At it's core, calisthenics is a strength training workout that uses your bodyweight to oppose the movements, rather than using weight or resistance bands to add resistance to the movements of the program.
But while that sounds nice and simple, how do you actually come up with an effective calisthenics workout routine? How do you get the most out of your workout without using gym equipment? And how quickly does a calisthenics workout actually build your strength?
What exercises normally form a good simple calisthenics workout routine?
If you want a good calisthenics workout routine you can perform every day, having a good balance of exercises is likely to be the best place to start.
Of course, in many cases if you are doing something daily many personal trainers would recommend you to get some equipment or go to a gym with full equipment, but in reality you don't need this at all!
You can easily complete a full body workout without using any equipment and just doing bodyweight exercises. However, the best way to plan any serious long term workout routine is to plan a program that will alternate between push, pull, and legs alternating each day and making sure to include rest days!
However, we will talk more about this later. For now, let's start with some of the best calisthenics exercises to increase your fitness and set up a workout routine you can reliably and consistently stick to.
Are bodyweight squats a good calisthenics exercise?
Bodyweight squats are one of the faces of calisthenics workouts, and with good reasons. They form a vital part of almost every good and well-rounded leg calisthenics routine, as the movements engage most of the major muscle groups in either leg, as well as importantly stabilizer muscles.
They are great for strength training in your legs, as well as the bodyweight squat being a great example of an exercise you can do multiple sets of very close together depending on the intensity you want to go for, as they work all of the muscles in your legs to some degree.
Of course, they aren't the be all and end all of leg workouts, but you will quickly find that a lot of more specific movements only exist to target more specific muscle groups that are already hit to some degree by the bodyweight squat!
Is doing a plank a good calisthenics exercise?
The plank is another extremely common calisthenics exercise, since the level of execution is even lower than any exercise that requires movements, as the exercise is literally just a static position!
No need to do multiple reps even, you can simply hold the plank position as long as you can to give yourself a good core exercise. The level of difficulty can be adjusted based on the height of your feet to easily adjust how hard you want to work your body.
As long as you keep your legs straight and prevent your knees from touching the floor, and support your weight with your arms, the time spent doing a plank will be extremely effective.
The plank is one of the simplest and best way to increase the strength of your core muscles, making it a great exercise to add to your calisthenics workout routine.
By completing these exercises, you will improve your calisthenics skills.
Are there good calisthenics exercises for your arms that don't use a bar?
When you think of arm workouts, you normally think of bench pressing or deadlifting a bar. Luckily, if you don't have a bench or squat rack on your side, you can still do plenty of classic fitness movements to workout your arms.
Just as when it came to leg exercises, some very simple classic exercises are some of the best to train your full body fitness!
If you have a high bar or rail somewhere in your house with solid support, pull-ups and chin-ups are some of the most common and effective movements to train your arms, and even form a core part of many non-calisthenics pull day routines among gym goers.
As well as pull-ups, push-ups are one of the best calisthenics exercises to train your arms and chest. You can change the difficulty level depending on where you put your hands and how high you put your feet, but as long as you keep a straight body, the exercise will still work very well.
What is a good way to schedule your calisthenics routine?
Just like any other type of workout, calisthenics is all about making sure to appropriately alternate training a muscle close to its limits, and giving it appropriate time to rest and regrow.
This is why rest is seen as such an important part of any fitness routine, and is something you should focus on when planning your workout routine. Often the best way to do this is working out how you want to split up your time.
One very common way to split up your workout is to take three consecutive days of exercise, then take a rest day. Under this workout program, it is most recommended to do one day of push exercises, one day of pull exercises, and one day of leg exercises before taking a rest day.
This most importantly allows each muscle group to have time to recover! The recovery is extremely important in this process, as muscle growth only occurs during recovery.
Muscle growth comes from tearing muscles (in a microscopic and safe way) by working them very hard during exercise, and then allowing them to heal and repair themselves stronger.
One of calisthenics benefits is that it can adapt to your schedule.
What should you include in a good calisthenics pull workout?
A pull workout should focus mainly on the biceps and back muscles, as these are the muscles traditionally associated with pulling, and thus any exercise that works one will likely work the other, and vice versa.
The reason they are worked together is to allow them to rest properly, rather than accidentally working them using other exercises in other workout days. As such, a good pull workout program should focus on this by including exercises that are primarily variants of pull-ups or the row movement.
There are a great many exercises that can fall into this category to change the intensity or more specifically target specific weaknesses in your fitness.
What should you include in a good calisthenics push workout?
A push workout is the natural opposite to a pull workout, a workout focusing on your chest and tricep muscles. Every set and all of the reps in this training day should be focused on just these muscle groups, to ensure you can rest them when you are working out the others.
As such, it's worth again incorporating exercises specifically designed to focus heavily on this side of your body. Some great examples include variants of push ups, as well as variants of dips.
These exercises can all be varied and modified to make sure they are the correct difficulty, as well as being modified to increase the focus on specific areas of your muscles where you want to train them.
As with a pull workout, alternating it such that you are giving your chest and triceps appropriate time to rest is likely the best way to make sure you see the maximum muscle growth!
What should you include in a good legs calisthenics program?
The natural third component of your training is therefore the legs portion of your training. There are a much wider range of exercises you can choose from for legs, with everything from body weight squats and their many variants through to leg raises, calf raises, lunges, and many more.
You can start with a combination of these and build from there, or if you have more experience you can start by incorporating any other lower body exercises you already know how to do.
Of course, while improving the strength of your body on your own is entirely possible, the reality is that most people find it very difficult to start from scratch and develop their own exercise plan, and more importantly actually stick to it. Some like to compare the differences between calisthenics and weight training, and then choose what's best for them.
This is why most people choose to work out with a personal trainer or exercise coach, which is often one of the best ways to ensure you see the results you want!
Whether that is losing weight, getting in shape for a specific goal, or improving to perform in a sport or other competition, good things will almost always come to those who work out with a personal trainer. Fortunately, if you don't want to go to a busy public gym, Superprof has you covered!
With a wide selection of personal trainers and fitness coaches right here on the Superprof website who can offer you their services either in person near you or online, getting help with your workouts has never been easier.
With a variety of different teaching styles and specializations, finding the right tutor for you is easy thanks to verified reviews and the ability to contact coaches directly. And with many of them offering their first session for free, what are you waiting for? Contact a Superprof calisthenics coach today!
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