Renowned Calisthenics veteran and Guinness
World Record holder Riki Warren presents…
Assuming you did as many as you could, here’s a rough sketch of what the muscle growth stimulus would look like:
In other words, you’d do a series of reps that had little effect…
Then at a certain point those reps would get a lot harder, and THAT is when you’d start stimulating growth.
Now here’s what the stimulus would look like if you did that same set of push ups…
With blood pressure cuffs constricting your arms:
Intriguing, right?
With the cuffs, you’d approach failure and get the same high-intensity growth stimulus in FAR fewer reps…
Which is an interesting result with serious promise.
And no, I do not recommend training with blood pressure cuffs (who has a set lying around?) but the surprising research on these effects begs the question…
I’m talking about the potential to get bigger, faster physique gains without the need for gym memberships, weights or machines… shattering the misconception that “you can’t really build muscle” with calisthenics.
Good news… there is.
My name is Riki Warren, and today I’m going to show you…
Why calisthenics?
Because it’s so much more than just “bodyweight fitness.”
It’s a complete, natural and minimalist approach to mastering your body.
One that defies the need to spend money on gym memberships, or to buy and store a ton of machines, dumbbells, barbells, benches and racks…
Yet with calisthenics alone you can become incredibly strong, fast, explosive and powerful, if you want.
You can become leaner, bigger, and more muscular if you want.
And you can become flexible, mobile, agile and injury resistant as well— BULLETPROOF— in ways that dumbells and barbells can’t give you on their own.
That…
In addition to the decade plus I’ve spent completely immersed in the calisthenics world…
Is why I believe that more than just weight lifting, cardio and HIIT workouts…
I’m sure you’ve noticed more and more people are turning to this discipline to hone their strength and aesthetics…
And that trend is just getting started.
Because calisthenics can give you everything you need to achieve great things in fitness, health and athletic performance.
And if you still want to lift weights, run, or do any sport or martial art, good…
Because calisthenics will not only prepare your body for it, but it will magnify your performance and capabilities.
At the same time if you want to keep things simple, yet still build your dream physique alongside a ton of functional attributes…
Then calisthenics is all you need.
Learn the ins and outs of this approach to training…
And for the rest of your life you’ll have absolute independence in building (and maintaining) your ideal body— in form and function.
Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, or when.
Plus… with the 3 principles I’m about to show you, you’ll be able to do it without the need to train for multiple hours a day, or track calories, or follow some agonizing, restrictive diet or lifestyle.
And contrary to what today’s fitness industry says…
You’ll be able to use calisthenics to build a bigger, more muscular physique, too.
One that’s also naturally proportioned, because your muscles will develop around functional movements.
After all…
It can give you everything you need to achieve great things in fitness, health and athletic performance.
And if you still want to lift weights, run, or do any sport or martial art, good…
Because calisthenics will not only prepare your body for it, but it will magnify your performance and capabilities.
At the same time if you want to keep things simple, yet still build your dream physique alongside a ton of functional attributes…
Then calisthenics is all you need.
Learn the ins and outs of this approach to training…
And for the rest of your life you’ll have absolute independence in building (and maintaining) your ideal body— in form and function.
Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, or when.
Plus… with the specific 3-principle approach I’m about to show you, you’ll be able to do it without the need to train for multiple hours a day, or track calories, or follow some agonizing, restrictive diet or lifestyle.
And contrary to what today’s fitness industry says (and this is THE biggest argument against cali)…
You can use it to get a bigger, more muscular physique, too.
One that’s both bigger and naturally proportioned, because your muscles will develop around functional movements.
After all…
Still a lot of very smart, well-meaning experts truly believe that you can’t add much size with calisthenics.
And there’s a perfectly acceptable reason why so many people believe this.
So in the next few minutes I’m going to pull back the curtain on this topic…
And then I’ll show you a science-backed way you can shatter this misconception yourself to sculpt a bigger, more muscular physique…
Almost anywhere, anytime, with very little equipment.
I’ll also show you how you can make significant progress with calisthenics over the next 2–3 months, while only training for roughly an hour a day, 4 times a week.
But first, so you know where I’m coming from, let me introduce myself.
