You may not be able to describe exactly what it is, but you’ll have heard of calisthenics, and almost certainly have seen it in action at one time or another.
Here, we aim to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about it, to help you make an informed decision as to whether it’s an exercise system that could work for you.
21st May 2024
Calisthenics first emerged early in the nineteenth century from the work of Germans Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Adolf Spiess, who popularised gymnastics.
This fitness system essentially uses bodyweight leverage and gravity. It comes from the Greek words for beauty (Kalos) and strength (Stenos). Originally a health promotional tool, calisthenics has become a training regime that’s not unlike gymnastics – however, it differs from that discipline in that you can follow it outdoors; indeed, it’s also known as a ‘street workout’.
The regime mimics the body’s natural movements, from pushing and pulling to squatting and jumping. It’s all about using your bodyweight as resistance for exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, and dips.
There are no hard-and-fast rules and, of course, everyone has varying goals and will come to calisthenics with a different level of fitness. But it’s probably worth starting off relatively gently and working out no more than two or three times a week; perhaps even just once at first. As you gain strength, you can increase your sessions to anywhere between three and six a week.
There are a number of these. For a start, you don’t need any equipment – just your body and some outdoor space. Additionally, calisthenics improves functional strength, flexibility and mobility and helps you to build a lean muscle mass. In short, you get a full-body workout. You also don’t need a trainer or any particular exercising background – you just need to get started!
You can use calisthenics to gain muscle, develop strength and remain active. You train every muscle group and body part, ultimately developing a balanced physique. So, in that sense, it can definitely replace the gym. However, it’s an anaerobic activity, and although it will raise the heart rate, it won’t improve your cardiovascular fitness in the same way as, say, running or cycling will. Try to do some cardio as well, and reap its many health benefits.
In truth, calisthenics isn’t necessarily harder than weights training or the gym. If you’re trying out some moves and they seem rather challenging, that may well be because your muscles and joints aren’t yet used to them. (Quite possibly because you haven’t used them before.) So keep working on the moves, or have a go at some easier variations, and they’ll soon become easier to do.
You can practise calisthenics on various pieces of outdoor training equipment. At Fresh Air Fitness, we supply a number of these:
1. Our training rig offers functional body weight training, featuring six workout stations plus dozens of exercise options. So you get a challenging, full-body workout whether you’re a beginner or an advanced practitioner.
2. Fresh Air Fitness’s push up and dip station is ideal for an outdoor calisthenics workout. Its simple frame is specifically designed for functional training.
3. The chin-up bars we supply provide a double-height functional training frame that, again, is perfect for calisthenics training.
So our outdoor gym equipment provides a great opportunity for you to enjoy a calisthenic training session, free of charge. And if you’re a school, local authority or residential setting looking to transform your space with an outdoor gym, get in touch to learn more about what we could do for you.
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