Why Bodyweight Training? My Top 5 Reasons For Practicing Calisthenics

New Exercise and Fitness Review

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Name: Al Kavadlo, CSCS
Occupation: Trainer, author, PCC instructor
Website: www.alkavadlo.com

It’s official: Bodyweight training is the number one fitness trend for 2015. The American College of Sports Medicine recently released the results of their annual survey of fitness professionals asking which trends will shape the year to come. Bodyweight training received the most votes!

But why has bodyweight become red-hot lately? And is it even really fair to call something that has existed since the time of the ancient Greeks a “trend?”

The word “calisthenics,” which has become synonymous with bodyweight training, comes from the Greek words “kalos” and “sthenos”, which roughly translate to English as “beautiful strength.” I guess it makes sense that being beautiful and strong is a popular idea!

As someone who has been around the fitness world and ultimately found my home in bodyweight training, I’m not surprised at all by this rise in popularity. Here are five reasons why bodyweight strength training is experiencing such a resurgence, and why you should consider it this year.

Reason 1

Let’s face it: Gym memberships are expensive, especially if you want any personalized instruction. It’s even more expensive to try recreating the strength and conditioning capabilities of an elite sports team in your garage! Maybe this is the reason many people believe that getting stronger, leaner, and more athletic requires a hefty investment. But take it from me: It’s just not true!

You don’t need any special equipment or special shoes; you don’t even need to leave your home.

The universal appeal of bodyweight strength training is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. You don’t need any special equipment or special shoes; you don’t even need to leave your home. You may have noticed that my videos all take place in a park.

There’s probably a park in your town that can give you a similar training experience. Simply put, calisthenics is the most accessible form of exercise in the world!

Reason 2

Though it’s always possible to injure yourself if you aren’t careful, the risk with bodyweight training is significantly less than it is with external weights. Obviously, the odds of dropping a weight on yourself are non-existent if you aren’t under a barbell, but that’s only the most obvious way bodyweight can be safer for you.

There are still advanced bodyweight moves that can challenge you every bit as much as a heavy deadlift or bench press, but you won’t have to worry about throwing out your back or getting a bar stuck on your chest if you fail.

There are still advanced bodyweight moves that can challenge you every bit as much as a heavy deadlift or bench press, but you won’t have to worry about throwing out your back or getting a bar stuck on your chest if you fail.

When the most resistance you can possibly move is your own weight, the chances of tweaking something while attempting something ambitious are a lot smaller.

Reason 3

It’s intimidating to be a beginner surrounded by people who are way better than you at something. Add to that the testosterone-fueled nature of most weight rooms, and it’s easy to see why the gym can be a scary place for those new to working out.

With bodyweight training, a beginner can train at home without any anxiety about anyone looking down on them for their strength level. Someone who’s not able to bench even an empty barbell can still do wall push-ups without fear of judgment.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are some people who think that bodyweight training can only get them “so far.” This is understandable, especially given what I said earlier about how the maximum load you can lift with bodyweight is a percentage of what you weigh.

Dead Hang One Arm Chin-up on Rings (Right and Left)
WATCH THE VIDEO – 00:46

However, one great thing about the recent calisthenics movement—and YouTube—is that everyone can now see how, with single-limb exercises and the proper manipulation of leverage, you can progress any movement pattern to levels that can build extreme strength. There’s no way to fake or cheat movements like a one-arm pull-up and front lever!

Reason 4

In calisthenics, progress is made by moving onto more challenging movements, not by simply moving to a heavier weight like you would with a barbell or kettlebell. That beginner who starts out with a wall push-up or kneeling push-up before progressing to a full push-up can eventually progress all the way to a one-arm push-up—and they’d learn plenty along the way!

Handstand Human Flag Hybrid
WATCH THE VIDEO – 00:17

Unlocking these new skills adds a fun, playful challenge to bodyweight training that can be missing in the numbers game of strength training. Whether you’re working on a freestanding handstand or a human flag, there are always new goals and dreams to keep your attention and interest.

Once you can do each one of these moves on its own, you can even combine them!

Reason 5

Perhaps the most important reason why bodyweight strength training has become so popular lately is due to the enthusiasm of its participants. Bodyweight practitioners are known for supporting one another and spreading a positive attitude, continually inspiring each other toward growth.

