Calisthenics , a name that derives from the Greek words kallos and sthénos (beauty and strength), is a type of free body training that aims to increase brute strength, improve the flexibility and mobility of our joints, especially when subjected to high effort, and the development of muscular endurance.
Although the origins of this discipline are ancient (dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks), the effectiveness of its techniques and exercises remains valid today and confirmed by numerous medical and sporting studies and research. The results obtainable by practicing Calisthenics are so surprising that they capture the attention and interest of various types of athletes: Calisthenics is in fact used by soldiers, athletes, competitive athletes, bodybuilders who want to increase their joint mobility.
But why do so many prefer this type of training? What does calisthenics training consist of? Let’s find out in this article!
Calisthenics muscle training: aerobic and anaerobic
One of the focal points of Calisthenics is to avoid using equipment such as barbells, dumbbells and other common gym tools. A good workout is also distinguished by the relationship that exists between the amount of free body exercises and exercises that require the use of support tools.
In the parks there are now various areas used for the practice of Calisthenics , equipped with structures made up of various types of bars, perfect for exercises such as chin-ups, dips and push ups.
The physique will become powerful, thanks to the increase in muscle mass, but also agile through free body training , simultaneously aerobic and anaerobic. Yes, because Calisthenics has this characteristic whereby the activity is dual and allows you to burn many calories and, at the same time, develop muscle mass.
The calisthenics method is related to artistic gymnastics, of course, but also to high-effort exercises, working on a dual track. The kalòs part carefully executes the movements with the correct posture, while the sthenos part concerns the functionality that increases strength.
Calisthenics exercises in the open air
Calisthenics represents a real street workout, known in jargon as Street WorkOut . The latter involves simple and repeatable movements anywhere and at any time, taking advantage of what surrounds us, such as a bench, a raised wall, a stretching bench and so on.
It is good to remember that Calisthenics has long been divided into fitness practice and actual sports practice.
Those who practice Calisthenics exercises in a fitness version obviously have the aim of gaining lean mass and toning it, improving posture and joint and muscle mobility. By varying the repetition of exercises you can work to increase mass and strength, toning and defining.
You must work according to functional performance, at least 3 times a week to obtain concrete results.
Those who practice it as a sport will have to train with at least 5 sessions per week, lasting at least 2 hours. Clearly, to achieve such training it is necessary to possess an already notable state of strength, with strong gymnastic ability strengthened over time through continuous workouts.
In any case, let’s see the basic exercises to start from and maintain over time. You can start by hanging from a bar and with two supports like parallel bars, simple constructions with which to practice most free body exercises.
First of all, adequate stretching is needed to facilitate the mobility of the joints , then we proceed by following training paths according to needs.
How to understand when you are ready for calisthenics training
There’s no need to hide it, Calisthenics is one, if not the most difficult, of the types of training that exist today. Since the vast majority of exercises are performed free body, those who approach this discipline, starting from scratch, will find a very long number of barriers to overcome.
Lifting your own body weight is absolutely not easy, on the contrary. It often requires skill, perseverance, joint mobility and a lot of strength. For this reason, the most Calisthenics experts recommend approaching training slowly, starting to prepare your body and mind by following a precise routine. It is important not to jump straight into performing the first exercise we learn, as we could quickly incur a serious injury.
Here’s what to do to prepare your body for a Calisthenics workout:
- Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet on the ground, then extend your arms behind your head and palms up. Extend your arms at floor level to always improve your initial mobility.
- Standing on a step or step, bend your back forward and place your hands lower than your feet.
- Perform push-ups, see if you can perform a fluid movement without bending your knees.
- Perform horizontal pull-ups to see if your back and biceps muscles can sustain a repetition rate.
- Standing, bend your left elbow up and your right elbow down, holding your right hand with your left hand. The optimal movement is the one for which the grip is firm.
Calisthenics exercises
Once you understand whether you are able to start Calisthenics preparation, you must prepare a work divided into warm-up, session with free body exercises and cool-down.
The breakdown is 10 minutes of running to warm up, 40 minutes of activity and 10 minutes of stretching and mobility for decompression.
Each Calisthenics exercise sets in motion a large kinetic chain through the performance of multi-joint movements, therefore training multiple muscles at the same time.
Furthermore, it burns a lot of calories, especially if the recovery time between exercises is short. Those who work on strength must do longer recoveries, between a minute and a half and 3 minutes. To increase muscle mass, however, the duration goes from 45 seconds to a minute and a half, while resistance is developed with reduced times between 30 seconds and a maximum of one minute.
A Total Body Calisthenics program can include basic exercises as we have seen with chin-ups, push-ups, squats and planks . In this case, the plank consists of a static exercise that can be performed well in the open air, in which you must keep the body in the correct position. Lying down, with your abdomen facing down, bend your elbows at 90º, aligning them with your shoulders and keeping your abdominals contracted.
Resting only on the forearms and toes, the straight line of the body starts from the head and reaches the heels; you need to rely only on your forearms and toes.
You need to stay in this position for several minutes, starting from a couple of minutes up to 5 or more minutes in a row.
Parallel exercises
Another optimal exercise is the so-called Hollow Position, both for activating the abdominals and for obtaining correct posture. You work at the level of the pelvis and shoulder blades, placing the pelvis backwards: lie supine on the ground, insert your hand under the arched lumbar area and contract the abdominals and buttocks, simultaneously pushing the lumbar area towards the floor. You then apply pressure on the hand and work with the retroversion of the pelvis – flat lumbar curve and pelvis rotated backwards.
The most complex exercises of Calisthenics, however, are those which are performed in a second phase on the bars and parallel bars, present in many parks.
By modulating the efforts, tuck exercises and the so-called straddle can be performed on the parallel bars.
The tuck planche is a Calisthenics exercise that is performed by keeping your arms on the parallel bars and your legs raised and gathered towards your pelvis, for at least 20 seconds. It’s not easy to lean forward, to get your hips up to shoulder height. In the advanced version, you can try with the knees moved forward, so that the effort increases in intensity.
