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BY
CALISTHENICS FAMILY
This eBook is available at https: / / calisthenics - family.com
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This ebook: The Calisthenics Training Guide is the property of Calisthenics Family V.O.F. All images, information, layout and
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written permission of Calisthenics Family V.O.F.
Disclaimer
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agree to this disclaimer before you can access the eBook. The advice of a medical professional should be sought before
participating in any physical activity or exercise program. Participation in physical exercise or training activities outlined in
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material, which is provided as is and without warranties.
Physical exercise can be strenuous and subject to risk of serious injury ( including but not limited to musculoskeletal injury,
spinal injuries, abnormal blood pressures, and rare instances heart attack or death) it is urged thatyou obtain physical
examination from a doctor before using ant exercise equipment or participating in any exercise activity. Any recommendation
for changes in diet including the use of food supplements are your responsibility and you should consult a physician prior to
undergoing dietary or food supplement changes. Results will vary. Exercise and proper diet are necessary to achieve and
maintain weight loss and muscle definition.
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CONTENTS
I. Introduction 4
3 W h a t is Calisthenics 7
4 W h y Calisthenics 9
5 Training M e t h o d Explained 11
6 E x a m p l e Training Routines 14
10 . Workout P r o g r a m s 30
I I . Equipment & A p p a r e l 34
12 . Words o f E n c o u r a g e m e n t 36
We are glad that you are willing to start the best sport on earth.
A lot of people have already joined the Calisthenics Family by starting their journey! Now it ' s time
for you to start as well. With this "Calisthenics Training Guide ” we want to give you all the necessary
information that you need before starting Calisthenics.
Well, we often hear that people find it difficult to start with Calisthenics. Finding a well- structured
program with calisthenics seems to be quite difficult because there are so many different skills to
train and exercises to do. It can be very frustrating if you're willing to put in the work but don’t
know how to start ( we have experienced this as well). Some skills seems impossible to achieve,
think about the Human Flag. You are asking your body to move in directions and angles that it has
never done before and therefore it seems impossible. But it ’s not!
We as former "fitnessers” also found it difficult, we didn't know how to start when we switched to
calisthenics training only. It took us a lot of unnecessary time, trial and errors in the first years to
create a training method that works. With this guide we want to prevent wasting your time so you
can get started the right way from the first day!
We are confident that we can support anyone in achieving their calisthenics or fitness goals! If you
apply what we are going to teach you in this guide, you will achieve great calisthenics skills, a nice
physique and full body control!
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In the first year they had to learn and discover about the sport calisthenics After many trials, errors
and trying out different training methods, they have managed to create a good structure to learn
calisthenics properly and systematically. After achieving various calisthenics skills on their own
such as the muscle - up, the handstand, the backlever and the human flag, they have decided to help
and coach other people in achieving these goals as well. This is how " Calisthenics Family " is
founded.
Our mission is to show all the benefits of calisthenics to as many people as possible, and make
them part of the family where progressing together is the main objective.
Calisthenics Family expresses its mission specifically on two aspects; learning impressive
calisthenics skills WHILE getting a muscular athletic physique. Why ? Without a muscular / athletic
body, a skill looks much less " impressive"! It is the combination of a proper muscled athletic body
and the capacity to perform a nice set of skills that makes Michael & Yannick unique and also
everyone connected to the Calisthenics Family. If you cannot find yourself in this mission, that is
totally fine, but it ’s a waste of time to read any further. If you do want to learn skills while becoming
muscular, then keep on reading.
To accomplish this mission, Michael & Yannick first gained additional knowledge by following a
specific calisthenics trainer course at the Calisthenics Training Institute ( “ hetCOI” ), based in
Amsterdam. During this course they have learned the most important aspects of training and
coaching specifically in the field of calisthenics. They have learned about the anatomy and
physiology of the body, the principles of training and adaption of the body such as progressive
overload, reversibility, didactic training approaches of the physical capacity, the principles of
teaching and coaching, injury prevention and the importance of nutrition in combination with
calisthenics.
Our Passion
Helping people to achieve the things that often seem impossible is what Michael & Yannick are
passionate about and gives them new energy every day. Calisthenics Family is based on the
principle that everyone can achieve their calisthenics goals by applying the right training method
and the mind - set that fits within this sport. Therefore, they have developed an unique training
method that you will learn about in this training guide. This will help you to start from scratch all
the way to becoming a master of your own bodyweight.
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i 1
The sport has its origins in Greece. Here the name " Calisthenics" was formed from the Greek words
" Kalos" meaning " beauty" and " Sth é nos" meaning " power ". So calisthenics stands for " Beautiful
power "!
