guide on making your own programs using Modules & Workouts
Making your own calisthenics/handstand program, or supplement your existing program?
This guide will teach you how to best go about designing your own calisthenics and/or handstand program using the workouts and modules in the app to perfectly fit your goals, needs and schedule. Examples and guidelines will be provided.
Some of you may also have your own programs specifically designed to reach your own goals and fit to your own preferences and needs.
If this is the case, you may want to use the app for supplementary reasons, or for inspiration. Perhaps your main gig is weight lifting, bodybuilding, or even climbing, and you have a program set up to reach your goals within these disciplines, but want to add to this some specific work on some specific bodyweight strength skills, or handstands. Following one of the complete programs may be too much work in addition to existing programs.
Choosing to use specific workouts and modules that you can add to your own programs may be the right thing for you. The following sections will give you some tips on how to practically implement the apps workouts, modules and exercises into your own programs.
1. CHOOSING YOUR FAVOURITE WORKOUTS TO MAKE A PROGRAM
THE STAND ALONE WORKOUT TAB & WORKOUT CATEGORIES
Within the stand alone workouts tab in the app you can filter out what kind of workouts you are looking for. You can filter for specific skill goals such as “planche”, or “muscle-up”, or for general categories such as “push”, “pull”, “legs”, “Straight arm” “bent arms”, Full Body” and “acrobatics”.
NOTE: By applying filter “modules” you show all workouts that is meant as modules.
What's the difference between modules & workouts?
The difference between a module and a workout is that a module is not regarded as a complete general workout, but a complete specific workout for a specific skill. It includes specific warm-up only, so if you are only doing a module stand alone (not after, or in another workout), a general warm-up is recommended before starting.
In other words, a workout has a wider purpose and is complete in the sense that it also includes a more gerneral warm-up. Many workouts are however also "specialized", but the category of specialisation is somewhat wider than for modules.
As an example, "Planche 1 module", only contains specific warm-up targeting
muscles relevant for planche training. The module itself, only uses drills
relevant to improve planche strength and to learn the planhce (or tuck planche in the case of planche 1 module).
The "straight arm L2" which
is a workout on the other hand contains a complete wam-up
and exercises and drills for both planche and front lever as well as core strength
The terms "modules" and "workouts" and the difference explained here is not a general thing, but a differentiation I have made in order to provide flexible solutions in terms of programming.
WORKOUT LEVELS & SPECIFICS
From the name of the workout, you can already tell what to expect from the workout. The name should indicate the goal, or category (also as indicated by the filtering).
The name should also indicate the level of the workout. These levels are generalised levels for the main categories “bodyweight strength” and “handstand” and should not be confused with the open ended scale used in the exercise library.
What's my strength level?
Bodyweight Strength Levels
Level 1: Absolute beginner
I can't do a single pull-up and struggling with push-ups (can't do push-ups, or only a few)Level 2: Beginner-Intermediate
I can do a few pull-ups. Push-ups isn't too hardLevel 3: Intermediate
pull-ups and push-ups is unproblematic and I can also do tuck planche and tuck front leverLevel 4: Advanced
I am working on advanced skills such as planche, front lever, muscle-up, handstand push-up, one arm pull-up etc.Level 5: Elite
I can do all, or most of the following exercises: Full planche, Full Front lever, One Arm Pull-up, 90 degree push-ups. Full range handstand push-ups is easy peasy and muscle-ups is childs play.
EXAMPLES
“BW foundations 1 (Full)” means it is level 1 in terms of strength. (Full) means the workout contains all essential exercises for that level. As a side note, all BW foundation workouts are full body workouts.
“Full Body L2 A” means it is level 2 in terms of strength. Letter “A” indicates that there is one, or more other variations of this workout (labeled with “B” etc.)
“Pull L3 B (OAP & FL)” means it is level 3 in terms of strength. The parenthesis will be explained further.
You can also get more info on each workout by clicking on them and reading the introduction on top.
What's my Handstand level?
HANDSTAND LEVELS
Level 1: Absolute beginner
I cannot do, or I am not comfortable in a wall assisted handstand. I am afraid of falling, and/or can't do, or find headstands difficultLevel 2: Beginner-Intermediate
I am comfortable in a wall assisted handstand, but struggling to find balance at all, or consistentlyLevel 3: Intermediate
I can balance a handstand for around 10 seconds and I am ready to increase hold times, work on shapes and formLevel 4/OAHS 1: Advanced
I can hold a handstand with ease, my form is good and I can already do a lot of shapes - I might in fact be ready to start my one arm handstand journeyLevel 5/OAHS 2: Advnced +
My two handed handstand balance is only limited by traps cramping up after 1-2 ++ minutes. I can do all shapes and I am in full control of my two handed handstand.
