How to Customize the Hybrid Routine
Let’s learn how to personalize the routine for your needs and goals!
When should I be making changes to the routine?
Perhaps you’ve been following the routine for a while but you’re feeling like you could be doing more. After all, the website specifically states:
These routines were designed as a foundation upon which users can supplement.
Now, what exactly that means is up to you. Learning calisthenics skills, improving your endurance, building up a certain muscle, adding the bonus exercises from the website for their individual benefits - there can be many reasons to want to expand your training routine.
Maybe it’s none of that!
Perhaps you’re new to the routine but lack some of the equipment and are wondering how you could make up for that. Or maybe it’s just the opposite - you’ve been following the routine for quite a while, you have all the equipment you need (and more!), and are wondering which alternatives you could use to add some variety to your training.
Regardless of why you find yourself reading this blog, let’s talk about how to best make adjustments so that you can get the most out of your training!
Tip: It helps to write things down during the planning process.
The Hybrid Movement Patterns
Let’s first start by roughly breaking down the exercises in the Hybrid Routine into the movement patterns they represent, so that we can better understand which replacements fit.
Note: This section is for those who want the details - the method behind our madness! If you're just skimming this article for some substitutions, skip to the “Exercise Substitutions” section below!
Pushups: Horizontal Push
Pullups: Vertical Pull
Horizontal Pullups: Horizontal Pull
Leg Raises: Core Compression and Hip Flexion
Bridges: Hip and Spinal Extension (And a bit of Vertical Pushing, too!)
Twists: Rotation
Alternative Exercises
Now that’s quite something to wrap your head around, but don’t worry. By listing some example exercises, we’ll make sense of it! Let’s get right into it:
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Dumbbells: Dumbbell Bench Press
Cable: Cable Chest Press
Machine: Machine Chest Press
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Bodyweight: Dolphin Pushup
Dumbbell: Overhead Press
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Dumbbells: Bent-Over Row
Cable: Cable Row
Machine: Machine Row
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Cable: Cable Lat Pulldown
Machine: Lat Pulldown Machine
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Barbell: Barbell Back Squat
Machine: Hack Squat
Smith Machine: Smith Machine Back Squat
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Cable: Cable Crunch
Machine: Ab Crunch Machine
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Bodyweight: Seated Leg Raise
Cable: Cable Leg Raise
Machine: Hip Flexor Machine
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Barbell: Hip Thrust
Dumbbell: Romanian Deadlift
Machine: 45 Degree Back Raise
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Dumbbell: Jefferson Curl
Machine: 45 Degree Back Raise
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Cable: Woodchops
Bodyweight: Thread the Needle
Bodyweight: Open Book Stretch
Exercise Substitutions
For all of you that are not too fussed about the mechanics of the exercises and are just looking for some alternatives, here you go:
Pushups
Bench Press (Dumbbells, barbells)
Chest Press (Machine, cable)
Dips
Pullups
Bent-Over Rows (Dumbbells, barbells, or also things like a backpack!)
Lat Pulldowns (Both machine and cable variants work just fine)
Cable or Machine Rows
Elbow Press (presented by today’s sponsor: Hybrid Calisthenics https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q4k1SPtG8mA)
Leg Raises
Hollow Body Holds (In case the dynamic movement hurts, these can help!)
V-Up
Seated Leg Raises (This helps build end-range hip flexor strength)
Cable or Machine Crunches
Squats
Lunges (Both with weight and without)
Cossack Squats
Split Squats (Also Bulgarian Split Squats for that extra stretch on the hip flexors)
Hack Squats
Leg Press
Step Ups
Bridges
Reverse Hyperextensions (Bodyweight or machines, both work!)
ATG Split Squats (For the hip flexor aspect, not so much for the back)
Hip Thrusts (Similar strength demands, but without the mobility requirements)
Upward Facing Dog (For the mobility aspect, but less so for strength)
Twists
Open Book Stretch
Thread the Needle (Focuses more on the upper back than the hips)
Cable Woodchop (This helps us create a lot of rotational strength!)
World’s Greatest Stretch (This yet again brings us the spinal rotation, but it also adds hip flexibility aspects through stretching the hamstrings and hip flexors)
There are quite a few options laid out here so I hope you will be able to find something that fits into your life :)
Now, in case you don’t want to substitute exercises but are instead looking to add something to the routine, the upcoming chapters are the ones for you!
