
Feeling beat up from heavy lifting routines yet still looking for a new way to build muscle and strength? Then enter the world of high rep calisthenics my friend.
It’ll challenge everything you thought you knew about resistance training. Because, yes, you can build mass, enhance endurance, and increase strength, all without needing heavy weights.
In this article, I’ll share the science and benefits behind high rep calisthenics, and how this versatile training method will revolutionize your fitness journey.
You can watch the video below or continue reading this by scrolling past the video.
My Video On High Rep Calisthenics
Get ready to discover how high rep calisthenics will take your body to the next level regardless if you’re a beginner or veteran gym rat.
I’m not hating on low reps…
When you start bodybuilding training, calisthenics, or any sort of resistance training modality, everything is hard. This is good because low reps in the one to six rep range are the sweet spot for building strength. But when you become stronger by doing these low reps, you then move into the next rep range, which is 6 to 12 or even 15, and then you start to put on muscle.
This can also be done by using more sets for volume while still using the same low reps. But today we are talking about high rep calisthenics so I’ll focus on that.
Yes, you can gain mass beyond 12 reps
If you go beyond those hallowed 6-15 reps—are you doomed? Absolutely not. There are studies to prove it. Actually, even all the way up to 30 repetitions, there’s no diminishing in the amount of size you put on versus the lower reps… as long as you’re within one to three reps of reaching potential muscular failure.
The only time that you start to see fewer results than with the heavyweights is when you go 40, 50, and beyond. But there are still other things that you can get from that kind of training because these higher reps are great for conditioning and not losing any muscle size.
And the really high reps are great for blood flow and healing to aging tendons and ligaments.
I mean, you might even gain some, but you absolutely won’t lose it.
That’s why high-rep calisthenics are great for everything. You could do something heavy like pistol squats for low reps to get strength and then do high-rep bodyweight squats for up to 25 or 30 reps. This mix gives you both size and strength. Then you could go do some burpees and get even more conditioning out of that, all in one package.
The downside of high rep calisthenics
So, there has to be a downside. What’s the downside? Well, the downside is time and recovery because it obviously takes longer to do 30 reps than it does to do six reps.
Your workouts may take longer, but on the plus side, sometimes heavy stuff hurts. If you feel like your knees are going to blow up when you do a pistol squat, you can do higher reps with the bodyweight squat and not worry about not being able to gain muscle.
Once your aches and pains go away from doing the higher reps, if you want to save time, you can always go back and do the heavy stuff. Sometimes with the heavier stuff, you’ll move your body around in weird ways just to accomplish the rep, or you’ll push too hard with the wrong pattern, like we’ve all seen in some CrossFit fail videos.
The convenience for consistency is key.
One of the biggest things I find about this high-rep stuff is that it’s with you wherever you are, anytime, anywhere. The whole thing with bodyweight movements is that your body learns to move efficiently.
If moving well is important to you, it’s great that you can practice a higher volume of moving well. Let’s say you’re a tradesman, a paramedic, a firefighter, or in the military, and you’re bending, crouching, and moving your body around. Doesn’t it make sense to practice this over and over again so that moving your own body becomes effortless?
My results with high rep calisthenics
I will go into this further at some point because it deserves it’s own article. But doing high rep calisthenics took me from a full distal biceps tear to doing chinups with 90lbs around my waist.
High rep calisthenics also got me from limping with a cramped up lower body to being able to do a pistol squat.
I started with super high reps and easy variations. Like 3×50 door frame pulls for my back and bicep. Then over time I would change to a harder exercise and drop the reps.
Rinse and repeat.
Once by body worked right, I’d do a heavy day of lower rep calisthenics (4×5-12) followed by a very high rep “flushing day” for recovery and further training effect (3×50).
Some weeks, just high reps every day.
The Wrap Up
The real bottom line I want to share with you is that no matter how you decide to train, don’t let not having heavy enough objects stop you. In all the studies I’ve looked at, and there are several, using weights that cause failure within one to three reps, at the 8 to 12 rep range, it’s the same muscle growth as in the 30 to 40 rep range. That’s a lot of wiggle room.
So, if we know that we can do 6, 10, 15, all the way up to 30 or 40 reps without any potential loss in our return on investment, that’s pretty amazing. If those are the rep ranges that we can play in, what kind of sets should we be using to achieve our goals? I like to do 3 sets and I do them daily if I am not sore.
Having said that, I have found that having a day in between has alternate benefits. It all depends on what goals you are after.
Questions, comments, or hate 😡?
Let me know if you have any questions, hate for this article, or experiences with high rep calisthenics in the comments section.
You also have the ‘ Just The Facts’ fitness newsletter available- With less than 2 hours of bodyweight exercises and 10 minutes of stretching per week, you can restore a junkyard body into a flame-throwing muscle car.
Ready to be the guy that can do a one-arm chin-up AND the splits? Then you’ll dig my ‘Just The Facts’ fitness newsletter right here 🔥: https://raymondburton.com/Kickass