Calisthenics contains any form of strength training where you mainly use your own bodyweight and
is often referred to “ bodyweight training". The main goal with calisthenics is to control your own
body and create beautiful power ( like the name says). However, we do not see calisthenics just as
beautiful power, but as a great personal adventure in which you can discover yourself. It is so much
more than just strength training like gym exercises. Calisthenics challenge you both mentally and
physically to get the best out of yourself.
For a long period, calisthenics was only referred to basic exercises such as push ups and pull ups .
This has changed considerably in recent times. Nowadays basic exercises, also known as basics, are
one of the three training aspects within calisthenics. The powermoves, also called skills and
freestyle are two other aspects that can no longer be ignored when speaking about calisthenics.
3.2 Basics
With the basics we mean the exercises as push ups, pull ups, dips and squats. Before you start with
calisthenics, it is essential that you get the basics well under control. Even if you have more
experience with calisthenics, the basics always remain an important element of your training.
Powermoves or skills are mostly exercises where you hold the body in a certain angle for a certain
.
amount of time You can think of the handstand, the frontlever, the backlever, the human flag or the
planche. These exercises are also called ' holds' and therefore require a lot of static power. This
means that the body is held at an anglewhere the body does not move but has to provide a lot of
force to counteract gravity. These skills can be learned through training a number of steps and
progressions until the final progression is reached, which is the skill itself.
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However, not all skills are holds and statics Some skills consists out the the movement from a
certain postition into another postition. Take for example the L- sit to Handstand. These are 2 holds
that overflow in each other through a dynamic movement. More examples are the Muscle Up,
Handstand Push ups and the Impossible Dip. Such skills are often called ‘dynamics'.
3.4 Freestyle
Freestyle is a free form of exercising all kinds of calisthenics exercises. You can see this as an
act / choreochraphy where everything is allowed. Freestyle is often where calisthenics competitions
are based on. Within a few minutes you need to show your coolest set of skills. One aspect that
makes freestyle unique are the explosive dynamic movements in combination with the static
exercises. Examples of real eal freestyle exercises are the 360 Muscle up, the Shrimpflip and the
Switschblade.
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One of the coolest things about calisthenics is that you can learn epic skills This is due to the fact
that you train with your own body weight. Therefore, instead of addingextra weights, like people do
in the gym, you have to play with gravity to increase the load of the exercise. This ultimately results,
for example, in a frontlever, a backlever or even a human flag!
With calisthenics you build real power. Why are we talking about real power ? This is because with
calisthenics you will learn to control your own bodyweight first before you start training with extra
weights. In comparison with the gym, it ' s the complete opposite. In the gym you often you see
big / muscular guys pushing a lot of weights but if you ask them to make a muscle up or do an
exercise with their own bodyweight, they often have troubles doing that. Note that we don't have
anything against this, in fact, that is how we started as well. But when we noticed the difference, it
seemed more logical to us: first bodyweight, then extra weight.
In addition to this, with calisthenics you stimulate every small muscle fibres with all the compound
bodyweight exercises, such as a handstand push up. As a result, your muscles will not become stiff
due to isolated exercises, but they get super functional.
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We define calisthenics in 4 aspects; Strength, Skills, Flexibility and Mobility Every part is crucial to
progress with calisthenics and has a positive influence on one another. In a model we can visualize
this as as follows:
Skills
Strength
From Michael & Yannick ' s own training experience and the application of this methodology to their
online clients and group training sessions, it turned out that a development in these 4 aspects
works best for both beginners and advanced. Because of the the importance of each aspect, we will
dive deeper into them in the following paragraphs.
The skills mainly involve static exercises such as the handstand, the frontlever, the backlever, the
human flag and the planche. The reason why " straight arms" is in brackets is because these
exercises are all held with straight arms. During these exercises the body is held at a specific angle
where the body does not move but has to provide a lot of force to counteract gravity. As we
described before, these skills can be learned through training a number of steps and progressions
until the final progression is reached.
With the strength exercises we mean dynamic bodyweight exercises such as a muscle up, a
handstand push up or even a one arm push - or pull up. The reason why " bent arms" is in brackets is
because these exercises are performed with bent arms where there is muscle contraction
(tightening / contracting of muscle tissue ).
5.4 Flexibility
Flexibility refers to the degree of stretch of the muscles. Also called agility of the muscles. The
flexibility depends on the individual muscle length and can be influenced by stretching exercises.
With calisthenics, a large muscle length (flexibility ) is essential for certain exercises. For example, a
straight handstand, an L- sit to a handstand or a straddle frontlever where the legs are spread out.
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5.5 Mobility
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Mobility refers to the movement capacity of the joints.
