Top 5 Calisthenics Exercises To Lose Weight Effectively

Staying fit and in shape is easily the most important aspect of leading a healthy, modern life. Today, we are all ruled by gadgets. We hardly have any task that is not dependent on any form of technology. Whether it is completing our daily, mundane household chores or doing our 9-6 jobs in front of our computers (laptops), there is no denying the fact that we have all become sedentary. This leads to various health-related issues, obesity being the most common outcome. Obesity can lead to several other major health problems including cardiac problems, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, asthma, type 2 diabetes and even cancer in some situations. Taking the above into consideration, it would be worthwhile to make calisthenics exercises a part of your routine.

Calisthenics and Weight Loss

Calisthenics routine is often considered to be the easiest way to accommodate a healthy lifestyle in your busy schedule. If talking about obesity and weight loss in particular, calisthenics workout program can be the best solution. The most important thing to take note of here is that to follow a calisthenics weight loss regime, you don’t have to spend too much money. You won’t need any gym memberships nor would you have to buy expensive workout equipment. The home calisthenics program needs nothing of it!

When you perform the calisthenics exercises several days in a week, you will reap several health benefits and advantages that will lead you towards an improved lifestyle, something that will reflect in your overall personality and your productivity at work. There are added benefits too; the calisthenics workout program can help you develop strong muscles, give you a toned body and a renewed cardiac system – do you want more with your exercise? We bet, you don’t!

What is the Calisthenics Routine?

So, we all have read enough about the calisthenics exercises and how they can be amazing for us, particularly if we are leading a hectic but sedentary life. But that being said, what is calisthenics is something that we all need some clarity on. Also known as bodyweight strength training, these exercises can very easily be performed without any professional help or technical support implying that you can quite easily complete your dose of calisthenics workout for weight loss right at your home (or in your hotel room , if you are traveling).

Simply put, calisthenics routine consists of multi-joint exercises, done without the support of any gym equipment. These exercises however, help you engage several muscle groups solely using your body weight. This form of exercise is believed to have originated in Greece but calisthenics workout routine is quite popular across the Europe and England, among people who want a healthier and happier life. Calisthenics workout forms a regular routine training course for Navy Seals.

Performing calisthenics exercises regular will help you largely by quickly burning your stored fat and thereby ensure that you get back in shape and have greater strength as well as flexibility to perform your everyday activities with ease. Some of the most popular forms of the calisthenics workout program include –

• Squats
• Pull-ups and push-ups
• Abdominal exercises
• Sit-ups
• Trunk curls
• Shadow boxing
• V-cups
• Side-jumps, jumping jacks
• Pelvic tilts
• Walking lunges
• Leg kicks, etc.

The calisthenics exercises can be very easily performed at home and this is what makes them so popular. It is recommended that you start your calisthenics workout routine with a couple of minutes of warm-up. This could be marching in place or some brisk walking around the room.

Reasons Why You Should Do Calisthenics

Calisthenics workout is something that we all have done at some point in time even without realizing. Yes, when we try and take that little extra effort to do some sort of a physical activity during the day, we are actually doing what is calisthenics. It is the body-weight training that we have been taught to practice from the time we were in school during those Physical Education classes, we all enjoyed. To put it straight, if you ever did those quick push-ups, crunches or the burpees, you have actually incorporated the calisthenics workout regime into your everyday routine.

If you are still wondering why you should really be doing those calisthenics, we give you some reasons here. These reasons are sure to make you think really hard and get serious with the calisthenics exercises.

You Can Exercise at Home with Zero Equipment

For all those people who had always been pushing their exercise and getting lazy about working out because going to gym is tiresome can now find no more excuses for calisthenics workout at home is not just possible but as effective as any other body-weight exercise that needs the gym equipment. This means that you can easily save on that money you are spending on the gym but still be fit and yes, you will also save on the time that you would otherwise spend traveling to and from the gym; thereby giving yourself some more time to exercise and relax.

