Every step of the way, you’ve hit a wall with exercise. You don’t have the equipment. The gym is too expensive. You feel awkward and weak when you first start a program, so you quit. Calisthenics is one of the best places to start when you want to build strength and regain control of your body.
You have to be conscious of how you do each exercise to get the full benefits, so calisthenics give your mind a little workout, too. If you’re ready to build muscle, want a straight-to-the-point workout, and you can have a little bit of patience with yourself, calisthenics might be worth trying.
How Are Calisthenics Different from Other Exercises?
Calisthenics are a type of strength training that uses your body’s weight and resistance to make you stronger. It’s not all about how much you can lift or how far or fast you can go. In fact, the ancient Greeks said it best when they developed the practice, and the name “calisthenics” translates to strength and beauty.
Calisthenics have something in common with somatic exercises, too, in that there’s an element of mindfulness to them. You have to know what your body can handle and challenge yourself without pushing beyond your limits and hurting yourself.
How Do Calisthenics Help?
Calisthenics are the at-home workout dream. You get to decide how you want to use them, how often, and what your goals are. Doing this kind of workout also comes with some extra benefits beyond your typical “get fit” goals, including:
- Low cost and no equipment: Even if you have zero fitness equipment available, you can still do calisthenics. The most important piece of equipment you need is your own body. There are some tools you can get to make some exercises easier or up the challenge—like pull-up rings or dip bars—but this type of exercise is easy to adapt using the space around you. Some gyms have calisthenics programs, if you want some encouragement or direction.
- Easy to tailor: Calisthenics are meant to help you work up to higher levels gradually and at your own pace. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner, looking for a change to your workout, adapting to new body needs, recovering from an injury or illness, or have a disability. The exercises are so varied that you can do the ones that feel good, are within your abilities, and offer the challenge you need.
- Improves other skills: Calisthenics require you to pay attention to your body, which builds mindfulness with muscle. They also help improve your balance and control of your body by adding exercises that don’t focus only on strength or speed. By focusing on how you move and taking your time with the exercises, you also raise your endurance.
- Saves time: A little goes a long way with calisthenics, and it doesn’t take many reps for them to make a difference. As few as 10 reps of one exercise can start building your strength. If you only have a few minutes to devote to exercising each day, you can do calisthenics.
What Counts as Calisthenics?
You probably already know and have done plenty of calisthenics exercises. You might even remember some from school gym classes or workout programs you’ve tried before. Here are a few to get you started:
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Jumping jacks
- Planks
- Crunches
- Squats
- Leg raises
- Lunges
- Dips
This isn’t a complete list, but if you’re starting out, these are the basics. But you can build up to more, once you’re ready for a bigger challenge. You may even want to explore freestyle calisthenics, or barflow, a showy form of calisthenics that uses your body’s momentum to carry you through a series of exercises and tricks.
Where Should You Start with Calisthenics?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t do a pull-up!” don’t worry. There are a lot of ways to modify calisthenics, and everyone starts somewhere. If any of the exercises from the last section are too hard, there are always beginner versions.
If you can’t do a pull-up, start by hanging from the bar or doing wall pull-ups. Hybrid Calisthenics has some great resources for starting out and working your way up. If you want a more structured program, the BetterMe app (affiliate link) is a great place to start, since it has calisthenics workouts for newbie, medium, and advanced levels. Plus, the app gives you other tools to help keep you on track and motivated with your workouts, like meal plans and courses. No matter where you start, it’s most important that you exercise in a way that serves your body, not hurts it.
Tips for Good Calisthenics Practice
The first rule of calisthenics: If it hurts, stop. You shouldn’t be making your joint pain worse or causing injury to your muscles. If you find yourself in more pain than you should feel after a workout, it’s time to modify.
Don’t forget to warm up before you jump into your workout. While some people use calisthenics as part of a warmup for more intense exercise, you still need to do a little warmup before calisthenics. A few minutes is all it takes, but it’s important to lower your risk of injury and get more out of your workout.
Just like with any exercise program, make sure you take care of your body and maintain your health in other ways, too. If you use BetterMe, you can track your water intake, and you can use a sleep tracker to make sure you get all 40 winks.
Lastly, before you start calisthenics, talk to your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. While these exercises don’t require you to go to the gym, it can help to work with a trainer if you’re not sure what to do.
Fitness Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
Calisthenics are a great way to gain strength and reach a goal that you set yourself. Even though they have an old school gym class vibe, you can do them your way. Take them outside, improvise your equipment (as long as it’s safe), and find creative ways to move your body. At the end of the day, you know what feels good, and you’re the one in control of setting your own goals.
Author
Eli Wood (they/them) is a content writer and content strategist for health and wellness businesses and organizations. As a queer and genderqueer person assigned female at birth, it’s important to them to help people of all genders feel more comfortable talking about uncomfortable topics (like menopause), especially within the LGBTQ+ community. They write about sexual health and wellness and create strategic, LGBTQ+ inclusive content and craft content strategies to help businesses reach their ideal audiences. You can find more about Eli and their work on their website.
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