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Calisthenics for Beginners Beginner Calisthenics Workout At Home Janice Dreese Copyright © 2020 Janice Dreese All rights reserved. ISBN: 9798666364062 DEDICATION The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author's copyright, please notify the publisher at: https://us.macmillan.com/piracy Contents What Is Calisthenics? The Benefits of Calisthenics 1. Time Efficiency 2. It’s Easier on the Joints 3. Circuit Training 4. It Removes Barriers 5. It Works the Core More Effectively 6. There is No Knowledge Barrier 7. It Burns a Lot of Calories 8. It is Accessible for Any Age and Ability 9. It Help You Improve Your Sports Performance. 10. They Are Shorter than Gym Workouts 11. Improved Coordination and Functionality 12. Exercises are Customizable The Ultimate Beginner’s 7 Day Guide 1. Monday: No Equipment Day 2. Tuesday: Basic Beginner Day 3. Wednesday: Rest Day! 4. Thursday: On The Go Day 5. Friday: Fat Removal Day 6. Saturday: Beginner HIIT DAY 7. Sunday: Rest Day! The Beastmode 30 Day Calisthenics Workout Plan What Is Calisthenics? Calisthenics is a form of exercise consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as running, standing, grasping, pushing, etc. These exercises are often performed rhythmically and with minimal equipment, as bodyweight exercises. They are intended to increase strength, fitness, and flexibility, through movements such as pulling, pushing, bending, jumping, or swinging, using one's body weight for resistance. Calisthenics can provide the benefits of muscular and aerobic conditioning, in addition to improving psychomotor skills such as balance, agility, and coordination. Urban calisthenics is a form of street workout; calisthenics groups perform exercise routines in urban areas. Individuals and groups train to perform advanced calisthenics skills such as muscle-ups, levers, and various freestyle moves such as spins and flips. Sports teams and military units often perform leader-directed group calisthenics as a form of synchronized physical training (often including a customized "call and response" routine) to increase group cohesion and discipline. Calisthenics is also popular as a component of physical education in primary and secondary schools over much of the globe. In addition to general fitness, calisthenic exercises are often used as baseline physical evaluations for military organizations around the world. History The word calisthenics comes from the ancient Greek words kallos (κάλλος), which means "beauty" or "beautiful" (to emphasize the aesthetic pleasure that derives from the perfection of the human body), and sthenos (σθένος), meaning "strength" (great mental strength, courage, strength, and determination). It is the art of using one's body weight as resistance in order to develop physique. The practice was recorded in use in Ancient Greece, including the armies of Alexander the Great and the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. Disciples of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn brought their version of gymnastics to the United States, while Catherine Beecher and Dio Lewis set up physical education programs for women in the 19th century. Organized systems of calisthenics in America took a back seat to competitive sports after the Battle of the Systems, when the states mandated physical education systems. The Royal Canadian Air Force's calisthenics program published in the 1960s helped to launch modern fitness culture. Calisthenics is associated with the rapidly growing international sport called street workout. The street workout consists of athletes performing calisthenics routines in timed sessions in front of a panel of judges. The World Street Workout & Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF) based in Riga, Latvia orchestrates the annual National Championships and hosts the World Championships for all the national champions to compete at one competition. The World Calisthenics Organization (WCO) based in Los Angeles, CA. promotes a series of competitions known globally as the Battle of the Bars. The WCO created the first-ever set of rules for formal competitions, including weight classes, timed round system, original judging criteria and a 10-point must system - giving an increasing number of athletes worldwide an opportunity to compete in these global competitions. Common Exercises The more commonly performed calisthenic exercises include: Push-ups Performed face down on the floor, palms against floor under the shoulders, toes curled upwards against the floor. The arms are used to lift the body while maintaining a straight line from head to heel. The arms go from fully extended in the high position to nearly fully flexed in the low position while avoiding resting on the floor. Chest, shoulders, and triceps are trained with this exercise. Sit-ups A person lies on their back with their legs bent. They bend at the waist and move their head and torso towards their legs. They then lower themselves back down to the start position. Squats Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, the