Calisthenics Unity

I've decided to make this thread to post my progress through time and give me a bit of accountability. I'm 18 and started calisthenics roughly 9 months ago. Back then I mainly did core and bicep work, meaning now I have a lack of triceps and pullups are very difficult - so do pullups not just chinups when you start out! These are my current progress pictures: http://imgur.com/a/ublvh .I haven't been working out rigorously up till now, or eating clean. Nothing special in the photos. In fact I have barely worked out over the past month due to a variety of factors. I'm starting Chris' program at Level 2 (did Level 1 on my last full workout about 3 weeks ago). As expected some exercises are easy for me at this level, but others, mainly dips and pullups related are nigh on impossible. I'm also going to skip and I do have some dumbbells just to use to specifically target the bicep. So, I'll probably post like weekly posts here so I can actually have some accountability to eat clean and keep working out, however at the moment I'm still recovering from illness so full workouts aren't really happening.

So pretty much yeah haha... Hopefully you're on a journey as well! And this can give you a realistic insight for a person who is gonna work out, eat relatively clean etc.... So shout out to everyone and cheers Chris for the discipline and program! I say discipline cause I don't really get motivation; it's pure discipline to do something every two days.

Pics taken today.

Aims:
> Lose puppy fat around belly
> Really love to have the muscle up in a month but that's a big dream
> Increase arm size

Hey bro, first of all great that you started your own threand and feel free to ask whenever you have questions :-)

However i am kind of playing the bad guy:
muscle up in one month? Bro, this is impossible. At least for you at your current fitness level. look you said it is somehow hard for you doing negative dips, as a result it is very unrealistic that you achieve the muscle up in one month. however the muscle up is of course a great goal and i think everybody wants to achieve it! with constant hard work you are going to reach this point to :-) But i would recommend you first mastering all the basics, build a good foundation (you will do this anyway by following this programm) and then we can come back to the muscle up.

Why do you add isolated biceps work with your dumbells? If you want to do it, it is fine but i think it is not necesarry. i also thought at the beginning "oh pull ups or push ups or other bodyweight exercises are not enough to build bigger arms" but really bro, you do not have to work out with dumbells. of course it is up to you and when everything is fine i can see nothing bad :-)
however if you really want to increase the arm size do not forget that your triceps is the actual muscle region which makes your arms huge ( at least it has more influence than the biceps)

keep up the good work and get well soon my friend!

Hello RC! Don't worry, slow progress is better than no progress. I wanted to start working out but I got injured and lacked motivation & consistency till about half a year ago, so make sure this is your TRUE start. First off, I want to say it doesn't matter how long it takes, but like Joker said 1 month would be impossible considering you said You lack pull ups & triceps strength, we're not trying to bring you down, and if you do reach it in 1 month, we were wrong and you proved us wrong, and I would like it to be that way. What you see advanced people do, they have been doing this for many years and they also couldn't do anything at the start.
The path to the muscle up would be something like:
Attempt #1 - Fail, Attempt #2 - Fail, Attempt #3 - Fail ...... Attempt #900 - Succeed.
You just focus on the basics and after you master 10-15 strict pull ups start doing explosive pull ups where you get your chest to the bar or even higher till they get sort of easy, regular dips and you can do low/deep straight bar dips, do muscle up negatives and just study the technique which you might get stuck like I have, as I'm pretty sure I have the strength. Anyway, like I said, it doesn't matter how long it takes!!!
Considering your body type, you'll have to eat a lot of calories to gain mass, so get ready to have a good nutrition. Your willpower has to be greater than your excuses to skip the workout though. Get well soon! Salute!

I've had a really good strength increase - before pullups were a struggle completely, but now I can do 4 or 5 with ease then pause and go back for more. I think that the muscle was there, but I just wasn't using it, or it wasn't used to be used. But when I go outside to my full pull up bar, I am only getting about 3 pullups... My indoor bar has a grip diameter of 20mm, outdoor about 39/40mm... Has anyone else noticed bar diameter having an impact on the number of reps they can do?

hey rc,
yeah that is completely normal. i can do at least 3+ more reps on my indoor bar than outside because the of the different bar grip. your need more grip strength outside, this requires more power :-)

Yes the diameter has an impact as well as the type of material (?) used for the bar, I can do a lot more in general at my backyard bar but I can't do as much stuff at the school bar because of the different .. material bar (?)

Looking forward to hear about your progress !

What's peoples thoughts on protein bars? Specifically ones with these nutritional values: http://m.imgur.com/be0wuu2
I can have them for free on my break in work, works out at about 2 bars a week. Worth eating or skip them? Given this would be consumed in the middle of a 10 hour work shift. Also thoughts on beef jerky? Might make my own tomorrow night.

1 week video progress on 5 pullups:

Your form looks good, I can't tell if you have your scapula retracted from this angle, but it looks like it, if not, make sure your scapula is retracted throughout the whole movement for optimal back & lats activation. Other than that your form is great, you're doing full range of motion and you're not just falling down like many people mistake, you're controlling yourself on the way down. Good job bro!

About the protein bar and the beef jerky, I never tried either of them, I suppose beef jerky wouldn't be too bad except for the fat to protein ratio (of course if it fits your macros is fine, but still be careful for the saturated fats). The thing about nutrition, is that you should have everything in moderation, no one in this planet eats clean 100% of the time, even top bodybuilders probably allow themselves some foods that are out of their usual plan. So beef jerky wouldn't hurt, it's not that bad. Protein bars, you want to be careful for 3 things: total calories, unhealthy sugar & fat, and make sure the protein to carbs ratio is good. Which what I see from the picture, is all good. That's my opinion, I might be wrong so wait for another answer just in case. :)

So it's been a very poor week; I've worked 6 out of the 7 days in the past week, and my eating has been fairly terrible. Need to stick to eating clean and dedicate time to working out but it's very hard balancing everything. At least work is down to my standard 2 shifts a week, but my goals are pretty much shot. Still, progress is progress.

Blimey, didn't realise it had been this long - goes to show how missing one or two can quickly multiply! Had a couple of bad weeks but this past week I worked out everyday, and consumer loads of protein (nearly 200g in one day recently) and was shocked when I hopped on a dip bar (random playground equipment) that I could actually rep a few out! Definitely not near the pullup, but I'm pleased with how I'm going. I started Lent so hope to see some slimming on the abs however I am eating a lot more 'hearty' food so I don't know if I will! Will post a short video update next week!