PUSH-as-Rx ®™ Wellness Exercise & Fitness

Can adding calisthenics resistance training to a fitness routine provide health benefits like flexibility, balance, and coordination?

Calisthenics Resistance Training

• Calisthenics resistance training requires no equipment, they can be done with minimal space, and are a great way to get a quick burn.
• They are a form of resistance training using your own body weight that is low-impact, which makes it accessible to individuals of all ages and fitness levels.
• They effectively help build agility, and cardiovascular health, and improve balance, coordination, and flexibility.

Benefits

Muscle Strength

Because calisthenics are easily adaptable to any fitness level, require minimal or no equipment, and are great for beginners and experienced exercise enthusiasts it is a fantastic full-body workout and an excellent way to build strength and muscle. Research supports that calisthenics resistance training can improve muscle strength in various ways.

• One study found that eight weeks of calisthenics not only improved posture and body mass index/BMI but can impact strength, even with exercises not routinely performed. (Thomas E, et al., 2017)
• During the study, one group did calisthenics and the other maintained regular training routines.
• The researchers discovered that the group that did calisthenics increased their repetitions of exercises that were not included.
• The group who continued with their regular training routines did not improve on what they could do before the eight-week study. (Thomas E, et al., 2017)

Cardiovascular Fitness

• Regular participation in calisthenic resistance training can lead to improved cardiovascular health, including increased endurance and a healthier heart.
• Certain calisthenic exercises, like burpees and mountain climbers, are high-intensity movements that can increase heart rate and blood circulation just from the movements.
• Gradually performing these exercises at a faster pace, research indicates could potentially experience the same cardiovascular benefits from interval or treadmill running. (Bellissimo GF, et al., 2022) - (Lavie CJ, et al., 2015)

Balance, Coordination, and Flexibility

• The movements require a full range of motion that stretches and strengthens the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
• These exercises can help decrease the risk of injury and make daily physical activities easier to perform without over-exertion.
• Incorporating calisthenics resistance training on a regular basis can help improve posture, balance, and flexibility, depending on which exercises are recommended.
• Exercises like stretches, lunges, and squats help to improve flexibility and mobility.
• Exercises like single-leg squats and one-arm push-ups can work the balance, coordination, and proprioception of the body.

Mental Health

• Exercise, in general, is known to improve mood, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.
• Calisthenic resistance training can have additional impacts on mental well-being.
• For example, the discipline and focus required to perform the movements can help concentration and mental clarity.
• One study found that calisthenics can reduce cognitive decline and may be useful for dementia prevention. (Osuka Y, et al., 2020)
• Another study found that calisthenics helped mental well-being in individuals with diseases like ankylosing spondylitis and multiple sclerosis. (Taspinar O, et al., 2015)

Types

Bodyweight exercises that use an individual's own body weight as resistance are the foundation. Common examples include push-ups, squats, and lunges. An overview of some of the types of exercises.

Pulling

• These exercises focus on training the muscles for pulling movements, which include the back, shoulders, and arms.
• Examples include pull-ups, chin-ups, and rows.

Pushing

• These exercises focus on training the muscles for pushing movements, like the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
• Examples include dips, push-ups, and handstand push-ups.

Core

• Core exercises focus on training the abdominal and lower back muscles, which are responsible for maintaining stability and balance.
• Examples of core exercises include planks, sit-ups, and leg raises.

Single-Leg

• Single-leg exercises focus on training one leg at a time.
• These target the muscles of the legs, hips, and core.
• Examples of single-leg exercises include single-leg squats, lunges, and step-ups.

Plyometric

• Calisthenics resistance training focuses on powerful explosive movements.
• Plyometric exercises challenge the muscles to work quickly and forcefully.
• Examples include jump squats, clap push-ups, and box jumps.

Getting Started

• Start by making sure calisthenics is an appropriate workout option, especially if you are a beginner or have pre-existing medical conditions.
• Once cleared to exercise start with familiar movements that can be done with the correct form.
• Pushups, bodyweight squats, planks, lunges, and other basic movements are a good place to start.
• Make sure to warm up with light and easy motions that mimic the workout movements.
• Aim to work each body part during the workout.
• Try for at least two workouts a week.
• It is recommended to split the movement patterns.
• Reps can be counted or set a timer to switch exercises every minute. This is called EMOM-style or every minute on the minute.
• Pick four to five exercises that target various areas.
• For example, sit-ups can be done for the core, lunges for the glutes and thighs, planks can be done for the shoulders and core, and jumping jacks or jumping rope for cardiovascular.
• Calisthenic resistance training is easily modifiable and can be adjusted to individual needs.

