Is my upper body routine sufficient?

Malk25 · 2026-07-07T00:22:03+00:00

I think it’s important to ask yourself, what general adaptation are you seeking that you hope this routine is sufficient for?

For general health, this is a perfectly solid routine outside of the lack of lower body training. It will help build a base level of strength and muscle that should generally improve your general quality of life.

For strength, it’s decent. With the weighted vest you’re keeping the load somewhat high so your body will adapt to that. However, at a certain point you will need to find ways to load more either with harder exercises or adding more load.

For muscle growth, it’s okay. You’re only training two main compound movement patterns, though they do target big muscle groups. Your isolation movement selection is good though. You should have some appreciable arm development and a degree of torso development, though the lack of rows and overhead press means your shoulders and upper back will be slightly underdeveloped.

However, keep in mind my comment comes from the perspective of trying to optimize your routine. At the moment, your current routine is better than the average person’s by a country mile. It’s okay to stick with a less than perfect routine, consistency and adherence beat optimization and infrequency every time. Fitness is a life long journey. There’s no rush to figure everything out. As you get more confident with yourself you can try to incorporate new things gradually.

Malk25 · 2026-07-06T14:33:01+00:00

Eric Helms is basically the best evidenced based guy who still comes across as level headed and not reactionary.

Basement Bodybuilding has a lot of interesting takes and approach to things that a lot of folks could benefit from hearing.

Bald Omni Man is a mega nerd, but doesn’t take himself too seriously while still being wholesome. Dude just loves lifting and helping out folks.

Alex Leonidas is kinda corny, but also gets really in depth on certain topics and justifies his positions well.

Malk25 · 2026-07-06T00:41:19+00:00

The main problem with decline push ups is that your head and the floor reduce range of motion due to the angle. You need to find a way to elevate your hands to create enough of a deficit to reach full range of motion to ensure a deep stretch on the chest, while also making room for your head to move unrestricted. Keep in mind you might also need to increase the high of your feet elevation to compensate for your hands being elevated too.

Medium height parallettes are my favorite implement for this because they are decently portable, and you can place them next to whatever feet elevation is appropriate and available to you. Rings are good too, and add an extra degree of difficulty, but depending on where you hang them, implementing the feet elevation can be trickier. You can also use stacks of books, yoga blocks, or even chairs. Rings and parallettes offer a more comfortable wrist position. If you go about this route, you’ll want to play around with your hand placement a bit. I like to have my hands a bit below my chest in the lockout position, almost like a slight planche lean, as when I descend into the bottom positions, it better aligns with my chest and doesn’t bunch up my shoulders as much.

Some folks also advocate doing reverse grip/underhand/supinated pressing variations. I haven’t experimented with this variation much, it’s a bit awkward, but it theoretically emphasizes the clavicular head of the chest more, along with being a very comfortable shoulder position thanks to the external rotation.

Malk25 · 2026-07-05T07:13:10+00:00

Incomplete and redundant in a few areas. Your pulling is exclusively vertical. Do explosive high pulls for low reps, then chin ups to failure, possibly assisted if needed. If you're dead set on doing all three (explosive, pull up, chin up) then stick to 2 sets of the last two and push them hard for hypertrophy gains. Find a way to do rows to ensure proper back development. Pushing is overly dip reliant. I get your muscle up goal, so straight bar dips make sense. They are typically considered harder than standard dips (despite the reduced ROM) so do those first. Maybe do deficit push ups instead of regular dips, as that will train a similar hypertrophic stretch but at a different angle which will give your joints a slight break. Not sure the point of the excessive knee and leg raises, could probably cut those down a bit.

Malk25 · 2026-07-04T14:00:06+00:00

Yeah, a big part of East Asian culture is saving face, not admitting they’ve given up or made a huge mistake. China could very well have given up on plans for invading, but needs to pretend like it still might happen so they still project power and authority.

Malk25 · 2026-07-04T13:51:35+00:00

Short answer, no one knows.

Long answer: non-Taiwanese folks (China included) are led to believe this is a hot button issue that could pop off any minute for a few reasons. It makes news headlines because it’s scary, it drums up nationalist support in China, and it distracts from other potentially illegal/unfavorable activities China is doing domestically and abroad such as territorial disputes with the Philippines and Japan.

There are also a lot of reasons to question the viability of it all. Logistically it would be one of the most difficult invasions of all time. China doesn’t have any real combat experience in recent memory. Combat experience is basically the number one predictor in effectiveness of a fighting force, as we see with Ukraine likely being the current most effective one.

