Calisthenics is deceptively quaint sounding. Probably because in the olden days, you know, the 1980’s, calisthenics was what a lot of grade school P.E. classes were called. But fast forward forty years, and now calisthenics is the “new” social media fitness sensation.
Here’s the thing: not only is calisthenics not new, it’s actually ancient. The term calisthenics comes from the Greek words for beauty (kallos) and strength (sthenos). Ancient Greek Spartans did calisthenics as far back as 480 BCE.
As NBC’s The Today Show reports, this “new” calisthenics borrows a lot from ancient calisthenics — push-ups, pull-ups and the like — but puts these exercises into a modern context. Some people call the calisthenics styles that are popular right now “urban calisthenics” or “street calisthenics” because they utilize the kind of props you might find in a contemporary city — like telephone poles and park benches.
The hashtag #calisthenics has more than 18.5 billion — with a B — views on TikTok and popular calisthenics influencers and trainers have millions of followers. The problem is that some of the calisthenics moves that go viral on social media are intimidating — how could any regular person do these crazy things with their body? Well, the truth is that most of us may never become calisthenics celebrities, but calisthenics itself is actually a very accessible practice.
What is calisthenics?
Calisthenics is a high intensity workout that utilizes your body weight with little or no equipment. Many calisthenics exercises are everyday workout moves you’d do in a variety of workouts, like squats or push-ups, but also include more advanced exercises like pull-ups.
This type of workout involves exercises that use large muscle groups, like the glutes and chest. Calisthenics exercises are performed at a moderate pace with little rest in between exercises and can be used to improve coordination, flexibility, and strength.
The benefits of calisthenics
Recent studies suggest that calisthenics has numerous health benefits. A 2017 study, for example, found that doing calisthenics for eight weeks could could enhance your posture, help you gain strength and make a positive impact on BMI (body-mass index). And a study from 2018 found that calisthenics training could improve upper-body strength.
Who should do calisthenics?
Calisthenics is a great fitness option for:
- People who don’t want to train in a gym — you can do calisthenics anywhere!
- Those who don’t want to buy a bunch of equipment — you can do calisthenics using just your bodyweight!
- Individuals who want to increase endurance.
- People who want to improve muscle strength.
- Those who want to boost metabolism.
How to do calisthenics
Calisthenics workouts are usually 30 to 40 minutes and focus on pushing, pulling, and using the lower body muscles. However, you could easily integrate calisthenics-type exercises into your pre-existing training style —like HIIT workouts or regular strength training workouts.
Since this is a type of strength training, doing calisthenics every other day is a good cadence to build lean muscle mass and also help with fat loss.
Types of calisthenics exercises
The word calisthenics may have you envisioning impossible, intricate maneuvers, but the fact is, you may already know many of them. Here are ten great calisthenics exercises to get you started:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Jump Squats
- Jumping Jacks
- Planks
- Forearm Planks
- Pushups
- Tricep Dips
- Ab Crunches
- Bicycle Crunches
As with any exercise program, it’s best to consult with your physician before starting anything new. Pay attention to your body, and modify when necessary.
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