The Ultimate Guide to Calisthenics (with workout plan)

Introduction – Start Here:

Discover the secrets of body weight training and how it can help you become stronger, fitter, and healthier you.  Learn the best exercises for each muscle group and how to combine them into an effective and time-saving workout.

With modern life being so busy, it can often be difficult to find the time, let alone have the motivation, to workout.

Calisthenics is a great, enjoyable way to train the body to become stronger and more fit. In this article you will be learning why people all over the world are adopting calisthenics as a way of life and their preferred way of training.  With that said, let’s dive deeper into the world of body weight training and explore the culture of Calisthenics.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn about the best body weight exercises for each muscle group and how to combine them to create a workout, that works for you.

 

1. What Even Is Calisthenics

Calisthenics is the art and practice of training exclusively with just your body or with minimal equipment.  Yow will be fighting gravity, as well as learning new skills, to build and sculpt your body. You don’t need the gym, because you are the gym. And you take it with you wherever you go, along with the anti-gravity, bodyweight skills you will be learning.

With that said, let’s dive into the next point . . . .

2. What Are the Benefits of Calisthenics?

Aside from the fact that the only thing you need to start calisthenics is your body weight, here are some additional benefits you should take into account:

• •     You can workout from literally anywhere
  •     You save a lot of time by not having to drive to the gym and back (just think of all the extra things you can do with that saved time)
  •     You build a really strong core, back, and biceps
  •     You workout your entire body
  •     You have so much variety in choices of exercises (basically, you’ll never be bored)
  •     You don’t need any previous experience or background in fitness (You can start today and right now)
  •     You won’t have to spend any money, unless you want to invest in quality Calisthenics gear (Insert Link) more on that later
  •    And finally, It’s just cool. I don’t know about you; but whenever I see someone at my local gym performing calisthenics, I’m just amazed, along with everyone else. Bodyweigth training is like its own art form. You will get so many stares and curious glances, and that’s not an exaggeration. I’m not hyping it up. For some reason defying gravity and your body weight is far more amazing than lifting weights. It just is. Facts. I’m sorry. And this is coming from someone, like me, who likes lifting weights.

But enough about the benefits. What you really want to  learn is. . . .

 

3. Where did Calisthenics come from?

Aside from  body weight training being used heavily in the military, Calisthenics has been around for a long time, even dating back to the Ancient Greeks. It was said that body weight training was utilized in the Greek and Spartan armies, as well as in ancient China. It was even said too have been prescribed by Hans Dynasty physicians as an optimal way to maintain health.

The word, itself, comes from the Greek word “kalos” (which means beautiful) and “sthenor” (which means strength). Calisthenics is the art of using your own body weight to sculpt your physique and build strength

Basically, what all this mean s for you is that, when you engage in the practice of Calisthenics, you not only make stength and msucle gains. But you are also participating in a practice deeply rooted in ancient culture and tradition. The warriors of ancient times have been practicing body weight training for thousands of years before our time. And when you decide to engage in this practice, you become a part of that rich history and culture. Calisthenics is timeless. So make the conscious decision to start today. But how do you get started with Calisthenics, you ask. That’s what you’ll learn next . . . .

 

3. How to Get Started with Calisthenics

Below, you will find a simple workout plan for beginner’s I’ve crafted for you, but please remember that these are just guidelines. You have to ultimately decide how much time and days a week you are willing to dedicate to this new practice.  I will provide you with a sample workout routine, but feel free to adjust it to fit into your life. Don’t always go with the recommended guidelines; sometimes you have to change things so that they fit into your life . And also there’s no such thing as perfect. There’s optimal, but not perfect. And even then, what’s optimal may not always be functional for you and your life. What looks good on paper, doesn’t always work in the real world, because life is complicated. And there’s so many different things that can pop up.

Don’t use that as an excuse to not workout, but create a routine that works for you so that you’ll stick with it and make it a habit. If there ever was such a thing as a magical word that can help you achieve your all goals it would be: Consistency. I know; it’s not that exciting. But it’s true.

Consistency is the real steroid. Choose consistency over going hardcore. Choose functional (what works for you) over optimal.  With that said let’s dive into the workout . . . .

 

 

4. (Optional) What Gear Can You Use?