Working Towards Skills
In case you want to learn any calisthenics skills alongside the routine, you may be wondering how to best include training for them. Wonder no more! I will give you some guidelines:
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Perform skill work before your regular strength training. It’s when you have the most strength/balance/coordinative ability to allocate towards improving your skills.
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As to not interfere with your regular training too much, perform skill training on the days that fit the needed muscle groups. Otherwise, you may run into problems with recovering in time.
For example, Planche training via planche leans or pseudo-planche pushups should be performed on Mondays and Thursdays, before the pushups.
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Certain skills may be trained more frequently, depending on how demanding they are on your body. If, for example, you’re practicing your handstand balance, you can likely do so every other day or even more - as long as it doesn’t compromise the strength and stability of your wrists and shoulders!
Very strength-focused skills such as the front lever do not fall into this category. They’re better off being trained like strength skills - in this case, 2 times a week alongside the Pullups.
Remember what I mentioned in Point 1: skill work comes first, regardless of whether it’s strength focused or not.
In case the skills you want to work towards have to do with flexibility, I recommend performing static stretches after your regular training. That way you’re already nice and warmed up and won’t negatively affect your other training.
Combining Weightlifting and Calisthenics
In case you find yourself really enjoying both bodyweight training and training at the gym, it may be worthwhile to create a routine in which you can combine the two!
But wait, how do we do that?
Yet again, it depends on what you prioritize and how you want to set it all up. We’ve already talked about replacements for exercises from the routine, so there is an option to swap out some of the calisthenics with some weightlifting.
For example, you might swap out a Pullup with a Lat Pulldown.
Alternatively, weightlifting can be used to supplement the routine by working on aspects that aren’t as directly covered, such as overhead pressing via machines, or dumbbell and barbell shoulder presses. You might also want to strengthen the hip hinging motion via variations of deadlifts.
Or, maybe just to enhance smaller aspects of one's physique, giving more direct work to the biceps, the hamstrings, the side delts, etc.
What you end up making of it really is up to you, depending on your needs and goals. I’d just recommend adding things slowly over time to make sure you’re not overworking yourself. More information on how to tell how much is too much can be found later in this blog!
Combining Endurance Training with the Routine
Whether it’s running, walking, cycling, swimming, or other types of cardio, they can all coexist with the Hybrid Routine. But there are some considerations to make yet again, as any sort of activity will always come with some level of exhaustion and thus may impact the rest of our training, so:
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Let’s first consider the amount and type of endurance training you’re doing. How intense is your endurance training? How long will you train for each session?
Light activity, such as walking or a gentle jog, could be fit in before performing the Hybrid Routine for the day. It would act as more of a warmup rather than something exhausting that we want to save for after the workout.
However, we want to run for a long time or at a higher intensity, it’s best not to do so right before our Hybrid Routine training. It would negatively impact our ability to give the strength training our best efforts.
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Next, let’s think about what we prioritize. Think of it this way - where do you want to spend most of your energy?
We have the most energy at the start of our workout. As we go through our workout, we are depleting our energy stores.
If endurance training is what you really love and care for, and the Hybrid Routine is just something you do on the side not to neglect the strength and mobility aspects of your fitness, then it’s totally okay to perform it first.
As always, the training with our highest priority should be first in our training sessions.
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To get the best of both worlds, it’s be best to separate the two styles of training.
Of course, this requires you to have the time to do so. But if you do, you could perform the hybrid routine early in the day and then go for a run in the evening - or the other way around!
Organizing your workouts this way will leave enough time in between training sessions to allow us to recover, replenish our energy stores, and give each style of training our best effort.
The Hybrid Calisthenics Bonus Exercises
As you can see on the website, there are additional exercises that Hampton suggests as useful additions to the existing routine. They could serve as just bonus exercises to give yourself more of a challenge, but also as substitutions for some of the exercises in the routine, for the sake of variety, accessibility, or simply personal preference!
They are categorized as such:
Clutch Flags
Elbow Lever
Explosives
Dips
Lunges
Calf Raises
Let’s go over the benefits of each and how they could be added to the routine.
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Dips are a pushing exercise, similar to pushups in benefits and muscles worked. However, they are more vertical in nature, meaning that they help strengthen scapular depression (pulling your shoulder blades down). This is good for overall shoulder health and can be very useful when working towards skills like the L-sit.
Due to their similarity to Pushups, I’d recommend performing them on the same days: Mondays and Thursdays.
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In terms of the type of motion and the muscles worked, Lunges are similar to squats. However, they do come with additional benefits in terms of stability for the ankles and hips. They also have mobility benefits for the calves and hip flexors when they’re performed with a deep range of motion.
