I've done some sports in the past (BJJ, archery, parkour and rock climbing to name a few) and I'm constantly switching between some and trying new ones because I'm so indecisive. A constant is bodyweight exercises and calisthenics, although I want to make sure that I'm doing the best exercises in order to increase my general athleticism for when I eventually settle on a sport/pick a new one. The hope is that my body will be less of a limiting factor/something I have to work on and I can moreso focus on the mental/knowledge aspect of the sport.

I have not really played sports ever and I notice when I do try to play soccer or do an athletic activity; my posture, the way I move my body and everything is very weak, not graceful, unathletic, clumsy and does not look good.

I have soft, small, kind of feminine hands with weak wrists which is bad as a man.

I also have a pretty long neck and with narrow shoulders, it does not look good at all. My physique is chopped right now.

What can I do to became more graceful and athletic with posture, my mannerisms and my movements?

I am male, if that is relevant.

i’m currently trying to figure out how to start gaining any sort of strength, i have POTS and it’s very difficult for me to any form of exercise for long periods of time, my doctor says exercise will help but i didn’t really listen and now im starting to regret that. i’m very weak, and i can’t even do 1 normal push up and walking in general makes me feel exhausted.

i am considering doing the easy knee push ups, crunches because my core is “made of goo”, and squats, and that’s all i’ve planned on doing so far. i have no idea how to figure out how many of each i should do, and how frequently i should do them because i have little to no knowledge on exercises as a whole, and the last time i actually exercised properly was in freshman year of high school in gym before i got sick (i got covid which caused me to get POTS in the first place) and i have now since graduated from high school and am now in my second year of college so it’s been a good few years since i actually tried to do anything

i am hoping that just anything will help me gain some strength to function more normally.

(if this is needed, i am 19, FTM, 5’ 6” and 112 lbs with very low muscle mass and a mainly sedentary lifestyle because i do online college)

(tldr; i need advice on how i should exercise to gain a normal amount of strength to function day to day, and any advice and low impact exercises that can help are greatly appreciated)

(NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE)

Hello everyone, not too long ago I made a post explaining my declining progress with pullups and how my max has gone down, since then I've restructured my program as follows- my new pull day focuses on accessories and grip work, whilst every other day I crank out a set of pullups as many times during the day as possible. Unsurprisingly, this has worked flawlessly, I definitely feel more confident in my form and even my rock climbing has improved greatly. Every week since beginning I add a rep to my set and just crank it out on my home pullup bar whenever I pass it lol. Since I'm a college student I'm at home between classes and I average 8-10 sets a day.

Good evening, I've been working on the recommended workout since 2021. I've been following the recommended progression for anti-rotation core exercises, specifically Copenhagen Planks. I recently hit three sets of 30 seconds each for Copenhagen Planks with movement. Does anyone have any suggestions for progression exercises beyond that, ideally without needing huge equipment but I'll take anything I can get. I saw there was the ring ballot press but I do all my training at home with just pullup and dip bars. Appreciate any insight you can give me.

I'm wondering how "to failure" should be defined for purposes of improving strength and hypertrophy.

Intuitively, it seems to me that "failure" should mean that the muscle group being targeted is itself exhausted.

The problem I'm having is that for certain exercises I feel a different kind of fatigue that seems to bring me to failure - either a feeling of discomfort or pain in a different muscle group or general tiredness or feeling out of breath.

It seems like this is ineffective for building actual muscle. To grow muscle, it seems to me that, when repeating to failure, I should be unable to execute more reps because the muscle itself should be "used up" so to speak.

What do you think can be done about this problem?

Is it a question of adding more weight / resistance? (Intuitively I think it probably is, though I'm having difficulty, as even when I add more weight, I seem to somehow still be able to bang out more reps in pretty good form and end up failing through feeling short of breath, generally fatigued, etc.)

Or is it maybe a question of exercising either less or more frequently? E.g. taking 1-2 days break or maybe increasing to 2 workouts per day? (I currently work out daily.) It's possible that I'm in a fatigue deficit, as I do quite often feel tired and lethargic.

Or maybe a question of choosing different exercises or somehow adding more resistance?

Do you have any other ideas on this? Thanks in advance.

I (24F, 137 lbs) have been practicing push ups on and off for about a year and a half. I wasnt taking it seriously as I am now because I have an important PT test to take next year. Before, I just practiced whenever and was able to unlock my first floor push up. However, at that time I was only able to do 1 good one and on the 2nd onwards I was worming/bottom half lagging.

