Calisthenics, also known as ‘street workout’, is on the rise. Calisthenics is a way of training and also the name of the movement that trains in this way. Actually, like Crossfit for example, it’s more of a lifestyle.
ORIGIN AND POPULARIZATION
Although calisthenics can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans, the modern calisthenics variety has come from the American ghettos, where the population has no access to gyms and modern fitness equipment. Instead, they use the climbing frames in playgrounds as a training tool. A video of a very muscular man in his forties named Hannibal, a member of the Barstarzz society, became a real hit on YouTube and helped to popularize this ‘basic’ way of training.
More recently, more and more videos from former Eastern Bloc countries have appeared, where calisthenics have apparently been well received. Especially in Russia and Ukraine there is a very lively ‘scene’ and the sport is even practiced in competition, often by former gymnasts, who have added new elements to it.
CHARACTERISTICS
The main feature of calisthenics is that basically no equipment or free weights are used, just your body weight. Typical exercises are therefore pull-ups, chin-ups, muscle-ups, push-ups, hand-stand pushups, dips and rows, but also leg exercises squats and lunges (see also the overview below).
However, calisthenics is not ‘just’ a collection of bodyweight exercises that everyone performs at one time or another. Typical for calisthenics is the execution of the exercises, which – especially at the advanced level – have a very ‘playful’ character. Calisthenics contains many gymnastic elements; there is a lot of swinging and twisting. Also characteristic are the smooth transition between exercises, the regular changing of hand positions and the non-stop nature of a workout. In fact, it is very similar to gymnastics, more particularly high bar and parallel bars exercises.
Still, calisthenics doesn’t take place exclusively in climbing frames; the floor work, especially all kinds of push-up variations, can almost be seen as a separate discipline. Advanced players perform one Hindu Pushup, Spiderman Pushup and Dragon Walk Pushup after another with the greatest of ease. At an advanced level, certain elements of breakdancing are also reflected.
TRAINING GOALS
Calisthenics is simultaneously strength training and a cardiovascular workout and also pays attention to aspects such as balance, coordination and flexibility. In addition to dynamic power, you also spend enough time on static power during a workout, since certain positions are held for a certain time. The emphasis of calisthenics is on the waist and upper body. One criticism is that the lower body is neglected, which could explain why most practitioners of calisthenics wear long pants (wink). For an all-round workout, include squats, lunges, and some plyometric work, or in layman’s terms, explosive jumps.
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
Despite the playful nature of calisthenics, it is not just and thoughtlessly lying around in a climbing frame. There are certainly certain training methods and techniques used by the serious practitioners, albeit often unconsciously.
Although calisthenics is essentially a holistic training approach, you can isolate certain muscle groups in your training, although that of course goes against the principles of this training philosophy. For example, doing pullups alone is a way to isolate your back while targeting your biceps. Push-ups and dips are good exercises for your chest and triceps, handstand push-ups for your shoulders and muscle-ups target your entire upper body.
You can also apply many training techniques that you know from the gym, such as supersets and drop sets, to calisthenics. Of course you can ‘just’ do three sets of, for example, fifteen pullups, but you can also do fifteen pullups, then fifteen push-ups, then fifteen pullups again, et cetera (supersets). Or you aim for a total number of repetitions, say fifty, and try to achieve that number in as few sets as possible, giving each set the maximum (diminishing sets). Or you ‘just’ do three reps, take minimal rest (10 s), do three more reps and repeat this cycle until you can’t complete three more reps (rest-pause sets). This way you can vary almost endlessly in your training and constantly challenge your body in a different way. You can also add variation by performing an exercise explosively or in a controlled manner.
The progression in resistance training that uses body weight exclusively is logically in doing more reps – be it number of reps per set, per exercise, or per total workout. As a result, the emphasis of training automatically shifts from strength to endurance over time. However, you can increase the resistance level in calisthenics in various ways. Firstly, through a more complex execution of the simple basic exercises, for example one-arm push-ups and pull-ups. Second, by asking a training partner to apply resistance, such as pushing on your back or even sitting on it during pushups. Third, by working with a weight belt and weight plates, gradually increasing exercises such as pull-ups and dips.
THE ROLE OF BODY WEIGHT
Since it is your only resistance, body weight plays a major role in calisthenics, as it does in weight-categorized strength sports such as weightlifting and powerlifting. What matters is not your absolute, but your relative strength – your strength in relation to your muscle mass and total body weight. Non-essential fat mass and even unnecessary muscle mass are undesirable. By ‘unnecessary’ we mean the muscle mass that has little relation to muscle strength, so-called myofibrillar muscular hypertrophy (versus sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is more directly related to muscle strength). Consequently, a 70 kg gymnast with purely functional muscle mass will have a better basis for calisthenics than a 100 kg bodybuilder with the same fat percentage. Bet that the first one can pull up more often than the second? For many gym goers, who are strong in absolute terms, but relatively often less strong, the first contact with calisthenics is often a cold shower.
THE MOST IMPORTANT EXERCISES IN A ROW
Basic exercises (beginners):
Advanced exercises (advanced):
TO START
A beginner should do the basic exercises two to three times a week, preferably in circuit form – push-ups and pull-ups, dips, squats and lunges. Aim for 15 to 20 reps, then move on to the next exercise. Repeat this circuit once or twice. Can’t complete ten pullups? Then do negative pull-ups or inverted rows. We regard muscle-ups in any case as an exercise for advanced users. We don’t want to give you too many training instructions, because that goes against the playful nature of calisthenics. Nevertheless, the video below offers some inspiration for exercises and routines. For a little more guidance, you might want to join a calisthenics team or club.