The mobility of a joint determines in which direction the
joint can move. The more mobile the joint is the further
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Now that we know which 4 aspects are important while training calisthenics, it is important to know
how you can best implement these in your weekly training routine. There are endless possibilities
that you can think of and that Michael & Yannick have tried. Consider, for example, a split routine
where you train each muscle group separately, a push - pull- leg routine or an upper - lowerbody
routine. We all know them.From experience and also from scientific research it appears that
frequency and thus the number of times you target a particular muscle group is important to learn
a certain skill. Think for example of piano playing. The more often you do it ( not the longer ), the
faster you learn it. This also works with learning a handstand, frontlever or muscle - up. Remember,
therefore: "Frequency is key ". This means that it ' s better to train a bit shorter and then do the same
kind of exercises on another day.
With the knowledge that frequency is important, we recommend a training method that is based on
a split into strength training ( bent - arm) and skill training ( straight - arm ). This would look as follows:
Why a split into strength and skill training? As we mentioned: "frequency is key". By distinguishing
these 2 training types you ensure that you train both the skill exercises and the strength exercises
at least twice a week. In addition, you will actually target the skills that you ' re trying to learn 4
times per week since the workouts have a positive influence on each other. Mainly the strength
training contributes to the skill training. By alternating between a day of training and a day of rest,
you also make sure that your muscles get enough time to recover ( 48 hours). It is important to give
your muscles enough rest, since you always train multiple muscle groups at the same time
( shoulders, back, chest, core & arms).
The first example continues on the training method that we have just explained. Now that you know
on which days you can do which training, we will now describe which exercises you can do on each
training day. We are giving you an example of a handstand ( & HSPU), backlever and muscle up
routine.
Hollow Hollow
Exc. 5 Push Ups Push Ups
Holds Holds
Superman Superman
Exc. 6 Squats Squats
Holds Holds
In the video below, Michael explains how he applied this training method, to train for
the frontlever and the planche at the same time.
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Sam
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In the split workout routine, each week is divided into training days based on different muscle
groups. This routine works well for beginners to build basic strength. However, we do not
recommend this routine for non - beginner calisthenics athletes since the frequency of the exercises
/ muscle groups is very low. In addition, it is almost impossible to train all muscle groups
separately, because with bodyweight exercises you often activate several muscle groups at the same
time. Think about a “ Muscle - up ” that works the back, the shoulders and arms.
A typical Calisthenics split routine looks as follows:
The push, pull, legs routine is a routine that is widely used in the gym, but also by calisthenics
athletes. The advantage of this routine is that you train every muscle group at least twice a week.
The disadvantage is the distinction in push & pull. With calisthenics you often activate your back
muscles as well as your chest and shoulders during bodyweight exercises, so that makes it hard to
divide workouts in push and pull. An example a calisthenics push, pull, legs routine looks like this:
The greasing the groove training method is a method where you do a certain exerciseseceral times a
day at a low intensity. The main advantage is that it activates your brain and nervous system so your
body gets used to the exercise. The disadvantage is that you never can train maximally. Therefore
this method is often combined with an other workout routine. Combining this method with the
skill / strength workout routine works very well. We have personally applied this ourselves to learn
the handstand, and at the moment of writing we are still applying this method by doing daily hollow
body holds ( core) or tucked frontlever holds ( frontlever ). As shown in the routine below you could
choose 2 exercises that you can do during the day.
In addition to the above routines, there is another way of training: Circuit training. This is a useful
way of training if you have limited time, but still want to do a good workout in. With this way of
training, you do a number of exercises immediately after eachother in a certain sequence. This
increases the intensity of the training which will also contribute to muscle endurance ( condition). It
is useful to apply this training if you are on a vacation or only have half an hour to workout.
We will give you 2 examples of circuit training.
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6.5 1 Chest Circuit
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Exc 1 Deep Ring Dips 10 Lower Chest Exc. 1 Deep Ring Dips 10 Lower Chest
Deep Straight
Exc. 2 10 Lower Chest Exc. 2 Small Grip Pushups 10 Middle Chest
Bar Dips
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Exc 4 Elbow Planche 20 sec Lower Chest .
Exc 4 Pushup Hold 20 sec Full Chest
Round 1 (Dynamic) Reps Target Muscles Round 1 (Dynamic) Reps Target Muscles
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Exc 1 Dragon Fly's 8 Lower abs + back .
Exc 1 Dragon Fly's 8 Lower abs + back
Exc . 2 Windshield Wipers 8 Obliques + lower abs Exc . 2 Windshield Wipers 8 Obliques + lower abs
Round 2 (Static ) Reps Target Muscles Round 2 (Static ) Reps Target Muscles
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Exc 1 Dragon Flag Max Lower abs + back .
