“I’m 30 years old and just starting calisthenics. Is it possible for me to learn it at this age?”

This is one of the most common questions I see in calisthenics when wanting to learn things such as handstands and muscle ups. And also one of the most misunderstood. Most people think it’s a 50/50 split. Or that once you “switch to skills,” strength matters less. Neither is true. Here’s the simple way to think about it. Strength is your engine. Skill is your steering wheel. If you don’t have enough strength, skills feel impossible. If you only train strength, skills feel awkward and unstable. Of course it depends on the skill but let's get into it. 🔹 Skill work Things like handstands, crow pose, balance holds, light lever entries. Skill work is about: - Body awareness - Balance - Alignment - Mind-body connection - Comfort being upside down or off the ground This kind of work does NOT need recovery the same way strength does. You can train it often. Sometimes daily. But you must stop before form breaks down. Falling, shaking wildly, or losing shape equals the end of the set. 🔹 Strength work Things like pull ups, dips, squats, push ups, levers, planche progressions. Strength work is about: - Force production - Progressive overload - Rest and recovery This is where muscles, tendons, and joints need time to adapt. This work should be challenging. Sometimes even close to failure. 🧠 The big rule Skill stops when form breaks. Strength stops when muscles fail. ✅ For most adults with busy schedules 2 to 4 focused strength sessions per week Skill work layered in before, after, or on “lighter” days Even 5 to 10 minutes of skill practice counts if it’s clean and focused. 💬 If you had to guess right now… Do you need more strength or more skill work?

Today I managed to straighten my legs from happy baby for first time - probably the narrowest straddle I've ever seen and my lower back was fully off the ground, but the legs were straight so I'm happy with that! I also took some progress photos of my forward fold and am pretty happy with it! Another win was yesterday - managed to flatten my hands to the ground without warming up for first time - and can also touch my head to my knees when sitting on ground. I haven't really tested my forward fold often since I'm not actively working on it. Next goal: head to knees standing up. Also I want to do the wide leg forward fold where your upper body is completely flat and between your legs, so I might switch from working on narrow stance forward folds to wide stance - which will hopefully also help a bit with my middle splits which are being incredibly stubborn.

Looking forward to getting back into calisthenics. Haven’t done that since grade school 😂