My OAHS position is in place (good finger assisted OAHS position), but I still cannot balance the OAHSLevel 6 / OAHS 3: Advanced-Elite
I can balance my OAHS consistently for short holds and up to about 10 seconds. I feel comfortable experimenting with different OAHS shapes as well.Level 7 / OAHS 4: Elite
My straddle OAHS is mostly limited by fatigue. I do all the common shapes (tuck, diamond, half straddle), but may still be struggling with the full position.Level 8 / OAHS 8: Elite +
I might as well become a circus performer. I can chill in the OAHS full position. transitions in and out of figas and flags are easy. I can basically do whatever I want in a one arm handstand.
EXAMPLES
“Handstand 1 (full)” means it is level 1 in terms of handstand levels. (Full) means it contains all essential exercises for that level
“Handstand 2 (Short)" means it is level 2 in terms of handstand level. (Short) means its a short variation of the workout with only the most essential exercises adn drills.
“Handstand 3 (Mobility)" means it is level 3 in terms of handstand level. (Mobility) means its a variation of the workout with more emphasis on mobility.
You can also get more info on each workout by clicking on them and reading the introduction on top.
PRO-TIP FOR SELECTING WORKOUTS
Test out different workouts to see which ones you feel most comfortable with, and which fits your goals best.
Make sure your program has a balanced set of workouts in terms of muscle groups trained.
Make sure to go through the progression in each exercise category if the workout to evaluate if the there are progressions suitable for your level
Click on a workout to get more information about it
Click on the heart in the upper right corner when inside a workout to add it to favourites so it is easily accessible
Accessing the workout library (left), finding workout by filtering (middle) and exploring details about workout and saving workout to favourites (right).
MAKE YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Based on your own schedule and time, make a plan for when you will do the different workouts. Try following some of these general rules when putting together your program:
General rules for training volume
- Make sure you plan for enough restitution - Generally speaking you should wait up to 48 hours between working out the same muscle group
- It can be a bit more challening to separate calisthenics exercise in terms of muscle groups, but roughly speaking:
- Push exercises tend to work the same muscle groups
- Pull exercises tend to work the same muscle groups
- Straight arm exercises tend to work the joints to a bigger extent
- This means that in some cases (especially for trained individuals) straight arm push exercises can be worked without 48h rest from bent arm push exercises, but should still have up to 48h hours between 2 straight arm push sessions.
- The more the better - generally speaking the more you train the better your progress (given that enough rest is ensured). The exact amount of rest needed is very individual and also depends on your experience, and is thus best found by experimenting with your own body.
- How much rest you need between handstand workouts depend on the level of fatigued experienced in a handstand workout. For beginners, you should consider resting up 48h between handstand workouts. Experienced, or even intermediate trainees may be able to train handstands every day - listen to your body!
- Evaluate your training volume by performance:
- Did you perform worse this workout compared to the last? Is it a one time thing (we all have off days)? If this trend is a trend, then you are mot likely not getting enough rest.
- Are you unable to progress from week to week?
- May it be from overtraining?
- If not from over training, then try upping your volume, either by increasing amount of weekly workouts, or by increasing amount of sets (which can be done inside the workouts in the app)
EXAMPLES OF MAKING YOUR OWN PROGRAM WITH STAND-ALONE WORKOUTS:
Calisthenics & Handstand Program Example
The main reason for making your own workout would be to perfectly match your goals and prioritisation of goals, your level and your personal schedule.
Suppose that my goals, level and available time is:
- I want to have general approach to bodyweight strength and focus on all the major, main exercises such as pull-up strength (eventually muscle-ups and one arm pull-up), planche, front lever and push-up strength (eventually one arm push-ups and handstand push-up).
- In other words, I should choose workouts with general and wide exercise span such as “full body”, a combination of “push”and “pull”, or "straight arm” and “bent arm” workouts.
- I also want to focus on handstands, but this is second priority.
- In addition to this I have a goal of learning the hollowback handstand handstand and improving my shoulder and back bend mobility.
- My strength level is level 2 and my handstand is level 3.
- so I should choose strength workouts of level 2 and handstand workouts of level 3.
- I only have time and capacity to train 3x a week, and may sometimes be able to squeeze in a short additional workout.
- This already excludes any kind of split scheme since “push/pull” split and “straight/bent arm” split is only necessary if I want to train strength 4-6x a week. In other words, I should be choosing a “full body” workout.
EXAMPLE 1: TRAINING SCHEDULE
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | HS 3 (Full) | ||||||
| Noon | Full Body L2 A + UB mobility 3 |
||||||
| Afternoon | HS 3 (mob.) [If time] |
||||||
| Evening | Full Body L2 B |
2. ADDING MODULES TO WORKOUTS & PROPGRAMS
As already discussed, modules are workouts, that only includes exercise categories relevant to a specific skill, for example one arm pull-up, planche, handstand push-up, human flag, and so on.
