Calisthenics

[MaginB]

Lately, there's been a lot written about calisthenic strength training. This modality has existed since the dawn of time and it's being talked about like it's a brand new phenomenon, even though we all know the opposite is true.

The Calisthenic Body Is The Cohesive Body. One of the beautiful things about calisthenics is that we celebrate movements that use the whole body cohesively, rather than attempting to isolate small body parts one at a time.

I've been curious about starting calisthenics training and would like to know if any of you currently trains this way. What are your best practices, recommendations and  do's & don'ts.

In the meantime, for anyone who is also interested in calisthenics, take a look at this video that you might find inspiring.

[SantiR]

Very interesting! Looks that it hurts, but you will get on shape. The video is very motivational. Thanks for sharing! 

[WendyB]

I do some of those. I have never been able to do the Pulls up though. Try as I might.

He made them look easy

[MaginB]

@SantiR You should give it a try bro! 

@WendyB That's awesome! I'm starting and have to be honest is not as easy as it looks, one of the things I like the most about this type of workout is tha you don't need a gym to do it. 

[Dominique]

@MaginB: it’s funny, when I saw the first photos in your post, I said to myself: if half your body isn’t covered with tattoos, you can forget about calisthenics <LOL>. Then I saw the guy in the video had none, plus he did things that I could relate to, like pull-ups and push-ups. So maybe there’s something in it for me . 

[MaginB]

@Dominique I thought the same I found a lot of pictures of tattooed people doing calisthenics.  But don't worry I don't any tattoos and I'm starting with calisthenics activities. I encourage to keep doing your push ups and pull ups and you'll see that you will be fit for Christmas. 

[SunsetRunner]

The fact that you can do these basically anywhere is a really interesting point for calisthenics. Also the fact that you are only using your own body weight make lesions less likely. 

Thanks for the video @MaginB this is something I can see myself doing.

[SunsetRunner]

I do Bodyweight training, which is pretty much the same thing, apart from the challenging 'positions' involved in calisthenics.

Before this I was in to bodybuilding/power lifting, but being 47 years old my tendons and ligaments were not agreeing to the heavy lifting any more.

I am now using just my Bodyweight, but still managing to increase muscle mass, whilst feeling (and looking) in better shape.

If you haven't tried it yet, I'd say go for it...just be patient.

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner I'm not much into bulking myself so this is really good for me. I can still win muscle mass but at a less drastic rate.  

As for patience, well, I'll try. 

[SolangeE]

Wow! This is very interesting. To be able to manage your own weight and keep that position strong. I will defenitely give it a try! 

Thanks for sharing, @MaginB!

[MaginB]

@SunsetRunner Now that you mention it, one of my goals is to increase muscle mass as well. I'm taking care of my diet and taking supplements expecting to have better results. 

@SunsetRunner @SolangeE This is definitely a great way to start exercising I encourage you to give it a try. 

[SunsetRunner]

@MaginB  Your best way would be to just concentrate on the main compound exercises, such as Squats, Push ups, and Pull Ups.  Once your weight begins to increase you'll be squatting, pushing, and pulling more weight; hence increasing muscle activity.

THEN, I would introduce more isolation exercises for shoulders, arms, and other variations. 👍🏻

[Dominique]

@SunsetRunner: I agree with compound exercises giving the most bang for your bucks (for someone wanting to add muscle mass). However, most people will gain strength (which means, among other things, the ability to lift more weight) much faster than their bodyweight will increase (due to muscle gains). For instance, I started to do chin ups with my own bodyweight, but I now have to use a belt with up to 18 kg of extra weight to keep them challenging. I would be happy if I could add even a third of that as new muscle mass in one year. 

[SunsetRunner]

@Dominique

I think I should have mentioned that prior to me moving to bodyweight training, I was already doing weight training.

So, already being 14stone, it was much tougher for somebody like me to be lifting my own bodyweight - especially on pull-ups.

Because of the physical challenge of weight training, and the increased consumption of calories (by the boyd) during the workouts, moving over to bodyweight training made it easier for me to gain weight initially.  My weight increased by 4 pounds over the first month, just by making this change.

The only downside to bodyweight training, in comparison to weight training, is as it is more 'aerobic' (due to the higher rep ranges) than 'anaerobic', you will pretty much only burn those extra calories during the workout, and the following couple of hours.  Weight training is pretty much a 24 hour body-binge.

However, it is definitely still possible to gain size (during bodyweight training), providing you consume the extra calories.

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

The only downside to bodyweight training, in comparison to weight training, is as it is more 'aerobic' (due to the higher rep ranges) than 'anaerobic', you will pretty much only burn those extra calories during the workout, and the following couple of hours.  Weight training is pretty much a 24 hour body-binge.

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I assume that for aerobic training, you refer to the calories burned during the actual exercise (that’s when most of them are expended) and to EPOC, aka the "afterburn". Regarding resistance training (weight lifting), I’m not sure what you mean by "24 hour body-binge": do you mean that lifting weights for one hour causes your body to burn crazy amounts of the calories during the next 23 hours? Or that – all things being equal (same sex, age, weight, height) – someone carrying a lot of muscle (as the result of weight training) burns more calories than someone less muscular? The latter is true, but its impact is rather limited. A few months back, I used the Katch-McArdle formula to calculate how much more I would burn (according to the formula) if I managed to gain five kilograms of muscle: it was only 100-200 calories per day, depending on activity level.

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

So, already being 14stone, it was much tougher for somebody like me to be lifting my own bodyweight - especially on pull-ups.

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That’s not the way I see it. You cannot expect someone weighing 65 kg to bench press the same amount of weight as someone 85 kg (this is why there are weight classes in power lifting), but both guys (if equally muscular) should be able to pull up their own weight, because strength should be proportional to your size. What matters is not your absolute weight, but the ratio between muscle (which contributes to pulling you up) and fat (which is dead weight).

[estradaric]

Hi, which exercise would you recommend to choose when doing Bodyweight exercises on the fitbit? 

[Esya]

I wonder how much overlap there is with yoga. I do that and use my own bodyweight there in planks and some other exercises. And you can also do it at home without needing a gym. Ofcourse parts are different, but curious about the common denominator.