Whether you’re a gym-going veteran or just starting your fitness adventure, you’ve probably heard of calisthenics. According to Calisthenics Worldwide, an online professional educational platform for athletes as well as calisthenics enthusiasts, it’s been around for centuries, is fabulously beneficial to your overall strength and vigor, and may already be part of your routine.
Joining a Calisthenics programs is a great option for beginners as they start with calisthenics. And if you’re already experienced in fitness, there are plenty of progressive exercises to challenge your strength. Read on to learn more about calisthenics in detail.
Calisthenics Equipment
One of the many advantages of this training style is that you don’t need any equipment to get started. This is a great strength workout for beginners, great for home workouts, and a great way to stay active while on vacation.
Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, change your routine, or feel even more challenged, a few simple pieces of equipment can take your workout to the next level. These include:
Parallettes: These are two poles on a stand placed parallel to each other.
Pull-up bar: A horizontal bar can be used for exercises like hanging knee raises, pull-ups, and muscle-ups.
Resistance band: A thick rubber band with variable resistance can be used to make the exercise more difficult.
Calisthenics Vs. Weight Training
Calisthenics uses body weight as resistance, while strength training uses external weights such as dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, and gym machines to build strength. Calisthenics and strength training are both great ways to build strength and can be done on their own or as a complement. It really depends on what kind of training you enjoy.
Progressing in strength training requires gradually increasing the amount of weight you can lift using progressive overloads while progressing in calisthenics means tackling more advanced exercises and variations. Once you’ve mastered the toe push-up, you can challenge yourself.
Advantages of Calisthenics
Incorporating gymnastics exercises into your daily routine can benefit your body and complement your lifestyle in many ways, which are as follows:
- You don’t require much apparatus to move ahead with calisthenic exercises. These workouts can be done anywhere.
- Many calisthenics exercises, like squats and push-ups, are easy for beginners to learn and don’t put them at much risk of getting hurt.
- Calisthenics training is an easy full-body workout combining a series of upper- and lower-body exercises. Maintaining balance and good technique requires engaging the core in many gymnastic movements.
- In addition to many push-up variations, you can increase the difficulty of your squats by adding oscillation or trying single-leg squats. You can also increase your time in the squat or speed for explosive strength and athletic performance.
The Bottom Line
Calisthenics is a type of strength drill that uses the body’s resistance and pressure to build up muscles and boost coordination, endurance, and flexibility. In fact, all common bodyweight workouts are gymnastic exercises such as squats, push-ups, lunges, and crunches. The above is a guide to calisthenics and its benefits for your reference.