Exc 1 Dragon Flag Max Lower abs + back
Exc . 2 Hanging L-sit Max Lower abs Exc . 2 Hanging L-sit Max Lower abs
Exc . 3 Hollow Body Hold Max Lower abs Exc . 3 Hollow Body Hold Max Lower abs
Before you start implementing one of the previous training routines or a self - made calisthenics
program, we first want to give you some important training principles. Below is an overview of the
most important rules regarding adaptation; the process that is needed to make progress. For each
principle we will show you how to apply this with calisthenics.
7.1 Consistency
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You will only see results if you train consistently for months or even years Not if you stop your
training schedule after a few weeks or if you change too fast. For the development of muscles,
strength and endurance the following rule applies: Consistency is key. If you train for several
consecutive years without skipping for long intervals, you achieve the best results. Many people
pause for too long in between, so they quickly fall back to their old level and never really make
progress. Especially with calisthenics consistency is extremely important. Learning a certain skill
can sometimes take months or even years (think about a straight - line handstand or the planche). So
never get distracted and keep the focus on the ( long-term) goals that you have set for yourself.
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When you do calisthenics it is often difficult to set specific goals for yourself There are countless
skills and exercises that you want to learn. Flowever, it is extremely important to not focus on all of
them at the same time. This is a big pitfall for many people. By focussing on too many different
things at the same time, you can only move forward a little bit with everything. Unfortunately, this is
not enough to properly master a certain exercise such as a backlever or handstand push ups. So
focus on a maximum of 2 to 3 skills and a number of strength exercises for a certain period. Also, a
goal gives you direction and focus. It will give you extra motivation to continue training as you get
closer to your goal. Therefore, the programs of Calisthenics Family always work to a number of
predetermined goals.
In order to work towards your goals, it is essential to use a systematic training approach. This means
that you have to train according a logical pattern and gradual steps. That is why it is crucial to follow
a training program where the exercises are geared to each other in such a way that they all contribute
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to achieving your goals Consider training for the Muscle up. This exercise consists of both a ' push '
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and ' pull' movement In addition, there is a lot of explosive power in this exercise It is therefore
important to implement all these elements in the program so there will be a systematical approach
to the set goals. Let's take another example, the front lever. This skill does not only require a lot of
strength from the back, but also the scapula ( shoulder belt ) and the core ( abdominals and lower
back ) play a major role. All theseelements must be incorporated in the program.
To achieve progress in the most optimal way, it is important to measure your progress. You can do
this by keeping your results in a logbook. By tracking your results every week, you know what your
current records are. When you start a new training, you know exactly what you need to do to
improve your results. An example: During the first training you manage to hold a tucked frontlever
of 10 seconds. So at the second training, your goal is to beat those 10 seconds and make them 12
seconds, then 15 seconds, then 20 seconds until you can continue to the advanced tucked
frontlever. With this method, you keep moving forward with small steps every week, which will
eventually result in a new progression / level. By stressing your muscles just a little bit more at each
workout, you are giving your body a signal that it needs to adapt so that you will be stronger for the
next training ( principle of progressive overload, see principle 7). To make this very simple,
Calisthenics Family has applied this principle in all their training programs by adding clear digital
logbooks where the progress can be tracked for each level of a particular exercise.
A proper mind - set is essential when you practice calisthenics. This has to do with the fact that a
certain skill can sometimes take a long time to achieve. That is why it is important to always think in
the big picture. We personally see calisthenics training as a big puzzle that you try to put together.
Every step that you make in a certain skill or exercise ( puzzle piece that you submit) will contribute
to the bigger picture. A few examples: if you get better in the handstand, this will also contribute to
the planche. If you become stronger in your dips, that will contribute to your handstand push - ups.
If you get more flexible in your hamstrings, this will contribute to a straight backlever. So just keep
in mind: there is always a connection between all different facets of calisthenics training.
In addition, it is important that you have the bodybuilding mindset. By this we do not mean that you
only have to eat protein and go to the gym 6 times a week to get more muscle mass. But you should
defenitely not see calisthenics as playing outside and fluttering around in a park without following
a structured workout plan. This is a common mistake of calisthenics athletes. With this approach
you won 't achieve many results. So make sure that you work disciplined by using a schedule and try
to break your results every week just like bodybuilders do in the gym. We as calisthenics athletes do
exactly the same, but with our own body weight! Finally, we want to emphasize that you must always
try to stay positive and enjoy the adventure. Calisthenics is just about falling and getting up and you
will have to accept that!
