2w ago

Gonna start the Hybrid Calisthenics for Beginners Program lets be accountability buddies

In my last post I got SO MANY awesome suggestions for exercise routines and videos to help me ease back into being active. One that was suggested is Hybrid Calisthenics, which I think is an awesome start with achievable goals to get me into a consistent routine with my ADHD ass.

It's all based on bodyweight so you can do the exercises at home, the instructor shows you really in depth modifications to make the exercises easier or harder, and he breaks it up into (imo) very doable chunks - 2 different exercises, 6 days a week. I feel like knowing that it'll be such a short amount of time will be motivating, and if I don't do anything else for the rest of the day, I still will have gotten SOMETHING in. He also gives a goal number of reps, so that once you're hitting that number with good form and you aren't dying, you know you should move on to a harder variation.

I did the first day today, and my arms are already sore after a couple hours. So, I think I'm gonna post daily updates on this post as lil updates for myself and I think it could be cool if other people want to try it out and post progress as well! Could possibly be a good motivator!

Anyway, here are links to the youtube video and website with the program:

Hybrid Calisthenics Beginners video
Hybrid Calisthenics Webpage

14 comments

Hell yeah theythembro! Get fit, make those small incremental changes, maintain that momentum. Become the comrade who has the strength to pull and push themselves up, and by doing so have the strength to pull and push up others. Go get @ratboy@hexbear.net
- Thank you comrade
  
  Never in my life has it been so difficult for me to will myself to exercise. Normally I would be really beating myself up for it, especially since I lost a shocking amount of strength, but I'm trying to be gentle and be proud of myself when I do decide to get up and be active

Hell yeah, friend. Get that exercise!
My last tip: "no pain, no gain" is a myth. Sure, is good for someone that is already regularly training and with somewhat balanced muscles and posture to push themselves a bit. But especially if you're just starting out, pain should mean, "back off a bit" and, "maybe take a couple extra days off". You will still gain strength, function, and flexibility from light exercise and stretching. And you'll have a lot better time exercising if you avoid injury.
- yeah, pain is your body saying something is wrong. this is different from being tired or sore, although if you have those debuffs you should sleep or stretch and so on.
- thank you for your encouragement
  You're definitely right. I think I'm much better about it now, but always considered myself a work horse so I would do really heavy lifting and intense yardwork and such without having a really good mind-body connection which I think is part of what ails me now in my old-ish age. Working in produce and lifting 50lb soggy boxes of celery from a shelf 3 inches off the floor day in and day out is not very kind to your spine and shoulders lol. Then I got a completely sedentary job and I just never imagined I'd lose so much strength...So now I'm really trying to be kind to myself and pay attention to my body instead of going all in and hurting/disappointing myself

Day 1:
Wall Pushups: 3x50
These were surprisingly more challenging than I thought they were going to be. Really trying to pay attention to my form, I notice how much my shoulders want to creep up, so was trying to focus on keeping them down and back. I was able to do all 3 sets! During the second set, though, I started to struggle at 40, and for the third set I was struggling at 30 and almost gave up at 40 but I just took a breath and finished up. I know arms get strong pretty quickly so I'm hoping that I'll be able to move to incline pushups soon
Knee Raises: 2x30
These were really easy for me but I think my lower body is much stronger than my upper body, plus I've been doing leg raises already just not with such high reps. I tried knee raises for the first set, and then leg raises for the next set which felt more challenging. I think I'm going to just give leg raises a shot for both next time and really focus on keeping my core tight and my back touching the ground!
- Day 2: My upper body is super sore and for some reason my calves are too which makes no sense to me?! I was such an eepy guy today, it has been really cold and overcast and I struggled to get myself to do the exercises but I DID IT! Kinda...lol
  Wall Pullups: 3x50 (only did 3x30)
  I screwed up my reps and sets for this, so it was pretty easy, I meant to do 3x50. It's really interesting to pay attention to form while doing such simple exercises though, I could feel my right side working more than my left for the first set, and then it switched because I was trying to engage my left side more...I think I have to really experiment with my form next time...With the correct amount of reps
  Jackknife Squats: 3x35 (only did 3x20)
  These were extremely difficult for me; I suck at squatting. I think my ankle mobility is pretty severely limited, so I've always had to lean forward a LOT while squatting and lose balance so I just kind of avoid doing them. I've been trying to work on ankle mobility in other ways, but just avoiding the movement altogether won't help. I had to go really slow to warm up my knees and ankles at first, but I felt good doing the third set, definitely got my heart rate up. I think I will try to be easier on myself and let myself "hang" like he does in some of the modifications for this just so I can build up some strength, and also incorporate more ankle mobility and foot strength stuff during the week.
  
  Day 3: Was hungover so I was reallllll close to just skipping, but alas, I did not! Probably didn't put as much effort into it, but I did it and that is significant for me (thanks executive dysfunction).
  Glute Bridges: 3x50 (only did 3x30, I think?)
  Pretty sure I only did 30 reps each but I do not remember. I feel like I've had a hard time with my mind-body connection and have never really been able to activate my glutes without thinking about it but I'm getting better. Still feel these more in my hamstrings and low back unless I'm very intentional in my form. Gonna make sure to try for 3x50 next time and see how I do.
  Straight Leg Twists: 3x60 sec both sides:
  This felt really easy for me so I might need to move up to the next progression, but I think I will do the same for the next round but try to focus on sitting up straight and trying to contract and stretch the right muscles.
  Day 4: I was soooo sore, so I took yesterday off. You're supposed to do 6 days with one day off but I just needed it
  Day 5: The day off made such a difference, glad that I did it!
  Wall Pushups: 3x50
  Could do all 3 sets of 50 without needing to take a "break" (stopping for a breath or two) between reps when I was getting tired. Felt like I was able to focus on keeping my shoulders down and bracing my core a bit easier than last time. I did wake up with my right shoulder feeling sore, and I tweaked my back a bit, I deal with all kinds of random aches and pains most days so this wasnt anything new. My right arm felt a bit achy after, but that went away quickly
  Knee Raises 2x30:
  Completed both sets; focused much more on bracing my core and keeping my back down while also extending my legs a bit more than before; it was quite a bit harder but I might just move on to straight leg raises next time.