Calisthenics
Calisthenics is strength training with your own body weight: pull-ups, push-ups, dips, squats and, later, skills such as the handstand, the muscle-up and the human flag. The name comes from the Greek words for beauty and strength. It is trained in studios and on outdoor bars, where the same kind of training is often called street workout.
What it is for
Section titled “What it is for”- Strength relative to your body weight, and control of your body.
- Clear progress: from the first pull-up to harder and harder skills.
- Mobility and stable joints, especially in the shoulders and wrists.
- Training almost anywhere, once you know the movements.
Equipment
Section titled “Equipment”- A studio has pull-up bars, parallel bars, rings, low handles for push-ups and handstands (parallettes), resistance bands and mats.
- Sports clothes you can move freely in, training shoes, water and a towel.
- Resistance bands help you practise pull-ups and dips before you can do them on your own.
- Some people use chalk for grip — ask the studio first.
How a class goes
Section titled “How a class goes”- 60–90 minutes. A warm-up with joint mobility, especially for the wrists and shoulders.
- Skill work: steps towards a handstand, a muscle-up or a lever, going from easy to hard versions (called progressions).
- Strength sets — pulling, pushing, legs and core — with repetitions matched to your level.
- It often ends with core work and stretching.
- In a first class the trainer checks what you can already do — how many push-ups, whether you can hang from the bar — and gives you the right version of each exercise.
Who it suits best
Section titled “Who it suits best”- People who like training without machines, indoors or outdoors.
- Teenagers and young adults who enjoy setting goals and reaching them.
- Beginners at any level of strength: every exercise has an easier version.
- Climbers, martial artists and other athletes who need to handle their own body weight well. See also Functional training.
- It is less suited to anybody with a shoulder, elbow or wrist injury, as those joints carry much of the load — ask your doctor first and tell the trainer. Build up gradually: tendons get used to new loads more slowly than muscles.