How Long Does It Take To Master Calisthenics

Calisthenics isn’t something you master overnight. Like everything valuable, blood, sweat, and tears are put into it, but more importantly, it takes time to achieve proficiency. How long exactly though?

When it comes to calisthenics, it will take you at least 3 years of consistent and effective training to become a ‘master.’ This is assuming you’re in average body health, and have at least a beginner’s knowledge in the fitness industry – if not, it may take even longer.

Truth be told, you shouldn’t be fixed on the 3 years it takes. There are so many variables that can alter the time scale that it’s irrational to make a decision based on the time frame. Instead, learn to love the journey.

Is Calisthenics Hard To Learn

Calisthenics is such a broad spectrum of exercise – it varies from a simple dead hang to a Nakayama planche. It’s difficulty to learn actually depends on your fitness goals, rather than the activity.

The basics are simple to learn; it relies on strength rather than skill. However, the deeper you dive into calisthenics, the more complex the statics and techniques become. So, it’s easy for beginners to start with; but can get progressively more difficult if you want to challenge yourself.

Why does it get progressively harder?
The movements at the higher end of the spectrum need an abundance of balance, flexibility, relative strength, and proprioception. Most of which you learn through practice and skill over time.

It’s like a paradox. The better you become, the more demanding exercises you want to try, so the harder it becomes. For example, both are considered calisthenics; but, it’s easy learning a chin-up, not so much skinning the cat.

Another point worth mentioning is some individuals find it more difficult than others. Some factors to consider are:

• Body Type
  Mesomorphs find it far easier learning calisthenics than ectomorphs or endomorphs – they have an athletic build that suits the needs and demands of bodyweight exercise.
  
  
• Skill Level
  A weight lifter starting calisthenics finds it far easier to learn than a complete beginner. This is because they have the basic fitness foundations that are universal across all training methods. Therefore, they’ll be familiar with certain movements and have adequate strength to get stuck in.
  
  
• Access To Equipment
  Having access to, for example, resistance bands makes it far easier to learn. This is because you can perform assisted pull-ups or dips if you don’t have the relative strength to do a full one solo – as a result, you get familiar with the technique and body movement.

How Long Does It Take to See Improvements From Calisthenics

The word ‘improvement’ is different for everyone. Some people may consider it as achieving a physique similar to yours. It’s all relative.

Assuming an average individual, it takes around 8 weeks to start seeing improvements from calisthenics. Your body becomes more toned, and you’ll have a far better understanding of calisthenics movements and techniques. With consistent dieting and training, this is where you can make a change.

TIP:
Ultimately, it depends on your baseline. Improvements range anywhere from shedding a few pounds off your belly to having ripped abs. Both have different time scales, but both are ‘improvements.’ While we say 8 weeks to see improvements, it can take 4-6 months before you have a noticeable change.

Now, not everyone is average. So, the time fluctuates from person to person. To understand your personal time scale a little better, consider the following:

1. The faster the intensity and more workout sessions you do, the quicker you see improvements. 4-5 days of thorough calisthenics training is optimal. It’s enough to build muscle and burn fat but also gives you enough rest days to recover and adapt.
   
   
2. A beginner training to be intermediate will improve much faster than an intermediate training to be a professional. The closer you are to your body’s maximum capabilities, the more strenuous it is to improve.
   
   
3. Your genetics can fasten/slow improvements. For example, the speed of your metabolism, height, and sex can all affect your rate of improvement. Unfortunately, the science is still unsure about the optimal genetics for calisthenics improvements.
   
   
4. Beginners with friends or family members who know calisthenics learn faster than beginners learning from online resources. This is because they get up to speed with industry knowledge, such as unwritten rules, exercise hacks, or proper techniques.

How Long Does It Take To Perfect Calisthenics Movements

We have created 3 tables. One for beginner moves, another for intermediate, and the last for experts. Each table explains how long it will take to learn and perfect specific calisthenics movements.

The variation in time is primarily down to people starting calisthenics at different fitness and experience levels. There isn’t much skill needed to execute these movements perfectly, more a set amount of strength.

At the intermediate stage, an element of balance and flexibility is introduced to each exercise. While you may have sufficient strength, it will still take time to practice the techniques.

Professional calisthenics experts need months to condition their core, tighten their grip, and build relative strength before attempting some of these moves. The time frame is based on training habitually and keeping a balanced diet.

How To Speed-Up Calisthenics Gains

You can’t rush greatness. If you want to be a professional calisthenics athlete, it takes time and effort. In saying this, there are numerous things we wished we had learned before starting that would’ve sped up the process:

• Sticking with the basics.
  
  
• Focusing on core and grip-strength training.
  
  
• Perfecting techniques.
  
  
• Incorporating other training methods.
  
  
• Keeping muscles tense through the negatives
  
  
• Remembering rest days.

Sticking with the basics:
It may sound counter-productive, but rushing into complex movements wastes a lot of time as you don’t have the expertise or strength to apply to the movements. When you stick with the basics, your progression improves exponentially, and you fly through harder techniques.

Focusing on core and grip-strength training
Half your time is spent either gripping a bar or raising your legs. So, it’s imperative to keep these muscles conditioned and strong. Before jumping to complicated moves, you must be able to hold yourself up with one arm comfortably and do 100 sit-ups.

Perfecting techniques before trying something more difficult.
Calisthenics shares lots of movements. For example, a frog handstand is just a frog stand coupled with a handstand. To get there faster, ensure you perfect each separately before going straight into the deep end.

Incorporating other training methods.
Even the best athletes do some weight training, HITT, or circuit training to complement their calisthenics ability. A good place to start is a lat pull for upper back gains or sprints to help explosiveness.

Keeping muscles tense through the negatives
By controlling the negative, you almost double the time under tension – essentially counting each workout as two compared to someone who doesn’t do this, excelling you quicker.

Remembering rest days
Another piece of advice that sounds counter-productive is to take regular breaks. You should only be training for 4-5 weeks to allow your body to recover from the muscle tear and exhaustion.

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