Calisthenics – exemplary exercises, training, effects, effect on health and figure

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If you dream about the body of Hercules, like from mythological Rome, calisthenics is the perfect solution for you. It is a type of strength training that uses the body weight of the exercising person as a load. Find out how to properly perform the exercises to ensure your success in achieving the best results in the shortest possible time.

Calisthenics – what is it?

Everyone wants to be fit and healthy, which is why gyms and health clubs offer a plethora of fitness programs, including strength training, crossfit, Zumba and Pilates. However, there is another free form of exercise known as calisthenics that allows us to tone our muscles with our own body weight. This casual form of exercise is extensive physical training that focuses on exercising with or without minimal equipment.

Calisthenics aims to increase the fitness and flexibility of the body through a series of movements such as pulling, pushing, bending, jumping or rocking, while utilizing your body weight. Besides, performing calisthenics is also beneficial for muscular and aerobic condition, which on the other hand improves psychomotor skills such as balance, agility and coordination.

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Kalistenika — historia

Despite our modern calisthenics, which has deep roots in ancient Greece, the earliest forms of this practice known today date back to the Bronze Age. During this time, people were competing with each other, especially in the form of wrestling.

Back then, body movements were simply done during training and competition. Essentially, exercise was then performed only out of necessity rather than by choice in making an informed training decision.

In ancient Greece, from the XNUMXth century BC to the XNUMXth century AD, sporting events were an integral part of Greek society. When the Olympic Games came into being, they became a huge part of ancient Greek culture, and not only was it an honor to compete, but it gave great bragging rights as such a person was considered the elite and the best of the best.

However, not only athletes practiced calisthenics, Spartans also took part in it. At just 7 years old, the Spartan boy was taken from his home and placed in a Spartan training camp where he trained to be a Spartan soldier. Spartans trained for hours to get into perfect physical condition, practiced gymnastics, running and modern strength training.

In Crete from the fourteenth to the twentieth century BC acrobatics were performed, mainly for entertainment purposes. Back then, there were no mats or safety gear, so getting the exercises right was very important in order not to injure yourself.

Given that handstand and similar movements formed the basis of acrobatics, calisthenics was then technically performed as part of acrobatic patterns.

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Calisthenics for muscle mass

As with any form of resistance training, one of the benefits of calisthenic training is that it allows the user to build muscle mass as long as the conditions are right for hypertrophy to occur.

Muscle gain is the process by which muscle cells grow as a result of exercise. For this to happen, you need to give your muscle fibers enough tension or resistance during training to damage them. After training and muscle rest, new muscle fibers are formed in place of the damaged fibers, which causes muscle growth.

The brain cannot distinguish whether the resistance to the muscles is due to lifting weights or calisthenics, it can only tell if the resistance applied provides enough tension for the muscle to overcome it. Therefore, when the resistance generated during calisthenics training is high enough, it becomes hypertrophic and muscle mass can be built up.

In order to induce hypertrophy, do 8-12 repetitions of calisthenics exercisessuch as pull-ups for 3 sets, giving you a 60-second rest after each set.

As more muscle is built up through calisthenic exercises, the resistance your body must overcome to continue building muscle becomes higher. This is when you can adjust the exercises to add more resistance.

For example, once you’ve mastered push-ups, a basic calisthenics exercise, you can increase the difficulty of the movement by doing push-ups with a decline instead. This can be done by raising your feet on a platform such as a bench or chair, which takes the strain off your feet and places more stress on your arm muscles.

Read: Training to increase muscle mass – three-day, four-day or FBW?

Calisthenics for weight loss

One of the most significant health benefits of calisthenics training is its role in weight management. As already mentioned, calisthenics benefits those trying to increase muscle mass, and increased muscle mass improves metabolism.

Metabolism describes the processes by which molecules in the body are broken down to obtain energy for life processes such as growing, moving, repairing cells, digesting food, and even thinking.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the minimum amount of energy needed for these processes and varies from person to person depending on factors such as weight, height, gender and age.

People with a higher ratio of lean muscle to fat tend to have a higher BMR, meaning they are able to burn more calories at rest. This is because the body uses these calories to repair damage to muscle fibers caused by resistance training. Therefore, it is easier for people with more muscle mass to control their weight without putting too much emphasis on limiting caloric intake.

In addition to increasing muscle mass, continuous exercise can be a form of cardiovascular exercise, which is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. During calisthenics exercise, the heart rate increases, thanks to which oxygen quickly reaches the muscle cells and, consequently, uses more energy.

To do continuous gymnastics, choose 4-6 exercises, each aimed at a different muscle group, and perform them circumferentially (one after the other). Take a short rest (30 seconds to 1 minute), then repeat 3-4 times.

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Calisthenics and injuries and joint stability

Calisthenics exercises are mainly closed kinetic chain exercises. It simply means that your body limb (hand or foot) is in constant contact with a stationary object (bar, floor). As with pull-ups where the hands remain attached to a bar that does not move.

Closed-chain exercises are used in physical therapy because they use multiple joints and work together with multiple muscle groups. For this reason, physical therapists recommend this type of exercise to improve joint endurance.

In addition, the amazing balance and alignment required by gymnastic exercise strengthens and stabilizes the joints. When standing on your hands, you need to constantly make small adjustments, energizing all the muscles in and around your shoulder joints, and supporting your body weight, all within a closed kinetic chain. The result is extremely durable shoulder joints.