The body adjusts itself in the direction of load, this means that only the trained direction improves.
Training only core stability does not provide a correct baclever. If you want to perform a correct
backlever, it will have to be trained in that exact form. This means that you specifically have to
practice the backlever. In addition, the core can be trained for faster progress. This of course does
not only apply to the backlever, but for all calisthenics exercises such as the handstand, the front
lever, the human flag or the planche. A big pitfall that many athletes make is training a variety of
different exercises, without directly practicing the desired skill or the other way around: only
training the skill directly without additional beneficial exercises. For this reason, Calisthenics Family
has structured all its programs in such a way that they work directly on the desired skill in
combination with many additional beneficial exercises for that specific skill.
7.7 Overload
The principle of overload can be described in one sentence as: giving the body a training stimulus
that has a higher intensity than the stimulus from the previous training sessions. Theis extra load
that you give the will increase your standards. The body adapts to the higher load so they will be
prepared for the same load in the future and thus your muscles become stronger. For this reason,
each training program must involve the principle of overload for optimal results. That is why
Calisthenics Family works with multiple progressions per exercise and a logbook so you can beat
your current results (standards) every single training.
7.8 Reversibility
Reversibility means that training results are lost as quick as they are built up. When you don't train
for a certain period of time, the body regains the condition of its old level. Skills and strength
reduce faster than flexibility and mobility. However, it’s not a problem to rest for one week after a
period of 8 weeks because his often stimulates your recovery. But make sure you that you don ’t stop
training for more than 2 weeks, unless you are dealing with an injury.
Decreased surplus yield means that an athlete responds quickly and sharply to a training stimulus
in the beginning, but over time this decreases more and more until anatural plateau is slowly
reached. This principle is shown in the on the next page. Here you can see that progress is made
relatively quick in the beginning, but at a later stage there is barely progress visible. This is very
common with calisthenics training. An example is learning the handstand. The first few seconds are
relatively easy to learn. However, mastering the exercise to a perfect straight - line handstand is
something that you won’t achieve this quick. Chances are high that you reach a plateau while
practising. To combat this problem , it is important to work in training periods of 8 to 12 weeks. When
you don’t make any more progress, it ' s wise to add new exercises which brings us to the next
principle; supercompenstion.
Time
7.10 Supercompensation
Supercompensation is the phase where the body prepares for a new load of the same size as it had
in the previous training. This process is extremely important for constant progress in your
calisthenics journey. We have already discussed the principle of overload; giving the body a higher
training load each training. But at some point you ’ll reach a training plateau due to the decreased
surplus yield principle. Therefore it is important to not only give the body a higher load but also a
different load after a certain period. As an example we just gave the point where you no longer go
forward with the handstand. This problem can be solved by training the handstand in a different
way after 8 weeks, for example by doing the handstand with the belly towards the wall instead of
the back against the wall. By doing this, your body will adapt to the straighter state of your body
that you have when you do a handstand with the belly against the wall ( reverse wall handstand).
This is the principle of supercompensation. This gives your body a whole new training stimulus and
the plateau that you ran into is broken. For this reason, Calisthenics Family has put together the Full
Journey program where 4 different programs are linked to each other which will breaks plateaus
every time after a certain period of training.
This is probably the most frequent asked question we receive on a daily basis. Many people think
that it is difficult to become muscular when you only train with your own body weight instead of
training with extra weights like in the gym. The answer to the question is very simple. Yes it is
possible to become more muscular with calisthenics. Calisthenics gives you not only a nice
muscular athletic body, but also " real" muscles that actually work to create full body control. With
calisthenics exercises, multiple muscle groups are triggered at the same time beceause of the
compound movements. Therefore you 'll get a nice and proportioned muscular body because each
muscle willadapt according to its importance compared to other muscles. This means that you get
a much more complete " look" like a beach body instead of a blown - up bodybuilding look. Since we
started calisthenics we have seen a big change in our physiques because of this!
Being flexible is very important and brings many benefits with calisthencs. The most important
stretch exercises that we do and recommend are forward fold - and backbending exercises. We
advice to do a 15 -30 minute stretching routine for 2 -3 times per week. This will highly increase the
straightness of exercises such as a the l- sit, handstand, frontlever & backlever.
Yes you can! In fact, we started like this! In the beginning we combined gym exercises such as bench
press and lat pull downs with calisthenics exercises. However, it depends on what your goal is. After
a while we found out that if you really want to get good at calisthenics, it is important to do this
more often ( frequency = key). A skill takes a long time to master. That is why we made the choice to
only focus on calisthenics. Note that this does not mean that we don’t do any weighted exercises .
