Calisthenics Intermediate Hypertrophy Program using Dr. Mike Israetel's Volume Guidelines

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cbsmel

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Dr. Mike Israetel is one of the most respected figure in the online fitness community. He is known for his volume landmarks for hypertrophy. You can find all the info related to his volume guidelines here and here.

He is not talked about much in bodyweight fitness or calisthenics communities but his guidelines can be used by us to create an effective calisthenics hypertrophy program. In this post, I have tried to create a bodyweight only hypertrophy program following his volume guidelines and by chosing the most effective bodyweight exercises for the particular muscle groups. You can do this program anytime anywhere. You only need a pair of rings.

This also provides the subscribers of this subreddit with options other than the RR. Don't get me wrong here. I am not trying to overcomplicate things or contributing to the problem of paralysis by analysis. I am just providing an option.

This post is inspired from @klangl01's post on r/fitness summarising Mike Israetel's hypertrophy guidlines in one spreadsheet. Anyways, here is the summarised spreadsheet


Muscle
MV
MEV
MAV
MRV
Frequency per week

Chest
8
10
12-20
22
1.5-3

Back
8
10
14-22
25
2-4

Biceps
0-6
8
14-20
26
2-6

Triceps
0-4
6
10-14
18
2-4

Rear & Side delts
0-6
6-8
16-22
26
2-6

Front delts
0
0
6-8
12
1-2

Traps
0
0
12-20
26
2-6

Abs
0
0
16-20
25
3-5

Glutes
0
0
4-12
16
2-3

Quads
6
8
12-18
20
1.5-3

Hamstrings
4
6
10-16
20
2-3

Calves
6
8
12-16
20
2-4
  • MV - Maintanence volume - point where you won't lose gains
  • MEV - Minimum effective volume - point where you will make gains
  • MAV - Maximum adaptive volume - point where you will make optimal gains
  • MRV - Maximum recoverable volume - point where you can't recover in time

The program​



Muscle
Exercises
Rep range
Progression scheme

Chest
Pseudo Planche Pushups (PPPU) and Ring dips
5-12
For PPPU, increase the lean or do planche pushup progressions (tuck, straddle etc) or take the exercise to rings . For ring dips, increase ROM, RTO dips , Bulgarian dips or archer dips

Back
Mantle Chinups and Row progression
6-20
For mantle chinups, progressively increase distance between the two rings. For rows, this .

Biceps
Pelican curls
8-15
Progressively reduce the incline untill your body is parallel to the ground

Triceps
Tricep extensions
8-20
Watch this
Rear delts
Ring face pulls
8-20
Progressively reduce the incline untill your body is parallel to the ground

Side delts (optional)
Use something like a water bottle or books or something like that beause good bodyweight options do not exist.
8-20


Front delts
Handstand Pushup (HSPU) progression
6-12
Watch this
Traps (optional)
Reverse ring flies , YTWLs , shrugs
10-20


Abs (optional)
Hanging leg raises
8-20
Watch this
Quads
Shrimp Squats and Sissy Squats
6-20
Watch this and this for shrimp squats. Watch this for sissy squats
Glutes
Bulgarian Split Squats(BSS) (wil also work your quads and hamstrings)
6-20


