Calisthenics is a strength training exercise that relies on body weight to build muscle and improve fitness. They help strengthen the entire body because each exercise targets all the major muscle groups. Since you don’t need dumbbells or other hand weights, you can perform these exercises anywhere. Each movement requires a few minutes of your time but provides an intense challenge.
Many people think health experts invented full-body resistance workouts in the modern era, but they began in ancient Greece. In Greek, calisthenics means strength and beauty, two essential facets of life in their culture. Spartans would train for war using bodyweight resistance training, combat sports, and wrestling.
Soldiers still rely on bodyweight training to build strength and increase stamina. But the exercises have become more mainstream. Now you’ll find anyone from fitness trainers to teachers doing these workouts to enhance their endurance and coordination.
Even if you’re already physically healthy, you should consider doing calisthenics workouts for beginners. These exercises will help you burn fat, build muscle, and improve your fitness.
An Explanation of Calisthenics
In essence, calisthenics is a bodyweight exercise that relies on the body for resistance rather than traditional weights. These strength training workouts improve functional fitness and endurance, build muscle, and burn fat. They usually include functional movements like squatting, bending, twisting, kicking, pushing, and lunging. These bodyweight exercises help you connect to your primal nature and move as you would in real-world situations.
10 Calisthenics Exercises to Melt Away Fat
All of these exercises are full-body workouts that you can do in the comfort of your home. It’s best to perform them in a circuit to achieve maximum benefits and improve overall fitness. Try doing ten repetitions for each exercise for three rounds to start.
NOTE: If you prefer to watch these, this YouTube Video can guide you through all ten exercises:
1 – Jumping Jacks
This classic movement is one of the best cardiovascular exercises since it improves endurance. Depending on your fitness level, you can do the traditional version or modify it by stepping from side to side.
2 – Pike Walks
You’ll need a couch or chair with thick armrests for this calisthenics exercise. However, you can practice on the ground and move your feet higher as you get more comfortable.
3 – Pushups (a classic calisthenics move!)
Pushups are crucial to any bodyweight training program since they utilize every major muscle group and increase overall strength. You can do these fat-burning exercises in various ways, such as against a couch, wall, or floor. You can even perform them on your knees for a modified version.
4Â – Side Plank Raises
This movement targets the obliques, abs, hip adductors, hip abductors, back muscles, and shoulders. It’s also excellent for stabilizing and strengthening the spine. Try it on your knees and rest on your forearm before progressing into intermediate versions.
5 – Knee Raises
For this exercise, you’ll need two chairs to have plenty of room for leg mobility. This movement combines abdominal with support strength work for full-body training.
6 – Rows
You’ll need some furniture for this movement, such as two chairs or the edge of a table. If you want a comprehensive back exercise that targets your arms, consider adding this to your fitness regimen.
7Â – Swimmers
These cardiovascular exercises target the back, glutes, and hamstrings for a whole-body workout. It also helps improve your posture by opening and stretching the spinal muscles.
8 – Easy Bridge
This simple movement improves shoulder mobility by stretching your biceps, chest, and front delts. If it’s hard on your wrists, you can lift your body halfway instead of doing the traditional movement.
9 – Squats
Fat-burning exercises like squats target the glutes, hamstrings, and quads. In addition, they enhance spine, ankle, and hip mobility, making them an excellent full-body workout. For a challenge, try one-legged squats or jumping squats!
10 – Lunges
Like squats, lunges strengthen the quads, hips, and glute muscles. Since they focus on one leg at a time, they improve balance, coordination, and stability.
The Benefits of Calisthenics Exercises
Bodyweight resistance training exercises have numerous benefits, such as increasing fitness and improving muscle building. According to studies, these workouts also promote fat loss and improved cardiovascular health. Because they consist of compound workouts that use several muscle groups simultaneously, they maximize calorie burning. Other studies show that full-body movements enhance posture and body composition as well. Finally, they can boost your mood, improve mental health, and increase flexibility.
How to Incorporate These Calisthenics into Your Fitness Routine
When creating workout plans, make sure to incorporate various calisthenics exercises. The movements listed above provide an excellent bodyweight training program for beginners. In addition, you can research other popular resistance workouts online if you want more options.
Consider doing calisthenics circuits instead of sets of each exercise, as this will keep your heart rate elevated and make it more challenging. Initially, try doing the circuit three times with a 30-second break between each movement. Rest for at least three minutes between each round as well.
Finally, employ progressive overload training to increase the difficulty of workouts and avoid plateauing. This training involves gradually increasing weight, frequency, and repetitions to improve fitness. Consistently raising the bar in your exercise routine will force your body to adapt and keep workouts engaging.
However, always remember to go at a comfortable pace and listen to your body. Going beyond your comfort zone too quickly could result in severe injury or strained muscles. If you have trouble performing specific exercises, you can modify them or try a different workout that matches your current fitness level.
Setting Specific Goals
As with any regular workout routine, you’ll want to set specific fitness goals to challenge yourself. An objective will help you stay focused and motivated to achieve your ideal.
For example, if you want to focus on strength training, practice progressive overload by increasing weights every few weeks. This can also apply to bodybuilding and weight loss goals since increasing resistance will force your body to work harder. As you build muscle, you’ll burn more fat as your metabolism increases.
You can also set micro-goals, like running longer distances or performing more reps in your workouts. Smaller objectives matter as much as an overarching goal since they’ll help you stay on track.
The main idea is to push yourself continuously so you don’t become complacent. Having new obstacles to overcome will encourage you to strive for improved health and fitness.
Final Thoughts on Trying These Fat-Burning Calisthenics Routines to Get Fitter
Fat-burning calisthenics routines like the above can help you gain strength, build muscle, and improve your fitness. Building muscle with bodyweight exercises may seem intimidating. Still, even beginners can perform them reasonably efficiently. You don’t need a gym membership or fancy equipment for these exercises — just your body and a little patience! Hopefully, you’ll try these ten calisthenics exercises for increased fitness and fat loss.