Absolutely! It is highly recommended to work with extra weights. However, you can only do this if
you have mastered the basics first. If it's easy for you to do 10 regular pull ups, you could use extra
weight. But only use extra weight with bodyweight exercises such as weighted pull ups, weighted
dips or weighted push ups. The goal with these weighted exercises is to make your own bodyweight
feel light as a feather!
Yes, definitely! This is sometimes a forgotten aspect among calisthenics athletes! Some people see
calisthenics as " playing outside " and hoping to learn a skill or even a good body. This is not very
effective and is probably not going to work. It is essential that you ensure that you have a low
amount of body fat. This makes you weigh less which makes bodyweight exercises much easier. With
calisthenics it ' s often important to not just train more but also eat healthier!
Good nutrition helps athletes to achieve the sport performances and is applicable in the
preparation for, participation in and recovery after sports. Here are some reasons why nutrition is
important:
> Helping the athlete to combat fatigue, dehydration and poor performance;
> Increase the energy level of the athlete;
> Provide the athlete with the necessary basic nutrients;
> Achieve and maintain a good body and fat composition;
> Helps with optimal recovery after exercise.
Good nutrition is of course always important, depending on what kind of sport you do. However, we
want to give you some important nutrition principles that specifically affect the sport calisthenics .
Lower your fat percentage!
The very first thing you have to do is bringing down your fat percentage if you want to start
calisthenics seriously. Why ? You train with your own body weight. So the heavier this is, the harder
exercises are. An example: Imagine you want to learn a frontlever, but you weigh + 5 kg too much. It
is therefore more efficient to first lose the 5 kg and then pick up the frontlever again. This goes for
every exercise with calisthenics.
How do you know if your bodyfat percentage is too high ? You could have your body fat percentage
measured. For men, a percentage above 15 is too much. Ideally is a fat percentage between 8 and 12
For women, bodyfat above 25 % is too much. Ideally should be a fat percentage between 12 and 17.
Don't bulk!
Bulking means consuming far more calories than your daily needs. Bodybuilders do this to gain
extra weight and muscle mass. But this is actually the biggest mistake you can make as a
calisthenics athlete. The goal of calisthenics is not to become as big and muscular as possible, but
to get an athletic physique which you use to train with your own bodyweight. When you start to bulk
up, you make it very difficult for yourself as the exercises will become harder because of the extra
weight. This does not mean that you should not consume more calories than your daily needs.
9.3 Calories
The most important aspect of nutrition is the number of calories you consume every day. The
amount of energy in food is calculated in calories. Your body uses the energy of the calories in two
ways: for your primary physical processes and for your physical activities. The more physical
activities you do, the more calories you need to maintain your bodyweight.
9.4 Macronutrients
Macronutrients are nutrients that deliver calories or energy to the body. The body needs nutrients
for growth, metabolism and other functions. There are 3 main macronutrients that contains its own
amount of calories per gram.
9.4 .1 Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are sugars, starches or fibers. Carbohydrates are the most important energy source
for humans. Your body converts carbohydrates into glucose. Glucose is the supply of energy in your
muscles. Carbs therefore give directly energy to the muscles. That is why it is an incredibly
important nutrient for athletes. Athletes and thus calisthenics athletes should get 50 % to 70% of
our energy from carbohydrates. However, the amount depends on the number of training hours per
day ( but also your weight and your goal). See the on the next page for a quick overview.
1 to 2 hours 4 - 6 grams
Chocolate 55 Oats 62
Whole Wheat
Ice Cream 21 44
Bread
Milk 5 Potatoes 17
9.4.2 Proteins
Proteins are the building blocks of our body. Our body - and muscle cells are made out of proteins.
Why proteins play such an important role in calisthenics is mainly related to repairing and building
muscle tissue. This contributes to the increasement of your muscle mass and muscle strength.
60 105 135
65 114 146
70 123 158
75 131 169
80 140 180
85 149 191
90 158 203
95 166 214
100 175 225
Animal Protein
Meat / Eggs Protein (perlOOg) Fish Protein (perlOOg) Dairy Protein (perlOOg)
Vegetarian Protein
Meat substitute Protein ( perlOOg) Cereals & Nuts Protein (perlOOg) Soy / Beans Protein (perlOOg)
9.4.3 Fats
Fats, together with carbohydrates and proteins, are essential nutrients for the body However, you .
.
must pay close attention to fats. 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories That is twice as much as 1 gram of
carbohydrates or proteins. So when you eat a lot of high - fat products you will gain weight a lot
sooner which is not desirable when you do calisthenics.
Whether you ' re doing sports or not, vitamins and minerals are important for everyone. But which
vitamins and minerals are good for your sports performance ?