I’m a world-class strength and mobility coach who’s trained and certified more than a thousand people in the UK to become calisthenics coaches…
As well as a sports scientist, therapist and educator…
And a Guinness World Record Holder in the Olympic rings.
I’ve been obsessed with mastering my body for more than 30 years through not only calisthenics, but a variety of martial arts, yoga, weight lifting and more.
And even though you’ll find me mixing in some weight lifting and swinging clubs on Instagram today…
If you scroll back to around 2015 you’ll see that my chest, back and arms were bigger and more vascular than ever…
And I wasn’t lifting weights at all back then— it was 100% calisthenics.
But I wouldn’t expect you to take that alone as proof you can build a full, muscular physique with calisthenics.
After all, maybe you think I’m an exception, or a genetic freak of some kind. (Which I’m not— I’ve met countless others who’ve gotten even bigger with just calisthenics.)
Well, there’s plenty of science to back this up, despite all the arguing and controversy on the subject.
The best place to start is with one of the core arguments against using calisthenics to add mass:
"You need to lift increasingly heavy weights to grow… and you can’t do that when you’re limited by the weight of your body."
The thing is, until relatively recently, even scientists at the forefront of muscle growth research believed this…
Saying the only way to recruit ALL the muscle fibers— and create a maximal growth stimulus— was to challenge the muscles with heavy loads.
But a small community of rogue researchers weren’t convinced.
They hypothesized that trainees could still recruit all of the muscle fibers with much lower loads, as long as sets were still taken close to failure (which is when a trainee is unable to complete another rep).
A lot of research has since been done to explore that possibility, ultimately showing that…
As an example, let’s look at one study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that showed exactly that. [1]
Researchers at the Nippon Sports Science University in Tokyo had a group of 21 people perform 3 sets of preacher curls per workout, with 3 workouts per week, for 8 weeks.
They split these participants into 3 groups.
All groups did the same workout, and every set was taken to momentary failure.
The ONLY difference was how heavy each group lifted.
The first group used a weight that caused them to fail within 8–12 reps each set (which is a commonly accepted bodybuilding protocol)…
The second group used a weight that caused them to fail within a whopping 30–40 reps (which is a LOT more than most hypertrophy experts would suggest)…
And the third group alternated between both ranges each week.
Before and after this 8-week program, the researchers measured the size of the muscles using MRI scans.
On average, the 8–12 rep group saw a 9.1% increase in muscle… the high-low alternating group saw an 8.8% increase… and the 30–40 rep group saw a 9.4% increase.
People who trained with lighter weights gained slightly more muscle mass in 8 weeks as those who trained with heavier weights— they just performed more reps.
That’s not the only research that shows this, either.
In fact, a cohort of researchers from the USA, Canada and Australia worked together to carefully analyze a total of 21 studies that compared the effects of high-load versus low-load training on strength and hypertrophy. [2]
And after they processed all that data they concluded…
"Maximal strength benefits are obtained from the use of heavy loads while muscle hypertrophy can be equally achieved across a spectrum of loading ranges."
What this means is, it’s VERY possible to build lots of muscle with calisthenics…
Because there are TONS of bodyweight exercises that will challenge the muscles well within 30 or fewer reps.
That same body of research also revealed that training close to failure is even more important for hypertrophy when working with lighter loads, in higher rep ranges…
And THAT requires more time commitment and willpower.
(Unless you take advantage of a certain muscle-building trick, which I’ll share in a moment.)
The time commitment factor is obvious: it takes three times as long to do a set of 30 versus a set of 10.
Most trainees are forced to limit their training duration due to other responsibilities and ambitions, so they end up cutting their sets or sessions short… reducing their effective volume and killing their gains.
The willpower factor is more subjective, but very real: there are usually more challenging reps to push through when you’re training close to failure in higher rep ranges.
So that set of 10 might have you pushing on the last three reps and getting a good stimulus, versus that set to 30, where you might be pushing on the last eight reps (and only getting a good stimulus on the last three).
Between that biological reality and the fact that few people are aware of the research proving higher-rep hypertrophy is possible… of course coaches and trainees alike believe calisthenics is limited in muscle growth.
And that’s why, in order to create a truly effective muscle-building program with calisthenics, we have to SOLVE that crucial problem.
The solution is the first part of what I like to call the “Warrior Triad.”
