There are many reasons why there’s a resurgence of calisthenics in today’s ever evolving fitness world with many trends taking center stage amongst fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders alike.
Some of the reasons why this age-old strength building exercise has made a surefire comeback in many homes include the ever growing interest in functional training particularly from home, the rising gym membership, gym equipment, and logistics costs amongst other related reasons.
Calisthenics is a functional fitness with bodyweight home workout regimen that allows you to use your bodyweight as resistance during training for the purpose of promoting strength gains.
In this guide, we will reveal what calisthenics home workouts are, why this exercise routine has made a resurgence in many homes in the U.S and abroad, and how you can get started with popular calisthenics home workout trends today.
What Are Calisthenics Home Workout Trends?
Calisthenics home workouts involve a series of low, medium or high intensity strength building exercises rolled up into a daily session. But while strength building may be the primary focus of calisthenics exercises, they are also effective in improving your coordination, balance, core stability, flexibility, and endurance.
There are a number of workouts that make up calisthenics exercises, but the most common of these exercises are:
Dips
Perform bodyweight dips to train your shoulders and triceps.
Planks
With planks, you will improve your coordination, balance, and core stability.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are designed to help you strengthen your biceps and back muscles.
Push-ups
With push-ups you will be training your triceps, shoulders and chest muscles.
Squats
Squats help to build your core stability while also strengthening your lower body.
As mentioned earlier, one of the major reasons why there’s been a resurgence of calisthenics is that this home workout routine is simple to do without the need for any major equipment.
Your bodyweight is mainly all that is required and you can include equipment like dumbbells and resistance bands if you want, but they are really optional. Also, calisthenics exercises can be done by virtually anyone regardless of your fitness experience.
As a matter of fact, there are even advanced calisthenics exercises for more experienced bodybuilders looking to optimize their home training regimen with a less intense program, especially during their off-season or recovery period.
The Benefits of Minimal Equipment Workouts
There are several benefits of minimal equipment workouts worth mentioning:
#1. Calisthenics Workouts are Relatively Simple and Readily Accessible
The good news for anyone wishing to take up this home workout routine is that the exercises involved are relatively easy to do. You only need to learn the basics of each exercise with emphasis on proper form for safety reasons.
In addition to this, calisthenics workouts can be performed by anyone and that includes fitness beginners and advanced level bodybuilders.
If you are a beginner for example, you can try out knee planks and push-ups while handstand holds and one-arm push-ups are great advanced calisthenics exercises for experienced bodybuilders.
#2. Minimal Equipment Workouts are Inexpensive
Another reason why calisthenics exercises are fast gaining popularity around the world is that they are cost-effective. Most of the workouts like squats, dips, and push-ups involve just your bodyweight as resistance.
However, you can also include a few inexpensive equipment like resistance bands, dumbbells, and pull-up bars to further enhance your exercise routines.
#3. Calisthenics Improves Your Flexibility and Overall Strength Level
With calisthenics workouts you can improve both your flexibility and overall strength levels. This is because calisthenics involves a combination of weight training, general stretching and flexibility exercises for improved muscle strength, joint mobility, core stability, and balance.
Exercises like deep squats and lunges are perfect for providing holistic training that will improve your overall strength and flexibility.
#4. Functional Fitness with Bodyweight
Promotes Cardio Health and Burns Body Fat
Whenever you engage in circuit training and other high-intensity cardio exercises, you will efficiently raise your heart rate while burning significant amounts of calories and burning body fat in the process.
#5. Improved Full Body Coordination
Calisthenics exercises will greatly improve your focus, balance, stability and posture which will serve you well in your everyday activities.
How to Develop an Effective Calisthenics Home Workout Routine
So now that you know what calisthenics home workouts are all about, you might be wondering how to develop an effective calisthenics home workout routine.
As a beginner, you can adopt the three step guide below while more experienced bodybuilders can rev-up the intensity by including advanced calisthenics exercises like muscle-ups, planche holds or pistol squats.
Step #1: 5 to 10 Minute Warm-Up
You should start your calisthenics routine with a 5 to 10 minute warm-up consisting of high knees, arm circles and jumping jacks.
Step #2: 30 Minutes of Full Body Workout
Once you are done with warm-ups, you should move on to performing a full body workout routine consisting of the following:
- 3 Sets of 15 to 20 Reps of Bodyweight Squats.
- 3 Sets of 10 to 12 Reps of Dips using a chair or if you can afford it, you can get a parallel bar.
- 3 Rounds of Planks exercise. Hold for between 30 to 60 Seconds for each round.
- 3 Sets of 5 to 10 Reps of Pull-ups. You can use a sturdy door frame or get a pull-up bar if you can afford it.
- 3 Sets of 10 to 15 Reps of Push-ups.
Step #3: 5 Minutes Cool-Down
After your full body workout, you need to proceed to the cool-down phase of your routine where you will spend 5 minutes performing exercises like Hamstring stretches, Child’s pose and Cat-Cow stretches.
What You Should Know About Calisthenics Home Workout Trends
There are a few things you need to take into consideration when starting a calisthenics workout routine. For starters, you need to take your form very seriously as poor form can increase your risk of incurring injuries during your workout sessions.
It is important for you to take time out to properly learn the technique for each exercise before you start a program. Secondly, you should be ready to improvise by using tables, sturdy chairs and other useful household items when performing calisthenics exercises at home.
Alternatively, you can get equipment like an inexpensive pull-up bar if you want to perform pull-up exercises for example.
Thirdly, you should have it in mind to incorporate progressive overloads by increasing the reps for each exercise after a while in addition to introducing advanced calisthenics exercises to your routine. This is because plateauing is real and as your overall strength is improved, the standard exercises are likely to be less of a challenge than when you first started.
Conclusion
Maybe we should not be surprised about the resurgence of calisthenics as this classic workout routine is both accessible to all levels of bodybuilders and easy to implement at home.
What’s more, calisthenics exercises help to build strength, core stability, balance, coordination, and proper posture all from the comfort and safety of your own home. If you want to learn more about calisthenics home workout routines, you can reach out to us today for free coaching.
