Day 2 – Bodyweight Row + Change The Angle
Foundational Move - Bodyweight Row
The bodyweight row (also known as the Australian Row), lays the groundwork for nearly every upper-body pull movement — from pull-ups to front levers — by building strength, coordination, and scapular awareness through a horizontal pulling pattern.
This one is a bit more difficult to perform from "anywhere", (as are most pulling movements) because you will need some sort of sturdy suspended structure, like a pull-up bar or rings.
You can use a table or some chairs, but for $30-$40 you can get yourself a set of rings with a door anchor, and suddenly you've unlocked dozens if not hundreds of bodyweight exercises, including the bodyweight row.
Key Insight - Progressive Overload
If you’ve ever tried to get bigger and stronger, you’ve probably come across the term “Progressive Overload”.
A newbie will enter the gym, get under the barbell bench press, and likely be challenged by just the bar alone.
Over the next couple of weeks, this will become easier and easier, until it’s time for our newbie to add some weights onto the bar.
Train consistently for a few more weeks, he’ll add more weight, and repeat.
With pure calisthenics — There is no “adding more weight”
So how is progressive overload achieved?
This is achieved by a few core principles
Changing the angle
Changing our center of gravity
Making ourselves unstable (developing stability under load)
Slowing the tempo
Increasing the reps
Changing the angle…
For example, let’s say our newbie decided to train calisthenics instead of weights, but couldn’t do more than a couple push-ups.
A viable option for him would be to change the angle. The degree of the angle can vary, from doing it just on a wall with a slight lean, or maybe on a chair that’s a few feet off the ground.
Eventually when this higher angle becomes easy for him, he’ll get those regular push-ups.
And when that becomes easy, it’s time to elevate the legs and do decline push-ups.
Up until this point we’ve only changed the angle, but what do we do after this?
Changing the center of gravity…
The Pseudo Planche Lean is a great example of this.
Instead of our hands being directly below our shoulders like in the push-up — we begin to shift our bodyweight forward which begins to introduce load into our shoulders (anterior deltoids), upper chest, scapula, and recruit more engagement from our triceps. Even our biceps will begin to engage here.
The difficulty then scales with how far forward we lean.
Make ourselves unstable…
When push-ups become easy, we can also progress to something like an uneven push-up, where one arm is in its normal position, and the other is extended outwards, on an unstable surface, or elevated higher.
We’re essentially taking load off one side and having the other side compensate.
You get the idea.
These are some core bodyweight training principles that are enough to get you thinking more creatively about the way you approach your sessions.
Longevity Tip - Beginner progressions never leave you
Beginner progressions will eventually become your warm up.
"Warming up" might sound lame and like something you just want to get through quickly, but in calisthenics it's crucial to develop a good habit of preparing the body for movement and performance.
As you advance, you'll find that you can't just go straight into a handstand the minute you start training — you must get the wrists ready, open the shoulders, do some frog stands or down dogs, practice on a wall for a few rounds..
The beginner progressions NEVER leave you.
So that’s it for this one!
Until tomorrow 👋
– Coach Chaz
Founder, THENICS LAB
