What phase of your calisthenics journey are you in right now?

Aug '24 • OTHERS

Phase 1 is when you've just started out bodyweight training and are learning the basic movement patterns, building general strength and mastering body control. Right now, your goal is to develop proper form for the fundamental exercises such as the push-up, squats, negative pullups (or full pullups, if you're able to do them) and all in all just creating a good foundation of strength.

Requirements - 0 to 15 push-ups, squats, and assisted pullups (negatives, with resistance bands or however you may like)

Phase 2 is what I refer to as the intermediate phase. You can now do more challenging variations of the fundamental movements such as decline push-ups, full range of motion dips, full range of motion pull-ups, pistol squats and so on so forth. You're starting to look more into the fundamentals of the static skills and so the first skills you're training for are the freestanding handstand and the L-sit. Mastering these will lead you to the more advanced skills and will build a solid foundation for your future calisthenics journey.

Requirements - 20 to 30 push-ups, 10 to 15 dips and 5 to 10 pullups, all done with clean form.

Phase 3 is when you start to really stand out from the crowd. You're now solely focusing on mastering complex bodyweight movements such as the muscle-ups, handstands and more dynamics skills such as the L-sit to handstand. Your training is very different from what you had started with, since now you've got very high volume in your training (generally speaking). By this point, you've got the kind of physique that looks athletic and what not. You've also started really going in on your static skill training, working towards the planche, front and back lever, etc.

Requirements - You can perform a few muscle-ups, a freestanding handstand and a clean L-sit.

So you can do advanced calisthenics skills such as the full planche, front lever and the back lever now huh? Congrats, you're now in phase 4 of your training. Since you've accomplished these advanced skills, now your sole focus in on mastering these skills and increasing your strength and power as much as possible. At this point, you can actually call yourself a calisthenics athlete. Now you've got a physique so good that when people look at you, they ask you how you train, whats your diet and so on. You've got enough experience to teach people around you how to start their own journey. Exercises such as the muscle ups are now part of your daily workout routine because they don't feel as hard now.

Requirements - Full Planche, Front Lever, Back Lever, Freestanding Handstand Push-ups, etc. If you're into weighted calisthenics, you can probably lift a shit ton of weight by now, and I'm talking big boy numbers like 80kg dip, 50 kg pullup, etc. You can also bench more than the average gym-goer by this point.

Finally, phase 5. By this point, you're refining and perfecting all your calisthenics skills, pushing the limits of what's possible. Like really, when you post your videos online or show people your skills, people genuinely think if you're editing your videos or something. I'm pretty sure I don't have to mention how good your physique looks at this point. This is like the top, and I mean the highest levels of calisthenics athletes around the world. You could very well even compete at this point in various calisthenics competitions, be it a sets and reps competition, a skills competition, a weighted competition, because by this point, you've got it all.

Requirements - I honestly don't know there's no limit to this phase. All I can say is that you're able to do the advanced skills with ease. You're probably even making up your own skills and variations of exercises by this point.

But wherever you're at in your journey, keep going. Remember, calisthenics or whatever it is that you do, is simply a part of life, a lifestyle. Be consistent, keep at it even when you don't feel like it, and you'll reach exactly where you want to.

If you read it this far, comment "Thanks Daemon for making this community available to everyone for free. We love you and appreciate everything you do for us." 🛐

Phase 1 (Beginner)

Phase 2 (Intermediate)

Phase 3 (Advanced)

Phase 4 (Elite)

Phase 5 (God)

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