Think bodyweight training is too easy or too hard? Think again! Whether you're a newbie or a calisthenics pro, these 8 strategies will transform your workouts and unlock superhuman strength.
8 Ways to Scale Your Calisthenics (Up or Down)
1 | Elevation & Body Angles
Elevate your hands or feet to shift your bodyweight and target different muscle groups. Progress gradually by reducing elevation over time. Want to really challenge yourself? Elevate the opposite side of your body for an even greater challenge!
- Push Ups: Elevate your hands to make it easier on your upper body. Elevate your feet to make it harder
- Bodyweight Rows: Increase your body angle relative to the floor to make it easier. Decrease it (closer to parallel with floor) to make it harder)
2 | Range of Motion
Start with a shorter range of motion to build confidence and joint stability. Gradually increase the range over time to enhance strength and progress to more advanced skills.
- Box Step Ups: Start with a small step/box for stability. Slowly progress to a taller box over time for strength and hypertrophy.
3 | Eccentrics
Focus on the negative (eccentric) part of the movement, where you're naturally stronger. This will help you build the strength needed to eventually perform the full skill.
- Chin Ups: Start with negatives to enhance your awareness of the movement path and strength needed. Eventually progressing to full reps.
4 | Leverage
Extend your lever length to make exercises harder. Hollow body holds, dragon flags, and classics like Front & Back lever – these are just a few ways to turn up the heat on your bodyweight training.
- Hollow Body Holds: Probably the easiest place to practice and get used to the various levers/shapes.
5 | Mechanical Advantage Reps
Combine shorter levers on the way up (concentric) with longer levers on the way down (eccentric). This is a clever way to bridge the gap between different levels of difficulty.
- Dragon Flags: Unlock longer levers and prepare for the classics with this Bruce Lee inspired core strengthener.
6 | Resistance Bands
Bands are your calisthenics BFF! Use them for assistance, added resistance, and everything in between to unlock new skills and supercharge your strength.
- (Power) Pull Ups: Use bands to get your first reps or increase your range and speed to eventually get over the bar!
7 | Weighted Calisthenics
Feeling strong? Add weight to your exercises to make gravity feel like a thing of the past. Once you remove the added weight, you'll feel superhuman!
- Pull Ups: Adding weight to pull ups is one of the best ways to develop the strength for tons of advanced skills like the muscle up and front lever.
8 | Plyometrics
Explosiveness is key for both strength and athleticism. Incorporate plyometric movements to increase force production and unlock impressive skills.
- Sprinter Lunges: A great place for beginners to start unlocking some lower body power and explosiveness.
Bodyweight Training: A Primal Approach
These strategies will help you:
- Get insanely strong using only your bodyweight
- Scale your training to any level
- Train anytime, anywhere
Want help applying all eight of these techniques? This is exactly the kind of structure I build into every 1:1 coaching plan.
Our tribe takes a bodyweight-first approach to training, aligning with the movements our bodies evolved for. Let's master our bodyweight and evolve together!
Thanks for watching & reading! With gratitude,
Jared F.
Movement Coach | Evolve with Jared
Evolve with me on social: