Throughout high school, I started each morning by going down to the basement to lift weights for an hour. But this routine fell apart as my schedule became more hectic during and after college, and eventually I stopped exercising altogether. Six years later, after losing all my strength and muscle mass, I set out to recover it.

While it wasn't feasible to recreate the old environment of a basement gym, I identified the key factors that led to success in that environment, and realized that they could be accomplished in a bedroom with gymnastic rings hanging from a pull-up bar.

Initially I focused on simply getting back into shape: getting ripped and then building mass.

Then I started taking things more seriously, trying to maximize performance on various calisthenics. I've started posting on YouTube to hold myself accountable for making progress. It really helps to see video evidence of tiny improvements compounding into massive long-term gains.

While my main goal is just to have fun staying fit, I do want to maintain a decent physique and see how far I can go with exercises that feel like they're in my natural wheelhouse.

Daily morning workouts: Non-Rings on most days, except once a week do Non-Rings (Shoulder-Light), Rings A, Rings B on 3 consecutive days.

Rings A (45m):

1. [10m, filmed, sets until form-failure] advanced tuck planche on rings (low shoulders, hollow body), 1m rest
2. [15m, filmed, sets until form-failure] iron cross on rings (parallel grip, tight chest, lowered shoulders), 30s rest
3. [5m, filmed, sets until form-failure] pushups on rings, 30s rest
4. [5m, filmed, sets until form-failure] tuck front lever, 30s rest
5. [10m, filmed, 2 sets] back lever, 5m rest

Rings B (45m):

1. [15m, filmed, sets until form-failure] pushups on rings, 30s rest
2. [10m, filmed, sets until form-failure] iron cross on rings (parallel grip, tight chest, lowered shoulders), 30s rest
3. [10m, filmed, sets until form-failure] tuck front lever, 30s rest
4. [10m, filmed, 2 sets] back lever, 5m rest

Non-Rings (25m):

1. [10m, 3 supersets] 1-arm half-chinups to failure, forward-leaning dips, 2m rest
2. [10m, 3 supersets] wide pullups to failure, HS pushups, 2m rest
3. [5m] skater lunges or alternating glute bridge kicks

Non-Rings (Shoulder-Light) (25m):

1. [10m, 4 supersets] 1-arm half-chinups to failure, tricep kickbacks, 2m rest
2. [10m, 4 supersets] wide pullups to failure, 2m rest
3. [5m] skater lunges or alternating glute bridge kicks