[Transformation/Progress] roughly a year of the RR, Calisthenics and weighted Calisthenics

[sisterbecky216]

From 21yo/m/175cm/60kg

to 22yo/m/175cm/68,8kg

Hey y'all, I started working out around Juli 2016 for about 3 months (RR only) and had roughly a 6 month break over the winter, then restarted around April and did the RR for about 2 months, I was constantly bulking very slowly counting calories and macros (MyFitnessPal).

Numbers:

Pull-Up: from 3x8 to 5x10 (and on some days I train weighted to change things up a bit: weight days 3x10 with 7.5kg)

Push-Up: 3x10 to 4-5x15 (again sometimes 4-5x10 with 7.5kg)

Dips: 3x10 to 4x20 (weighted 3x12 with 7.5kg)

L-Sit: 3x10sec (hang only) to 3x30sec on p-bars (15sec with 1.25kg on feet)

Pistol-Squats: 6 each to 6 each, I rarely do them

Tire-Flips: sadly I don't know the weights but from medium tire 12 flips, heavy tire no flip to medium tire 20 flips, heavy tire 3 flips

Bodyweight-Rows: 3x10 to 5x15

Pics/Vids: Body, Muscle-Up weighted, Muscle-Ups, Front-Lever

Achievements: Muscle-Up (none to 4x7), Handstand (no hold to 3-6sec, either pushed into or kicked up), Front Lever (not even being able to swing up properly to 4-5sec)

I currently do not have a fix routine, but rather try to go with from weakest to strongest splitting into pull, push, core (and legs which I always do last)

EDIT: Forgot to mention I work out every second day, meaning

|Mo, We, Fr, Su, Tu, Th, Sa, Mo|

0.Skill

-->Skin-The-Cats (whatever amount I am feeling)

-->FL progressions, (tucked, cycling, full and ice cream makers occasionally)

--> Handstand (Chest to wall, Freestanding and occasionally Back to wall)

1.Core

-->6 minute plank variations (1min plank, 1min reverse, 1min each side, hollow body, etc...)

-->Knee Raises 3x30

-->Windshield Wipers 3x20 (10 each side)

2.Pull

--> 3xMax Pull-Ups followed by a max hold after the last rep and slow descent (15/13/12 usually)

-->same with Chin-Ups but letting go and going into 10 rows instead of holding on top

3.Push

-->3x15 Diamonds

-->3x12 Archer (or 3xOAP each side)

-->3xMax Dips

was my workout for the last couple days for example, they are all a lot alike, I just switch out some exercises for others but keep the template the same.

TBH my diet is just Oatmeal, Peanuts and Chicken 90% of the time with the occasional fish and cheatday is McD usually, like I said it's a clean-ish Iifym version

EDIT:

Diet: Since a couple people asked, I'll go more in-depth about it. I am a student and as such on a rather tight budget (easily enough for me, but I still try to save where I can), This means a typical day will be:

Breakfast: 150g Oatmeal, 300g milk, 300ml milk and 30g Protein powder from DM, a cheap drugstore.

Lunch: 400-500g of chicken or turkey, depending on my local supermarkets offers and sales

Dinner: if I didnt have the chicken/turkey for lunch (time is sometimes tight), I'll have it here along with something like bananas, more Oatmeal, occasionally I will eat fishsticks too or Sushi (either selfmade or supermarket)

Snacks: My secret, 200g of peanuts for a total of 1200kcal, I don't snack much else other than this and the occasional scoop of ice cream, since I work as a part time ice cream vendor.

-->other stuff I sometimes throw in: Avocados, Mushrooms, Noodles, McDonalds BigMac Menu (instead of one meal), Döner Yufka, Potatoes (rare) usually in conjunction with the chicken/turkey. I don't consume sweets roughly every 2-3 months when I feel like I am getting too obsessive with my diet and want to take a week off / ease up.

 

[66455491]

@sisterbecky216 Nice progression!

Dips: 3x10 to 4x20

It means when you started the RR you could do 3x10 dips?

Good luck for your progression!

 

[sisterbecky216]

@66455491 Yes I was pretty skinny from playing video games only for 4 years or so, but I was pretty active (parcour, karate and basketball) before that so I started with a solid base of strength and I was fairly lightweight so...

Although maybe it was only 8 reps, not entirely sure, thank you either way!

 

[holy_venom95]

@sisterbecky216 How did you train for your muscle ups? 0 to 4x7 in a year is pretty impressive!

 

[sisterbecky216]

@holy_venom95 I am a pretty impatient person when it comes to activity, so when I started out I always tried to max out my explosiveness as opposed to tut, this did a great deal and the first time I got a muscle up I actually did 3, because I hadn't tried it in a while and suddenly it was very easy.

For me the breaking point was when I realized I wasn't trying to get above but rather around the bar.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@sisterbecky216 Well done with the progressive overload. Are you much better at pulling than pushing?