Core Strength

General Disclaimer *

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please contact Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico*

References

Thomas, E., Bianco, A., Mancuso, E. P., Patti, A., Tabacchi, G., Paoli, A., ... & Palma, A. (2017). The effects of a calisthenics training intervention on posture, strength, and body composition. Isokinetics and exercise science, 25(3), 215-222.

Bellissimo, G. F., Ducharme, J., Mang, Z., Millender, D., Smith, J., Stork, M. J., Little, J. P., Deyhle, M. R., Gibson, A. L., de Castro Magalhaes, F., & Amorim, F. (2022). The Acute Physiological and Perceptual Responses Between Bodyweight and Treadmill Running High-Intensity Interval Exercises. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 824154. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.824154

Osuka, Y., Kojima, N., Sasai, H., Ohara, Y., Watanabe, Y., Hirano, H., & Kim, H. (2020). Exercise Types and the Risk of Developing Cognitive Decline in Older Women: A Prospective Study. Journal of Alzheimer's disease: JAD, 77(4), 1733–1742. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200867

Taspinar, O., Aydın, T., Celebi, A., Keskin, Y., Yavuz, S., Guneser, M., Camli, A., Tosun, M., Canbaz, N., & Gok, M. (2015). Psychological effects of calisthenic exercises on neuroinflammatory and rheumatic diseases. Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie, 74(8), 722–727. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00393-015-1570-9

Lavie, C. J., Lee, D. C., Sui, X., Arena, R., O'Keefe, J. H., Church, T. S., Milani, R. V., & Blair, S. N. (2015). Effects of Running on Chronic Diseases and Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 90(11), 1541–1552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.001

Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Alexander Jimenez and PUSH as Rx Owner/Exercise Physiologist Daniel Alvarado discuss calisthenics or (gymnastic exercises to achieve bodily fitness and grace of movement.)

You’re not far off when thinking of calisthenics, in case you possess a mental picture of the military performing jumping jacks to cadence. The truth is , though, that calisthenics exercises are rooted much deeper in history, dating back all the way to ancient Greece. (More on that later.)

As it pertains to your own personal history, you likely first experienced work outs that were calisthenics in elementary school physical education class in the type of sit-ups, push ups, jumping jacks and other bodyweight exercises. Calisthenics, when performed actually help individuals serves at the same time as an aerobic type of exercise and gain muscle. Talk about a timesaver.

Talking of that, with individuals’s time-crunched schedules, fitness plans seem to be largely focused on the best way to get the benefits of exercise in the least quantity of time. (That’s appropriate, one-minute workouts really are a thing.) Packing plenty of exercise, including plenty of bodyweight training, into a brief amount of time, is becoming fairly popular, as with PUSH-as-Rx ®, CrossFit and programs like P90X®.

What I’d like to stress is that, as previously mentioned, this kind of workout is nothing new, although these workouts all attribute calisthenics to some amount. Actually, the American College of Sports Medicine reports that workplace wellness plans included calisthenics into worker breaks as far back as the 1960s. The purpose? To develop employees’ mental and physical fitness. Sadly, the majority of our corporate structure today does not allow for extended time off in the centre of the day or week.

What Exactly Are Calisthenics Workouts?

Simply put, the calisthenics definition is utilizing your bodyweight and gravity to do exercises (some of which are quite extreme) using good form. What’s wonderful is the fact that it could include various actions such as for instance gymnastics and does not require a gym membership, Pilates squats, lunges for great legs, crunches, walking, just to name a number of calisthenics work out thoughts and jumping.
A common term for calisthenics today is bodyweight training. Irrespective of what you call it, this sort of training could possibly be the core of an exercise plan or utilized in conjunction with other training programs, including cardio workouts, HIIT workouts (including my Burst training), marathon or triathlon training, weight training or all sorts of other exercise. Mixing it up is a great strategy to ensure that you happen to be working your muscles all and provides a more healthy approach to fitness.
 
