My Exercise Routine

My routine has gone through many changes over time, starting out very simple and adding more fine-tuning according to my needs. For instance, I didn't used to do accessory exercises like chest flies and Y-pulls, but I found that adding them in has vastly improved my gains, both in climbing and in terms of my overall fitness. These days I mostly do two pull days, one push day, and climbing 2-3 days a week.

My first pull day: archer pullups, ring arc rows, and an obscure exercise called "Kip Extensions"

My second pull day: one arm jackknife pullups, one arm ring rows, and one arm pullup negatives

My push day alternates weekly between sliding one arm pushups, ring chest flyes, RTO dips for the first group, and reverse grip archer pushups, pike pushups, and archer dips for the second group.

I also do various leg raise flavors once to twice a week.

I don't make a direct effort to train legs; occasionally I check to see that I can still do pistol squats, but otherwise my leg training, for my needs, is covered by climbing (lol) and jumping rope (or whatever other cardio I happen to be doing).

Every exercise that makes sense is done with rings. Best $50 I ever spent, to be honest. If you don't like the gym and want a simple way to get fit, buy a pair of rings, find a tree and get to it.

How to get started

Honestly, not exercizing because you don't like gyms, or you don't have the money to get equipment is a massive excuse. You can also make a lot of headway using just your body and a floor. Find something you like to do and incrementally increase the difficulty. If it starts to get easy, you aren't going to keep improving.

The most important thing is to find something you'll actually keep doing. You could be doing the most science-backed™, most effective exercise routine but if you stop doing it then it's just wasted effort. If you like and prefer lifting heavy stuff but can't afford weights (thanks inflation), there are ways to make your own. If you like doing pushups, etc., then you're in luck because that's free.

If you're new to calisthenics or are interested in calisthenics I highly recommend following Hampton Liu's program.