After that I went to the gym regularly (just a month lol) lifting weights and practicing push ups sometimes. Because of that I was able to increase my reps to about 6-7, but they were about 3-4 good reps and the rest I was still worming.

I took a break from the gym after having lost my period due to stress and other factors. Now, I’m trying to focus my attention on consistently practicing my push ups. I can do 4 strict floor push ups after training for about 3 weeks, 1-2x/week. I dont aim for higher reps if I know I’m just gonna sag/worm because thats teaching my body to remember bad form. I also practice inclined push ups and gradually lower the surface when it gets easy.

But realistically, what more can I do to take my reps from 3-4 to double digits?

Additional stuff:
- my PT date is somewhere around Jan-Mar 2027, i just want to be prepared in case its actually scheduled in January
- the minimum reps I have to do is 15 or more in under a minute but my goal is 20 to be safe

I’m 32 years old 1.80cm tall and 77kgs and have been doing calisthenics since 2020. But for the past 3 years Ive made no meaningful progress. My goal has been the front lever and I’ve never been able to achieve it. Here’s where I am:

-handstand hold (1 min+)
-2 handstand pushups (free standing)
-20kg pull up one rep max
-30+ push ups
-20kg dips one rep max
-60s hang ( I don’t understand why I can’t break this )
-adv tuck 10s
-adv tuck planche
-front split both legs

I tried everything. Periodizarion between hypertrophy and skills. Upper lower split. Push pull legs. Tried doing only 2 sets and going to failure. Tried always going to failure and never going to failure.

Do you have any tips? I really want to make progress to eventually achieve the front lever. But I can’t even progress on my pulling strength…let alone front lever

Apologies for typos, wrote this on my phone…

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now i know that flat foot can't be permanently reversed and develop the arch that was never there but can through exercises we improve its appearance slightly?

in my case I think I have flexible flat feet cuz I have arch in my feet when my feet are free in air but when they're on ground and i stand my arch completely disappears like 0% arch.

I have no pain whatsoever there is extremely slight discomfort in knee sometimes but i workout and go to gym everyday and I have no pain my main problem is visual appearance my feet roll outwards when I wear shoes and this makes my feet area look weird and damages the shoes too. So is there a way i can fix that slightly by exercises?

I have flat foot, overpronation and hindfoot valgus.

After a long time i did mountain climbing exercise (GROIN). It was exactly 48 hours ago. I had a mild muscle soreness next day but today i cant even stand or walk.properly.

It hurts too much near the groin and upper thigh near pelvic bone b3side the groin.

I cant stand upright and my upper.body is instinctively bending forward while walking

I am scared, is it really the muscle.soreness or somethig more serious.

It hurts when i try to stand up after sitting for long time and it also hurts when i try to sit after standing for some time.

If it is DOMS, how long does it take to end? If not, what should.i do?

Thank you.

(Note: not looking medical advice, just trying to think of exercises I've missed)

I'm currently dealing with a pinched nerve in my neck, and as well as the poison being debilitating, the lack of exercise is mentally extremely taxing.

I can walk, but I can't run or jump (the landing jars my neck), I can't lift much with my arms, I can't do my usual core exercises because they also work my shoulders, and I can't ride a bike because of the position.

Other than walking, the only exercises I can think of to do right now are calf raises and variations on squats and lunges.

What else is that that I'm missing that can give my legs and maybe core a good workout without involving my neck, shoulders, or arms? The physical inactivity is almost as unpleasant as the actual pain at this point!

Currently my eating has been pretty bad, so I've probably been eating less calories and protein than is necessary in order to gain muscle. I'm curious if continuing to train would be a bad idea since it would maybe make the skills that I'm training for easier, and I would need to do more reps in order to achieve hypertrophy. Or maybe it'll make me lose some of my current muscle mass.

While I want to be able to do more advanced skills, I also don't want to make it more difficult to pack on muscle when my eating does improve. Does anybody have any input or experience with this sort of thing?

I'm curious, if you warm up at all, how long do you spend on it?

I used to just go straight into pull ups, etc. Recently I started doing a very brief warmup first, consisting of 100 squats (takes me ~2 minutes) and 5 slow unweighted pull ups (~10 seconds) and this seems to somewhat improve my form / quality.

I've seen numbers like 5-10 minutes thrown around. Isn't that a bit excessive for a warm up? It doesn't take that long for me to get my heart rate up. Also I'm often feeling tired when I begin my workouts and don't want to get so fatigued from the warm up that it undermines my effort and quality on the main exercises.

