Calisthenics & Bodyweight Training

That question used to annoy me. Not because it’s “wrong,” but because it sounds like it should have a simple answer. Strength equals muscle. Muscle equals size. End of story. Except… the mirror doesn’t always agree. So this is the long version. No guru vibes. No “just trust the process.” Only what I noticed, what […]

One of the weirdest things about calisthenics is that progress can stop without ever feeling like it stopped. You’re still training regularly. You’re still sweating. You’re still doing movements that look solid. From the outside, everything seems fine. But weeks pass, then months, and the progression you care about is exactly where it was before.

Bodyweight training is the “free lunch” of fitness. No commute. No fancy machines. No mystery attachments that look like medieval torture devices. Just you, gravity, and a floor that judges you silently. And for a long time, that’s enough. You can build real muscle. You can get strong. You can develop joints, tendons, and coordination

When bodyweight exercises stop feeling challenging too early, the shift is easy to notice. Bodyweight training is expected to feel demanding at the start, so that change stands out. At first, the movements feel effective. Push-ups load the chest and arms. Pull-ups require full upper-body effort. Squats engage the legs in a clear, direct way.

If you’ve ever tried to “fix your core” and ended up stuck between an ab-wheel rollout and a hollow body hold, you’re not alone. Both exercises get hyped as “the ultimate core move”, both hurt your soul in a slightly different way, and both make you question your life choices around rep 3. But if

Why does everyone argue about planks vs crunches? It happens in every gym. On one side you have the “crunch for the pump” team. On the other, the “plank is life, core brother” team. But behind this mini fitness war, there’s a very practical question: Which exercise actually builds abs that matter? Which one helps

Let’s be honest. “Dead bug” sounds like an exercise someone invented five minutes before a PE class started. Then you actually try it, and suddenly your abs are trembling, your lower back feels personally offended, and you’re thinking: “Why is this tiny, goofy move harder than half the stuff I do at the gym?” Let’s

At some point in your training journey, it happens to everyone. You go through your usual set of crunches, wait for that familiar burn, and… nothing. No real challenge. No meaningful stimulation. No sense of progress. It feels less like a core exercise and more like a routine your body has completely figured out. That’s

I’m just going to say it upfront because sugarcoating isn’t the vibe today. A lot of people are absolutely convinced that sit-ups are useless, outdated, and maybe even dangerous. And a lot of people are equally convinced that leg raises are the new religion of core training. Meanwhile, most of us are just trying to

I had this moment once, standing in a park, staring at a friend doing bodyweight glute bridges like he was lounging on a beach towel. And his glutes were growing. Actually growing. From that. Meanwhile I was doing every hip thrust variation known to humankind, sweating like a rotisserie chicken, and my glutes were… politely