Contents

Calisthenics Training Stimulus

First, you need to train HARD.

Or in fancy words:

When it comes to building muscle, you need mechanical tension/progressive overload to provide the body with adaptation signals (1, 2).

For example, when you lift weights you can start with 40 kilograms:

And when it becomes easy, you add another 10 kilograms:

And you keep adding weights over time:

Until you reach a point where it becomes too heavy to lift.

Every time you add weights and train your body to lift those weights...

...you become stronger. 

It's basically the way to tell your body:

"Hey you lazy bastard, you need to start growing some muscle!"

And you can do the exact same with calisthenics.

For example, by going from an incline push up (most of your weight on your feet:

To a regular push up (more weight towards the arms):

And finally...

...by doing a decline push up (even more weight towards the arms):

By moving your center of mass from your feet more towards your hands...

...you can increase the load on the arms and get stronger over time. 

Just like you would with lifting weights. 

It doesn't matter if you are lifting weights or doing calisthenics...

When it comes to building muscle, mechanical tension is KEY.

And there is enough scientific evidence to back this up.

A quick Google search shows that more people have been asking this question:

So yes...

...you can build muscle with calisthenics. 

You just have to understand how you can use gravity to your advantage.

And do it with the right technique.
When you do...

...the world becomes your gym.

Optimized Calisthenics Nutrition

Protein is ESSENTIAL for building muscle.

And you need a good calisthenics diet to eat slightly more than required.

You'll find ALL and more in the post below:

All EFFECTIVE muscle building diets pay attention to the importance of protein intake on body composition and specifically muscle growth (3).

(Fun fact: there is even a diet where people ONLY eat animal based protein.)

You don't need to go that far.

Sure, you need protein.

But you also want to make sure you eat enough...

...to prevent your body from losing muscle (4).

Effective Recovery For Calisthenics

Muscles grow when you sleep, NOT when you workout.

Didn't expect that, did you?

Sleep is an extremely important muscle building activity (4).

In fact, too little sleep breaks down your muscles (5).

And too much stress does the same to your recovery. 

For example, according to the Journal for Strength and conditioning research, chronic stress can increase double your recovery time from 48 to 96 hours (6).

Working out tells your body to gather the construction workers.

And rest is when those construction workers are actually put to work.

(That’s right: your gains happen when you rest and recover.)

The challenge?

Finding a good balance between hard work and deep rest.

You'll find a simple tip below.

 Calisthenics Infographic