Calisthenics Leaderboard: Chase Records With Friends and at Your Park

Why a little competition helps

Breaking a record is motivating. Breaking your best friend's record is even more so. A leaderboard turns your training into a small game: suddenly you don't step up to the bar for “a few pull-ups” – you step up to overtake Max, who's been three reps ahead of you for two weeks.

It works for the same reason progress tracking works: you have a concrete number to beat. Why that matters so much is explained in How to break a training plateau.

The friends leaderboard

Under Feed → Rankings → Friends you see who's ahead for every exercise – push-ups, pull-ups, dips and whatever else you train. Use the search to quickly find the exercise you're battling over. Tap an exercise to see how the records have developed.

Bodyweight records and records with added weight are listed separately. That keeps the comparison fair: anyone training with a weight vest gets their own list.

Place rankings: who's number one at the park?

The same people often train at the same calisthenics park – but who actually does the most? Place rankings show you. Under Rankings → Places you'll find the places near you where people train with Strive Up, each with its own ranking per exercise.

• Total reps – who puts in the most work at this place
• Best set – who does the most reps in one go
• Last 30 days or all time – so newcomers get a shot at first place too

A place shows up as soon as at least two people have trained there. And whoever is next to you in the ranking might be your next training partner: you can send others a friend request right from the ranking – as long as they take part with their name.

Taking part – with your name, anonymously or not at all

For place rankings, you decide how you take part:

• With name: Others see your name and can send you a friend request.
• Anonymous: You count, but others only see “Anonymous”.
• Off: Your workouts don't count at any place. Turning it off deletes everything stored for it.

You only see places and their rankings if you take part yourself. To do that, the app notes your location once when you start a workout – not throughout the whole session. The friends leaderboard follows the same principle: you see your friends' records when you share your own.

Keep it fair: only clean reps count

A leaderboard is only as good as the reps behind it. A half pull-up with a big swing is quick to do, but it earns you neither strength nor respect at the park. Before you go for first place, check your technique:

• How to do pull-ups – full range of motion, chin over the bar
• Perfect push-up technique – chest to just above the floor
• How to do dips – deep enough without overloading your shoulders

It's even more fun when you train together. Learn how to meet up with friends in Strive Up in the article on training with friends.