If you are aiming for an overall strong, healthy and fit body that would last for years, naturally you would want to achieve it in the fastest and safest manner.
Training hard is not enough.
đ YOU NEED TO TRAIN SMART.
And the smartest way to train with calisthenics is by investing in your calisthenics program that can actually deliver you results.
A structured program provides you direction and consistency in your training that translates to you reaching your goals in the fastest, safest, and most effective way. Thereâs no other way around it.
With tons of online and offline programs on the internet, you can get lost and confused about what to choose. Certainly, the most popular isnât always the most effective. Especially nowadays, the internet is filled with bogus, deceptive programs that promise you the best but give you not even the bare minimum.
In this read, we have gathered a list of only the TOP-NOTCH calisthenics programs available for you to invest in so you can reach your goals and enjoy the benefits of having a strong, healthy body that lasts for a lifetime.
âWhat to look for in a program
đ¤Before we start answering our main question, we, first, need to talk about how you can tell what a great program looks like.
Not all calisthenics are the same. Each has its own philosophy, approach, style, and strategy in assisting you in your fitness journey. With the differences, there will be certain criteria that would matter the most in facilitating your progress in an efficient and enjoyable manner.
Here are the criteria on how you can judge a program:
â Program structure
The primary factor that dictates your progress based on your training routine would be the quality of the program structure. In this criterion, weâre looking at if the program is personalized, which is ideal, or a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all type.
A cookie-cutter programâs only advantage is its affordability and accessibility, but the price advantage could ultimately hamper your progress.
When dealing with this type of programs, youâll also be dealing with these issues in the long run:
- â Promoting compensation, movement dysfunction, and possible risk of injury if too challenging
- â NOT promoting adaptation/development if not challenging enough
What you should be looking for is a personalized program that can address your goals, needs, lifestyle, and current skill level. This way, your program is designed specifically for your progress and you will not be dealing with the dangers mentioned above.
If not, an adjustable, scalable program offers benefits similar to a personalized one, BUT could affect your convenience of training as you need to adjust your program yourself.
Another contributing factor in the program structure is its overall quality. What you are looking for is the progressive calisthenics approach and how it is utilized for the program.
â¨Progressive calisthenics is simply an approach to calisthenics that maximizes your training through the use of progressions. These progressions are exercise variations that help you adjust the level of difficulty of an exercise to suit your skill level.
Progressive calisthenics eliminates the unfortunate major misconception that to grow strong with bodyweight, we only need to add more reps and sets. The misconception on only volume to progress is very much flawed as not everyone can do the same exercise. Beginners will have a hard time and could get injured. Advanced will no longer grow stronger, and will only build muscle endurance.
Grow stronger, bigger, more mobile, and healthier in a safer manner thanks to progressions. đđđ
â Overall goals
Relating to program structure is the goal of the program. It provides the overall direction to where you are headed in your journey. It should be aligned to what you like.
Regarding goals, it doesnât mean that having more goals automatically means that itâs a better program.
What should be considered is how the program structure is designed based on the goals and how realistic it is considering a given time frame.
â Length of program
Speaking of time frame, letâs talk about the length of a program.
You must have already seen those types of programs that claim â2-week 6 pack absâ or â6-week plancheâ programs. Sounds too good to be true! đ˛
When looking for a program, check the length of the program claims. It should be realistic and honest.
Make sure that the â6-week plancheâ program is repeatable until you learn the planche or you get more value from the content of the program other than the X-week program.
If the program claims youâll get abs in a matter of 2 weeks, đ simply scroll away and look for something that provides value over the duration of the program.
â Platform
It doesnât matter much if the platform of the program is on an app or a website. It can even be a physical copy delivered to your doorstep!
Whatâs essential in the platform is its accessibility, convenience, and understandability.
The design shouldnât be convoluted that youâll get stressed even before starting your workout.
Look for something thatâs easy to follow and something that can help you track your progress. If you find an app convenient, go for it! If you like jotting down your progress, get a printable program.
So letâs answer the question:
What is the best calisthenics program? đ
General Overview
Duration: 8 Weeks +
Difficulty Level: Beginner â Intermediate â Advanced
Training Plan: Programs divided in 3 levels are further categorized into different goal settings covering weight loss, muscle building, skill building and much more.
ThenX Website
ThenX is a giant in the youtube fitness industry with a linked mobile app to boot.
With Chris Heria, founder and CEO of the company, leading the youtube channel, he established a credible source of calisthenics and fitness knowledge through his vast experience as a professional personal trainer and street workout champion.
With that, he and the ThenX team deliver their personal coaching expertise into the ThenX app.
Upon downloading the app, youâll immediately see the simple and clean design of the interface. Very easy to use and navigate.
There are 3 main categories of programs: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.
Under each of these, youâll find tons of workouts ranging from fat loss, muscle building, weighted calisthenics, etc.
Pros:
1. Massive amount of free content
ThenX has been kind enough to provide tons of free content on Youtube, they also provide free access in their mobile app. Of course you wonât get access to the complete content without paying (a very affordable fee), but you will still be able to train and stay motivated with the free content.
2. Tons of exercise and program varieties
There are 1000+ workouts to choose from. This could be overwhelming but you can use this to your advantage to stay motivated in your training which is very much important even if youâre not maximizing your gains.
Plus thereâs a workout of the day you can do if youâre not interested in following a structure.
3. Comprehensive skills tutorial
If you want to learn the strength and skill techniques, you need to pay up. But donât worry. Itâs affordable and definitely helps if youâre geared towards learning a specific calisthenics skill.
Cons:
1. Beginner program too difficult
Weâve seen it and there were reports that the beginner program is too difficult for some.
Yes, pull-up is considered a basic beginner move, but a vast majority of beginner athletes cannot do a single pull-up. Thatâs why beginners need to start with the most basic pull-up progression that the app isnât able to provide.
The rep and set range for the beginners might also be too much for some.
2. Warm-ups not cohesive with workout
Doing jumping jacks isnât the best warm-up exercise out there if youâre planning to train your pull-ups.
What you need are shoulder and back exercises to get the blood flowing to the specific parts of your body that youâre going to work.
Sadly, the ThenX doesnât deliver the proper warm-up, individuals need to start their training.