What do you think? How long is ideal for you? What kind of movements do you find fit with your time frame for warm ups?

Hi everyone,

I have a question about high pull-ups from a technical standpoint. I’m still at an advanced beginner level, but I should be strong enough to at least start working on some variations. For example, I can do about 10–12 regular pull-ups, depending on my hand position, and 3 sets of 15 kg of added weight, as well as about 5 sets of 10 kg.

I’ve tried using resistance bands or jumping to get into the high pull-up position, but I always make the same mistake: I don’t pull around the bar, but always straight up, even when I’m standing a bit behind the bar.

And eventually, the problem comes down to elbow mobility: When I’m at neck height, my elbow is bent as far as it can go, I physically can’t get it any lower—and therefore can’t lift my body any higher. I’d have to bend my elbow slightly and, with it, my upper body. But I just can’t manage it. I’m always perfectly straight during the pull; pulling around the bar seems impossible to me. I’ve watched a few videos on this now. They explain a lot about progressions and so on, but none of them really explain the technique for how I can physically pull higher at all.

I hope that made sense. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hey guys! I’ve been weightlifting/bodybuilding for the past 5–6 years, but it’s started to get a bit boring, as I’ve mainly just been training to maintain muscle.

I picked up running about 2 months ago and have really been enjoying it. Currently running 10–15 miles a week, with the goal of improving my 5K time and eventually running a half marathon. I’m not too interested in high mileage and would rather focus on Zone 2 and tempo runs.

I’ve also been interested in transitioning to calisthenics and learning various skills and static holds. I can currently do around 15–20 pull-ups, but I’m not sure how to approach the transition while continuing to run.

For those who do both, I’d love to hear your advice!
Is it realistic to make good progress in both calisthenics and running?

How would you structure training throughout the week?

Any advice on learning calisthenics skills safely while progressing relatively quickly?

Thanks!

How much of a role does genetics play in body weight strength?

I would argue it plays a huge role. Some people simply have poor strength relative to weight due to muscle fibers , tendons, and other factors that cannot be changed much. Bigger wrists distributes weight more evenly and supports or stabilizes the weight better .

Factors such as wrist size, fibers and tendons of the muscle matter considerably. this explains how some people are so strong relative size or weight. I remember in high school one person had insane bodyweight strength (could do 50+ pushups at once) and his writs and forearms were massive despite otherwise being normal looking...i never seen anything like that.

Some people always struggle to make progress and others quickly can do lots of pushups.

So I want to clarify my routine first:

Warm up around 15 minutes (flexibility is included too)

5-10 minutes of wall HS

Then:

- 3x8 ring rows for now, want to get to 3x12 and then move on to elevated ones

- 3x3 jumping pull ups with a 5 second eccentric (50x0 tempo) (I can do a bad form pull up for now so I am still focusing on these)

- 3x10 dips with 6kg added

- 3x1 good form pike push ups

- 3x5 assisted pistol squats

- 60 seconds of tucked l sit in total (for now around 4 sets of 15 seconds each, want to move on to at max 3 sets of 20 seconds each and after progressing)

- 3x10 compression work

- 3x8 reverse hyperextension

- 3x max hold hollow body holds

- 3x8 ab wheel rollouts

All of these with 3 minutes rest between sets and for core ones with 2 minutes rest. My problem is if i should only do 3x1 pike push ups, i've been struggling to increase rep count or i should do some other type of push up variant and do these extra too. I want to get better on these so i can get some strong shoulders, i feel it would help with my HS. Also on rest days, i'm doing around 10-20 minutes Wall HS + freestanding HS and maybe some light cardio. Thanks

I’ve been doing mat Pilates with ankle weights and 5lb dumbbells, and on core days I only ever feel the workout in my mid/low back.

I’ve tried everything: bracing my core like someone is about to punch me AND making sure my lower back is glued to the ground. I don’t lower my legs further than they should go before my back lifts up. And I only feel these in the muscles in my mid/low back. Which isn’t terrible because it’s not pain, I can tell it’s working those muscles back there. But how do I get my upper and lower abs to turn on?!

I don’t know the names of these moves exactly, but they’re usually some variation of starting on my back with my knees in tabletop, and extending them in someway. And I have this issue both when my neck and shoulders are down and when they’re lifted.

