So, you want to know what the benefits of calisthenics are? Well, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss what all of the perks of calisthenics training include.
Table of Contents
The Benefits of Calisthenics
Calisthenics is an excellent sport that allows individuals to exercise with no equipment, only utilising the weight of their own body as a form of resistance. Naturally, this offers a large number of advantages.
Build Muscle & Strength
A major part of calisthenics is that it involves a huge amount of compound exercises. This means it engages multiple muscle groups at once in order to complete the movement. It requires a high amount of movement which, over time, helps you strengthen and develop your muscles.
However, the strength developed in calisthenics is not the typical strength you would get from exercises such as deadlifts. Instead, calisthenics helps you to increase your functional strength, which improves balance, coordination, flexibility and mobility. The better your functional strength is, the easier you'll find daily activities and your general sports performance would be enhanced.
Calisthenics Exercises for Building Muscle & Strength:
Dips
Lunges
Plank
Push-Ups
Pull-Ups
Chin-Ups
Burpees
Improve Cardiovascular Fitness
When performed with the correct intensity and in a continuous manner, calisthenics exercises can significantly elevate your heart rate. Movements such as jumping jacks or burpees require rapid muscle contractions, stimulating the cardiovascular system and improving overall cardiovascular fitness. This is also good as it allows individuals to burn calories more easily.
Other Benefits of Improved Cardiovascular Fitness:
Lowered risk of disease
Better strength and stamina
A more active immune system
Managed weight
Stronger bones
Better mood.
Promote Flexibility
Every calisthenics exercise requires a full range of motion if you want to complete the movement, which helps to improve flexibility and mobility. Also, calisthenics exercises can stretch your muscles and can help your body move and bend better. Over time, this type of training can help reduce the risk of injury and improve overall health.
Other Benefits of Enhanced Flexibility:
Reduced risk of injury
Less pain
Improved posture
Enhanced balance
More positive mind
Greater strength
Improved physical performance.
Improve Balance & Coordination
Using your own body weight to exercise not only builds muscle size in accordance with your body to retain mobility for movement but also improves your brain-body connection since calisthenics requires good motor coordination when doing complex (and basic) bodyweight movements. If athletes do not have good coordination, they will find it extremely difficult to stay balanced and retain proper form during each movement.
Other Ways to Improve Balance & Coordination:
Tai Chi
One-legged stand
Weight shifts
Yoga and Pilates
Heel-to-toe walk
Back-leg raises
Knee curl
Toe stand.
Positive Impact on Mental Health
Not only does calisthenics improve your overall physical health, but it also improves your overall mental health. But how does it do this?
Releases endorphins which are natural mood lifters
The focus required during calisthenics promotes mindfulness
Increases the levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin
Achieving calisthenics goals boosts self-confidence and self-esteem
More positive body image
Increases blood flow to the brain, promoting neurogenesis and improving cognitive functions
Concentration needed for calisthenics translates to better focus in daily activities.
Provides Accessible Way to Exercise
Calisthenics is great for anyone as it provides people with a more accessible way to exercise since it can be done anywhere at any time with no equipment at all. One good thing about not needing any equipment is that you can be literally anywhere in the world and start exercising as all you need is your own body weight. This makes calisthenics a much more convenient sport than others such as weight lifting.
What's more, the fact that no equipment is needed for calisthenics makes it significantly more affordable than weight lifting. However, some calisthenics athletes do prefer to utilise equipment such as parallettes, gymnastics rings or pull-up bars in their training in order to maximise their progress.
Summary
In this article, we have discussed what the main perks of calisthenics training are. These benefits included:
I hope you have found the information in this article useful and I hope any questions you had have been answered. Thank you for reading, please come back soon.
Comments