Bodyweight Calisthenics and Building a Strength Foundation - How to Get Started

First, figure out if the idea of getting strong and muscular without gyms or equipment or special clothes or large blocks of time is at all interesting to you.    Second, if you've tried weightlifting or bodybuilding programs before, try to forget about everything you thought was gospel.  Third, search "calisthenics" on youtube.  Ok, maybe don't do the third one.  It might be intimidating.  But stick with this and the third one will become inspiring.

Ok, now embrace the big four:  Pullups, Dips, Squats, Pushups.  Your goal should be to get as strong as you can at each of these exercises.  Understand that "strength" can mean how many times you do it and how you do it and how often you do it and is really a combination of all of these.  Also understand that strength and size are not the same thing.

Work daily and with patience to get stronger at these four exercises.  Be a stickler for form and don't worry about reps.  Don't carry the sets to failure.  Once your form starts to degrade, stop the set.  If you can do ten good pushups, do sets of 6 throughout the day.  If you can do 4 good pullups, do sets of 1.  Can't do a pushup or a pullup?  Do negatives.  Get yourself into the ending position of the movement however you can (use a chair or ladder for pullups, for example) then let yourself down as slowly as you possibly can.  Work on doing this more slowly.  Soon enough you will be doing your first.

If you can do 25 good pushups, make them harder.  Do Russians or diamonds.  Slow them down.

Pullups are interesting. It's easy to fail quickly and then you're done.  When your reps slow down, your set should be done.  If you go to failure, don't try to do them again for a couple of days at least.   But don't go to failure.  You could put a pullup bar in a doorway and then do at least one every time you pass it.

Let's say you get your solid foundation routine zoned in to 6 pullups, 15 pushups, 20 squats and 8 dips.  I'm just making this up.  Do this for 6 months.  That is, do this routine as a superset as many times you can a day while able to maintain form and do this for 6 months.

When I focus on the big four I do 10 pullups, 12 dips, 25 pushups and 25 squats.  Squats I keep slow and deep and very good form so they're hard enough.  I do this 8 times a day.  I'm not sure where to head from here so that's why I've been throwing in reps and harder movements and slower sets.