Hardcore Calisthenic Workouts

Calisthenics are defined as a set of light exercises. In fitness parlance, the term refers to body-weight exercises without equipment. These exercises can vary in intensity from light to heavy. Calisthenics are most effective after identifying your overall fitness goals. Your goals determine the types of exercises to engage in. If it's weight loss, plyometrics may not be necessary. Conversely, if part of your goal is to increase power, then plyometrics can help significantly.

  1. Calisthenics Basics

    • Properly executed pushups are a form of calisthenics.

      Calisthenics come from varied traditions such as dance, martial arts and physical therapy. Proper forms and techniques are essential to ensure safety and effectiveness. Pushups are integral calisthenics. When performed properly by keeping your abs taut, your elbows close to your ribs and your body aligned from heel to shoulders, they're ideal for strengthening the upper body. Similarly, lunges are key to leg conditioning. The basic lunge is performed by taking a step forward. Your lead foot lands heel to toe and the knee lines up with your ankle. Your other leg's knee should be just above the ground and its heel off the floor. Lunges can be stationary or motile.

    Calisthenics for Weight Loss

    • You can perform lunges in a walking manner.

      Since you can perform lunges in a walking fashion, they're perfectly suited for creating the aerobic intensity that weight loss requires. Lunges and pushups are highly versatile, and you can create a weight-loss workout with these exercises alone. An example of a routine is a warm up of 10 pushups followed by three five-minute sets of walking lunges, two sets of 10 pushups, two five-minute sets of crossover lunges and a cooldown set of 20 pushups. They're highly effective, but a larger base of exercises should be incorporated. Doing so will allow for variable workout intensity, prevent boredom, break plateaus and boost adherence.

    Calisthenics to increase power

    • Jumping jacks can help you increase your power and strength.

      An expanded exercise base includes exercises better suited for goals such as increasing power and strength. Effective and scalable exercises can include squats, pullups, burpees, jumping jacks and plyometric jumps. A workout to increase power in your legs could consist of a warm-up of two sets of 20 burpees, followed by three sets of 10 jump squats, three sets of 10 box jumps onto a stable box or step, three sets of eight jump squats, two sets of 10 jumping lunges, two sets of 10 thrust squats and finally a cooldown of two sets of 15 jumping jacks with the option of stretching.

    Modifications

    • Modifying a workout routine has a two-pronged effect. It increases the likelihood of your adhering to a workout routine and ensures that you'll continue to achieve results. Modifications don't necessarily require a complete workout overhaul. You could simply add more time to each set for the weight-loss workout. For the power workout, adding isometric exercises such as wall sits, hip extensions and hip abductions would be effective. There are virtually limitless combinations of calisthenics exercises. The primary elements to success are defining the goal(s) of the workout, properly structuring the routine and adding the appropriate workout modifications.