Ask GiryaGirl: Convict Conditioning vs Get Strong – Which Calisthenics Program Should I Follow?

It’s been a while since we’ve had a great question come through the Ask GiryaGirl form! And this is a really good one. Slightly edited to make it a bit more universal–so, hopefully useful to you!

Today’s question is a struggle that a lot of people have–everyone, but especially motivated and experienced fitness enthusiasts. There’s really SO many great programs to follow that it can be difficult to choose and then stick with the one that you’ve chosen. Both of the programs mentioned below are even from the same publisher, Dragon Door!

Which Program? Convict Conditioning or Get Strong?

Q: I have been practicing calisthenics for a while but am having trouble seeing effective and rapid progress. I started with Convict Conditioning and got lost along the way with all kinds of programs. Would it be better to restart CC but not necessarily the very first steps, or try the Kavadlo brothers Get Strong program–then at the end of that continue with Convict Conditioning to arrive at the master stages?

A: When picking a program, the main considerations in my opinion are:

1. What are you wanting to achieve?
2. What time commitment can you make?
3. What programs are most interesting to you–and which are you likely to stick with long enough to see true results?

For instance, while some people like the simplicity of Convict Conditioning, many can get stuck in the “rungs” of the ladders and stall out. It can also get monotonous when this happens and progress can lag. Others are able to make quick gains, depending on their strength to weight ratio, or spending a ton of time with the program, or much more frequently–by adapting the program to their own needs. A secret about Convict Conditioning is that the progression standards are not as carved in stone as they appear to be in the book–something that Paul Wade mentions in later articles, which are unfortunately sometimes hard to find. So, if you are stuck at a particular place for weeks in Convict Conditioning, it’s time to switch up the sets and reps, and move forward. But, itcan be difficult to know how, when, where to do this.

The Get Strong program is very well structured, and should definitely keep you on a very good path for a while. As for continuing beyond it, at that point you may be inspired to write your own program, or have some additional ideas on how to structure Convict Conditioning based workouts starting with the middle-level moves and beyond. Get Strong will also give you something very specific to work with immediately, and a progression plan that seems to work for most people as written.

Past both of these programs, it’s important to think about the progress you want to achieve – is it overall strength? Skill improvement with the moves? Are you working towards and particular moves that need plenty of preparation (examples: one arm pull-up, human flag, etc.)? General health and strength for other activities? Often thinking about the end result, or the effects you wish to achieve can help choose a program as well.

Hope that helps!