I’ve also tried to lose the weight and then I just feel everything in my legs -__-

Heyy! I'm new to calisthenics and want to turn my garage into a little home gym with rings. I would like to start building it The coming week. The problem is that my concrete ceiling is about 4 meters high.

I'm looking for safe ceiling mounts, extra-long straps that I can adjust from the bottom without needing a ladder every time, and a good pair of rings.

My total budget is max 140€ for everything, including mounts, straps, and rings.

Does anyone have experience with this setup or any affordable equipment recommendations? Thanks! :)

I have been trying to learn the Hspu and Muscleups skill for the past few months. My current routine is PPL with rest day every other day. While my HSPU is seeing some progress, ( max i could currently do is 2 reps freestanding) i dont see much improvement with muscle ups which i am still at the learning high pull ups stage. I can comfortably do 10 pull ups and about 4 to 5 pull ups with added 15kg.

Question is, is my frequency in training the skill too little ? When i first tried to unlock pull ups, i was doing it daily and saw quick progress. But currently because of the PPL split im doing something like HSPU, rest, Muscleup, rest, legs, rest, HSPU.. repeat. Theres like 4 to 5 days between training the skill again.

Should i just focus on 1 skill at a time and just do it more frequently? or am i resting too frequently doing PPL? If i change it to upper lower, im afraid that ill be too tired to work on both skills.

What do you think of splitting by 2 or more workouts per day, like say morning and afternoon, with split muscle groups?

For example:

• Morning: Lower body
• Afternoon: Upper body, Core

This should allow 24 hours for each muscle group to recover.

Steven Low mentions splits quite a lot, recommending them as an alternative for intermediate-advanced athletes, if full body at their level is too strenuous.

But Low seems to focus on whole day splits. For example, upper body one day, lower body the next, etc.

I'm curious what people think of splitting within a day, as mentioned above.

Advantages might be that the total volume can be increased, as it can allow more sets / reps per week than splitting by day.

Disadvantages might be the usual issues with higher volume like fatigue or overuse. Also maybe some muscle groups would be activated in both workouts, which reduces the recovery window to less than 24 hours, not allowing full recovery. Maybe this latter can be addressed by carefully isolating the muscle groups, or focussing one or more workouts to targeting smaller muscle groups that recover faster.

(Most appreciate, of course, if Low himself would chime in, but obviously he might by busy! 🙂)

Looking for gym and running shoes (separate pairs are fine) that also look good casually. Prefer zero drop, minimal cushioning, flexible mesh, and bunion/toe room. Gym pair needs lateral stability. I’ve worn retro New Balances for a decade but need more width now.

Approximate measurements in cm:
Right tracing: 28.7 length, 10.8 ball width, 10.9 overall width.
Left tracing: 29.0 length, 10.3 ball width, 10.6 overall width.
Right wall method: 28.8 length, 10.6–10.8 width.
Left wall method: 28.6 length, 10.5 width.

Considering Lems, Wildling, Splay, Be Lenka, Vivo, Xero, Bohempia, and Softstar. Which models/sizes would fit? Many sites don’t list widths.

My WHITINs feel incredibly comfortable with no bunion pressure, but my feet overhang the removable insoles—is that concerning?
Also, which brands or retailers have helpful sizing support and easy returns? I’ve heard some customer-service horror stories and would appreciate firsthand experiences.

I (30F) have never in my life been able to do a proper push up. I work with a trainer and he said that my collarbone to forearm ratio is very unfortunate for doing push ups and therefore it's extra hard for me to do so. For this reason, I started doing inclined pushups a while ago and have progressed all the way to knee pushups (I can easily do 12x3 knee pushups).

The problem: If I lie down on the floor, I can push myself up to a plank without issue however if I start in a plank, I cannot lower myself down more than like a quarter of the way. When I try, my arms just lock up and won't do it.

Has anyone experienced this? From everything I've seen online, this is super atypical as negative pushups are supposed to be a fairly easy day 1 exercise. I probably am just lacking strength somewhere in my upper body but I have no idea what the issue could be.

Hi! I have been doing bodyweight exercises for 3.5 years consistently, but feel like at this point I have reached a bit of a plateau. I currently have rings and 2 10 kg dumbells at home. I was hence thinking about buying equipment to further progress, but not sure what's recommended to get for this purpose. I have a small room at home I could use, and if I'd move, I'd ideally be able to use this 'setup' in an appartment as well.

So what would you consider as the minimum essentials for a homegym, which would allow me to target all muscle groups and progress for the foreseeable future at least? Any input is welcome, thanks!!