As a calisthenics athlete, one individual who you should know by heart is Hannibal For King.

Being one of the main pioneers of this new age calisthenics movement, Hannibal is almost always a main reason why other athletes started training with their own body weight.

Here in Barstarzz, one of the most popular videos we ever made was with Hannibal himself, where he shows us what he did for training when he was just getting started.

Known today as the “Around The World”, this is a very basic cycle-type workout routine that every beginner level calisthenics athlete should do.

Why is it so important?

The reason why this routine is a must for beginners has to do with the fact that it is composed of the 3 main upper body calisthenics exercises:

• Pull Ups
• Dips
• Push Ups

Being so simplistic, it allows you to create a very strong foundation, that in the future can be built upon with more advanced exercises.

To see Hannibal’s own progression to this beginner routine, click here.

As for today, what I am going to show you is the video where Hannibal demonstrates the “Around The World”, followed by an infographic of the routine.

Giving you the infographic, what you should now do is save it to your phone or computer, so you have it with you for your next workout session.

In addition to this infographic, you can also check out our “The 500 Workout” infographic as well.

Okay, so now that you know what today’s article will be about, it’s time to get started!

Ready?

The Video

As you can see, the routine is done as a cycle, and is meant to be done as many times as you can, within your preset workout time.

What does this mean?

Before anything, let me mention that the rep numbers are as follows:

• 5 Pull Ups
• 5 Dips
• 10 Push Ups

Knowing this, lets say you want to go to the park or the gym for an hour…

In this case, you are simply going to do 5 pull ups, 5 dips, and 10 push ups.

After this, you rest as much as you need, and do it again.

Remember, the goal is to go “around the world” as many times as you can within that 1 hour you have, so your rest should be as little as possible.

In addition to this, you should also be aware of Hannibal’s specific version, and how you can adjust it a bit more.

For Hannibal, the exact way he did it was as follows:

• 5 Close-Grip Pull Ups
• 5 Regular Dips
• 10 Diamond Push Ups

For this third exercise, he even puts one foot over the other during his first set, and and alternates with the other foot for the second set, and so on.

If you want to imitate Hannibal completely, this is what you do.

However, if you want to be even more basic, you can do the regular pull up, regular dip, and regular push up.

Assuming you are a beginner, you will still get a great workout, and will be well on your way to more advanced versions later on.

Now, regardless of which way you choose to go, you should always prioritize proper form:

Proper Form | Pull Ups

In this case, it means locking out when at the lowest point of the pull up, and bringing your chin over the bar.

In addition to that, make sure you are not swinging your legs, or doing any sort of kipping motion to help you up.

As Hannibal says: “If you’re going to start, start right.”

Do your pull ups right, and your results will be better.

Proper Form | Dips

For your dips, the main thing is to start out fully vertical.

As you heard in the video, the more advanced Hannibal got, the more he would do leaning dips, which put greater pressure on your shoulders.

However, as a beginner, this added pressure can be so much, that it can even injure you.

Having said that, stay upright, descend in a controlled fashion, and explode back up.

Proper Form | Push Ups

Lastly, to do the push ups like Hannibal was doing, you are going to go with the diamond version.

This is meant to put a greater emphasis on your triceps, and the way you do that is by placing your hands right next to each other.

On top of that, Hannibal says to lean forward (also to train your shoulder more), which in this case you can always try out.

If it is too difficult, do it normally, and progress to it.

As for the legs, Hannibal train his stability by putting one foot over the other.

Of course, if you put your right foot over your left on your first cycle, on the second one you should be alternating feet.

Try it out the Hannibal way, and see how it feels for you.

And now for your infographic…

Infographic

Click on the image below to see a larger view:

Click here to view an enlarged version of this infographic.

Conclusion

I hope you liked “Around The World” video, as well as the infographic that I made for you.

If you’re just getting started, I am sure that this workout is worth keeping.

Me being a certified personal trainer with an emphasis on calisthenics, I can assure you that this routine works very well for starters.

This said, let me know what you thought of the routine, as well as the infographic.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below, and I’ll answer them as best as I can. 🙂

So, how many cycles will you complete?