Varieties Of Calisthenics Work Outs

There are lots of types of calisthenics work outs; push-ups and pull ups are most common. Pushups are one of my personal favorite calisthenics exercises due to the fact that they build strength in numerous regions of the body and can be done everywhere. Without lifting one weight it’s possible for you to attain great muscle growth.

Performing push-ups, for example, strengthens the muscles in your chest, shoulders and triceps while also strengthening your core. You could add variety by doing push ups or including a clap between each one. Among my favorites is the spiderman pushup, which works the obliques by bringing the knee up towards the arm as you lower into the push up.

Pull-ups are excellent for working your back and biceps. The most famous design is with the palms facing forwards; however, the chin up, palms facing towards you, is a great challenge, too. While you can do these using a pull-up bar in the gym, you can also perform them having a sturdy tree branch or find a bar in a nearby park. There are several options readily available for installation in doorways of your home, too.

A different type of calisthenics workout is the abdominal work out. For many, having a six-pack is the supreme target. While having a six pack may be wonderful, it’s about losing stomach fat for an overall more healthy body extremely more.

There are various ab exercises which you can do to contract the muscles and work towards strengthening them. The push ups mentioned previously can help do this if you focus on contracting the muscles while performing the push-up. There are lots of exercises that are amazing for the stomach area stomach exercises, like the board, and hip lifts — all of which joined with integrated into your routine or may be achieved with your body weight, making these kinds of exercises great for a calisthenics work out on their very own.

Cardio is excellent because it supplies an opportunity to burn off calories, for burning fat. Running and cycling are great cardio workouts, but you can select exercises that could easily be incorporated right into a daily routine wherever you’re, for example high jumps or conventional jumping jacks.

Jumping jacks are great because they get the heart pumping — not only offering fat-burning benefits, but keeps the heart healthy. The entire body motion combined with bound provides an excellent total cardio to the body. If you’re unable to bound at this time or demand to work up to it, you can do a low impact variation by stretching one leg at time as the arms go overhead in the traditional jumping jack sort.

Most bootcamp workouts provide calisthenics-specific exercises and may be found at your local health club or you can do one in your family room. Blast training may be ideal for this which is just another kind of calisthenics workout.
I have a burst training workout for beginners right on my website. The majority of the Burstfit workouts offer astounding strength advantages from muscle toning to cardio and also a mix of the two and don’t use any gear. They are also helpful for the beginner and also the advanced supplying adjustments for several exercises.

6 Top Benefits Of A Calisthenics Workout

1. You Can Do Calisthenics Anywhere

This type of training may be performed anywhere because calisthenics could be done using just your bodyweight. Just what a beautiful thing. (Read between the lines: No explanations!) You can do an entire routine in the privacy of your home, in the fitness center or in a closeby park. I done short work outs in the airport.

There are numerous ways to execute calisthenics exercises at different levels. By way of example, a push up can be performed on the knees for newcomers. Over time, you can work as much as the toes and eventually add in side knee tucks or claps. The choices are many and will build muscle and stamina.
 
2. Calisthenics Can Help Provide Improved Coordination

The Journal of Sports Rehabilitation published a study investigating how calisthenics and Pilates impact a person’s coordination. The participants comprised healthy females ages 25 to 50. The results indicated that calisthenic exercises were more likely to improve coordination after 3 and 6 months of training compared to Pilates. Pilates is amazing, but you may gain more from calisthenics, when you’re looking to increase coordination -kind exercises.
 
3. You Gain All-Over Muscle Tone

Calisthenics offers the capability to build amazing muscle tone and also you can pretty much take it as far as you want. Ever notice how some men in the gym appear to own a little back and legs, although arms, enormous chest and shoulders? This could happen when using special weights which are targeting particular muscles; nonetheless, using your own bodyweight can permit you to focus on total body tone and specific muscle tissues in once.

Typically, when lifting your personal body weight, it demands focus and involvement of many more muscles to ensure proper form. That means that all of those muscles are getting work which will lead to a more evenly distributed physique.
 
