daughterofaking
New member
After reading Overcoming Gravity (r/overcominggravity), I started training calisthenics last year and was consistent for a solid 3 months before I badly aggravated a case of golfer's elbow (presumably from weighted pull-ups and climbing). My original plan was to take it easy for 3 months but 3 months turned into 8 months! My elbow was definitely ready way sooner, but I was finishing up a pretty stressful last year of college and my training got away from me. I was pretty much only training handstands during this time.
I just graduated in June and have been training consistently 3x per week (M/W/F) for the past 4 weeks. I technically started working out again about a month before this but it wasn't consistent. My consistency has come back these past four weeks. I wasn't actively bulking the first 3 months I got into calisthenics, only consciously trying to make bigger plates and trying to eat three solid meals per day to recover from my workouts. Right now, I'm doing a proper bulk (tracking macros and all that jazz) to see how my body responds.
Related to the title of this post, I frequently get compliments on my physique, but I feel like I'm still very much at a beginner level in terms of actual strength. Here are my current stats and workout progression:
Age: 23
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 160
Workout: 4 sets of CTB chin-ups (PR=7,7,7,6) + ring dips w/ RTO (PR=9,9,9,8); 3 sets of ring rows (PR=9,9,11) + Bulgarian pushups (PR=12,12,14); 4 sets of (strict) toes-to-bar (PR=10,10,10,10) + false grip passive hangs (PR=20s,20s,10s,15s)
Notes: I pair exercises of opposing muscle groups to save time (1:30 rest between each exercise, so more than 3:00 rest between sets of the same exercise); PRs have occurred in the order listed above (i.e., I always perform the workout in the order above and PRs are relative to my fatigue level depending on when in the workout the exercise is performed); for ring rows, hands and feet are at the same level like in this video; CTB=chest-to-bar
According to Overcoming Gravity, STRENGTH = NEURAL ADAPTATIONS x MUSCLE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA. Are my neural adaptations really that poor? I've seen guys in YouTube calisthenics progression compilations doing much harder skills (e.g., front lever, planche) than I'm capable of despite having significantly less muscle mass than I do. In fact, to my mild frustration, my PRs for CTB chin-ups and ring dips have basically stagnated for my past 5 workouts. I'm currently taking a deload week with a lot less volume to see if this will yield supercompensation.
Here are photos of my current physique. Is this a normal amount of muscle mass for my strength level? I'm leaning toward it being the case that I have more muscle mass than is typical for my strength level. Any ideas why that would be? Genetics or some other factor?
I just graduated in June and have been training consistently 3x per week (M/W/F) for the past 4 weeks. I technically started working out again about a month before this but it wasn't consistent. My consistency has come back these past four weeks. I wasn't actively bulking the first 3 months I got into calisthenics, only consciously trying to make bigger plates and trying to eat three solid meals per day to recover from my workouts. Right now, I'm doing a proper bulk (tracking macros and all that jazz) to see how my body responds.
Related to the title of this post, I frequently get compliments on my physique, but I feel like I'm still very much at a beginner level in terms of actual strength. Here are my current stats and workout progression:
Age: 23
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 160
Workout: 4 sets of CTB chin-ups (PR=7,7,7,6) + ring dips w/ RTO (PR=9,9,9,8); 3 sets of ring rows (PR=9,9,11) + Bulgarian pushups (PR=12,12,14); 4 sets of (strict) toes-to-bar (PR=10,10,10,10) + false grip passive hangs (PR=20s,20s,10s,15s)
Notes: I pair exercises of opposing muscle groups to save time (1:30 rest between each exercise, so more than 3:00 rest between sets of the same exercise); PRs have occurred in the order listed above (i.e., I always perform the workout in the order above and PRs are relative to my fatigue level depending on when in the workout the exercise is performed); for ring rows, hands and feet are at the same level like in this video; CTB=chest-to-bar
According to Overcoming Gravity, STRENGTH = NEURAL ADAPTATIONS x MUSCLE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA. Are my neural adaptations really that poor? I've seen guys in YouTube calisthenics progression compilations doing much harder skills (e.g., front lever, planche) than I'm capable of despite having significantly less muscle mass than I do. In fact, to my mild frustration, my PRs for CTB chin-ups and ring dips have basically stagnated for my past 5 workouts. I'm currently taking a deload week with a lot less volume to see if this will yield supercompensation.
Here are photos of my current physique. Is this a normal amount of muscle mass for my strength level? I'm leaning toward it being the case that I have more muscle mass than is typical for my strength level. Any ideas why that would be? Genetics or some other factor?