Of course, you can use the pull-up bar, the jumping rope or the resistance band for your calisthenics workout routine but you don’t necessarily have to use even these basic tools.

Calisthenics Workout at Home to Strengthen Your Whole Body

Calisthenics workout is ideal for strength training. Most of the calisthenics weight loss will engage several muscle groups simultaneously and this means, you will be working out your body as a whole. Now, you may wonder how that happens. Take into consideration the push-ups. When you perform the push-you, you may want to believe that you are actually working out your chest but in all reality, to perform proper push-ups, you will have to engage your body wholly – your quads, glutes, core muscles and the abs are all engaged. More importantly, all these muscles have to work in harmony and this increases the benefits of the exercise all the more.

Calisthenics Help in developing your Coordination

Calisthenics routine is great not just to strengthen your body but also to improve your overall coordination. You can only practice the perfect sit-ups, crunches or push-ups when you have the right coordination of your different body parts and muscles. Following this proper order and rhythm consistently tends to improve the coordination reflex in you leading to efficiency in performing various other physical tasks.

It is true that calisthenics exercises can strengthen your body muscles but strength is not the only aspect of fitness that you should be really concerned about. Proper coordination is just as important as it will help in ensuring you have the right gait and body posture too.

Calisthenics Help in Improving Flexibility

Another very important aspect of your physical personality that calisthenics workout plan can improve is the flexibility. The stretches that you perform while you do the calisthenics will help in giving your body a good opportunity to turn flexible. As a matter of fact, the dynamic stretching that is often recommended to be done as a warm up before and after the calisthenics further adds on to make you work out your body to ensure flexibility. And then, there are some exercises that only the flexible can perform so it all goes in a circle – the more flexible you are, you will be able to try out more challenging calisthenics move and that will imply, you get more flexible!

Calisthenics Helps you Improve your Endurance Levels

If you perform your calisthenics exercises in the right or rather proper manner, you can quite easily boost your body’s endurance level. The exercises that require you to hold a certain position for a certain period of time are just perfect to help your body’s endurance. Planks, for instance, are ideal if you are looking at improving your body’s endurance level. V-Sit is another exercise that is great for endurance building.

Calisthenics Weight Loss and Effective Fat Loss

For all those people who are struggling with obesity issues, calisthenics workout can be a great solution. These exercises help in strengthening your muscles and also reducing your weight while toning your body and shaping your figure simultaneously. These exercises are safe to be performed even if you use high intensity to work out. This is the reason, calisthenics is considered an ideal way to burn fat and get fit, particularly for people who aim at losing weight.

Calisthenics can Help you Get rid of Monotony in Your Exercise Routine

There ae several workout forms that you can try with calisthenics. This means that you will never get bored with your calisthenics workout program. Start with the planks and crunches and you may want to move to circuits and pyramids and go back to the lunges. The more variety you bring in to your calisthenics workout plan, the more motivated you would be each day to exercise because monotony brings in boredom and boredom leads to exercise dropouts!

The Best Calisthenic Exercises to Perform At Home

After having read till here, you are surely in consensus with us that calisthenics exercises can help you lose weight as well as keep you healthy. So what is calisthenics or rather the various exercises that can be included in the calisthenics workout plan – If you are wondering about this, then here is a list of some of the best exercises that form the calisthenics workout and can be performed easily at home. Of course, without any equipment!

1. Jumping Jacks:

Jumping jacks are a strenuous type of calisthenics exercise. This workout helps in burning calories to the best. The exercise can also help in strength training as well as stress relief. This is an intense cardio exercise which increases the heart rate and helps in boosting metabolism. This leads to burning fat at a fast pace.

2. Bur-pees:

Burpees are a challenging form of calisthenics. These exercises are difficult and this is what makes the exercises more effective. These exercises helping in sculpting the body and helps in burning calories leading to quick weight loss.

