Are you looking to get in better shape, lose weight or just have a better relationship with your body movements? Instead of spending hours trying to figure out what works best for you or fighting through exercises that just aren’t getting you to your fitness goal, you should definitely try calisthenics.
Not only does calisthenics as an exercise helps you lose weight, but it also improves your body movements. And, you don’t need any gym equipment. You don’t even have to leave your home to do these calisthenics exercises.
Doing calisthenics for thirty days can give you drastic improvements to help you look and feel better.
What is Calisthenics?
What differentiates calisthenics from the rest? Instead of focusing on using weights and gym equipment, calisthenics is a form of strength training where your own body weight is used as a counterforce.
Calisthenics works out the entire body all at once from your head to your toes. There are ways to target specific muscle groups while performing calisthenics but most workout plans utilize the entire body.
Calisthenics is not like other workouts for another reason—it is to train you to have a better relationship with your body. It helps with balance, coordination, and all-around body movement in the space you occupy.
Since there is no need for gym equipment or weights, there is a lesser chance that you will injure yourself. Overdoing it with weights can lead to muscle tearing and joint injury. The types of workouts included in a calisthenics workout plan are easy to do and not overly complicated. If you haven’t worked out much before in any aspect, stick with a beginner thirty-day plan in order to get used to the movements before trying harder workouts.
Warm-Ups are Imperative
No matter what type of workout you plan on doing, it’s extremely important to warm up your body beforehand. If you don’t, you can seriously injure yourself and cause unnecessary pain that will stop you from completing the exercises altogether.
Getting your cardiovascular system pumping is what is going to help your body perform better during these activities. You want your heart rate raised a bit before you start!
Some of the best warm-ups you can do to prepare for a calisthenics workout routine are five-minute fast skipping, ten to twenty squat jumps, twenty burpees, or ten fifty-meter sprint reps. You only have to choose two or three of these. Or, you can do any other leg-based exercises as a warm-up. Calisthenics is an all-body workout but your balance comes from the strength of your core and legs. You don’t want to get leg cramps or shin splints a few minutes into your routine as it can be quite dangerous.
Take Care of Your Joints
These workouts use every part of your body—every muscle group and your joints. You want to take care of them just as much as you take care of your muscles! That means, always start your calisthenics workouts with good warm-ups that focus on mobilizing your joints and stretching them out so they’re good to go.
There are a variety of different stretches to limber up your back, shoulder, and hips. For a stiff back, try the cat stretch or the trunk twist. If shoulders are your weaker point, you can try chest openers to increase your mobility and ensure your joints are nice and warmed up.It’s also more recommended to do dynamic stretching beforehand so as not to shock the body from sudden high-intensity movements.
Joints get beat up on a lot during weights and gym exercises. With calisthenics, there is a decreased chance you’ll injure your joints but it’s still important to limber up beforehand.
Mobility and Strength Progression
For your thirty-day workout plan, it’s smart to focus on specific movements that will help you advance in your calisthenics journey.
Practicing handstand kick-ups and handstand wall holds are good starting points because there is the stability of the wall. It helps practice balance, upper body strength, as well as targeted wrist and shoulder.
Progressing your ability to do these two techniques is both a workout and a preparation to move further in calisthenics. Frog stands are another great position to practice as it focuses on both strength and balance while remaining right-side up.
The Fundamentals of Strength
Strength is one of the main focuses of doing a 30-day calisthenics workout plan. But, you don’t just start out with targeting the muscles.
Working up your strength should be one of your main goals instead of doing everything perfectly. Rotating three to four daily workout sets will not only up your stamina, but will also work out different parts of your body every day.
Ensure that one muscle group doesn’t get more focus than the other. Switching it up is important too because you will work up a tolerance and then it won’t do as much. This is when you should begin to increase your reps or the time spent holding positions like the kick handstand or the frog stand.
The following exercises should be put in a group of four total and alternated daily:
- pull-ups
- push-ups
- burpees
- hanging leg raise
- bench dips
- diamond push-ups
- jumping lunges
- inverted rows
- planks
- pistol squats
- clap push-ups
- leg raises
- squat jumps
- wide arm pushups
- side plank
- windshield wipers
All of the exercises mentioned above impact different muscle groups for a whole body workout. Look them up if you’re unsure of how to do them so you don’t injure yourself. Make sure your entire body is getting worked out equally.
The whole point of calisthenics is to ensure that your entire body gets exercised, not just one area. The more body parts are involved, the better the results will be.
After thirty days, if you’re happy with the results, keep going! You can increase time and reps slowly as your stamina builds progress to more complicated moves or perfect the workouts you’re doing currently. Doing a calisthenics workout plan for thirty days will help you build strength, stamina and help you to lose weight. Just be sure you’re careful, cautious, and always warm up!