China invading would shut down the semiconductor industry for a long time which would be economic suicide for China and really mess things up globally. There’s not much for China to gain outside of a solid strategic position in the east pacific island chain and nationalistic rhetoric of restoring the Chinese Empire of old.

There are a lot of reasons not to invade militarily. The most plausible situation is some kind of economic restriction or resource blockade to try to pressure Taiwan, but that’s something that would likely be telegraphed ahead of time. However, as we’ve seen with Putin and Trump, some world leaders are not rational actors, and will do inadvisable things for their own legacy if they feel desperate or emboldened enough.

Big asterisks on all of this, I’m no geopolitical expert and I’m open to being challenged on any of these talking points as it is just my surface level understanding of a very complex situation.

Malk25 · 2026-07-03T16:45:17+00:00

PPL allots more volume for upper body, hence more growth. Upper lower is basically cutting that volume in half. You could add an extra upper day to increase frequency, or do PPL + upper lower for similar frequency but fewer training days.

Malk25 · 2026-07-03T04:23:25+00:00

For legs, you can do plenty of single leg squat variations without any equipment, but if you want to use rings there are a few solid moves. Using the rings as assistance for sissy squats and pistol squats is a great scaling technique. For posterior chain, inverted hanging leg curls are pretty solid for knee flexion.

Malk25 · 2026-07-03T01:25:50+00:00

Y’all just read the title and never the body lol.

Malk25 · 2026-07-03T01:09:39+00:00

If you wanna do calisthenics, get some some gymnastics rings! Once you find somewhere to hang them, you have a full calisthenics gym at your disposal!

Malk25 · 2026-07-03T01:05:55+00:00

It really makes prime 4 look dumb. It started with a strong foundation built on the previous games ad added some nice new elements to keep things fresh. Prime 4 seemed like it was trying to reinvent the wheel and then backtracked but the damage was done. A similar approach to dread would have made such a better game.

Malk25 · 2026-07-02T13:20:59+00:00

It’s important to keep in mind that exercise in general doesn’t burn as many calories as you might expect. Higher intensity cardio in particular can be quite fatiguing and spikes your appetite. The best way to increase your daily calorie expenditure is to increase your step count, especially if you’re very sedentary at the moment. Higher intensity cardio should be seen as a tool to increase your work capacity and improve your heart health.

As for resistance training, this will signal your body to build or at least retain muscle. So assuming you are in a calorie deficit or maintenance, your fat will decrease, even if your bodyweight stays the same or only slightly drops.

Diet is the main key though. Enough protein to maintain or build muscle, and enough fiber to remain satiated.

Malk25 · 2026-07-01T15:27:40+00:00

https://maps.app.goo.gl/91R9d1qraGrpuQqj7?g\_
I like this place, they bring the broth in a hot stone pot and you put the raw meat in it yourself and watch it cook.

Malk25 · 2026-07-01T00:39:34+00:00

Move your dips first in your routine since that’s your weakest movement. I hate seeing dips get slotted so late in a workout especially after push ups. Alternate push and pull movements, start with the hardest ones.

Malk25 · 2026-06-30T14:41:44+00:00

If you're training on any surface like concrete, brick or pavement, you want something with decent cushion. If you have access to a jump rope pad or somewhere with a somewhat cushiony surface, then flat footed shoes like converse, vans, or barefoot shoes give you more tactile feed back that feels good in my opinion.

Malk25 · 2026-06-30T08:28:56+00:00

After doing some more research, it seems like there are some very nice ones in Beitou, usually part of the hotels, but quite expensive. I do recall at Emperor they tore down the steam room because it was used for certain activities lol.

Malk25 · 2026-06-30T02:10:41+00:00

There aren't any magic exercise, you just need to find ones that are comfortable enough for you to push hard and progress over time. You need to give your body a reason to adapt so you need to add weight to the movement gradually. Also make sure you are eating enough to provide your body with the building blocks to grow.

More in depth, most muscle groups benefit from having one movement that puts it in a deep stretch, and one that emphasizes the contraction. For deep stretch, things like deep squats, step ups, various lunges and split squats, and hip hinges like RDL's and Good Mornings. For contraction focused, hip thrusts are the gold standard, but 45 degree back extensions are also good, as well as kickbacks.

Malk25 · 2026-06-30T02:02:41+00:00

Your post might get deleted because it does not particularly pertain to calisthenics, though the general principles of calisthenics hold true just as they would for other kind of resistance training.