Hamstrings
Bodyweight Hamstring Curls
8-15
Watch this
Calves
Toes elevated calf raise
8-20
Single leg variation or very slow reps
  • The exercise selection has been kept simple because the basics work! I have chosen basic exercises in which you can easily track progress. I have not chosen weighted exercises like deadlifts, weighted dips etc because I wanted to create a calisthenics only program that can be done anytime anywhere. You only need a pair of rings. You can do other exercises like ring pushups, weighted pullups, bench press or whatever.
  • The rep ranges are as per Mike Israetel's guidelines. You can change the rep range if you want. Good example is of mantle chinups. Instead of building upto 20 reps per set(which is almost impossible), stick to 6-8 reps per set and increase intensity.
  • Start with MAV and then increase total sets to MRV over a period of 4-6 weeks, then take a deload week and start another cycle if you want. Ultimately, you should try to move on to a harder progression of the exercise. The main way to progress is by adding sets but if you can progress to a harder variation of the exercise in the given rep range, fell free to do so.
  • The sets should not be taken to failure especially with heavier exercises. Leave 1-2 reps in the tank (RPE 8). This way you can accumulate a lot more volume than if you took your sets to failure. Leaving more than 1-2 reps in the tank won't help ypu much because for hypertrophy, not only total volume, but also the number of sets taken close to failure is also important. RPE 8 is a sweet spot between volume and sets being close to failure. Try to stick to that. You can take the last set to failure if you want. Or for lighter exercises like tricep extensions and calf raises, you can take all sets to failure.
  • Since we are using bodyweight exercises for legs, feel free to use a higher rep range (even 30+ or 40+ reps per set). You can also experiment by going beyond your MRV. It is highly unlikely that you will ever outgrow the shrimp squat and bodyweight hamstring curl. The real problem is with BSS. For BSS, you can use a very high rep range or add isometric pauses at various points of the ROM to make them harder.

The Split​


You can use any split you like as long as the volume and frequency guidelines are taken into consideration. Here are some examples

Full Body (3x a week)

Workout A
  • Ring Dips 4-7 x 5-12
  • Rows 5-8 x 6-20
  • HSPU 2-4 x 6-12
  • Shrimp 3-5 x 6-20
  • BSS 2-5 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 4-7 x 8-15
  • Face Pulls 3-4 x 8-20
  • Pelican Curls 3-6 x 8-15
  • Tricep extensions 3-6 x 8-20
  • Calf Raises 4-7 x 8-20
Workout B
  • PPPU 4-7 x 5-12
  • Mantle Chins 5-8 x 6-8
  • HSPU 2-4 x 6-12
  • Sissy Squats 3-5 x 6-20
  • BSS 2-5 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 4-7 x 8-15
  • Face Pulls 3-4 x 8-20
  • Pelican Curls 3-6 x 8-15
  • Tricep extensions 3-6 x 8-20
  • Calf Raises 4-7 x 8-20
AxBxAxxBxAxBxxREPEAT

Upper Lower (2x a week each)

Upper
  • Ring Dips 3-5 x 5-12
  • HSPU 3-6 x 6-12
  • PPPU 3-5 x 5-12
  • Mantle Chins 4-7 x 6-8
  • Rows 3-6 x 6-20
  • Face Pulls 4-6 x 8-20
  • Pelican Curls 5-9 x 8-15
  • Tricep extensions 5-9 x 8-20
Lower
  • Shrimp 3-5 x 6-20
  • Sissy Squat 3-5 x 6-20
  • BSS 2-8 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 5-10 x 8-15
  • Calf Raises 6-10 x 8-20
Upper Lower (3x a week each)

Upper
  • Ring Dips 2-4 x 5-12
  • HSPU 2-4 x 6-12
  • PPPU 2-3 x 5-12
  • Mantle Chins 3-5 x 6-8
  • Rows 2-3 x 6-20
  • Face Pulls 3-4 x 8-20
  • Pelican Curls 3-6 x 8-15
  • Tricep extensions 3-6 x 8-20
Lower
  • Shrimp 2-4 x 6-20
  • Sissy Squat 2-3 x 6-20
  • BSS 2-5 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 4-7 x 8-15
  • Calf Raises 4-7 x 8-20
Push Pull (2x a week each)

Push
  • Ring Dips 3-5 x 5-12
  • PPPU 3-5 x 5-12
  • HSPU 3-6 x 6-12
  • Shrimp 3-5 x 6-20
  • Sissy Squat 3-5 x 6-20
  • Tricep extensions 5-9 x 8-20
  • Calf Raises 3-5 x 8-20
Pull
  • Mantle Chins 4-7 x 6-8
  • Rows 3-6 x 6-20
  • Face Pulls 4-6 x 8-20
  • BSS 2-8 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 5-10 x 8-15
  • Pelican Curls 5-9 x 8-15
  • Calf Raises 3-5 x 8-20
Push Pull Legs (2x a week each)

