Hybrid weights + calisthenics routine - any tips/advice?

[ejihrke]

I recently decided to mix calisthenics training with traditional weightlifting/isolation exercises at the gym, since I felt it better suited my goals for building strength with calisthenics + aesthetics with weightlifting.

I'm currently running an upper/lower split, with lower/leg days consisting of heavy compound lifts and accessories. I'm not too concerned with the efficacy of my leg days, so I've omitted them from this post, but my split goes M: Upper, T: Lower, W: Upper, Th: Lower, F: Upper, S: Lower/Rest, Su: Rest

My main concern is my upper body days, though. I couldn't find any upper/lower split routines on the internet, so I tried my best in combining workouts from a hybrid PPL split I found on Youtube. Any tips to improve what I have going on right now? So far, my biggest concern is that I'm not hitting muscle groups like triceps/shoulders enough on my alternating weeks and a possible imbalance between my push and my pull exercises.

Any tips/advice now how to improve this routine to be more balanced would be greatly appreciated!

Upper Body Routine

Week A - do A) exercises

Week B - do B) exercises

Alternate between Week A and Week B exercises every week

Monday (upper; calisthenics recommended routine + incline bench/shoulder press)

3-4 x 5 pull ups (vertical)

3 x 8-10 inverted rows or seated cable rows (horizontal)

3 x 4-6 incline bench (horizontal)

A) 3-4 x 4-6 DB push press or Pike/HSPU or B) 1 -2 or 2-3 x 10-15 dips or diamond pushups (vertical)

3 x 8-12 bicep curls

A) 4-5 x 10-15 side lat raises or B) 3 x 8-12 tricep pushdown/extension

Wednesday (upper; calisthenics recommended routine + incline bench/shoulder press)

3-4 x 5 pull ups (vertical)

3-4 x 5 bent over barbell rows (horizontal)

1 -2/2-3 x 10-15 dips or diamond pushups

2-3 x 8-10 flat DB press or weighted pushup (horizontal)

A) 2-3 x 8-12 tricep pushdown/extension or B) 4-5 x 10-15 side lat raises

3 x 10-15 face pulls

Friday (upper; calisthenics recommended routine + incline bench/shoulder press)

3-4 x 5 pull ups (vertical)

3 x 10-15 straight arm pulldown

3 x 4-6 incline bench (horizontal)

3-4 x 4-6 DB push press or Pike/HSPU

3 x 8-12 bicep curls

A) 4-5 x 10-15 side lat raises or B) 3 x 8-12 tricep pushdown/extension

 

[power1]

@ejihrke Consider alternating between Pull and pushing movements instead of two in a row. This also gives you the option to super set if you want a time saving measure.

Push press seems like an odd choice if you want to use weights for muscle building. Since Push press involves using the legs to generate momentum to get a heavier weight up, Unless you're really controlling the eccentric purely with your shoulders, then I can see some utility in it. Otherwise a seated dumbbell press would better serve your hypertrophy goals thanks to the increased stability.

Not a big fan of equating diamond push ups with dips. I guess they are both tricep heavy, but they're both essentially horizontal pushing movements and it looks like you're doing them after or before another horizontal push. Dips in particular put a huge weighted stretch on the chest that diamond push ups do not.

Other than that it looks fine. Having an exact balance between push and pull is not as important as some might make it out to be, they're different muscle groups that might respond differently to certain volumes or intensity, so you just need to experiment and listen to your body.

 

[ejihrke]

@power1 Thanks so much for the advice! I really appreciate it.

Would you recommend sticking with just dips instead of alternating between them and diamond pushups, since dips activate the chest and triceps more intensely, IMO, than DPUs?

 

[power1]

@ejihrke Yes, I think dips are a better bang for your buck movement. DPU's are more for if you don't have access to much equipment and need more variation in your push ups.

Also, regarding your concern of adequate tricep/shoulder volume, I think you should always include a tricep isolation, but on days you don't do overhead press, you could hit lateral raises or facepulls, and on days you don't do a second horizontal press, you could do a chest fly.

 

[jthomps11]

@ejihrke Wah you exercise a lot,exercising everyday is pretty intense,how are you doing in reguards to that?

 

[ejihrke]

@jthomps11 I’ve been in a little bit of a slump recently, but I’ve found that the routine I have works better whenever the school semester starts lol. I can maintain consistency by going to the student rec center after my classes. Regarding the frequency of my training, I’ve found that 5-6 days a week with 1-2 rest days have been working pretty well for me! I just have to make sure I get enough sleep each night to properly recover, which, unfortunately, doesn’t always end up happening lol