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Calisthenics and strengthening the muscles of the body

With calisthenics, different muscle groups can work simultaneously in one exercise. Many types of gym equipment restrict target muscle groups and mainly focus on large muscle groups, while calisthenics develop smaller muscle groups that are often overlooked in stationary exercise equipment.

Also, because they engage many muscle groups at once, you develop muscle memory. Calisthenics also require spine strength. You might be surprised to learn that your spine contains 29 small muscles, all of which are engaged and strengthened by calisthenics.

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Calisthenics for a flat stomach

Calisthenics works amazingly on the abdominal muscles. Compare with regular gym workouts – you usually end up in the gym with a focus on exercising a specific body part. Everything is divided into sections. One day you do leg exercises, one day you do exercises for the chest muscles, the third for the abs, and so on.

The beauty of calisthenics is that the training of the abdominal muscles is integrated with every movement. Keeping your body in line with your movements strongly engages your abdominal muscles.

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The six best calisthenics exercises

All calisthenics exercises are rhythmic and progressive. Without the possibility of injury or pain, doing these exercises increases your endurance, strength and vitality. It improves and provides full control over your body, and thus burns more calories.

All of the listed calisthenics exercises can be performed at least 10-12 times. You can stretch it further depending on your caliber and fitness level.

Calisthenics exercises – Rompers

Being a basic exercise in calisthenics, rompers are the best form of exercise you can do to shed extra calories. It is the most effective exercise for strengthening the body as it provides good cardio allowing better training for the heart and lungs.

Here’s how to best make rompers:

1. first stand up straight with feet together and arms extended to the side,
2. inhale and leap into the air while throwing your legs wide
3. at the same time, raise your arms above your head, you can clap or join your hands,
4. jump up again and fold your hands and feet back together
5. repeat the exercise 30-50 times.

Calisthenics exercises – push-ups

Doing push-ups helps you work on your chest, triceps, and shoulders while strengthening your spine. Push-ups put pressure on your shoulder and back muscles.

Here’s how to do pushups properly:

1. lean on your legs and hands on the floor, place your palms a little wider than your shoulders,
2. straighten your arms and legs,
3. start lowering your body until your chest is almost touching the floor,
4. stop and then push back in the starting position
5. repeat this exercise at least 15 times.

Calisthenics exercises – lunges

Lunging allows you to build strength and stability in your lower body, thereby strengthening your thigh muscles.

Here’s how to do them:

1. first start from the starting position, i.e. stand straight,
2. take a step forward with one foot until your leg reaches a 90-degree angle
3. then lift the front leg to return to the starting position.
4. do 10 to 12 repetitions for each leg.

Calisthenics exercises – bicycle crunches

This is the best exercise for building strong abs and oblique muscles. It will help reduce belly fat and shape it.

Here’s how to make bicycle crunches correctly:

1. first lie flat on your back with your whole body straight. Make the navel retracted and tight,
2. then place your hand behind your head with your elbows facing up,
3. Raise your legs and bend your knees so that your thighs are perpendicular to the ground and your calves are parallel to the ground,
4. While lifting your head up and the upper abdomen, touch your right elbow on your left knee and straighten your right leg at the same time. Make sure your feet don’t touch the floor,
5. Finally, touch your left elbow to your right knee while extending your left leg.
6. do 15-30 repetitions.

Calisthenics exercise – board

This form of calisthenics exercises is derived from push-ups. The main muscle involved in this exercise is the rectus abdominis muscle, especially if the posterior pelvic tilt is maintained.

Here’s how to properly make a plank:

1. start in the plank position with your forearms and toes down on the floor
2. make sure your elbows are directly under your shoulders and your forearms are pointing forward. Your head should be relaxed and you should be looking at the floor
3. now start engaging your abdominal muscles as you pull your navel to your spine. Keep the torso straight and stiff and the body in a straight line from ears to toes, without sagging or bending,
4. make sure your arms are lowered. Your heels should be above the toes,
5. in the beginning, hold on for 10 seconds, and with each day increase to 15, 20, 25 seconds, up to a minute.

Calisthenics exercises – chin-ups

Pull-ups are very beneficial calisthenics exercises that affect the entire upper body. Provides strength and flexibility to the upper body. This exercise works for the muscles of the upper back and arms, especially the biceps, forearms, and arms.

Here’s how to properly perform a pull-up:

1. initially you need to grab the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your palms facing away from you,
2. now use your upper body strength to pull up until your chin is over the bar
3. pause for a moment and finish the exercise by slowly lowering your body back to a hanging position
4. repeat this exercise as many times as you are able to do.

Calisthenics – do you need additional equipment?

One of the greatest benefits of calisthenics training over weight lifting is that it requires little or no equipment.

Cost is a huge barrier to fitness for the average person. In order to participate in fitness, it is often mistakenly assumed that you need to invest in expensive clothing or exercise equipment.

However, this does not apply to those who choose calisthenics as their preferred training method. Simple exercises such as push-ups, planks, and crunches do not require any equipment, and even if the exercises do require equipment such as top-rated chin-up bars, they can be purchased fairly cheaply.

Alternatively, there are plenty of outdoor gyms that are usually found in parks and come with equipment such as chin-up bars that you can use for free.

Since little equipment is required, calisthenics can be performed anywhere, whether you prefer to train outdoors, on the go, or in the comfort of your own home.

Calisthenics doesn’t require you to purchase a gym pass or travel to a specific location to exercise, which means you can save time and money while keeping you active and healthy.