Due to their similarity to Squats, I’d recommend performing them on the same days: Tuesdays and Fridays.
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Compared to everything else in the routine, this is more of an isolation movement. The reason why we would want to add calf raises to our training is because even though both squats and lunges use the calves to some degree, it may not be enough to fully stimulate our calves to grow stronger and bigger past a certain point. In addition to that, performing calf raises with a full range of motion can help us improve our ankle mobility (particularly dorsiflexion) and may thus assist us in performing other movements with better form.
Due to them also training muscles in the legs, I’d recommend performing them on the same days as we do Squats: Tuesdays and Fridays.
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Unlike the previously mentioned exercises, Clutch Flags are not really like anything else in the routine, so they can make a great addition due to that fact.
What are they good for you wonder? Not only do they give your arms some additional work, but they’re also a great tool to work the sides of your body, such as your obliques and hip adductors. Sort of like a side plank, just with a sprinkle of magic!
Due to them primarily using the obliques and our arms as static support, I’d recommend performing them on the same day as Bridges and Twists: Wednesdays and Saturdays.
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Like Clutch Flags, this exercise is not really similar to anything in the routine. However, it does require us to maintain a straight bodyline and to support ourselves with our pushing muscles, so we can count this exercise as a push skill. Apart from strengthening your core, the elbow lever will also help you get a feeling for supporting yourself with nothing but your hands, as well as just being a cool skill to have in your repertoire!
Due to it being a pushup skill, I’d recommend performing it on the same day as Pushups: Mondays and Thursdays.
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While this time around we’re not dealing with a specific motion, we are dealing with a different type of training. Regardless of which explosive exercises you choose to add to your routine, I recommend performing them before the Hybrid Routine, just like we do with skill work. The main benefits of performing explosive movements are to increase your speed and power. This could be explosive pullups, jumping, sprinting, explosive pushups, etc.
Due to it not being one specific motion, decide on where to fit them into your week depending on which muscle groups they use and train. Just like we did when talking about skills.
Up next we’ll talk about rest and recovery - it’s a very important part of planning a routine!
How much can I add?
After having talked so much about what to add and how to add it, you may be enticed to create a training plan where you do absolutely everything!
But hold on a second, you can’t recover from all of that! So where do we draw the line?
You might not like this answer, but it comes down to your personal ability to recover. And this depends on quite a few factors:
Your genetics
Your diet
Your nutrition
Your training experience
Your general health and well-being
Hmm, there’s a lot to consider… but it’s a good thing that we don’t need to think about it all in great detail and perform some crazy mental gymnastics to figure out what to do!
As I have before, I’ll yet again give you some guidelines to help you on your journey:
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Start with the routine as a baseline and gradually add exercises over time. This way we can much more easily notice if we added something that’s too much for us to recover from.
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The easiest way to tell if you’re doing the right amount of training is by making sure that you’re gradually making progress over time.
If you notice that you can’t make progress anymore for a prolonged time, or that you’re even regressing, it might indicate that you’re not recovered enough. In that case, you can then make adjustments to your training or recovery
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Keep in mind that sometimes we can recover from a routine for a certain period of time but then eventually can’t anymore since it was too fatiguing for us to sustainably recover from.
So it can be a good idea to wait and train for a couple of weeks before adding new things, just like I’ve mentioned in Point 1.
Of course, if you notice that your nutrition, sleep or overall health could use some improvements, I highly recommend tending to that, regardless of if you intend to add more training or not.
As a general recommendation, most people do well with about 4-7 exercises per session, so that’s at least double what’s in the Hybrid Routine. But how many exercises are right for you depends on which exercises they are, as some are simply more fatiguing than others, as well as of course how much you can recover from.
For example, mobility exercises and isolations are much less fatiguing than a deadlift.
However, more isn’t necessarily better, as the quality of your training is very important and should thus come first. Make sure that what you do is of high quality before you try to add more.
Keep the above guidelines in mind and you will, over time, find what’s right for you! :)
Summary
So, to conclude everything we’ve talked about in some simple key points:
Perform the exercises that you prioritize (as well as skill, balance training, and explosive training) first in your training session.
Schedule exercises in accordance with the muscle groups being trained, so as to not disturb your recovery.
Add things gradually and ensure that you’re not overworking yourself.
No matter what you want to add to the Hybrid Routine, be it sports, cardio, skills, weightlifting, or mobility training, I hope that with everything I’ve provided, you feel confident doing so!