subject squats down until their thighs are parallel with the floor; during this action, they move their arms forwards in front of them. They then return to a standing position whilst moving their arms back to their sides. Squats train the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, gluteal muscles, and core. The height of the squat can be adjusted to be deeper or shallower depending on the fitness level of the individual i.e. if someone struggles with exercise they can do half squats. They are among the most versatile calisthenic exercises because they can be performed easily in most environments and with a limited amount of space. Burpees A full body calisthenics workout that works abdominal muscles, chest, arms, legs, and some parts of the back. Chin-ups and pull-ups Chin-ups and pull-ups are similar exercises but use opposite facing grips. For a chin-up, the palms of the hands are facing the person as they pull up their body using the chin-up bar. The chin-up focuses on the biceps muscles, rather than the latissimus dorsi muscle which is the focus of the pull-up.[6] For a pull-up, the bar is grasped using a shoulder-width grip. The subject lifts their body up, chin level with the bar, and keeping the back straight throughout. The bar remains in front of the subject at all times. The subject then slowly returns to starting position in a slow controlled manner. This primarily trains the lats or upper back muscles, as well as the forearms. Dips Done between parallel bars or facing either direction of trapezoid bars found in some gyms. Feet are crossed with either foot in front and the body is lowered until the elbows are in line with the shoulders. The subject then pushes up until the arms are fully extended, but without locking the elbows. Dips focus primarily on the chest, triceps, and deltoids, especially the anterior portion. Front lever and back lever A front lever is performed by performing a lat pulldown of the bar with straight arms until the body is parallel to the ground, with the front of the body facing upwards. May be done on rings or pull-up bar. A back lever is performed by lowering from an inverted hang from rings or bar, until the gymnast's body is parallel to the ground and facing towards the floor. Handstand A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder-width apart. Hyperextensions Performed in a prone position on the ground, the individual raises the legs, arms and upper body off the ground. Leg raises Lying on the back, hands in fists under buttocks, move feet up and down. L-sit The L-sit is an acrobatic body position in which all body weight rests on the hands, with the torso held in a slightly forward-leaning orientation, with legs held horizontally so that each leg forms a nominal right-angle with the torso. The right-angle causes the body to have a notable "L" shape, hence the name "L-sit". The L sit requires you to keep your core tensed and hold your legs horizontal so your body sits in a perfect 'L' position. This requires significant abdominal strength and a high level of hamstring flexibility. Muscle-ups One of the basic calisthenics routines. Performed by a combination routine of a pull-up followed by a dip. May be done on pullup bars or rings. Planche Planks This is the name for holding the 'top' position of a push-up for extended periods of time. The primary muscle involved in this exercise is the rectus abdominis. Shuttle runs This is running back and forth between two points (or cones) typically separated by 5-40 meters, as fast as possible, with a touchdown. The emphasis should be on stopping, turning back and accelerate back to a sprint as quickly as possible. Squat jumps A variant of the squat. Performed by entering a squatting position, then using a plyometric jumping movement to jump as high as possible. The Benefits of Calisthenics 1. Time Efficiency Fitting in time to exercise is one of the biggest barriers to sustaining a regular workout routine. Driving to the gym, finding a park, then spending half your time waiting around for exercise equipment is a luxury that many people just can’t afford. Contrast that with bodyweight t raining. You always have your gym with you. You don’t need any extra equipment and you can work out in a minimum of space. Those advantages are huge when it comes to getting your workout done – they add up to ‘no excuses’. 2. It’s Easier on the Joints One of the most common complaints among weight trainers revolves around joint pain. From shoulder pain, to hip ache, to wrist problems, joint troubles seem to come with the resistance training territory. After all, throwing heavy poundages around day after day can take its toll on a person’s body. This negative joint effect is made infinitely worse with the lack of warm up, sloppy form, and chronic overtraining which is commonplace in most gyms. Make the switch to calisthenics. Bodyweight exercises do not place your joints under anywhere near the same resistance pressure as do barbells and dumbbells. As a result, they are far more forgiving of incorrect technique. Because the amount of resistance that you are using is rarely more than your body weight, your joints, especially the wrists and shoulders, will be under way less pressure. That will make you far less prone to injury, allowing you to enjoy your new found strength and muscularity without having to hobble around like a cripple. 