6 months in calisthenics and still almost no progress

Question

26yo. 183cm 73kg. Male. Calisthenics. Routine: bwf RR Started in October. Couldn't do anything then. I progressed in strength, sure. But compared to others, progress is too slow. 6 months should be plenty to make 3x12 in all basic calisthenics exercises. Like chins, push, dips, inverted rows. But im far away from it. 2 chins I can do currently. Once my max pushup was 3x10. Then suddenly it dropped to 3x5. Wtf. Probably bcs. I removed creatin intake? I gained weight in first 3 months. Was just fat. No muscles. I'd even say that I lost a lot muscle since I train. Like some people do bcs of heavy inflammation. For real. Sleep, diet is excellent. If I don't gain enough strength per month I don't have to think about gaining weight. Short: i gained strength, 100 times slower than others though. I didn't gain good amount of muscle mass. 20 lbs in first year... I wish.... I could have that.

EDIT: Routine from bwf rr: 3 sets, 5-12 reps Negative pull ups, beginner shrimp squat, dips, inverted rows, incline pushups

Last workout recorded: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KtY9tVvih6MzDi8i7

Diet: https://i.imgur.com/QbUy2Kg.png It's vegan I know. But according to current science, this won't disturb strength and size gains.

I also think that I lost muscle mass since I started to train.

EDIT: Here last workout.

warmup: 5-10 stick dislocates, 5-10 squat sky reaches, 10+ wrist prep, 30s deadbugs, 10 arch hangs, 10 squats

1. negative chin ups, 1 full, 10sec 5x4x3

2. beginner shrimp squat(means knee isn't going to ground but lands higher on something) 10x12x8

3. dips negative, 6sec 4x6x5

4. inverted rows, 6x9x6x4

5. incline pushup, 7x5x6x5

I try to add reps linearly, but it's not possible. I am progressing like a bodybuilder who trains since 3 years. Very slow. Help me please. I've read aand watched almost everything on the internet. Nothing, it doesn't help me.

Answer 1

I think your main problem is that you don't really focus on anything with your current program. You do many different things at once and as a beginner that is fine but if you want to take it more serious you'll need to start focussing on different body parts or exercises you want to master.

The most important thing to know about calisthenics is that it takes years to learn the different movements. This is because even the easiest calisthenics movements require more technique than most people think. Because of this you need to focus on a few movements at a given time, don't try to learn everything on the same day. Focus on your back one day and on your shoulders the next. I'll use the chin-up as an example as this seem to be an issue for you.

To do a successful chin-up, you need to have a retracted scapula. So before you even try to pull yourself up to the bar, you want to learn how to retract your scapula and strengthen this before going into actual chin-ups. You can do this by doing scapular pull-ups. Once you've gained enough power and control over these muscles you can move into the next part which could be underhand inverted rows or negative chin-ups.

While doing these underhand inverted rows or negative chin-ups the focus should be to keep the scapula fully retracted throughout the movement, don't focus yet on doing as many reps as you can. Once you start feeling confident taht you can do multiple reps, you can try to move towards actual chin-ups. Do a few, and once your power starts to fade, don't do slopping chin-ups, go back to underhand inverted rows and finish the workout there with proper form.

If you do a full body workout everytime, you won't be able to focus on all these different stages of the movement.

Being vegan isn't a problem. I'm vegan myself (a few years now) and I'm very muscular and can do many advanced calisthenics movements (check my bio if interested). If you have any questions feel free to ask them.

Answer 2

Three suggestions:

1. Gain about 20 pounds. At your height and weight, it would be very hard to gain strength. Even a climber like Magnus Midtbo (who really needs to avoid any unnecessary weight) has a larger weight-to-height value than you at 5'9" and 152 pounds. This would be like 6'0" (your height) and 180 pounds. You could gain 20 pounds in just a few months by eating more carbs and fats. Then once you reach about 180 pounds, reduce carbs down to the level where your weight stays constant. Some of the weight you gain will be fat. Don't worry too much about that. As you get stronger, your body composition will get better.

2. Use 5g of creatine a day. This should be especially beneficial for gaining strength since you use a strictly plant-based diet (meaning there is no creatine in your food). This is something that made it much easier for me to gain strength (I use a mostly plant-based diet, so I get very little creatine from my food).

3. Join a gym. Since you can only do 2 pullups, it would be easier to make progress using something like a lat pulldown machine or assisted pullup/dip machine. Also, the resistance for belt squat or back squat and deadlift is much more easily adjusted than the resistance for shrimp squat.

Answer 3

I took a look at the diet and it is good. Don't stop it. 144 g of protein with a ~500 calorie surplus. Keep this up for the muscle gain. Each day, every day. Consistency is key. Muscles need calories to build. If you're challenging them, it won't be fat gain.

I think your workout numbers are lacking in volume.

negative chin ups, 1 full, 10sec 5x4x3
beginner shrimp squat(means knee isn't going to ground but lands higher on something) 10x12x8
dips negative, 6sec 4x6x5
inverted rows, 6x9x6x4
incline pushup, 7x5x6x5

I'd like this to look more like so:

negative chin-ups  3 sets,  8 reps (24 total)
normal squats      5 sets, 20 reps (100 total)
negative dips      3 sets,  8 reps (24 total)
inverted rows      5 sets, 15 reps (75 total)
normal pushup      5 sets, 15 reps (75 total)

You've got a lot of times in there and personally, they're too long. For the negatives and dips, I'd look at doing 3 seconds on the eccentric portion, and then explosive on the concentric. For the squats, rows, pushups, 1 second down, 1 second up.

If you want to try to add in a progressive overload, aside from more reps/sets, try to see if you can get a hold of a weighted vest.

Try it out and see if you can complete this. If yes, and you've still got energy left, let's look at how we can make it harder. If not, and it was exhausting, or you failed, let's see how we can adjust it so it is challenging enough. As was said to you, in order to gain strength and promote muscle growth, you need to challenge your body. It isn't supposed to be easy.

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Aside: for the purpose of this site, it is much easier for you to update the main question than to keep making new questions. If you haven't received a good enough answer, edit you question with pertinent details and/or explain why it isn't good enough. I see you've received a lot of advice so far in the last 5 months. What have you done with it?