Hey,

What if you could have it all? A strong, healthy body that's also agile and athletic? That's possible through Hybrid Routines, a cutting-edge approach to fitness that blends the best of two worlds. 

Calisthenics and weights training.

Calisthenics - Bodyweight training using just your body and a bar to hang onto.

Weighted training - The conventional workout style using resistance weights and machines.

So far, popular fitness routines have been relatively one-dimensional. They’ve fallen into either one school or the other and people hadn’t the faintest idea how to merge them efficiently. That’s all changing now.

We think a huge reason for this is Calisthenic Montage Videos. Calisthenics began as a niche movement but now it’s blowing over Youtube, especially after the Covid crisis. Enthusiasts post themselves doing impressive stunts like handstands, weighted pull ups, and human flags. Many traditional gym-goers are interested.

They like their bulging biceps and boulder shoulders but they also want to be able to do cool tricks and be functional. Plus, as a whole, the fitness world is moving towards the athletic body type. An overwhelming majority of men think of MMA fighters and Soccer players when they think of ‘peak fitness’.

So where do hybrid routines fit in all this?

Easy. A well-built hybrid routine mixes exercises according to your goals. You get to blend brute strength and explosiveness to form a more balanced body type. It’s honestly a very fresh way of approaching fitness. Think like an RPG where you set your goals. Since you’re picking exercises from two realms, you can’t possibly do everything. So you get to pick the type of build you want. 

We studied some famous hybrid routines used by Hollywood and Insta fitness trainers and broke them down. We ended up with these ground rules that'll help anyone build a good hybrid routine:

1. Pick only ONE main compound movement involving barbells/dumbbells for a muscle group and supplement it with calisthenics exercises. Don't add isolation or machine movements as it'll make your workouts lengthy and stagnant. 

For example, for the back, pick a weighted movement like a dumbbell/barbell row and supplement it with pullups, chin-ups, and rope climbs.

2. Apart from your lower body, you must sacrifice brute strength everywhere else by picking a calisthenic exercise over weights if you want agility. But don't worry, calisthenics also builds a lot of mass. 

If you want to do cool tricks, you have to put them into your routine. Just because you can shoulder press your body weight doesn't mean you'll be able to do a handstand. 

3. Make use of progressions when training calisthenics. For example, if you find push ups too easy, don't try to increase reps. Pick a harder variation of push ups like planche pushups or decline pushups.

For more tips on building a hybrid routine, search for ‘Beginner Calisthenic Routines’, ‘Hybrid Routine’, ‘Calisthenics and Weights’ on YouTube. There’s tons of good material out there to get started.

Consider experimenting with Hybrid Routines. Not only do they make your workouts interesting, you’ll also be able to improve your balance, athleticism and flexibility. Sure, aesthetics are good but what good are hulking muscles if they aren’t functional?

- Forte Team