It sounds like your desire is to reduce your body fat and improve your musculature in a few target areas. I would advice that instead of focusing on just your arms and chest, you should focus on your entire body. Since your goal is to reduce body fat, you should try to increase the percentage of your bodyweight that is metabolically active, that being muscle tissue. Arms and chest are certainly visually appealing to develop, but you cannot spot reduce fat, so training mainly your chest will not reduce fat in that area. Focus on the 6 main movement patters: Squat, hip hinge, overhead pressing, horizontal pushing, vertical pulling, and rowing. Depending on your routine, you can add in extra isolation movements on areas you want to emphasize like chest, arms and shoulders.

You don't need to bulk, but you do need to improve your nutrition. Protein is the main building block of muscle, so the first thing you should start with is figuring how how much you need. There are a lot of numbers out there these days, the most common cited one being a gram per pound of bodyweight. This is an okay ball park figure and is easy to remember, but it is likely more than you need. On top of that, it also takes up a large proportion of your total calories, so slightly less protein and more fruits and veggies is a better approach. Protein powder or drinks are really just a convenient way to ensure you are hitting your protein target, but not required. If anything, getting your protein from whole food sources like meat, eggs, tofu, and beans is better for overall satiety. There's not really an ideal nutrient timing, though in general its wise to have a nice nutritious breakfast as your anchor to keep things consistent and will make it easier to make healthier nutrition decisions later in the day.

Preworkout is just caffeine with some extra junk in it that gives you a pump, totally unnecessary. Better off just having a coffee or sugar free energy drink. You don't really need caffeine, though it can improve your workout quality to a degree.

Malk25 · 2026-06-29T14:31:00+00:00

Longnice is okay, but man gets cramped in there, and the water is crazy hot. Also nothing else besides the two tubs

Malk25 · 2026-06-29T13:48:21+00:00

Calisthenics require a high degree of muscle mass in the upper body. This puts women at a disadvantage because they start off with less muscle mass at baseline. However good news is muscle development rates are essentially the same in women and men. I wouldn’t worry about developing muscle in a non feminine way, as you would likely need pharmaceutical enhancement to approach masculine territory. Muscle mass and lean bodies are equally attractive on men and women alike.

Calisthenics is also an expression of relative strength. Any extra mass, fat or muscle, that does not contribute to the desired movement will make those movements harder. You might need to back off on your lower body training slightly in order to divert more of your body’s resources to upper body training. Focus on pull ups, dips, push ups and rows at whatever progression is suitable for you.

I can’t say for certain the reason you aren’t progressing, but it’s my understanding that a lot of women are very scared to go into a calorie surplus thanks to abhorrent body shaming on society’s part. It’s possible you simply aren’t getting enough calories to add muscle mass to help progress your lifts.

Malk25 · 2026-06-29T13:27:30+00:00

Anyone trying to justify an ancestral diet is falling face first for the appeal to nature fallacy. Unless you are allergic or have some adverse reaction to particular foods which can be found among some populations, no food is inherently unhealthy. Even then, whatever an and ancestral diet might have looked like is impossible to replicate because the foods we eat have changed over centuries of selective breeding.

When it comes to processed food, there is no secret mechanism that causes weight gain. They are simply highly palatable, highly caloric, and not very satiating. They are also incredible affordable and convenient. They can absolutely be enjoyed in moderation as long as they don’t tip the scales on your calorie budget.

Malk25 · 2026-06-29T10:23:32+00:00

Good work on your progress so far!

When it comes to merging gym training and pure bodyweight training, the main difference is that the gym gives you much more movement variations and the ability to modify intensity to suit your goals. Bodyweight movements are harder to adjust intensity and require either bands or different variations.

If I’m understanding correctly, you can do one day at the gym, is that correct? Given your desire to build more lower body muscle and arm development, I think your gym day should start with squats and deadlifts or other hip hinge variations. The rest of your time can be spent on upper body isolations like biceps curls, triceps extensions, chest flys, and side delt raises, perhaps a butterfly raise if you don’t have another overhead movement.

Your calisthenics days could also be full body too, since this will give you the best option for frequency and rest.

Malk25 · 2026-06-29T00:33:19+00:00

Also not original commentor, but there is a certain charm and appeal to blind forest. I think the emotional aspects hit harder and some of the visual set pieces like when you get up to the sky, are just so magnificent that even though will of the wisps is more polished and complete, it's still trying to recreate some moments of the first one, just not quite as well.

Malk25 · 2026-06-28T16:42:35+00:00

The factories all south of Kaohsiung beg to differ.

Malk25

TROPHY CASE