This principle is based on the discovery of a Norwegian performance coach who found passion in the science of hypertrophy after struggling to build muscle in his younger years.
After seeing the research on blood flow restriction training, where researchers showed a massive increase to muscle growth stimulus by cutting off circulation to the trained muscles…
He had a eureka moment that has since changed the lives of bodybuilders all over the world.
You see, restricting blood flow caused an increase in metabolic stress, which accelerated the process of full muscle fiber recruitment…
And essentially caused the muscles to fatigue— thereby stimulating muscle growth— in far fewer reps, even at lighter loads.
This is how an “effective rep isolation” approach works.
It’s pretty well known that the last few reps of a set is where the magic happens…
Which lines up with the fact that total muscle fiber recruitment only happens with sufficient fatigue, or high loads.
In a traditional set setup, that looks something like this:
In this case, the first 5 reps serve only to “activate” the muscles.
Each set that follows (after a normal rest interval, of course) will look similar, with several activator reps that don’t contribute to hypertrophy very much, if at all.
But when you tweak your training to isolate the effective reps, you end up with sets that look like this:
The results are astounding. This technique has been shown to create equal muscle growth to traditional sets with significantly fewer total reps, and in a fraction of the time.
But it’s more than just a time-saving tactic (which is enough!)…
It’s also the perfect solution to the bodyweight hypertrophy problem.
Mentally, it’s harder to run a mile than to sprint 50 yards. This principle is the workaround…
Allowing you to rack up tons of hypertrophy-stimulating volume with 15, 20, even 30 rep range movements WITHOUT pushing through long, arduous set after set.
That’s why it’s part of the “Warrior Triad” I mentioned.
If you want to build muscle using calisthenics— with all the functional benefits, and the minimalist independence— this principle is a must.
It’s one of the bodybuilding community’s best-kept secrets.
But it’s not enough on its own…
Yes, it provides a high-intensity, time-efficient hypertrophy component to your program… but it’s not complete without weaving it with proper, functional strength-building protocol.
That brings us to the next principle.
To unlock your greatest potential, aesthetics is only part of the equation.
Strength, control, mobility and durability are key attributes that make you ready for anything life has to throw at you.
We want a body that performs as good as it looks.
One that allows you to tackle any physical activity, pain free, whether it’s athletics, martial arts, recreation, or strenuous everyday tasks like helping a friend move house.
And one that can perform incredible feats of strength, agility and control, allowing you to express your potential through movement.
Training these attributes optimally requires a slightly different approach to sheer muscle growth…
Because strength is primarily an adaptation of the neuromuscular system.
This is when we definitely want heavier loads, so we can train the nervous system to recruit all the muscle fibers through functional movement patterns.
And technique becomes more important, so we have to manage fatigue…
Which is why it’s important to front-load your training with strength and skill work.
Or in other words, put your strength-building exercises FIRST, while you’re fresh.
And if you want to ensure you’re training with heavier loads— while still relying on bodyweight for resistance— then write this down:
In calisthenics, you’re not just limited to push ups and pull ups…
There are countless exercises we call “progressions” where you use leverage to train with higher resistance.
For example, take the classic pull up.
Let’s say you can do 12 pull ups in a straight set, and want to keep developing maximal strength…
So you start doing archer pull ups— a progression that involves pulling up with one arm at a time while the other arm remains straight.
This gives you a lot more load on whichever side is working, so you can continue to increase your vertical pull strength.
Push ups getting too easy? Start doing archer push ups.
Dips? Start doing straight bar dips.
Squats? Start doing pistol squats.
There are multiple solutions like these for increasing resistance for every movement pattern and muscle group.
Hopefully now you’re starting to see what an incredible training method calisthenics really is. It’s one that can develop almost all of the body’s functional attributes…
While ALSO adding mass and making you look like one of those badass Greek sculptures.
But before you start applying what you just learned in your training, you need to know there’s a catch to these higher-resistance progressions.
And that brings me to the final principle:
If you want to get the best-possible results in your training…
While avoiding injury and staying on the field…
Then this should be your mantra.
Because every single rep you do of a given exercise is like a vote for THAT movement pattern.
