Guides
Calisthenics
Bodyweight strength and skill work.
Calisthenics builds strength and control using your own bodyweight as the load. It spans everyday basics (push-ups, pull-ups, dips, squats) through to advanced skills like the muscle-up, front lever, and planche.
What matters most
- Progressions, not plates: you make movements harder by changing leverage and position rather than adding weight, working up a ladder of harder variants.
- Relative strength: performance depends on strength per kilogram of bodyweight, so body composition matters more than in loaded sports.
- Skill and control: many goals are as much about coordination, tension, and balance as raw strength.
- Connective tissue readiness: advanced holds load tendons and joints hard; progress them patiently.
This is a starting stub. See Soft Tissue for why skill holds need a gradual ramp.