Have you recently heard of the term Calisthenics exercises and wondered what they are? The ancient Greeks invented calisthenics, which reemerged in popularity in the early nineteenth century.
Since then, people have been turning to calisthenics exercises for various purposes, including military training, athletic development, law enforcement official training, or simply for staying fit.
Calisthenics workout routines like Calisthenics flexibility workouts have become popular among individuals looking to improve fitness. Scientists are looking at how calisthenics might treat health conditions like COPD or obesity.
So if you want to know more about calisthenics and the types of workouts it involves, let’s dive deep into the world of calisthenic exercises to get the answers.
What Is Calisthenics?
Calisthenics is a term used to refer to a specific kind of exercise that emphasizes motions that solely employ the exerciser’s body weight as resistance. This workout increases strength and movement without the need for extra gear.
Some calisthenics exercises can also be transformed into more advanced and complex with the help of added weights. For instance, an individual performing lunges or squats can hold weights to make the exercise more challenging and get results faster.
Most calisthenics exercises comprise pushups, burpees, lunges, and squats. What makes calisthenics a popular workout regime among individuals is its ability to promote flexibility, fitness, strength, endurance, and much more. You can make small changes to your calisthenics workout routine to make it easier or more advanced per your preferences.
Is Calisthenics Suitable For All Fitness Levels?
Individuals of various fitness levels and ages may conduct callisthenic exercises because they all require nothing more than their body weight. It’s usually recommended to start lightly while doing calisthenics if you’ve never done it before.
As you become stronger and more familiar with the movements, you can up the intensity of the movements. Calisthenics exercises can be adjusted depending on an individual’s total strength, physical endurance, and mastery of each movement, among other things.
Calisthenics focuses on progress and growth, so even if you can’t perform an exercise due to a lack of strength, there will be a more accessible version of that exercise that will still be beneficial to you. Here are a few calisthenics exercise examples that are suitable for all fitness levels:
Squats
Squats offer several benefits, like weight loss by burning calories and also reducing the chance of ankle and knee injuries. The exercise helps you obtain a butt lift while strengthening the bones, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the leg muscles.
The best part about squats is that you can easily modify them to suit your fitness level. Therefore this is one of the best exercises for people with all fitness levels. Here are a few variations of the squat that people with different fitness levels can try.
- Beginner-level squat:prisoner squat requires you to drop to knee level and lift your body back up and is relatively easy for beginners. This squat can also be a great addition to a flexibility workout for beginners, as squats can help with joint flexibility
- Intermediate-level squat:Make it more challenging by doing a chair split squat, which requires you to put one leg on a chair and balance your body weight on the other leg while squatting
- Advanced-level squat:Take it to the advanced level by doing a ball slam squat which requires you to throw a ball on the ground as you go in the squat position and catch it as you rise from the squat position
Pushups
The Pushups exercise helps you target several muscle groups, boost upper-body strength, and improve posture. Pushups are another popular calisthenics exercise since you can also easily modify it according to different fitness levels. Here are some examples:
- Beginner-level pushup: Do a regular pushup which involves lying flat on a yoga mat, placing both palms on the floor, and elevating your body by placing your whole bodies weight on your arms
- Intermediate-level pushup:Do a one-hand pushup which requires you to repeat the same steps as a standard pushup but take it to the next level by balancing your body weight on the one hand rather than both hands
- Advanced-level pushup: Do the side-to-side pushup by maintaining your head at a neutral level and refraining from shifting to one side while moving. When you go from one side to the other side, keep your body aligned, stay close to the ground, and avoid making your elbows flare outwards
Bottom Line
Now that you know calisthenics exercises are for all fitness levels, what are you waiting for? Whether you are a beginner or a pro in fitness, calisthenics exercises like pushups and squats discussed above can offer several benefits. If you want to reach your fitness goals faster, do checkout FitEngine.
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