 

[dawn16]

@thomaslowrens Muscle-ups are primarily a problem of technique. Once you've mastered the elbow and wrist rotation to get above the bar, the rest becomes a matter of endurance. I struggled with muscle-ups for 3 months, then after nailing my very first rep I went on to do 6 in a row after one week.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@dawn16 I was mostly referring to the fact that he can do a front lever compared to 3x15 diamond pushups or 3 one arm pushups, which could be 2-3 levels of difference in the Overcoming Gravity charts depending on his OAPU form.

The rotation itself depends on strength in rowing end range and triceps and forearms (for wrist flexion) for slow muscle ups. Depending on your pulling explosiveness, you can reduce the strength requirements of the transition through momentum. Does it make sense?

 

[2consider]

@thomaslowrens Keep in mind that OP's FL isn't with straight arms, I'm not sure what his highest FL progression would be with straight arms, but it definitely wouldn't be the same.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@2consider That's a good point, but with almost straight arms it is still a late intermediate move, it should be quite harder than 3x12 archer pushups even after his 3x15 diamonds. Maybe when he answers we'll get a better idea of how he feels about his push vs pull.

 

[2consider]

@thomaslowrens Fair enough. We also don't know how many dips he can do with the 3 sets of max dips at the end of his sample routine. I think it's an issue of programming too, it might work for OP but I'm not a fan of it.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@2consider His routine is good for hypertrophy because of the focus on volume, while not optimal for maximal strength because of the rep range but still good, the added muscle mass helps and the repetitions are not very far into the endurance only territory.

 

[2consider]

@thomaslowrens Well, he didn't state what his goals were with his current routine. Even with hypertrophy routines, it's my understanding that it's still important to have some strength focus to apply progressive overload. His first pull movement is AMRAP, his first pushing movement is 3x15 with no progression principles mentioned.

A few other things - I might be brainwashed by this sub but I think dips should come first as they're more of a compound exercise. I don't really understand his second pulling movement so I have concerns about whether there's enough horizontal pulling.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@2consider For hypertrophy there are many possible ways of increasing volume, which is more important than intensity in that case.

High repetitions, if not absurdly high (probably more than 50 per set), when taken close to failure still work. Here are two good articles about this point:

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/the-new-approach-to-training-volume/

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/

For dips I think it's fine either way, though I would prioritize them because he seems to like muscle ups.

For horizontal pulling keep in mind that he does front lever progressions, which require some scapular retraction against a very high resistance.

 

[2consider]

@thomaslowrens Both articles are long, especially for a Sunday, so I just skimmed them. FWIW, your second link suggests doing pull ups in the 5-10 rep range. Also, OP is not mixing up some strength and hypertrophy, he's going full on hypertrophy, which would be an issue for me if I were to use his routine. If he stuck with it for a couple of months his main pushing movement could be something like 3 x 25 diamond push ups, which doesn't make sense to me.

He showed his (bent arm) front lever with his accomplishments, but he didn't include it in his sample routine so we don't know how much horizontal pulling work he's getting on a regular basis.

 

[sisterbecky216]

@2consider I don't really have a plan when I set up my workouts, they might very well be far from optimal, do you have any advice aside from dips first? I'll think of it, thanks!

 

[2consider]

@sisterbecky216 Replying to your other comment here as well. I would not consider FL skill work but rather pull work. Also, I'd recommend starting at the highest progression of statics/rows with straight arm, as that's what the experts suggest.

For a push routine, it's hard to say as I don't know your goals so I'll make up one for you - planche. Let me know if you'd prefer something else.

Push:

3 x 5-8 weighted dips (it seems from your post you have weights), increasing by 2.5 kg when 8 reps are done with good form.

3 sets of tuck planche/planche leans/PPPU (depending on your preference and ability)

3 x 15 diamond push ups

In addition, I would suggest adding weight to your pull ups, keeping them in the 5-8 range as well. Maybe you can do weighted pull ups and then AMRAP chin ups as you seem to enjoy those.

 

[dawn16]

@thomaslowrens Oops, I replied to the wrong comment. Someone else asked above how the OP went from 0 muscle-up to 4x7 in a year, and hence my comment.

Regarding your post, I have the same issue as well - my pulling is disproportional to my pushing strength. I can do 4 x 9 pullups with 30kg added, and ALSO 4 x 9 pushups with +30kg. Normally people can do way more push-up than pullup. I think it's a matter of genetics; some people are just predisposed to have a dominant group of muscles.

 

[thomaslowrens]

@dawn16 You are right about the genetics, it's just less common to be stronger at pullups than pushups when the added weight is the same.

 

[sisterbecky216]

@thomaslowrens Actually I feel like I am much stronger at pushing, aside from lats.

My biceps is not really that strong in comparison, which is why I started incorporating Chin-Ups into my routine, I feel like they isolate the biceps more.

I read the corresponding comments and this is my OAP form, not that great, I only recently got back to them as archers started to hurt so I was looking at alternatives, but I don't think OAP are that great as a regular exercise, I use it as a placeholder and to confuse my muscles a bit.