1.1 Optimal Rep Range

If you want to become shredded you have to train in an optimal rep range during your workouts. Hypertrophy is key when it comes to building size. You should aim for a rep range around 6 to even 15 reps. Because for muscle growth the time your muscles are under tension is a big factor. Key exercises for hypertrophy are the basic exercises. Think about dips, pull-ups, and push-ups, weighted or not weighted. If you want to do weighted exercises, it’s easy to progressive overload, but we will come back to that subject later.

Cardio is an aspect that a lot of people often neglect. However, it is actually a really important factor for losing weight and getting an athletic physique that you are working towards. When you do cardio, you will also become more functional in your daily life. Cardio increases your blood circulation which is optimal for building muscle. Exercises you could do for example are burpees, jumping squats, and jump rope. Exercises like these require full-body effort which will make you burn more calories and therefore lose weight.

Your diet is probably the most important thing when it comes to getting shredded. If you want to become bigger you should gain weight. If you want to get leaner you should lose more weight. A lot of people think that if they want to lose or gain weight they should eat as little as possible or eat as much as possible. But this is where they are making a mistake. If you eat too little you will lose the muscle mass you gained over time. If you eat too much you will gain more weight than muscle. In general, if you want to lose weight you should take around 200-400 calories less and if you want to gain weight you should take around 200-400 calories more. However, your diet depends on your goals, weight, length, and daily activity. We can help you with your diet and help you to achieve your goals in the most optimal way with our Personal Meal Plan.

2.1 Progressive Overload

You have probably heard about Progressive Overload before. Weight lifters as well as Calisthenics Athletes use this training method. Progressive overload means that you increase the load of every training session. You can do this by doing more reps, more sets, more seconds, or by adding more weight. Adding weights is a great way to progressive overload. For example, if you do 4-6 weighted pull-ups and you can reach 6 reps with the amount of weight you added, you should add more weight. With the extra weight, you will probably be able to do 2-4 reps. Once you have maxed out on reps (6 reps) again you can add more weight to it. The best way to use this training method is to keep track of your workouts. You can do this by using an app or making a logbook. We provide logbooks with all our programs. This way you can see what you did your last workout so you know how much to do the next time.

Frequency is very important when it comes to calisthenics, especially with complex movements. The more you practice certain skills, the faster you will be able to perform them correctly. The recommended amount of training sessions is at least two. Besides that, it’s important to have at least one day rest. This doesn’t mean that you can’t train every day. You can train more often, as long as you train a different muscle group the next day. You can do this by following certain workout routines as mentioned down below. We incorporate them into our different workout programs, for example, the Calisthenics Home Workout Plan. You can also let us create a Custom Workout Program for you, based on your own preferences and goals. Commonly used workout routines are:

• Push-Pull -Legs Routine – Train around 5-6 times per week
• Upper-Lower Routine – Train around 4 times per week
• Full Body Routine – Train around 3 times per week

2.3 Consistency

Consistency is key if you want to become a Calisthenics Athlete because some exercises take months or even years to work towards. So it is very important to stay consistent. Of course, you can take a break every now and then, in fact, you should actually have a break of a week after 2-3 months of training. This is called a deload week. This way your muscle can take some rest for a week, and you will actually be able to progress faster. You can also reduce the weight and reps for a week. If you don’t stay consistent the principle of reversibility comes in which means you will lose your progress as fast as you gained it.

Last but not least, this is probably the most loved thing about Calisthenics and the reason why people want to learn how to become a Calisthenics Athlete: Full Body Control. Using your strength to perform beautiful & fluent exercises. It requires a lot of functional strength. Think of exercises like the frogstand to handstand, press to handstand, full Back/Front Lever, and the planche. Calisthenics is not only for gaining strength, it allows you to move freely and to be functional and flexible. To come back to the question: ”How to become a Calisthenics Athlete?”, you should also work on mobility & flexibility exercises or even practice yoga to complete these goals. Being flexible is very important to become a Calisthenics Athlete. 

We hope the above blog post and video will give you the tools to start becoming a Calisthenics Athlete. In our opinion, the aspects mentioned above are the most important to become The Ultimate Calisthenics Athlete.

Do you want to become a Calisthenics athlete with the help of our most popular Calisthenics Program? We created a program called The Full Journey that will make you go from the basics to the most insane Calisthenics Skills. This Long-Term Calisthenics Plan consists of 4 courses of each 8-16 weeks. You will work systematically with a timeline and instructional video’s towards your goals. It doesn’t matter what level you are: this program is suitable for everyone!

To learn more about Calisthenics, you can also download our FREE beginner workouts, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Instagram for more inspiration! Start your Calisthenics Journey today and join the Family!

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