> Vitamin B: B2, B 3, B 5, B 6, B11 and B12. These reduce fatigue and help you feel fit.
> Vitamin C: Also reduces fatigue. Vitamin C provides extra energy. You can find them in vegetables,
fruit and potatoes. In addition, it supports the iron absorption.
> Vitamin D: This vitamin is mainly taken from the sun, which can be difficult in the winter. Vitamin
D ensures proper functioning of your muscles, strong bones and good resistance. This vitamin is
very important for athletes to use as a supplement
9.6 Hydration
In addition to food, it is also important to drink enough water. Water is also a kind of fuel for your
muscles. It is recommended to drink 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day if you are an average, healthy
adult. However, this number is higher for athletes. If you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of fluid. If your
muscles do not have enough fluid, they become tired. By drinking more water, you get more fluid in
your muscles and less muscular fatigue so you perform better during training. For athletes drinking
water therefore is extra important .
How much water do we need as an athlete ?
I PA
If you do intensive sports, you lose about one liter of
extra fluid per hour of training. So if you train 2 hours
per day intensively you lose a total of 2 liters of fluid
that needs to be supplemented. Therefore, athletes are
advised to drink up to 3 to 4 liters of water per day.
Within the calisthenics community there seems to be a some kind of unwritten law that calisthenics
athletes should not use supplements because calisthenics should be purely natural. This means
only training with your own body weight without any supplements such as protein shakes or vitamin
pills. However, this is complete nonsense as far as we are concerned. Dietary supplements can
definitely have a positive influence on your health and thereby improve your results. In addition,
nutritional supplements are sometimes a convenient and easy alternative to get the right nutrients
into your system.
However, if you follow a varied and healthy diet, you will get enough nutrients, vitamins and
minerals. Therefore we recommend that supplements should never be seen as replacements on
natural food sources, but as an addition to your healthy diet.
This is an example of an eating schedule that we use where we alternate between two
different days for some variation in food intake. For a personal made meal plan pleasehave a look
at our website at https: / / calisthenics - family.com / meal - plan
Day 7
Meal Consumption
12:00 Breakfast Milk, Brinta, Apple, Raisins, Whey Protein, Sandwich with Jam
15:00 Pre - Workout Meal Brown Rice, Mixed Vegetables, Veg. Chicken, Pasta Sauce
Day 2
Meal Consumption
12:00 Breakfast Milk, Brinta, Apple, Raisins, Whey Protein, Sandwich with Apple Syrup
15:00 Pre - Workout Meal Whole Grain Pasta, Veg. Meatballs, Broccoli, Mushrooms, Pesto
18:00 Post- Workout Smoothie Milk, Blueberries, Whey Protein
19:00 Dinner Brown Beans, Brown Rice, Veg. Minced Meat, Mixed Vegetables, Sauce
At last, we would advice you to not be too strict and use the 80 / 20 rule. This rule means that you
consume healthy products for about 80% of your diet and 20% from less healthy products. We
apply this by paying close attention to our food during the week, for example by following one of
diets above. In the weekend it may be a bit looser and you may reward yourself a bit and even
consciously eat some unhealthy products. This gives you the motivation on monday to pick up the
healthy diet.
The beginner program is the ultimate guide for beginners who wants to start their Calisthenics
Journey seriously without any mistakes from the very beginning. The Program includes essential
.
beginner information such as tricks and tips that you need to know as a beginner The beginner
program includes:
> 4 workouts per week focussed on skills such as the handstand and bodyweight strength!
> Information about optimal training methods ( dynamic vs statics and strength vs skill approaches).
> Information about the optimal amount of reps, sets and rest periods.
> 40 + Instructional Video’s!
> All Crucial Training- principles.
> The optimal mindset & many more info!
> Exercise Logbook & Program Goals!
BEGINNER *
CALISTHENICS PROGRAM
Requirements
Becoming a master of your own bodyweight
takes time, but it all starts with the basics.
We want to help as many people as we can, VUlt
so therefore we made an entry level that is
accessible for EVERYONE ( men & women).
This means that the requirements are zero.
Many people ask us if calisthenics is not
too hard for them, but NO. We started
from zero, so you can too. THE FULL JDURNEY BY CALISTHENICS FAMILY
The Full Journey is the ultimate lifechanging calisthenics program for anyone who wants to start
their calisthenics adventure seriously without any beginner mistakes.
The problem with many people is that they often want to see short -term and quick results.
Unfortunately, that does not work with calisthenics. If you are such a person you may try a different
.
sport but not calisthenics If you are a long-term thinker, like us, please read on .