3. Planks:

Planks is a strength training exercise that increases the power and endurance of many parts of the body. These exercises tone the abs, thighs, neck, biceps, chest, lower back, bottom, biceps and shoulders. This exercise is recommended to particularlyu those who are looking at versatility as well as aiming at enhacing their body posture.  This exercise is also great for targeting the stubborn tummy fat. Also, the extended hours of desk work that we all do puts pressure on pur lower back. Planks can help om easing off this pressure and making our lower feel more relaxed.

4. Situps:

Situps are a great form of calisthenics that help in improving your body’s balance and flexibility. This exercise focuses at toning the abdominal muscles, the hips, waist, and the lower back. You will also benefit from this exercise in the way of toning your chest and shoulders. This exercise is highly recommended to reduce backache and muscle spasms.

5. Mountain Climb:

Mountain climb is a form of bodyweight training exercise that works up several muscles simultaneously. With this form of exercise, you tend to work up several joints and muscles together and hence, this exercise is believed to give very effective results. The exercise particularly focuses on leg muscle tissues, hamstrings, quads, core muscles and abs along with chest srea and the shoulders.

How to Improve Flexibility with the Calisthenics Training Program?

The body weight calisthenics workout routine is a great way to keep your body in shape as you can easily accommodate this workout regime in your busy schedule. The great aspect about the calisthenics exercises is that while many may want to try calisthenics weight loss, these exercises are recommended for others too because they focus on strength training and flexibility building. Flexibility is actually an important skill to practice calisthenics as well as an essential outcome of this workout routine. Here is how you can improve flexibility in your calisthenics training program –

Foam Rolling:

Foam rolling is a great way to improve flexibility in your body. Particularly, if you are a beginner with any kind of working out program, your body tends to be rather rigid. 30 minutes of foam rolling, 5 days a week can be quite effective for you. Best aspect of foam rolling is that you don’t have to dedicate specific time for this. You can do it while you are watching TV and relaxing. So basically, you use a foam roll and use your body weight to ease off the tension between your sore muscles; identify your sore muscle areas and roll your body over the foam roll across those identified muscles.

Yoga:

Yoga is one of the best ways to improve flexibility in your body. Yoga heps you relax and unwind too. Yoga is a great stress reliever so if you have been having a bad day at work, spending some time doing yoga can instantly make you feel good and relaxed. Above all, it is a great way to practice calisthenics at home.

Stretches:

Stretches, we all know, are great for improving flexibility. Stretching daily will help in easing your muscles and gradually improving the flexibility in your body.

Apart from the above, you should make sure that you never skip your warm-up. You may think that warm-up is just a couple of minutes exercise but it is extremely important to prepare your body for routine exercises. If you do not warm-up, you may end up with sore muscles.

What Should You Always Bear In Mind When Following Calisthenics routine?

Calisthenics exercises are good for you; there is absolutely no second thoughts on that. However, it is also true that anything (even good), when overdone may not remain as effective. This applies to the calisthenics workout routine quite perfectly. The America College of Sports Medicine recommends to start with a two-day continuous calisthenics workout plan at the beginning and increase it to a third session in a week when you get comfortable. But, what is more important here is to give a day’s break between sessions to allow the muscles to recover. Over-exercise or overdoing your calisthenics workout at home can lead to early fatigue causing a higher exercise-dropout rate. On the days when you are not doing your home calisthenics workout, you can always do some basic, non-exhaustive cardio exercises such as running or jogging. This will help in making your weight loss program more effective as well.

Apart from the frequency of your calisthenics routine, you also need to understand that certain calisthenics that require you to jump may put some excessive stress on your hips, ankle joints and knees. If you have a history of joint pain or backache, this might spell doom. To make sure that the calisthenics workout plan works in your best interest, you may want to avoid such exercises that cause you to bend or twist your back and spine. Always ensure that you progress slowly with the calisthenics weight loss. Start with the calisthenics workout for beginners and gradually increase your difficulty level to make the exercises challenging and encouraging. And of course, you have to compliment your calisthenics workout at home with the right calisthenics meal plan; that’s the only way home calisthenics workout will work in your favor!