Have you ever wondered why the best athletes and military personnel still have to do Calisthenics Strength training in their daily routine?

In this post, I will share the benefits of this method with you and why our team puts a lot of energy into this training method over other disciplines.

 

What is Calisthenics?

Calisthenics training is one of the simplest forms of exercise you can find. It requires very little equipment to do a full-body workout. All you need is to have a positive mindset and regularly attend your sessions to achieve your desired fitness goals.

It is a system of strength training where you use your own weight as resistance for your exercises. You can consider static running, jumping jacks, push-ups, and pull-ups as a starting point in its basic form.

You will then progress towards more complex and physically-demanding gymnastic types of movement as you get better.

Calisthenics training, also known as Bodyweight training, has been practiced by many great athletes and warriors long way back before the word ‘fitness’ was popularized.

It is not because they lacked the exercise equipment back then. It is because the method is surprisingly simple and yet very effective.

This is one of the main reasons why Calisthenics training is the mainstay exercise regimen in military training. The convenience of being able to practice it anywhere and with the exercises being easily adapted has attracted more practitioners from other disciplines as well.

People are coming to realize that this training method is easily as effective as and even more fun than a typical gym training session.

The good news is, you can start with calisthenics training even if you're a beginner with a lower starting level of fitness. Whether you are in your mid-60s or struggling with kneeling push-ups, you can still achieve a high fitness level with determination and consistency in your personal practice. 

The Benefits of Calisthenics Exercises

Calisthenics exercises cover a wide variety of movements. Thus, it also provides a wide variety of benefits too.

I have listed the 7 most important benefits of Calisthenics training. You will realize why we highly recommend this method to you for achieving your goal towards movement freedom.

1. You get to know your body better

In my opinion, this is a significant benefit. It is also a skill that everyone should work on. Because of this training method's minimalist approach, you can do your sessions with fewer distractions without relying on numerous fitness equipment.

You will, instead, start to develop an awareness of your body positioning and posture. As you do the movements, you begin to understand your body a lot better.

By consistently honing and improving your bodily awareness, you will prevent potential injuries, and you will learn new movements faster.

2. You will become really strong

You will soon notice that you are getting stronger after a few regular sessions and that you can move your body with greater ease.

This fact might already be obvious for some. However, most fitness enthusiasts still believe that lifting weights is way better for building strength.

Even though Calisthenics exercises only require you to lift your body weight, it is actually very physically demanding strength-wise. If done with the right guidance, you can achieve an insane level of strength with Calisthenics.

Get a free e-book- "Beginner's programme for Calisthenics - A complete 6 weeks step-by-step guide to get you started" as a gift from us!

3. You will get toned - but not with over-sized muscles

Since you are not artificially carrying any weight to build your muscles as bodybuilders do, you will gain muscles from comfortably carrying your own body weight. Hence, you can get stronger by the session without getting too bulky.

Think of a monkey that will never get too big with its arms, even if it is hanging on trees all day. Despite being lean, monkeys are still crazy strong. I guess the result might be different if the monkey carries dumbbells and does bodybuilding.

In Calisthenics, you will build a nicely-proportioned and healthy-looking body.

4. Lean, long, and flexible muscles

You will get that "beach body look." Plus, you will have great flexibility to do many of the fun things you enjoy doing.

With good form, you can achieve a healthy level of flexibility in Calisthenics, aside from getting stronger. Our sessions incorporate a beneficial type of bodyweight stretching that will also strengthen your muscles whilst increasing their flexibility simultaneously. This will make your body more resilient to injuries.

All of us know that what a gymnast mostly does is bodyweight strength training and stretching. And we would all agree that they are among the most flexible and strongest athletes to be found.

5. No fancy equipment needed

One of the best things with the Bodyweight Strength Training method is in its simplicity.

Sometimes, when I am stuck at home, I am not worried because I will only need a small space on the floor and a wall to do my workouts.

Of course, you can do better with equipment like the Gymnastic rings and P-bars -which we use in the studio to optimize our attendees' gains. However, you can easily do without these and still have a very productive workout session.

6. Achieve your fitness goals faster

This benefit goes along with #5. Since you don't need fancy equipment to get you going with your Calisthenics exercises, you can have more consistency in your training session.

And that is the most important key in achieving your goals. Whether you are at home, on a 2-week holiday, or if you simply just can't get out of the office, you can still fit in a couple of Calisthenics exercises during your breaks. The convenience alone makes Calisthenics a very effective method for consistent progress.

7. Learn some cool skills to show off to your friends

I must admit that I got attracted to Calisthenics from jaw-dropping videos on social media. I can still vividly remember thinking, "how I wish I could do handstands anytime in front of my school friends."

It was a big deal for me as I was never really good at sports when I was younger. Achieving these skills after 40 is such a big confidence booster for me to keep going on my fitness journey.

Though I had started with being relatively superficial with Calisthenics, it became a valuable starting point to continue onwards with this practical and functional exercise method.

Conclusion

So there you go with the benefits of the Calisthenics routine. Keep this list in mind before you start your training session and ask yourself if you will be working on them. It is an excellent reminder to optimize the benefits you will reap from your effort.

1. Know your body better
2. Become really strong
3. Build toned but not over-sized muscles
4. Long, lean and flexible muscles
5. No fancy equipment needed
6. Achieve your goals faster
7. The cool skills to show off

Now that you know how good Bodyweight training is, all you need to do is to get started. As simple as it sounds, you can actually start now simply by doing 20 jumping jacks and 10 push-ups.

A gentle reminder here, you always have two options in any situation;

• do nothing and expect nothing or
• start doing something now, be consistent with it, and reap the benefits of your effort in the future.

Just get your body to do something, you will feel really good and then go on to aim to do better in your next sessions.

And of course, the same with any other practice, the right guidance will be invaluable for your success and safety. It will save you valuable time looking around for suitable exercises for your level. And you don't have to waste your energy on doing random exercises whilst wondering whether you are doing them correctly.

You are very welcome to join us, to have fun, and achieve your results faster by coming in to our studio classes. One additional bonus that you get right away in doing Calisthenics is the community you get to join.

It is full of fun-loving, competitive, yet exceptionally supportive individuals that you can find in the fitness community.

If you are based in Singapore, you can visit us in our studio. You will realize right away how comfortable it is to join our community of practitioners. Whether you just got started practicing or are already doing the advanced level of movement, you will feel at ease joining our sessions.

If you are interested in getting started with Calisthenics, read my post on "How to get started with Calisthenics? A Beginner's Guide" It will take you there. It comes with a simple yet effective program that you can follow at the convenience of your home, office, in the Gym, or when you are on holiday.

Please share this post with your friends, leave a comment below and drop us a mail if you have any suggestions on a topic that you want me to share with you in the next blog post.