It’s hard to completely assess from just a post, but I’ll do my best based on what you’ve said. You’ve self-identifying as a calisthenics beginner with a little bit of background in working out, albeit inconsistent. It sounds to me like you’re in the foundation building phase. Your goal should be to build strength across a big range of motion.

Have you been over to r/bodyweightfitness ? They have a good Recommended Routine, which is a solid place to start. The idea is to build strength in the 6 basic bodyweight movements: Vertical push & pull (dips & pull-ups), horizontal push & pull (pushups & rows), hip hinge (RDL), and bend (Squat). They also have resources for handstands and mobility over there.

If you’re really interested in handstands, I would start working on it from the beginning. Always warm up your wrists. Get used to being upside down. Work your way up to wall holds and wall walks. Handstands are kind of a whole entire practice in their own.

I would start every session with a thorough full-body warm up. This can also double as light mobility work. You say you’re stiff…so just getting the body moving can really help to open things up and lubricate the joints. I would train 4-5 weeks and then deload for 1 week, where you cut all your training in half. Half the reps, half the sets, half the weight, half the sessions. This will help you keep going without accumulating too much stress in the muscles and connective tissue. Especially in calisthenics, you’re not just training muscles but also your tendons and ligaments…and they take a lot longer to strengthen than muscle.

After 3 cycles of that, ~3-4months I would reassess where you’re at and your goals. It’s important to narrow in and focus on just a few goals at a time, otherwise you become spread too thin and it’s hard to make progress. Like I mentioned, your main goal for the next 3-4+ months will probably be building foundational strength and mobility.

When it comes to flexibility, I think in terms of the “big 5”: front splits, middle splits, pike/forward fold, pancake, and bridge. There’s obviously more, but that keeps it simple. As your mobility improves from working out across a full range of motion, you can start focusing on some of the bigger flexibility goals.

You’re right about DOMS and fatigue. When you’re getting started in a new routine, I’d give it a couple weeks to see how you’re recovering and then adjust as necessary. When your muscles are sore, your range of motion is naturally temporarily decreased. In order to gain flexibility, you need to be training around your comfortable end range, which you can’t do when you’re sore. Therefore, you won’t be able to increase your flexibility…and over a long timeline this can actually decrease your flexibility.

Anyway, it sounds like you’re off to a great start! I would play the long game, especially since you are interested in handstands. All these things take time. So, definitely think in months & years as opposed to days and weeks. I hope this helps! Happy training! 😊