How To Start Calisthenics For Beginners?

When you decide to start a new workout program, it may become a little intimidating when its time to define:

In this article, I will try to answer all these questions based on my experience to help you get results faster in your journey to starting calisthenics.

But the first question to answer would be…

Why Calisthenics?

You have so many options available, like being a weightlifter, a cross fitter, a yogi, HIIT programs, or doing bodyweight exercises like calisthenics.

These are just a few of the popular options out there, but there are many more. You can even combine them and try to have the best of everything.

I have tried all the programs mentioned above, and even though all have pros and cons, I will focus this article on the journey to start a calisthenics program.

So why choose calisthenics? The quick answer is its simplicity and convenience:

• Bodyweight training.
• No initial investment in equipment or memberships.
• You can work out all the muscle groups.
• It can be done in any place (backyard, room, “calisthenics at home”)
• It looks awesome when you start doing advanced movements.

Sounds great right!

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How To Start Calisthenics? (Pre Requisites)

Can I Start Working Out Calisthenics With Overweight?

Many people won`t like my answer for this one, but my straightforward answer will be NO.

Why?

Because your starting point is your body weight, let me give you an example of the problem.

If you are starting a weightlifting program with no experience, you can start by grabbing a 5 lb dumbbell, then a 10 lb dumbbell, and keep increasing weight until you reach a weight that gives you a challenge but at the same time allows you to do at least 5-10 reps.

With calisthenics or any bodyweight exercise, your starting point becomes your weight. If you are 200 lbs with a 30% body fat percentage, you will struggle too much with the basic exercises.

At the same time, your joints wont appreciate it.

Don’t get me wrong, if you are strong enough to do them, go ahead, but my suggestion is to start calisthenics with less than 25% body fat percentage.

The 25% mark is for men, and the rule of thumb I use for women is adding 10%. So the mark for women would be 35%.

If you are above this mark, I suggest focusing on your diet and start doing low-impact exercises like walking, elliptical, or bicycle.

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, you can check this article, where I explain a few options to measure your body fat percentage.

I also want to clear up that for every exercise, you have different progressions. So if you can do at least 5 reps for each exercise without any struggle or pain, you are ready even though your body fat percentage may be higher than 25%.

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What Calisthenics Skills Should I Learn First?

This grouping is another benefit I see in calisthenics.

Instead of classifying your exercises through muscle groups, you do it through muscle movements.

Push Exercises (Vertical and Horizontal)

1. Pike Push Up – Vertical (Shoulder)

2. Regular Push Up – Horizontal (Chest)

3. Dips – (Triceps)

Pull Exercises (Vertical and Horizontal)

1. Pull-Up / Chin-Up – Vertical (Lats)

2. Bodyweight Rows – Horizontal (Rhomboid)

Leg Exercises (Knee Flexion, Knee Extension, Calves)

1. Bulgarian Split Squats (Quadriceps)

2. Glute Bridges (Hamstrings)

3. Calf Raises (Calves)

Hip Hinge Exercises

1. Hip Thrust

2. Kettlebell Swings (not calisthenics but highly recommended)

Core Exercises

1. Leg/Knee Raises

2. Plank

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Do I Need Any Equipment When Starting Calisthenics?

For push and leg exercises, I would say no equipment is necessary as a beginner. I believe the issue is with the pulling movements.

When I started, I had a pull-up bar, and I was not too fond of the alternatives that are usually recommended. I would say this is the only investment you should make, and there are very cheap options.

The only reason why you wouldn’t need a pull-up bar is if you cannot do a single pull-up. In this case, you could start with Australian pull-ups by putting some sticks or broom between chairs.

Eventually, as you need to challenge yourself more, you will probably need to invest more, but there are many progressions you can make in between before reaching your wallet.

Now, if you want to think long-term, you can check out the best calisthenics equipment you can buy to improve your progress.

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Beginner Calisthenics Workout Plan

The 3 most popular ways to split a workout in a week is doing:

• Upper And Lower Body Exercises.
• Push – Pull – Legs Split.
• Full Body Workout.

There are pros and cons for each one, but in the end, one of the most important variables that define which one to choose will be your available TIME.

How many days a week do you have available, and how many minutes a day you can dedicate to the routine.

So it’s important you answer these 2 questions before deciding what option to start with.

In the table below, you will see why.

So which option is best for you?

Like I said before, the most important variable is time. I would say that when you are starting calisthenics, it is better to start with full-body sessions 3 times a week, progress eventually to upper/lower sessions, and aim to work out 6 days a week with push / pull / legs split.

Unfortunately, this is not the reality for everyone, so choose the one that adapts better to your schedule.

Is 20 Minutes Of Calisthenics Enough?

This is a common question, and the answer depends on what you compare it against.

If you are not exercising, doing 20 minutes of calisthenics a day is excellent! And yes, you will get benefits from only doing 20 minutes a day.

Having said that, will you be able to progress with 20 minutes a day?

Let’s make the comparison against the table shown above.

• Upper and lower body workouts are 4 days a week with 65-minute sessions. This is 260 minutes a week.
• Push / Pull / Legs workouts are 45-minute sessions 6 days a week. This is 270 minutes a week.
• Full Body workouts are 90-minute sessions 3 days a week. This is 270 minutes a week.
• If you workout 20 minutes sessions 7 days a week, you get 140 minutes a week.

You can draw your own conclusions, but it is quite clear that you won’t be able to progress fast, at least to build strength and muscle.

If your goal is actually weight loss, 20-minute sessions should be good enough.

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Best Calisthenics Program

If you are looking for a good workout program, you will probably need to invest more than $100. At least for a program that covers all muscle groups and nutrition.

The 2 best I recommend are:

1. Fitness FAQ
2. Calisthenics Movement

Both of these options sell separate programs, not an all-in-one or a complete calisthenics workout program. The reason is that you might have different goals and they separate the programs based on your specific goals. This is why it might get expensive if you want to buy all the options available.

If you want cheaper options to get you started, try one of the following calisthenics books:

1. Body-Weight Beast
2. Calisthenics

A third option might be trying monthly memberships and apps. In this case, I would recommend:

1. Thenx

Summary

So going back to the original questions, here are the straightforward answers.

1. Which exercises do you need to do? The 5 essential movements are Push, Pull, Leg, Hip Hinge, Core.

2. How many sets are optimal (per workout day)? 4 – 6 Sets per exercise.

3. How many reps should you do for each set?  6 – 10 Reps per Set

4. How often should you exercise each muscle group? 2 times a week

5. What are the rest times between sets? 2 – 3 Minutes

6. What is the best workout program out there? You decide what works best for you! But I strongly suggest trying out calisthenics.