For the above reason, the Full Journey is not just one program that you can use for a certain period
like most programs. Instead, you can see the Full Journey as lifetime plan consisting out of 4
different programs that you can use each for a period of 8 to 16 weeks. These four programs are:
When added up, this means training material for more than 1 year! Can you imagine how much you
can achieve in this period of time with consistent training by following a structured program that
incorporates all the knowledge and information that we just discussed above ? We genuinly wish
that we had such a program when we started! That would save is a lot of time and wrong efforts.
Handstand
Wall Handstand -
L sit to Handstand
SATRRAIGMH
Frog Stand 10 s H a n d s t a n d 30s Handstand Press to Handstand
V e r t i c a l U p Hold
Human Flag
V e r t i c a l Down Hold Tucked Human Flag O n e l e g Human Flag Full Human Flag
Dragon Fly
Frontlever
Tucked Frontlever A d v. T u c k e d F r o n t l e v e r Straddle Frontlever Full F r o n t l e v e r
O n e Leg Backlever
Backlever
Tucked Backlever .
Adv Tucked Backlever S t r a d d l e Backlever Full Backlever
HS Push Up
Pike P u s h u p s W a l l HS Pushups R e v e r s e W a l l HS P u s h u p s F r e e Hs P u s h u p s
Pullups
Muscle Up
BENT
S t r a i g h t Bar D i p s M u s c l e Ups ( k i p p i n g ) Ring M u s c l e Ups S t r i c t Form M u s c l e Ups
Advanced Pull
Chin ups
P u l l u p Hold
Wide Crip Pullups Archer P u l l u p s Typerwriter Pullups
E x p l o s i v e P u l l u p s W e i g h t e d P u l l u p s ( 2 0 % BW ) W e i g h t e d P u l l u p s ( 4 0 % BW )
ARM
Legs
Weighted Pistol Squat Weighted Low Bar P Squat -
Assisted P i s t o l S g u a t Pistol Squat Low Bar Pistol Squat High Bar pistol Squat
Our 30 Day Fat Burn Program is a program wich also includes personal diet plan. This Program
focusses 100 % on losing bodyfat. The program is for everybody at any level and will challenge you to
lose as much bodyfat is possible within 30 - days.
We made this program after our own succesful 30 - day body transformation. We lost 5,5 Kg and 7,7 Kg
in just 30 days. After this, we got a lot of questions about what we exactly did to get these results.
That ’s when we decided to make a full program with in depth information about the training routines
and the diet that we followed.
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We offer parallettes specifically made for the Calisthenics sport These parallettes are unique, more
functional and are from a higher quality than regular parallels that you can buy online. This has to
do with the thicker size of the wood ( diameter ) so that you have a better grip which makes a
handstand or a handstand push up is easier and more save. The wood contains the highest quality
( pruce & pine - wood) making the product very sustainable and long lasting and light as no other!
The Benefits
> Good looking design made from the highest quality wood;
> Thicker diameter that gives you more grip so that the wrist is less stressed and prevents injuries.
> Thicker diameter that gives you more push surface, making push movements easier ( e.g.
handstand push - ups).
> Low height of theparallettes that makes hand positions easier mroe comfortable.
> Lightweight and perfect length making it easy to take the parallettes in a sports bag or even in a
regular bag.
Review Quotes
“ I improve quicker in skills
- Koen Janssen
“ A must have for Calisthenics Athletes CALISTHENICS
FAMILY
- Lars M ö ller
“ Very stable during exercises and do not
slip on any surface - Richard Derks
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More Info
This is the most comfortable clothing during a calisthenics workout. With calisthenics you are
moving in all sorts of ways, from explosive muscle ups to handstand push ups or even upside down
during a backlever. Therefore it is nice if you can move smoothly in your t - shirt / tanktop. A nice
loose piece of clothing is therefore a must!
The Benefits
> Perfect fit where the tanktop falls neatl y on the shoulders.
> Nice loose tank top. It ’s not tight so you can move easy and free.
> Unique Calisthenics Family logo on the styled tanktop where learning together to long term goals
is depicted (2 people working towards a planche & frontlever ).
> Calisthenics is an outdoor sport so your arms will get a nice tan when you train in the sun with
this tank top!
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More Info
Before we close this E - book we want to give you some last important personal tips: Make sure that
you always keep track of your progress by using logbooks! Always try to get the most out of your
workout. By that we mean: breaking results compared to the previous work out!
Remember: there are no limits within the sport calisthenics. This makes the sport so fun and
challenging, but sometimes a little frustrating. However, if you are aware of this and are positive
about it, it will be all right.
Always keep the big picture in mind and think about your long-term goals!
Best,
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