Benefits of calisthenics for beginners

calisthenics for beginners

What is calisthenics and why is it so popular

Calisthenics is a form of resistance training that involves utilizing only one’s body-weight to perform exercises. It has become increasingly popular in recent years, as more people are seeing the value in building strength, improving their cardiovascular function, and overall fitness level. Calisthenics is an easy exercise choice for building strength, endurance, flexibility, and coordination because it accomplishes all these things without the need for expensive and heavy equipment. This means you can train calisthenics from anywhere making it easy to do consistently. In this article, we will explore the many other benefits of calisthenics for beginners and why it is a good exercise option for anyone looking to improve their fitness. 

Benefits of calisthenics for beginners

Here are 7 benefits that make calisthenics appealing for anyone just starting out with resistance training:

  1. No need for equipment and gym membership. One of the most significant advantages of calisthenics is that it does not require any equipment or a gym membership. This makes it an easy exercise option for anyone who is on a budget or cannot make it to a gym. All you need is a small open space to exercise in, and you are good to go.
  2. Build strength and endurance. The dynamic compound movement of calisthenics requires a lot of energy and strength to be performed correctly. As you continue to perform these exercises, your body’s strength and endurance will increase. You will, over time, be able to perform more reps, increase the difficulty of the exercises, and build more strength.
  3. Improved flexibility and mobility. Many calisthenics exercises focus on movements that improve flexibility and mobility. This can help reduce the risk of injury and improve your quality of movement making it an excellent exercise option for older adults or people with mobility issues.calisthenics improves flexibility
  4. It’s safe. For beginners calisthenics is generally safer with a lower risk of injury because you’re using just your body weight for resistance and not externally loading your body.
  5. Improve posture. Calisthenics exercises work on strengthening the core muscles, which helps to improve posture. Good posture enables your body to move and perform better, and it can also prevent back pain.
  6. Easy to modify. This type of training is easy to modify to fit your skill level. You can start with basic exercises and gradually increase the difficulty as your strength improves. Additionally, you can focus on specific areas of the body that need improvement. This makes it an excellent exercise option for anyone of any fitness level.
  7. Improved mental health Calisthenics has been known to reduce depression, anxiety and stress levels. This makes it a great tool for elevating your mood and clearing your mind to make you feel good about yourself. 

Calisthenics for beginners exercises

Here are 5 calisthenics exercises to start your program with:

  1. Body weight squats: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing forward. Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the ground, keeping your knees behind your toes. Push through your heels to stand back up. via GIPHY
  2. Push-ups: Start in a plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart. Lower your body towards the ground, keeping your elbows close to your body. Push through your hands to lift your body back up. via GIPHY 
  3. Lunges: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step forward with one foot, lowering your back knee until it nearly touches the ground. Push through your front foot to return to standing and alternate sides.via GIPHY 
  4. Planks: Lower your body into a starting push-up position. Think about pushing away from the floor to keep your elbows locked and shoulders down and back. Hold steady for as long as you can while engaging your core, glutes and quads.via GIPHY
  5. Leg raises: Lay down on your back with knees bent in table top position. Position your palms at your sides or under your butt for added lower back support. Lower your legs towards the floor keeping your core tight and pelvis tilted back and then raise your legs back up into table top position. 

via GIPHY

Remember to move at a pace that is comfortable for you, focusing on proper form and keeping your movements controlled. As you progress, you can increase the number of repetitions and add more challenging variations of each exercise.

 

How to get started doing calisthenics

Calisthenics for beginners is a great place to start if you’ve never done strength training before. By using your body weight for resistance you’re able to improve how you move and build a better understanding of mind and muscle connection and proprioception. This is all very helpful in improving your day to day quality of life. 

However it is important that you understand what good form looks and feels like and that’s where having a certified personal trainer with you becomes hugely beneficial. A personal trainer can help correct your form and challenge you to push yourself so that you gain the most from each workout. This all helps ensure you’re exercising in a way that is safe and effective. 

personal trainer to improve form

When we work with new clients here at Leading Edge we always lead with form and function to help train your body how to move optimally while also correcting any muscular imbalances and building better technique. If you would like to learn more about how to get started you can schedule a free phone consultation with us so we can assess your fitness needs and goals and share with you our different program options. 

Hypertrophy vs strength training: What should you focus on?

hypertrophy vs strength training

Difference between hypertrophy vs strength

While both can lead to improved strength and can elicit changes in the muscle fibers there is a difference in what is emphasized in hypertrophy vs strength training.