So if someone is not performing an exercise correctly…
(Where “correctly” means moving the joints and tissues in a way that’s biomechanically efficient…)
They’re actually digging themselves into a hole.
It’s kinda like trying to drive somewhere, but heading in the wrong direction… which means they have to go back before they can start driving in the RIGHT direction.
This can sandbag a trainee so badly, they can spend five years struggling to get results that should take only one or two.
Because proper, controlled technique not only stimulates more muscle growth (just ask any bodybuilder)…
But it allows you to express your strength potential, because your movements are biomechanically optimized.
Not to mention with poor form a trainee will walk around in constant pain, and I guarantee they’ll face injuries that put them out of commission for months at a time.
You see, I learned basically everything in calisthenics in about five years.
Which might sound like an achievement…
But there was a big problem.
I had pain all over my body and none of my moves were as clean as I wanted.
Things didn’t get better until I retreated from calisthenics for a while and spent time doing yoga and training my mobility.
And then when I got back on the bars, I had to work against a lot of faulty conditioning to RETRAIN the moves I was hitting before.
I actually went through this three times in about 12 years…
Which is what it took back then.
When I was learning calisthenics around 2012 I was another guy in the park, just trying stuff on the bars.
We didn’t have gurus… no one to show us how to do anything.
We just tried stuff, shared ideas with each other and figured things out on our own.
Back then it was a necessary evil, but I’ll tell you right now…
It took an immense amount of trial and error to learn the hundreds of movements and holds I’ve since mastered…
And to become the elite calisthenics practitioner, official judge, and coach that I am today.
Trial and error that YOU can learn from.
Which brings me back to what I promised you a few minutes ago…
I believe everyone should be free to master their bodies and become strong, chiseled and mobile, anywhere, anytime… without the need for weight sets and gym machines.
And I believe you shouldn’t have to screw around with ineffective workouts and slog through painfully slow progress.
Instead you should have a proven plan laid out for you, based on the most effective way to stimulate hypertrophy with calisthenics…
Time-tested protocols for developing strength and skills…
And the guidance to train with excellent form, in a balanced way that ensures safety, performance and longevity.
So I assembled a team to help me build a unique new program that delivers on all of those things…
Cali Transformation is a 12-week program that will transform your physique by leveraging the effective rep isolation approach, while developing the strength you need for more advanced calisthenics work…
With 4 intense workouts each week, designed to take no more than one hour to complete.
You’ll be able to train with little equipment: a pull up bar, parallel bars, a set of gymnastics rings and a resistance band.
Everything is designed to ensure you have a solid plan to work with, while being flexible enough to accommodate your current ability level.
You’re going to love this program…
Because unlike weight lifting, where your only milestones are the numbers you write down for weights and reps…
You’ll be working towards impressive moves like one-arm push ups, freestanding handstand push ups, muscle ups and more.
Those milestones are WAY more gratifying, and they’ll amaze and inspire the hell out of everyone around you.
Plus, you’re getting MORE than just a ready-made program you can simply follow for incredible results.
Because at the heart of the program is a library of detailed tutorials where I demonstrate and walk you through more than 120 calisthenics exercises.
This is how you’ll ensure outstanding form as you train, optimizing for performance, injury resistance, and excellent movement patterns.
These exercises include…
Like I said before, calisthenics was still an emerging sport when I was in the trenches…
And I was one of the first guys who to introduce a structured approach to teaching it.
I applied everything I’d learned about mobility, injury rehab and biomechanics with my clients, and quickly became known as the calisthenics “coach’s coach.”
In these tutorials I provide tips and insights that have helped hundreds of people to break through plateaus and hit big moves for the first time.
You’ll also find a variety of floor work, bar work, ring work and plyometrics to ensure you’re training to move in a range of environments (and so you can always train with intensity, no matter what equipment is handy).
Plus, to ensure you can continue your progress well beyond the 12 week program, you’re getting some helpful bonus resources.
Like I said, the program gives you everything you need to transform your physique and start building the strength and skills you need for more advanced calisthenics training in 12 weeks.
But I want to make sure you have what you need to continue, once you finish the core program.
That’s why we created The Training Goal Handbook: How to Achieve Ambitious Goals in Calisthenics.
