Calisthenics

Calisthenics is a form of exercise consisting of a variety of movements which exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as running, standing, grasping, pushing, etc.

These exercises are often performed rhythmically and with minimal equipment, as bodyweight exercises.

They are intended to increase strength, fitness and flexibility, through movements such as pulling, pushing, bending, jumping, or swinging, using one’s bodyweight for resistance.

Calisthenics can provide the benefits of muscular and aerobic conditioning, in addition to improving psychomotor skills such as balance, agility and coordination.

Urban calisthenics are a form of street workout; calisthenics groups perform exercise routines in urban areas. Individuals and groups train to perform advanced calisthenics skills such as muscle-ups, levers, and various freestyle moves such as spins and flips.

• Time Efficiency

Fitting in time to exercise is one of the biggest barriers to sustaining a regular workout routine.

Driving to the gym, finding a park, then spending half your time waiting around for exercise equipment is a luxury that many people just can’t afford.Contrast that with bodyweight training. You always have your gym with you.

You don’t need any extra equipment and you can work out in a minimum of space. Those advantages are huge when it comes to getting your workout done – they add up to ‘no excuses’.

• Circuit Training

One unique benefit of no-equipment exercises is that they make it much more convenient to take advantage of a valuable workout technique called circuit training. In circuits, you do one set of each exercise in the routine before doing a second set of any exercise.

Moving quickly from exercise to exercise allows you to get more work done in less time – and this is an even more efficient process when there’s no weight to adjust or station to set up.

Circuit training is also a fantastic way to enhance the fat loss effects of resistance training. It boosts your metabolism to burn calories like crazy – all the while, allowing you to build, shape, and define every muscle group in your body.

• It Works the Core More Effectively

When you exercise on gym equipment, your body usually gets locked into a position. One goal of this positioning is to allow you to isolate the working muscle group.

For example, when you are doing a standing calf raise, you position yourself on a machine that very effectively isolates the gastrocnemius calf muscle.but when you a do a calisthenic version of the same movement – in this case a standing one legged calf raise – your body will be having to work to balance itself as you perform the exercise.

This brings the muscles of the core into play as they stabilize the lower body. Even exercises like push-ups activate the abdominals, turning every move into a core move.

• It Help You Improve Your Sports Performance

Plyometrics is a type of calisthenics training that involves jumping vertically and horizontally. As well as providing you with a great fat burning workout, plyometrics will also simulate the actions required to perform many sports.

The quick lateral sprint changes required for basketball, football, and hockey can be trained for using plyometrics.

In fact, any sport that requires explosive moves, where you utilize the body’s stretch shortening cycle to increase resistance and build muscle power, are ideal for this type of calisthenics training.

• They Are Shorter than Gym Workouts

When you exercise in the gym there is quite a lot of downtime, even if you don’t have to wait for equipment. Changing weight plates, walking from one side of the gym to the other to use the next piece of gear, and adjusting handles all eat into your time between exercises.

This can quickly blow out your rest between sets. In turn, you’ll see a lessening of intensity as your muscles get more time to return to normal. Training like this is far from ideal when you are trying to maximally work your muscles.

When you train with calisthenics, however, there is no adjustment of weight or equipment between sets or having to walk to get to the next piece of training equipment.

Because your body is your gym, you can go straight into your next set without any delays. This allows you to maintain – even increase – the intensity of your working sets.

Because there is far less downtime you will find that the overall length of your workout will be shorter than if you were exercising with weights.

In fact, most people will find that their workouts will be cut in half when they make the transition from conventional weight training to calisthenics workouts.