4. Provides Support For Fitness Goals & Other Sports

Calisthenics-type exercises really are a safe option since it puts less strain on the muscles and joints of the body. It really is recognized as a “natural” type of training because you might be utilizing your own bodyweight to do the exercises. That is not an injury-free guarantee, but with suitable form and gradual increase in strength, it could undoubtedly give a safer alternative for a fruitful workout.

Calisthenics work outs are perfect for adding strength without adding bulk. This really is often needed to be efficient at other sports along with helping prevent harm. To be able to be more efficient at running while minimizing the risk of harm endurance runners commonly must reinforce the hips. A study analyzed athletes by increasing their strength training but decreasing their total volume of training. The group that raised their strength training resulted in improved performance through improved muscle growth.

Another study found that results enhanced by enhancing endurance as a result of improved neuromuscular efficiency. This occurs when the nervous system uses while stabilizing the body in all three planes of motion, the right muscles reduce or to produce force.

The National Academy of Sports Medicine shares that resistance training, in this situation utilizing your own body weight, can improve running economy a significant component for endurance athletes such as for instance Ironman sportsmen and ultra trail runners, without additional mass.

5. It’s Perfect For Beginners To Advanced

Calisthenics is perfect for anyone starting a physical fitness plan or someone who’s improved, but wants a more shredded physique. A beginner can begin a good application that can supply amazing gains, particularly if consistent; yet, make sure to choose a program which offers adjustments so that you could have alternatives which are right for you personally and at your degree, by starting slow. Starting at a too-advanced degree gets you at an increased risk of harm.

In terms of frequency, I’d propose 3 to 4 days per week to begin. Over time, you are able to work time periods that are longer and more exercises into your training schedule. An advanced exerciser can cultivate amazing overall body tone, muscle growth and strength by performing more extreme editions of calisthenics.

By way of example, if strength is a focus, an advanced exerciser could work towards performing one-handed push-ups. This will make an extraordinary quantity of muscle and strength development in the entire body for the reason that it requires extra focus and numerous muscles groups to conduct this exercise nicely.
 
6. It’s An Option Even If You’ve Got Health Problems

Calisthenics isn’t merely for people that are already in shape. Check with your physician to find if it’s right for you if you’re living with chronic disease. But in 2016, Turkish researchers published a study revealing that calisthenics is as safe and effective as even cycling for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Full-Body Calisthenics Workout
Consider a calisthenics workout a couple of times a week, in case you are looking to get excellent muscle tone. Create a routine that you can commit to doing in the event you would like to get results and remain consistent. Listed here is a great work out that you can try.
 
History Of Calisthenics

Calisthenics ‘s been around for a very long time originating from the ancient Greek words kálos, which means “beauty, ” and sthénos, meaning “strength.” It’s understood to be “qualities of inertia” and using body weight to help grow the physique.

It may have already been named after the Greek historian, Callisthenes, who was tutored by Alexander the Great.

Gymnastics and physical education programs were developed in the 19th century, in particular due to the Battle of the Systems, an attempt to learn the most effective type of exercise crossing to the 1920s in the 1830s.

Afterwards, calisthenics became connected with crowd-attracting road workouts, much like choreographed performances by well-trained individuals. These routines would occur in parks, in a contest style, particularly where there are resort areas with taverns, attracting on crowds with their amazing ability to hang their bodies using a lot as well as their developed muscles of practice. These competitions regularly had judges creating even more authenticity to the craft of calisthenic fitness.

Even today, The World Calisthenics Organization (WCO) based in Los Angeles, California, has a well known competition chain called Battle of the Pubs, adding to the the increasing popularity of worldwide competitions.

Calisthenics Precautions

Like all new exercises programs, please seek advice from your physician before performing these exercises. Begin slowly and work your way into more sophisticated moves with time. If anything causes injury or unusual discomfort, or if you are feeling dizzy or dehydrated, cease immediately and consult a physician.

Closing Thoughts On Calisthenics

Calisthenics is a fantastic method to start your fitness journey (or to dive deeper to the trail you’re already on). What’s great is it is possible to take it with you wherever you go, even when traveling. You may also get the children to join you.

Consider preparing a laptop of workouts you prefer available today or take a look at a few of the truly amazing work out apps. Make fitness a priority in your lifetime and results will follow, particularly when combined using a wholesome eating plan.