The 7 Levels of Calisthenics Skills
Every Level of Calisthenics; from easiest to hardest calisthenics skill.
Level 1: Staple exercises & Entry Level Skills
This includes the movements, like pull ups and dips that are so foundational that even non-calisthenics focused athletes have to jump on the calisthenics hype.
You can walk into any mainstream gym and see these exercises and movements on display because they just work, and are likely the best exercises for the job just generally.
In this level, we’d also include bodyweight skills such as Frogstands, L-sits and elbow levers that most learn pretty quickly, and it’s for this reason many athletes that sit in this bracket might not even consider themselves calisthenics athletes at all, and yet you can get very far building strength with the movements here
Level 1: Staple exercises & Entry Level Skills
This includes the movements, like pull ups and dips that are so foundational that even non-calisthenics focused athletes have to jump on the calisthenics hype.
You can walk into any mainstream gym and see these exercises and movements on display because they just work, and are likely the best exercises for the job just generally.
In this level, we’d also include bodyweight skills such as Frogstands, L-sits and elbow levers that most learn pretty quickly, and it’s for this reason many athletes that sit in this bracket might not even consider themselves calisthenics athletes at all, and yet you can get very far building strength with the movements here
Level 1 Skills
Hand balancing:
Pike Push Ups
Frog Stand
L-sit
Push:
Dips
Push ups
Elbow Lever
Pull:
Pull Up
Skin the cat
Legs:
Lunges
Squat
Level 2: Basic
These are your bodyweight skills like handstands and 90 degree hold. We have to work that bit harder for, but they come with a bit more pizzazz, and comparatively still don’t take much effort to get down.
And when I say ‘basic’, this is not to be confused with ‘beginner’, because we still need a fair amount of strength and proprioceptive awareness to perform at this level.
Some of the skills here like planche leans and the tuck front lever are the first step on the journey to learning the ridiculous skills we will go through later on, but others, such as the muscle up are often considered by many to be nothing more than a party trick.
Level 2 includes skills like the back lever, a movement that would blow non-calisthenic athletes minds, but anybody who has trained it knows how comparatively easy the back lever is relative to any other straight arm skill
Doing any one of these movements in a high street gym will probably set you out as the weirdo that people will actively avoid, and yet we still have movements in here that the average gym bro may aspire to do
Level 2 Skills
Hand balancing:
Handstand
Push:
Planche Lean
90 degree hold
Pull:
Back Lever
Tuck Front Lever
Muscle Up
Legs:
Sissy Squat
Depth Jump
Level 3: Intermediate
Intermediate is where the overwhelming majority of people who label themselves ‘Calisthenics Athletes’ live, and it’s great . You can have a lot of fun in this level, but breaking out of here is beyond unreal
Somebody outside of the calisthenics sphere may look at a level 3 skill like the straddle front lever and think these are phenomenal athletes, and they’d probably be correct to think so.
This level is where you’ll find weighted calisthenics athletes - Which, can we just agree is a weird category of fitness?
A squat is a bodyweight movement… So would barbell squats be considered weighted calisthenics?
Is every weights exercise just weighted calis… I’m just kidding…
But you know what I mean, right - weighted versions of traditionally bodyweight exercises - Pull ups, dips, push ups - live in level 3.
It’s also the home of the weird in-between skills. The movements that you have to do to become advanced, but if you’re training anywhere but a calisthenics park or your house, people will think you’re high up on the spectrum.
Level 3 skills
Hand balancing:
Handstand shapes
Bent-arm Press
Push:
Tuck Planche
Pull:
Straddle Front Lever
Human Flag
Weighted Pull Up
Legs:
Nordic
Pistol Squat
Level 4: Intermediate +
The calisthenics legs exercises start to drop off at this level - You can make a good case for using various bodyweight exercises to build leg strength with, say, nordics, sissys, depth jumps, but past this level, you’re better off using the best tools for the job; weights.
The calisthenics skills here; Pike press, Dragon squat, etc. take a sharp upward turn in terms of strength and take years of training to get to this level, yet because of social media fitness inflation, there are many that would consider these movements 100% mid.
Straight arm pressing? Meh.
Front Lever? Seen it…
Handstand push up? Yawn!
Level 4 are the skills that 99.99% of people can’t do - will never be able to do, but you will see hundresds of videos on Youtube and instagram of people saying they '“learned how to do them in 30 days”, often with a link to their program in the description.
That being said there is also the opposite problem too - the trap that we as athletes might fall into here which is falling for our own hype.
We get to a point where we can hold a front lever for example, and so believe we can very quickly learn to planche - it’s sister movement, only to remember that level 4 is also where plateaus live and planche is a whole two levels away!
This is also the level where the difficulty perception gets a bit warped.
For example, taking somebody off the street it is difficult to explain to them why an advanced tuck planche is far more challenging than a back
Level 4 Skills
Hand balancing:
Pike Press
Handstand Push Up
V-Sit
Push:
Advance Tuck Planche
Pull:
Front Lever
Legs:
Dragon Squat
Level 5: Advanced
Ok here is where calisthenics athletes start to take the piss!
Level 5 athletes who are just doing their standard training get hate, because people think they’re showing off.
Gravity despises these people too, because they probably make a living out of pretending it doesn’t exist.
I mean, God blessed you with having two arms… what business do you have doing one arm pull ups?!
People can go their entire lives without seeing a level 5 or above calisthenics skill in real life, and yet even the lay person on the street can understand that some of these should only belong in the olympics given the strength needed.
Level 5 Skills
Hand balancing:
90 degree handstand push up
iSit
Push:
Straddle Planche
Pull:
One-Arm pull Up
Legs:
N/A
Level 6: Legendary
“There comes a point in everybody’s life where you wonder if God has favourites, and when you see level 6 skills, you get your answer…'“
This is where legends of the calisthenics space live, and just being able to do 1 of these skills places you in the 1%
Level 6 is also the place where you see the common comment pop up of ‘If I were 5 ft 6 and 150lbs I would do that too’, only to have these excuses swallowed up and slapped down when heavyweight athletes enter the chat.
For Level 6 skills to be attainable, most people will have had to sacrifice other elements of training for sometimes years at a time; forgoing other things they may enjoy, like romantic relationships, or letting their kids go hungry….
Probably worth it though….
Level 6 Skills
Hand balancing:
Manna
One-Arm Handstand
Push:
Planche
Pull:
Front Lever Touch
Legs:
N/A
Level 7: Goated
Forget Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the movements here are at the pinnacle of Maslow’s Jeddah tower!
I’ve been making calisthenics videos for 4 years now, and I have never seen a level 7 skill in the flesh, but if I did - I’d wonder if it were real life AI.
“In this level, you’re automatically a generational talent.”
Most people in this bucket will be former gymnasts or circus performer - or they’re Eastern European… I’m fully convinced gravity works differently over there.
I mean… One-arm handstand pressing… being able to do that just isn’t fair…
To be able to move your body in the ways that level 7 athletes can just shows complete mastery, and even if none of these are the goal for you, we can all be inspired by the work ethic.
Level 7 Skills
Hand balancing:
One-Arm Press
Push:
Planche Press
Planche Push Up
Pull:
Victorian
Legs:
N/A
Whatever level you are at, we have a programme for you, and you can check them out here