Muscle hypertrophy occurs when muscle protein synthesis exceeds muscle protein breakdown resulting in an increase in the size of the muscle. This is accomplished by increasing the weekly volume of your workouts over time to create a higher growth signal to the muscle also know as progressive overloading. Volume in exercise training is the total result from the number of sets x reps you’re doing in training each muscle. Since increased volume is most important for hypertrophy a higher training volume is required with more frequent workouts or longer workout sessions. 

Muscle strength on the other hand refers to the ability of a muscle to produce increased force. This is accomplished by lifting heavier weights (at least 85% of your 1 rep max). Strength training requires less training volume with fewer reps and sets, but with higher intensity. 

Benefits of training for hypertrophy

Hypertrophy training places an emphasis on muscle building which has many benefits:

  1. Improves your body aesthetics. If you’re looking to change the look and shape of your body adding lean muscle mass is the way to achieve this. 
  2. Improves your metabolism and calorie expenditure. It takes a lot of energy to sustain muscle on the body so as a result you’re able to burn more calories at rest boosting your basil metabolic rate. According to Tim Church, M.D., professor of preventative medicine at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University, evidence suggests that every pound of muscle burns roughly six calories per day at rest, “That’s about three times as many calories as a pound of fat, which burns roughly two calories per day,” says Dr. Church.
  3. Improves your strength. Hypertrophy and strength training aren’t mutually exclusive. Building muscle size also promotes muscle strength as well.
  4. Improves body composition. Increasing your lean muscle mass can result in a higher proportion of lean muscle relative to other body tissues. Having a higher proportion of muscle on your body than fat is hugely beneficial to longevity of health.

Benefits of training for strength

Strength training is important for everyday life and here’s why:

  1. Improves functional fitness. Building strength translates into having a better quality of life. You’ll be able to manage life tasks such as lifting and moving heavy objects, playing with your kids and climbing stairs with ease. 
  2. Increases bone density and joint health. As you tax the muscles to get stronger you’re also promoting stronger bones, joints and connective tissue. This puts you less at risk for a fracture or fall. For older folks this is especially important because a bone fracture to the hip for example when you’re over the age of 65 can lead to mortality. Having strong bones also helps protect against osteoporosis. 
  3. Enhances athletic performance. Research shows that having greater muscular strength can enhance skills such as jumping, sprinting and skills that involve change of direction. Evidence also shows that stronger athletes excel at sports-specific tasks and are at a lessor risk of injury.
  4. Reduces the risk of injury. Strength training helps improve body alignment and improve our muscle and tendon capacity for tension putting us at less risk for injury. 
  5. Improves muscle strength and endurance. By increasing our muscle tissues ability to handle more demands we’re able to improve both our muscular strength and endurance. 

Which is better? Training for strength or hypertrophy

There are obvious benefits to training for both hypertrophy vs strength and there’s also some overlap as both elicit improvements in muscle strength. It would be beneficial to incorporate both styles of training in your program to optimize your fitness results. By incorporating both you can improve strength, power, muscle size and appearance. 

However, naturally your body gets stronger before you build muscle. When first introducing a weightlifting program your strength gains are primarily driven by improvement in neuromuscular processes and not an increase in muscle size. Hypertrophy comes later as your body gets stronger and you continue to increase the load you are moving for longer reps. 

Exercise selection for strength and hypertrophy

When it comes to hypertrophy vs strength training both benefit most from compound exercises. These are exercises that work multiple joints and muscles in one movement. Examples of compound exercises include deadlifts, squats, push-ups, rows and pull-ups. Using multiple muscle groups at once allows you to lift more weight, which leads to better improvements in strength and hypertrophy. Compound lifts are also more functional allowing you to also improve your coordination and balance. 

You can train using the same exercises for strength and hypertrophy, but your programming will look a bit different. For hypertrophy you would focus on higher reps usually in the 6-30 rep range whereas with strength you’re focusing on fewer reps usually 1-5 rep range. Hypertrophy requires a shorter rest period in between sets which is usually 1-3 minutes. Strength training requires lower rest periods in between sets, which is usually 3+ minutes. Hypertrophy also involves less intensity since you’re training for more reps.

If you struggle with coming up with a program to achieve your fitness goals for hypertrophy vs strength our team of fitness professionals is happy to help. Strength training and hypertrophy are one of the main focal points of our programming model. Reach out to us on our Contact Us page to schedule a free phone consultation.