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 in the following 4-day cycle:

Rings Workout 1 (50m):

1. [10m, filmed, 2 sets] tuck planche on rings, 4m rest
2. [7.5m, filmed, 2 sets] iron cross (parallel grip, loose fingers, lowered shoulders, tight chest), 3m rest
3. [7.5m, filmed] 6m rest, strict back lever
4. [15m, 2 supersets] tuck front lever to L-sit chinup rotations, 1m rest, 50lb band ring dips, 5m rest
5. [10m] legs/cardio (shrimp squats, exercise bike, run, whatever)

Rings Workout 2 (50m):

1. [7.5m, filmed, 2 sets] iron cross (parallel grip, loose fingers, lowered shoulders, tight chest), 3m rest
2. [7.5m, filmed] 6m rest, strict back lever
3. [5m, 10 sets] back lever smooth entrance, 20s rest
4. [15m, 3 supersets] 5x (full-depth iron cross hold with 2x50lb band assistance, 15s rest), 3m rest
5. [15m, 3 supersets] one-leg plank emulating back lever strain, 30s rest, switch to other leg, 1m rest

Non-Rings Workout 1 (35m):

1. [15m, 2 supersets] handstand pushups, 1m rest, shoulder-width pullups, 5m rest
2. [10m, 2 sets] 100lb-weighted pushups, 4m rest
3. [10m, 2 supersets] resistance band deadlifts, 3m rest

Non-Rings Workout 2 (35m):

1. [15m, 2 supersets] handstand pushups, 1m rest, shoulder-width pullups, 5m rest
2. [10m, 2 sets] 100lb-weighted pushups, 4m rest
3. [10m] legs/cardio (shrimp squats, exercise bike, run, whatever)