Once you wrap up the 12 week transformation, you’re going to have a new relationship to your body, as well as the art of calisthenics— a guaranteed side-effect of seeing the incredible changes in how your body looks, feels and performs.
You’ll be ready and eager to continue on to greater things.
You might want to ramp up your muscle-building efforts… or get serious about performing a specific, advanced move or hold… or train to crush a rep challenge, like 100 push-ups or 50 pull-ups… or even start torching body fat and getting lean.
That’s when it’s time to crack open The Handbook…
Because inside you’ll find detailed, science-backed guidance on how to train for specific goals using calisthenics— as always, no gym membership and minimal equipment required.
If you complete your first 12 weeks and find you’re too busy to go through The Training Goal Handbook and build your next program, I want to make sure you’re covered.
So I put four additional workouts together for you, so you can quickly develop additional program cycles if needed.
They’re based on these four training goals:
While the core program is built with flexibility in mind, in a simple way that accommodates a range of trainees, not everyone is quite ready to tackle it.
That’s why we’re including a simple training primer guide and beginner training plan.
It’s a crash course on how to train calisthenics… design basic programs… adjust for minimal equipment… and more.
Plus, there’s a simple beginner program that allows anyone to start their journey and work towards the core 12-week program.
No matter where you’re at today, we’ve got you covered.
At the heart of Cali Transformation is a massive library of form tutorials based on instruction I’ve been perfecting with my clients for years… plus a unique program that’s based on proven protocols for developing your body with calisthenics.
Normally this kind of expert instruction would be very costly, and it usually comes in a handful of sessions. (So you usually get it once and then you’re on your own— versus being able to revisit all the material anytime you need to, for the rest of your life.)
That’s why I decided to bring my expertise together in this user-friendly online format, so that more people would be empowered to master their bodies with total independence.
To celebrate our current launch, I want to give you access to this program (and all the bonuses) at an incredible deal.
Here’s everything you’re getting:
$180 Value
$150 Value
$45 Value
$25 Value
$20 Value
Total . . . . . . . . . . $420 Value
That’s a fraction of the price you’d pay for 12 weeks of access to a gym— even after you buy a resistance band and a set of rings.
Also I want to make sure you’re fully confident in this investment, so…
Order today and dive into the program…
And if over the next 30 days you decide you don’t like it for any reason, send a quick email to our support team and you’ll get a prompt refund.
We created this program to make a lasting impact on your life, and that’s what we intend for it to do.
That’s why we’ve made sure you can join risk-free with absolute confidence.
Click the button to join today…
And within a few minutes you’ll receive a welcome email with instructions on how to access everything— the training plan, program materials, form tutorial library and bonus resources.
I suggest digging into the program materials first.
You’ll find simple instructions on how to approach the workouts, including how to regulate intensity, modify schedules, and so on.
Inside the training plan (accessible on mobile or desktop) is an interactive schedule, so you can quickly pull up whichever workout you have planned each day, with quick links to the tutorials for that workout.
You can also access the tutorial library directly, browse everything I’ve included, and go through any movements or holds you’re interested in.
And when you’re ready (for instance, right after you complete the 12 week program)…
You can dig into The Training Goal Handbook or the bonus intermediate workouts to propel you towards your next training goal.
It’s all waiting for you right now, as you read this.
So if you’re ready to get started, just click the button below and I’ll see you inside.
– Rik
This program is primarily designed for building a great physique… while at the same time, providing a foundation for calisthenics strength skills.
It guides trainees through stimulating lots of muscle growth without the need for weights or machines… while at the same time, applying niche hypertrophy science to shorten workouts and blast through the inherent challenges of building muscle with bodyweight-only exercise.
It provides expert guidance in the form of a simple, ready-made program you can simply follow for great results… while at the same time, giving you ample resources to inform your training lifestyle before, during and forever after the program itself.
It gives you a plan for transforming your body in 12 weeks… while at the same time, a collection of resources that teach you everything you need to know to build muscle, burn fat, increase strength, achieve feats of strength and control, get flexible and mobile, become injury resistant and pain-free, increase explosive power and agility, crush high-rep challenges, and improve your performance in any physical or athletic endeavor.
If there’s another digital program that does all that, we’ve yet to hear about it!
