Calisthenics Everyday?

[1armedscissor]

I've been wanting to add more calisthenics to my workouts. I would like to add them as much as possible mixed in with my weight lifting but curious as to how often should I do calisthenics while making progress. I keep finding conflicting results some say its ok to do them everyday, some say every other day and others every 2 days. Would it be better to just do push-ups and dips on chest day and pull-ups on back day? Or can I do push-ups, pull-ups and dips every time I do calisthenics?

 

[Headholio]

If you goal is general fitness you can do them every day, but if you are doing push ups every day don't expect to have a good bench workout.
So it depends on your goals.

 

[1armedscissor]

Would doing push-ups everyday hinder your bench gains?

 

[Headholio]

Would doing push-ups everyday hinder your bench gains?

Yes. Your muscles need to be stressed at higher intensity (closer to max weight) than push ups can provide, for best strength gains. They also need a recovery period after the stress period, in order to heal, grow and make those strength gains.

 

[SouthernLord]

Do this.

T NATION | PLP: The 60-Day Challenge

I lost interest after a while, but I worked up to a set of 30 something pull-ups before quitting.
There is a pretty good structure to this and it beats randomly doing things. I was doing this right out of bed before breakfast. It didn't impact my training too much. I did cut back on my back volume. I had no issues with any chest work with the am push ups. I favor reverse lunges over regular lunges because they're easier on the knees IMO.

 

[1armedscissor]

Yes. Your muscles need to be stressed at higher intensity (closer to max weight) than push ups can provide, for best strength gains. They also need a recovery period after the stress period, in order to heal, grow and make those strength gains.

That's what I thought, our muscles need time to recover in order to heal and grow like you said. I could always experiment and see how my body reacts. I want to be fit but I also want to make gains on my lifts. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too.

 

[Headholio]

That's what I thought, our muscles need time to recover in order to heal and grow like you said. I could always experiment and see how my body reacts. I want to be fit but I also want to make gains on my lifts. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too.

There are ways of combining weight training with your calisthenics. You could have a routine where your calesthenics focuses on legs and cardio before upper body days at the gym, and focuses on upper body before your leg days at the gym. That way you will be a little more fresh for your weight work outs.

But if your goal is to have a big bench and improve as fast as possible, then your routine would do everything to make the most of your heavy days at the gym.

 

[1armedscissor]

Do this.

T NATION | PLP: The 60-Day Challenge

I lost interest after a while, but I worked up to a set of 30 something pull-ups before quitting.
There is a pretty good structure to this and it beats randomly doing things. I was doing this right out of bed before breakfast. It didn't impact my training too much. I did cut back on my back volume. I had no issues with any chest work with the am push ups. I favor reverse lunges over regular lunges because they're easier on the knees IMO.

Thanks SouthernLord I'll have to try this out.

 

[1armedscissor]

There are ways of combining weight training with your calisthenics. You could have a routine where your calesthenics focuses on legs and cardio before upper body days at the gym, and focuses on upper body before your leg days at the gym. That way you will be a little more fresh for your weight work outs.

But if your goal is to have a big bench and improve as fast as possible, then your routine would do everything to make the most of your heavy days at the gym.

I like that idea alternating the upper and lower body calisthenics with weights. I don't really want to go big on bench I have a big chest as it is. I guess I want to lean out some but keep my gains. Thanks for the advice I guess now its time to experiment and see what works best for me.