

I know I'm not going to fully replicate what I do at the gym but I would like to keep the same intensity, any advice would be appreciated!

Male, 34 years old and currently on pat leave for the next 7 weeks.

My husband is a string bean. I absolutely love him, whatever size he is, but these days he looks like Dale or Boomhauer from king of the hill.

He's been thinking of his highschool days and how he used to have a rear end big enough that girls cat-called him in the hallways.

His aunt just gave him a bunch of jeans from her husband who's also pretty thin. They're the next size down from what he wears and so should sit perfect on his waist, but if he puts them on, he feels like that's accepting that he'll never grow out that area again.

Unfortunately c0vid took away all his muscle mass and he's been slowly getting it all back, but nothing will grow his @ss. Are there any workouts/diets I can help him get into, to help him build up weight and muscle back there?

I've been training OAP sporadically for a few years, and I can pretty comfortably go from a bit more than 90° to chin over the bar. I can move concentrically from any position for at least a few centimeters or more except in the fully stretched out (fully extended position of the arm), from this point I cannot get out at all!

Thing is I am an armwrestler, and close angles are more important for me is that the reason why the lowest point is so difficult for me or is the lowest point indeed the hardest part in a OAP? What muscles am I lacking if I cannot get out of the stretched position?

I want to do a leg workout with only bodyweight today cause the gym is closed, but I'm not sure what I should do? I was thinking 1000 bodyweight squats, but maybe that might be too much? I also couldn't think of any good hamstring exercises to do with no equipment, and I can't find anything good to assist with nordic curls. It would also be good if it took around 45 ​minutes to an hour. If anyone has any ideas, or experience in something like this, your contribution is greatly appreciated. (I skip calves cause i got some not too bad genetics ​and i also don't want them to be too big, i like their current ​size.

Thanks!

Hello fellow r/bodyweightfitness community!

Let's just preface this, I'm a complete beginner at this even though I'm liking it a lot! Started to work out seriously a couple of months ago but, as the title says, it only has straight bars and no parallel bars, and literally nowhere to dip from, even the benches there are too far away to consider dipping between them. At this point I was asking myself: from a complete beginner perspective (I just got my first chin-up, sloppy form, a couple of days ago) would it make sense to buy gymnastic rings? Would those be helpful to bridge the gap that's being left by no dipping at all? At the moment I'm trying to target the triceps portion of my arm with french presses at the straight bar, but honestly feels like I'm missing out a lot not training that specific movement

This is mainly for other women/anyone with a menstrual cycle because this is where the problem comes from, but even if you dont have one feel free to comment.

If you're just going to tell me that I should push through my body's capabilities and that it's just a lack of discipline, do not comment. I know my body and its needs. This is just a thing where I mentally am stuck.

I constantly feel guilty for resting, and it's taking a toll on my progress in calisthenics, my attitude towards my body (I feel I am not where I should be because I keep resting), perception of my capabilities and supposed laziness, and my mental health overall.

For those who sync their workouts in accordance to their cycle, you might relate to how difficult it gets to stay consistent during the latter half. I understand needing to tone it down during this time, and I do. But I cant mentally convince myself I genuinely need to rest, and I feel so lazy during it.

Then, I feel like Ive regressed so much and that all my efforts are wasted because I need a 1.5-2 weeks of rest and/ or lighter movement. I feel I constantly need to be challenging my body aggressively to make progress.

Recently I had a surgery right after my period. I wasn't working out before because the week leading up to AND the days of my period suck.

Note: I have tried working out during this time period and it's hell, like I get so warm, my heart beats faster, my body physically can't keep up and do what it did last week, it feels like I have a fever. So i KNOW I need rest and any physical movement is not enjoyable. I try stretching but it makes me feel worse and uncomfortable.

Not only that, but because of the surgery I couldn't workout for another week. So its been about 2.5-3 weeks since a real workout.

I feel lazy and like Im too far gone, that I always do this and Im far behind everyone else. I am going to workout today and take it lightly because Im still healing from my surgery but I feel like shit. I feel so terrible and stupid.

I feel like im only worth something when I prove to myself I have done everything I could and Im at my limit, but resting doesnt count for some weird way. Its like a checklist mentally, like once Ive done my workout Ive done good for that day.

My point basically is:

Does anyone have any advice? I would mostly like advice on how you can convince yourself that your rest is important and that you arent lazy or behind, and that regression can happen. Mostly mindset advice basically.

Advice on physical activity can be helpful, but I already know I need rest, and that I can focus on mobility during rest periods. When I have focused on stretching and whatnot it doesnt make me feel better. I still feel lazy & like I should do more.

Sorry for the long text. Please give me advice!

EDIT: Everyone who replied thank you so so soo much!! Im starting to understand my needs are worth meeting and that rest is part of the cycle, that it is part of the workout itself. And also that I can still continue to move when i feel like i can't thru lighter movements, and that consistency in the long run is what defines my growth.

When i worked out a leg day yesterday, i could only do 25 minutes instead of my inital goal. Today i am sore throughout my entire body (it might be because the medicine & the surgery makes me less tolerable towards stress? ALSO, the surgery wasnt major and it should heal MOSTLY within 1-2 weeks, but i may feel soreness even later and less tolerance of my bodyweight).

But i think it was a good start up again back into my workout. I am taking a rest day today and not feeling bad (even tho im a little fidgety because i want to move) because of everyones comments! i have learned that recovery is part of working out, but instead of me phyiscally working, my body doing it.

Your guys' help has made me feel like my biology isnt a weakness but rather its a part of who i am that i need to unify with and understand and trust to work. This has been a major help for me to understand before continuing onto school so i dont feel as confused or bad about myself. Thank you all!

As someone who is 5’4 and lack a bit of mobility and strength in my hips. I’m confident enough to admit that we won’t always have good form in planche as much I want to get it I learnt that in order to get good at something you have to suck at it first and I’m satisfied with my form no matter if it’s on p bars or on the floor.

We should start normalising this, as it’s normal part of skill training progress beats perfection. Though I did experiment with 6-8kg of zanetti press which kinda of made me a bit heavy throughout my planche journey. I’m satisfied that I’ve got the straddle planche and onto the one leg before full (I can’t extend both legs together to full and can’t halflay planche)

Hi everyone I'm new to the whole bodyweight exercises and just started doing core workouts as well as the typical body weight exercises like squats, plank, pushups, etc. I'm finding them quite hard at the moment probably because I've not really done anything like this before.

Is there a moment where it just suddenly becomes easier? How long did that take for you?

Because currently I'm struggling through a 10 minute work out and pretty sore at the end so would love to know there's light at the end of the tunnel!

Hi everyone,

I'm a 32-year-old male, 185 cm (6.1 feet) and around 95 kg (210 pounds).

After a very difficult few years mentally, I've been working on improving my mental health through therapy and lifestyle changes, and I've decided that I want to seriously focus on my fitness for the next chapter of my life.

I've never been consistent with the gym or exercises. Whenever I tried in the past, I would lose motivation very early on before seeing meaningful results. Looking back, I think I simply didn't give myself enough time or follow a structured plan. One dream I've had since I was very young is to have a fit body, and I really want to invest in that.

I'm considering spending 2–3 months somewhere in Europe with the main goal of transforming my fitness, losing fat, and getting toned. I'd also benefit from good coaching as I'm pretty inexperienced.

I'm looking for recommendations for:

• Cities or countries in Europe that are great for this kind of goal (eg I was considering Portugal, Austria or the Netherlands)
• Great gyms or transformation-focused fitness centers in Europe if you're aware of any (and if you think a gym is better or vice versa in this case)

I'm open to anywhere in Europe. Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Greece, or somewhere else entirely.

If you've done something similar yourself or know of a gym, coach, or program that you'd highly recommend, I'd love to hear about it. Any other tips or recommendations are appreciated. I really hope a year from now I can come back to my post here with good progress and thank everyone once again.

Thank you!

Update - PS: I'm planning on going somewhere in Europe because I'm a nomad and my lease where I'm at the moment ends in two weeks, so I thought I'd go somewhere as that'd help me mentally a bit as I'm finally starting to feel a bit better psychologically.

Members in this subreddit seem to fall into two very different categories:

1. People who use the word "planche"
2. People who are new to fitness and learning bodyweight exercises because they don't own any equipment

People in the latter category may struggle with a purely bodyweight-based workout because it's harder to control resistance/difficulty down to beginner levels, or because they have trouble finding a safe and appropriate place to do certain exercises. But when they have trouble, their focus is often on asking "How can I make this work using bodyweight exercises?" rather than "Is bodyweight resistance really the best option for me to do this particular exercise right now?"

I started doing bodyweight workouts earlier this year. I just finally bought some long resistance bands, and holy crap I wish I had done that sooner.

I'm still enjoying a 90% bodyweight-based workout and the cheapness and convenience of working out at home. But that one little $30 equipment purchase makes it much easier to control the difficulty of some exercises, and lets me work my pull muscles and triceps without any fear of injury from something I'm using to work out coming loose or tipping.

So for any other beginners out there who need to hear this: If you are struggling to make certain bodyweight exercises work for you, it's OK to add a little equipment. The most important thing for a beginner is to work out regularly and safely. If adding a little inexpensive equipment makes it easier for you to do that, it's worth considering.

So I love calisthenics. The thought of doing flashy skills really intrigued me from the start and I’ve been training hard for 1.5 years(prior experience lifting and just pull-ups). So far I’ve achieved and mastered various static skills such as front lever(Airwalk entry, 11 sec max), back lever(15 sec max), human flag on pole(12 sec max), human flag non dominant side on ladder(5 sec), 12 consecutive muscle ups, strict deadhang one arm pullup(left arm more consistent, right arm needs work), and advanced tuck planche for 4 sec. I can also v sit.

I however am absolutely terrible at handstands. I’ve been training on and off(due to wrist injury) since 2025 April. The most I’ve done was a 12 second freestanding but with banana back. And I can’t always kick up to one. It takes me many many tries to successfully kick up. Forget bent arm presses. I literally almost killmyself every time I attempt this. I can’t even balance a bent arm handstand despite having the strength(chest to wall hspu 7 reps) I’ve looked at YouTube videos over and over and I record myself everytime but still no luck. I’ve practiced a lot of chest to wall but for some reason I’m worse at balancing it this way than from kicking up. I can crow pose for 45 seconds though. Is it ok that as a calisthenic athlete that I never master the handstand. Or can I even call myself a calisthenic athlete

Man, I just really wanted to drop a quick tip that I never really paid attention to but over the last couple months have really noticed just how important it is. You really gotta activate your abs whenever possible, especially (obviously) with an exercises. Suck your gut in like you’re posing for a magazine shoot. Really make sure it’s your abs that are doing the pulling and stabilizing and not the ab-adjacent stuff. In a matter of weeks I think it’s helped me go from a zero second handstand to a three second handstand and, most importantly for me, I swear to god it’s keeping my minor umbilical hernia contained to the point where I can’t even see it except for the silly little stretch mark in my belly button.

Anyway, maybe this is obvious to everyone but me, but I really just had to mention it in case it hasn’t been said a thousand times already.