If you’re able to complete 5 pull ups, 5 dips, and have a decent fitness base, you’ll be able to work with the core 12-week program. Even if that’s quite challenging, you can focus on the lower end of each rep range.
If you’re able to complete 6 push ups, 6 inverted bodyweight rows, and 6 bodyweight squats, you’re ready to work with the beginner training plan. If you’re unable to complete those sets yet, seek some qualified guidance to help you build a simpler program to help you get there. Then come back and see us!
Note that over time the beginner plan will condition your body to be ready for the core 12-week program. The ample resources you get in the package will give you everything you need to tailor your training before, during and after the core program as well. There’s a ton of value inside, even for total beginners.
A solid bar that’s above your head for pull up variations (and to hang rings and resistance bands from). A set of gymnastics rings. One or more resistance bands (typical ones that are about 40 inches) to help you get reps of difficult movements. And a set of parallel bars for dip variations.
Note: If we get the demand for it, we’ll create content around how to swap out equipment when it’s not available. If that interests you, let us know!
The total package we’re offering on this page is suitable for anyone who wants to empower themselves to build and/or maintain a fit, strong, mobile, healthy and functional body without requiring access to a gym, weights or machines.
The resources inside will teach you everything you need to know to build muscle, burn fat, increase strength, achieve feats of strength and control, get flexible and mobile, become injury resistant and pain-free, increase explosive power and agility, crush high-rep challenges, and improve your performance in any physical or athletic endeavor.
With all of that said, the core 12-week program itself is best suited for those who have some fitness ability and at least some experience working out. It follows a high-intensity upper-lower split to ensure significant results for a wide range of trainees.
While the plan is designed to flex based on ability levels, it may be too challenging for those who are just starting out, or returning from a long break from exercise. That’s why the complete package includes a complete educational guide and training plan for beginners. That plan is suitable for anyone who can complete the minimum requirements (see question above) and is enough to condition the body to eventually start the core program.
There’s no need to follow a strict diet or count calories. That said, nutrition is important when it comes to physique goals, recovery and overall performance; that’s why we include some simple-but-proven principles that make it easy to eat for the best results from any training routine.
Chances are, you can! See the question above about the “minimum required ability” for details.
The core program requires four workouts per week that take an hour or less to complete. If you always show up, follow the program to a “T” and challenge yourself consistently, you and everyone who knows you (and some who don’t) will notice significant changes in your physique. You will hear comments; positive ones. On a daily basis you will remember how much stronger you are in your training, and it will flood you with confidence and drive. Little aches and pains that usually come and go will vanish, replaced with solidarity in your joints and muscles. When you move the kitchen table, carry a box to your neighbor’s car, or climb rocks on your next hike, you’ll notice how much easier it is and how much more capable you are. 12 weeks is more than enough time to notice results like that, when you have the right guidance.
The main downside to this kind of muscle-growth technique is that it can be easy to overdo it. That means a trainee can create too much fatigue, where it might take a week or longer to recover so they’re ready for another workout. This intensity backfires, causing them to make less progress over time than if they managed their fatigue better. That’s why the program guide includes a careful outline on how to use this approach for optimal gains without overdoing it, including how to increase intensity as needed.
That level of guidance is important to use the approach, which is one reason this approach isn’t well known. Another reason is that it takes a decade or more for new ideas to take hold in an industry; and the fitness industry is no exception.
This program and all materials are in digital formats. Your workout plan is laid out in an easy-to-follow online schedule: quickly pull it up on mobile or desktop then click the day you’re on, and your plan for that day come up including the exercise tutorial videos. Click the button when you’re done and it will keep track of which day you’re on automatically. All additional resources will be provided to you in PDF format so you can read them on any device.
This program is as challenging as you need it to be. The companion guide includes a simple explanation of how to adjust your set and rep targets, as well as how to approach fatigue and failure, so anyone can get great results. And by front-loading strength skills and using effective rep isolation, it takes less time to achieve an exceptional growth stimulus.
All of that said, for optimal results you’ll want to always challenge yourself! Especially when it comes to muscle-building goals: getting a few really tough reps at the end of a set is how we grow (and that applies to ANY training program).
We do not recommend this program if you have (or suspect) any injury or condition that could be affected by exercise. Instead, speak to a qualified physician and find a different program specifically for recovering from your injury first.