Push
  • Ring Dips 3-5 x 5-12
  • PPPU 3-5 x 5-12
  • HSPU 3-6 x 6-12
  • Tricep extensions 5-9 x 8-20
Pull
  • Mantle Chins 4-7 x 6-8
  • Rows 3-6 x 6-20
  • Face pulls 4-6 x 8-20
  • Pelican Curls 5-9 x 8-15
Legs
  • Shrimp 3-5 x 6-20
  • Sissy Squat 3-5 x 6-20
  • BSS 2-8 x 6-20
  • Hamstring Curl 5-10 x 8-15
  • Calf Raises 6-10 x 8-20

Possible Questions​

  • Where is the work for forearms?
Pullups, rows and curls will hit your forearms quite hard. But if you want to do extra forearm work, a good way to do that is to hang for as long as you can after the last rep of the last set of your pullups. This won't require any extra time investment and you would be able to accumulate a lot of volume.
  • Where is the work for the lower back?
Hamstring curls will work your lower back. But if you want some extra work, you can do reverse plank or reverse hyperextensions. A good way to do that is between rest breaks of upper body exercises. You can do a set of reverse hyperextensions in between the rest breaks of your dips or chinups.
  • What about skill work, cardio and conditioning?
You can do that on your off days. Just make sure you are able to recover well in between sessions. Since this is a hypertrophy program, your main focus should be to increase volume. In the later stages of the program where the volume would become very high, it might become hard for you to recover if you add skill work or conditioning work.
  • How much rest between sets?
Rest 3-5 minutes between sets of harder compound exercises which are being done for lower reps, 2-3 minutes for easier compound exercises which are being done for higher reps and 1-2 minutes for isolation exercises.
  • Is this the best program ever created?
As the name indicates, these volume guidelines are just guidelines that work for majority of the people. The exact values for MV, MEV, MAV and MRV are almost impossible to find and the figures can vary from person to person. These guidelines are just another way to look at things. This is not the only way to work out.

EDIT : As @dkarla mentioned, there were some mistakes in the example upper lower routine. Corrections have been made.
 
@cbsmel This is very informative, thanks for posting. My hypertrophy mesocycles have similar guidelines. RPE 8 is important but is hard for many people (self included) to implement. I also think people under estimate what higher volume really means. I was exhausted after my training sessions.
 
@bibbigo I agree that RPE can be a bit tricky to implement. For that matter, percentages of 1 rep max can work but that is almost impossible to calculate correctly with bodyweight only exercises. That's why I went with RPE.
 
@cewilliams In short, how many reps you have in the tank.

RPE 10 - Absolute max - can't do another rep

RPE 9 - 1 rep on the tank

RPE 8 - 2 reps on the tank

RPE 7 - 3 reps in the tank
 
@cbsmel Agreed. I see most people in my gym do pull-ups till failure then wait a minute and then try to repeat the set only to fail and slow down and struggle having less and less reps per set.

I think if people were patient and took the time to learn about basic training techniques, tempo, the the differences between say Hypertrophy, Strength, and Endurance training they would have that "ah ha" moment.
 
@bibbigo Do you have some good reading on the difference between hypertrophy, strength and endurance? I've been trying to find some good info on it but I've been struggling.
 
@instrument150 Ive read Overcoming Gravity 1 and 2. From what I've read, and it's been working so far, 3-8 reps is your strength zone. 8-12 reps for hypertrophy and endurance. The higher you go past 12 reps, the more it's about endurance.

Those low rep sets at a beginning of a workout are crucial. I noticed insane progress when I started implementing those and negatives.
 
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