Modules only contain specific warm-up that may also include relevant mobility drills for the specific skill the module is meant for.
These modules are meant to serve as additions to either your own workouts, or to the workouts in the app.
GENERAL GUIDELINES TO INCLUDE MODULES TO OTHER WORKOUTS
If the goal exercise of the module is your main priority, or main goal, perform the module first in your workout
If the goal exercise of the module is supplementary work and/or secondary goal in your programming, place the module at the end of your workout.
Modules can be performed stand alone and placed in between your own workouts.
If module is performed as stand alone, add a general warm-up before doing the module.
EXAMPLES OF INCLUDING MODULES
Weight Training Program + Handstand push-up Module
Suppose my main gig is weight training, but I have this dream of doing a handstand push-up.
My programming is charecterized by the following:
- My main goal will be to learn the handstand push-up (HSPU)
- Which means the HSPU module should be placed in the beginning of my workouts
- Also means that HSPU training should be my main vertical push training
- I have my own program and follow a upper/lower body split
- Which means the HSPU module should be placed in the beginnning of the upper body days.
- My upper body days should thus look something like this:
- General warm-up
- HSPU Module
- Then the rest of my upper body work out
Climbing + One Arm Pull-up Module
Suppose my main gig is climbing, but I have this dream of doing a one arm pull-up as well.
My programming is charecterized by the following:
- My main goal is improving my climbing and one arm pull-up (OAP)
- Which means the OAP module should be placed in the end of my climbing workouts
- I have my own climbing program/schedule and climb 4 days a week. 2 days a week I also do campus board training for finger strength
- The OAP is hard on elbows and 2 days a week should be enough, perhaps on the days I am not training on the campus board
- My climbing schedule should thus look something like:
- Monday & Friday - climbing + OAP
- Wednesday + Sunday - climbing + campus board
- The climbing + OAP sessions, should again look something like:
- Warm-up
- Climbing
- Do the OAP Module at the end
- Potentially other accessory work
Handstand program + planche & front lever
Suppose I am doing one of the handstand program, but I also want to learn the planche and the front lever.
My programming is charecterized by the following:
- My main goal is improving my handstands
- Which means if the planche and front lever modules are to be performed in the same workout as my handstand training, then they should be last
- The handstand program calls for 4 days a week and I don't have time to include more workout days than this
- 2 days a week with planche work and 2 days a week with front lever work should be enough to see good progress and provide enough restitution
- My program should thus look something like:
- Handstand workout as specified by the program I am following
- Planche Module and Front Lever Module every other workout, after completing the handstand workout
- If the handstand program is 3 days a week (f.eks Mon, Wed, Fri) and you don't want to include more training days, an idea would be:
- Mon: Handstand workout followed by planche module + front lever module
- Wed: Handstand workout followed by planche module
- Fri: Handstand workout followed by front lever module
3. MAKING YOUR OWN WORKOUTS WITH MODULES
If you have very specific goals and want to only focus on these, you can make your own workouts by combining modules.
This is pretty straight forwards, and modules are easily found by filtering for modules in the app as discussed previously.
Pro-tip: When you found the modules you want to use, remember to click the heart in the upper right corner to save them to your home screen so they are more easily accessible.
EXAMPLE OF YOUR OWN PROGRAM USING MODULES
Suppose I want to focus on planche, front lever (FL), one arm pull-up (OAP) and handstand push-up (HSPU).
Option 1: If I intend to work out 3, or less times a week, I should combine all 4 modules in 1 workout
(General warm-up + Planche Module + FL Module + HSPU Module + OAP Module) x 2-3 times/week
Note that pull type modules (OAP and FL) and push type module (Planche and HSPU) are placed as every other, so you can get more rest between the modules hitting the same muscle groups.
Note also that the ordering of the modules should depend on the priority of your goals. The main priority goes first. If priority is equal you can switch up which module you start with.
Option 2: If I intend on having 4+ workouts a week, I should split up, either in a push/pull scheme, or a straight/bent arm scheme
Option 2.1:
Workout 1: (General warm-up + Planche Module + HSPU Module) x 2-3 times/week
Workout 2: (General warm-up + FL Module + OAP Module) x 2-3 times/week
Note that the ordering of the modules should depend on the priority of your goals. The main priority goes first. If priority is equal you can switch up which module you start with.
Option 2.2:
Workout 1: (General warm-up + Planche Module + FL Module) x 2-3 times/week
Workout 2: (General warm-up + HSPU Module + OAP Module) x 2-3 times/week
Note that the ordering of the modules should depend on the priority of your goals. The main priority goes first. If priority is equal you can switch up which module you start with.
MAKING WORKOUTS WITH THE EXERCISE LIBRARY
(COMING SOON)