This has been a tough year. We’re all getting cabin fever sitting at home, and we definitely miss hitting the gym. A study conducted early on in the pandemic revealed very high rates of clinically significant insomnia (20%), acute stress (15.8%), anxiety (18.5%), and depression (24.5%).
Getting your exercise in is one of the absolute best ways to stave off depression, so if you’re still looking for an alternative to your rec league or joining us at HOUSEFIT, you should consider calisthenics. Not only can you do calisthenic workouts literally anywhere, but the benefits actually rival those of weightlifting.
Many people scoff at bodyweight exercises, but a 2017 study of calisthenics as it relates to posture, strength and body composition showed significant gains in all three criteria versus a control group, with no major training equipment required.
During this uncertain time where it’s all too easy to feel like we’ve lost all semblance of control, working towards a better body through calisthenic exercise is something we can do to take control back.
What Are The Benefits of Calisthenics Home Workouts?
1. Develop Functional Strength
In our sedentary society, we’re not moving our bodies the way they were intended. We don’t exactly have a need for hunting or gathering, or running from prey, but biologically connecting all your muscle groups and your cardiovascular and nervous systems is how we’re wired to develop functional strength through exercise.
Want to run a marathon? Become better at sports? Get into rock climbing? Or just not get winded walking up stairs or carrying your groceries from the car? Calisthenics is the way to go.
Calisthenics is a form of exercise that challenges you to fully explore the capabilities of your body and pushes you to develop functional movement and strength. Bodyweight training programs can be designed for strength, power, endurance or body composition.
2. Cardio and Strength Training in Tandem
Sure, weight lifting is a great way to build muscle, but have you been neglecting your cardio? You can’t build true strength without also working on your endurance, which means you need to be keeping your cardiovascular system in tip-top shape.
The good news is that calisthenics circuit training is one of the best ways to work for strength and cardio in tandem. Cardio is a key component in functional strength and endurance as it strengthens your heart, improves your lung capacity, boosts your immune system, and is great for both mental health and sleep.
A calisthenics circuit is a series of exercises with no break in between. By removing the time you rest between each exercise, you’re pushing all of your body’s systems to their limit and improving your muscle movement and flexibility. To start, you may only be doing one circuit each morning - but as you build strength you would then run through the circuit two or three times to maximize your results.
If you struggle to get through your entire circuit without taking a short rest, it’s okay to take a breather. Better to make it all the way through the circuit then stop short or mess up your form and injure yourself!
3. Whole Body Workout Routines That Target Every Muscle
A great calisthenics routine is composed of a variety of bodyweight exercises that together provide a full-body workout. Most of these exercises (like pull-ups, jumps, and push-ups) are common exercises that most people already know how to do. The key is putting them together in a circuit that gradually intensifies.
You don’t want the routine to be too easy. Our bodies will eventually adapt to the stress we’re placing on it, and all the benefits of our carefully-planned routine will be lost.
It helps to develop a daily routine for exercise where you swap out which exercises you do to target different body groups.
For example, a weekly plan might look like:
Monday: alternating high knees -> superman holds
Tuesday: mountain climbers -> Laying down leg raises
Wednesday: jumping jacks -> Superman holds
Thursday: squats -> leg raises
Friday: walking lunges -> push ups
You should always start with movement exercise to mobilize the joints and muscles such as jumping jacks or squats.
It’s important to do 2-3 reps of each exercise, and increase the number of sets as you begin to build up strength.
4. Requires No Equipment
Building an effective calisthenics exercise routine without a home gym or equipment can be easy.
Anyone can do calisthenics exercises without equipment. However, the right equipment can enable more advanced calisthenics athletes to take their strength training game to the next level.
Resistance bands are a great example, and are an affordable way to mimic using a cable machine at a gym. Some of the calisthenics exercises you can try out with resistance bands include:
front squats
lat pull-downs
push-ups
overhead presses
forward raises
bench press
5. Get RIPPED
Finally, let’s not forget that along with developing more strength and endurance, we also want to build some sexy muscle.
Building muscle with calisthenics won’t achieve the same effect as bodybuilding, but as mentioned above will help you develop a healthy muscle tone and functional strength. As long as there is enough resistance with your bodyweight exercise so your muscles undergo hypertrophy, calisthenics is a great way to build a sexy body that will allow you to impress people with your athletic ability.
If you are finding your calisthenics routine isn’t working up a sweat, try incorporating more challenging exercises into your circuit, or increasing the length.
Looking For More Resources For Calisthenics Workout Plans at Home?
Here at HOUSEFIT our mission is to help our personal training clients develop lasting results by building healthy habits. While the pandemic is still ongoing and we can’t meet up with our clients, we’re encouraging everyone to keep fit and stay healthy to help get through this difficult time.
We encourage you to read more of our resources to stay fit until we can see you all on the other side!