3. Circuit Training One unique benefit of no-equipment exercises is that they make it much more convenient to take advantage of a valuable workout technique called circuit training. In circuits, you do one set of each exercise in the routine before doing a second set of any exercise. Moving quickly from exercise to exercise allows you to get more work done in less time - and this is an even more efficient process when there’s no weight to adjust or station to set up. Circuit training is also a fantastic way to enhance the fat loss effects of resistance training. It boosts your metabolism to burn calories like crazy - all the while, allowing you to build, shape, and define every muscle group in your body. 4. It Removes Barriers We are very good at finding barriers to exercising: time, cost, intimidation of exercising in front of others... As long as gravity exists, your own body weight can provide a vigorous workout that does all the good things that any weights-based routine does - that is build muscle and promote fat loss. But calisthenics does it by removing the common barriers. You don’t have to join a gym. That means that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to get fit. Travel is never a problem because you are always carrying your workout equipment - your body - with you. A hotel room or a friend’s house is as good a location as your own home. 5. It Works the Core More Effectively When you exercise on gym equipment, your body usually gets locked into a position. One goal of this positioning is to allow you to isolate the working muscle group. For example, when you are doing a standing calf raise, you position yourself on a machine that very effectively isolates the gastrocnemius calf muscle. But when you a do a calisthenic version of the same movement – in this case a standing one legged calf raise - your body will be having to work to balance itself as you perform the exercise. This brings the muscles of the core into play as they stabilize the lower body. Even exercises like pu sh-ups activate the abdominals, turning every move into a core move. 6. There is No Knowledge Barrier Many exercises that you perform at the gym involve rather technical and precise body movements. For many people, learning the correct technique is extremely challenging. Of course, if you don’t get them right, you’ll not only be wasting your time – you’ll be courting injury. Contrast this with calisthenics. Many of the moves are second nature to us. There are simple to perform without any specialized knowledge. This removes another barrier for many people. According to research conducted at the London Newham General Hospital, lack of knowledge and the perception that they are unqualified to use an exercise machine is one of the biggest barriers people face in beginning an exercise program. 7. It Burns a Lot of Calories In contrast with most weight training exercises, many calisthenics movements combine resistance training with cardiovascular training. This allows you to work both your aerobic (with air) system and your anaerobic (without air) systems. Exercises that combine the two systems allow you to burn fat while you are building muscle. Examples of bodyweight moves that combine resistance with cardio training are bear crawls, burpees, and power jumps. The fact that you are constantly changing your body position when you do calisthenics training will keep the heart rate high while strengthening your muscles. One study showed that as little as 10 sets of 10 squat jumps improved muscle fiber strength in the quadriceps muscles. 8. It is Accessible for Any Age and Ability For people who are elderly, overweight or suffering from illness, using weight resistance training equipment just seems too daunting. Yet, doing some gentle bodyweight exercises is often seen as more ‘doable’. Research conducted by Rebecca Seguin, CSCS and Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, showed that calisthenics exercises "have the ability to combat weakness and frailty and their debilitating consequences. Done regularly, these exercises build muscle strength and muscle mass and preserve bone density, independence, and vitality with age". This makes calisthenics an ideal exercise selection for aged and infirm people. 9. It Help You Improve Your Sports Performance. Plyometrics is a type of calisthenics training that involves jumping vertically and horizontally. As well as providing you with a great fat burning workout, plyometrics will also simulate the actions required to perform many sports. Report this ad The quick lateral sprint changes required for basketball, football, and hockey can be trained for using plyometrics. In fact, any sport that requires explosive moves, where you utilize the body’s stretch shortening cycle to increase