It’s unnecessary to buy any equipment or gear for calisthenics especially when you’re just starting out; however, having certain calisthenic equipment such as paraletts or gym rings will greatly enhance how many exercises you can perform. Here’s a list of quality calisthenic gear that will elevate your gains and give you more variety in your workouts and exercise selection:

 

For a more in-depth breakdown and explanation of gear, view this article: The Best Calisthenic Gear to Take your fitness to the next level.

 

5. Are There Any Downsides to Body Weight Training?

You might be wondering that all this sounds too good to be true and that there must be some significant downsides. And I am here to tell you the truth: that, yes there are downsides. But not many.  The biggest downside is that Calisthenic athletes are not historically known to have big legs. I mean, if you want that “V” taper (or “Y” taper, because you can’t forget the legs) where your shoulder-to-waist ratio looks like an inverted Christmas tree, and your legs are just hanging out, not looking too huge (toned, but not massive), then this is good news. And, by all means, there are plenty of lower body, no equipment, exercises to build and tone your legs. But if your goal happens to be to acquire a more “X”-looking taper, where your legs are more built like a cyclists; then I encourage you to go down the path of being a hybrid athlete, who incorporates both Calisthenics and weighted training into his fitness regimen. Why not have the best of both worlds. Why not compound your fitness benefits.

I know there will be a lot of calisthenics “purists” that’ll disagree with me on this point. And I’m not saying if you did calisthenics that you’ll have chicken legs. I’m just saying that if you want that “X” taper with the legs of a cyclist, you’ll have to incorporate weights for you lower body. I mean, your upper body is totally covered: you’ll be looking like an absolute beast, but you won’t have the legs of a cyclist. And for a lot of people, they don’t want big legs anyway, so this part is irrelevant to them. However, there’s nothing wrong with incorporating weights (at least, for your lower body) into your body weight training.

The second downside is that, in the beginning especially, it can be confusing to know how to progress. What that means is that if you’re lifting weights, the weights all have numbers. And when a weight gets too easy for you, because you’ve gotten bigger and stronger, you move onto a heavier weight so you can tax the muscle more. However, with calisthenics, it’s not so easy. This is one of the reasons people don’t approach calisthenics: because progressing by lifting weights is so much simpler. Whereas, you have to be a little more creative with your own body weight.

If you master the push-up and you’re doing hundreds of reps so easily, then what’s next? How do you progress? In body weight training the way you progress is you do harder variations of the same exercise or you change the angle of performing the same exercise to make it more difficult.

For example, let’s take the push-up, again; if they’ve become too easy for you, progress to doing archer push-ups. And after you master that, do one-hand push-ups. The same goes for other exercises. Once you understand this and do this for yourself in your training, it’ll become simple.

It’s not really a downside, but I just thought I’d mention it, because it’s something that confused me when I first started.

 

6. Can you build muscle with calisthenics?

A lot of people feel like you can’t really build any muscle with calisthenics and that you’ll just look like a stick figure. However, I’m here to tell you that those rumors are not true. You can build muscle with calisthenics. You just have to progress correctly(Insert Link for Calisthenics technique post) with the exercises and eat correctly. I think the key phrase here is “eat correctly.” It’s one of those things that everybody  talks about,but almost nobody does. Why? Because it’s difficult. And honestly for me, eating healthy and eating enough calories to gain weight was so much harder than the actual training. Sounds strange, I know; but it’s the truth.

If you want to get strong and grow muscle from calisthenics, you have to eat properly for your body type and metabolism. Diet is highly individual because different people have different metabolisms and body compositions. For example, I (since I’m naturally super slim and have a really fast metabolism) have to consume a lot more calories to gain weight. Whereas someone who has a slower metabolism has to eat less to achieve the same result.

The most crucial thing is tracking your calories in a digital app (I use my fitness pal – great app. Highly recommend it!) That way you know if you’re hitting your calorie goal for the day. You can’t improve something you don’t track. It’s simple advice, but no one does it. By doing this, you’ll already be ahead of most people. So take action: track your calories in a app.

P.S. let me tell you that I’ve tried tracking my calories manually ( with pencil and paper). And, honestly, I would’ve given up a long time ago, if I kept doing that, because it’s just so tedious. That’s why I recommend using a digital app, such as my fitness pal. But it’s still your choice. If you want to track your calories manually, go for it.