There’s an instant camaraderie among those of us who train bodyweight, which makes it easy to organize informal calisthenics meet-ups, as well as more organized events like tournaments and certifications. We’ve all been doing our part to spread the word, and I guess it’s been working!

Bodyweight practitioners are known for supporting one another and spreading a positive attitude, continually inspiring each other toward growth.

More and more people are finding out that the only piece of equipment anyone needs to get in amazing shape is something we all have at our disposal 24 hours a day. It’s your body. Make the most of it!

Al’s new book, Zen Mind, Strong Body, is available now from Dragon Door Publications.

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About The Author

Al Kavadlo, CSCS is one of the world’s leading experts in bodyweight strength training and calisthenics.

Bodybuilding.com Articles

Why Bodyweight Training? My Top 5 Reasons For Practicing Calisthenics

How To Build A Calisthenics Body

New Exercise and Fitness Review

Vital Stats

Name: Danny Kavadlo
From: New York, NY
Occupation: Trainer, author, progressive calisthenics specialist
Website: www.dannythetrainer.com

Lately, there’s been a lot written about calisthenic strength training—enough that, finally, we’ve come close to reclaiming the word “calisthenics” from the 1980s exercise videos that mostly people have associated with it. But whatever you call it, bodyweight training is hotter than ever.

This modality has existed since the dawn of time and it’s being talked about like it’s a brand new phenomenon, even though we all know the opposite is true. Before the invention of machines, barbells, and bench presses, mankind was getting strong and ripped using nothing more for resistance than bodyweight. Pressing, pulling, and squatting are hardwired into our DNA. So why is there all this hoopla about calisthenics? Why now?

Some claim it is part of a larger trend toward minimalism in training. Others say it’s the feeling of empowerment you get from owning a body that’s truly “self-made.” Perhaps others are impressed by the unique feats of strength associated with extreme calisthenics. I actually think all of these answers are right, but there’s something more, too.

Let’s face it: Everybody who works out pays attention to aesthetics to some degree—even if they would never admit to training with that goal. No matter how “functional” or “sport-specific” their training may be, we all react to imagery, and I’ve found that advanced bodyweight strength training produces a uniquely impressive physique.

What has become known as the “calisthenics body” is easily identifiable by a rippled, muscular build, erect posture, balanced development, and no superfluous body fat. Say what you will, but that’s what really gets people talking!

The Calisthenic Body is The Cohesive Body

One of the beautiful things about calisthenics is that we celebrate movements that use the whole body cohesively, rather than attempting to isolate small body parts one at a time.

There’s no doubt that different exercises emphasize certain muscles more than others, but let’s be clear: 100 percent isolation in any modality is impossible. However, you can still try to isolate. We don’t, and the reason is because we know that to do something as difficult as a one-arm pull-up, strong arms and lats aren’t enough to get the job done. We need to utilize strength and tension from the entire body.

The principles of calisthenic strength training have a direct physical manifestation, because the strength-to-weight ratio required to perform advanced movements has specific demands. Practitioners of calisthenics develop an ideal balance of muscle mass and body fat that allows for dominance of their own realm. They’ve got everything they need and nothing more.

The body that results doesn’t lie. There are telltale signs. Here’s what they are, and how to build them.

Calisthenics Abs

The calisthenics body starts in the middle, because when you train with bodyweight, you use your abs for every single exercise—and it shows! But if we want to get specific, bar-work is where the tell-tale calisthenics abs are built, utilizing movements like full-ROM hanging leg raises and windshield wipers.

“A serratus with a steak-knife edge, and the bulging six-pack abs contained within, are the marking of the calisthenics body.”

These movements have a direct effect on the trunk’s overall appearance, since they rely heavily on the serratus anterior in addition to the muscles you usually think of when you hear the word “abdominals.” This has a huge effect by shaping and framing the entire abdominal region. A serratus with a steak-knife edge, and the bulging six-pack abs contained within, are the marking of the calisthenics body.

Calisthenics Arms

Just as with abs, bar work is your best friend when it comes to arms, particularly biceps, which get a better workout from chin-ups than from all the curls in the world. Because you’re pulling far more weight than you would typically curl, the gains are astronomical, and the choices are infinite.

Do them all—overhand pull-ups and underhand chins, wide-grip and narrow, thick bar, switch grip, and hanging from irregular objects—and you’ll create amazing tensile strength and powerful connective tissue. Combine the grip training you get from bar work with advanced push-up variations—fingertips, knuckles, back-of-hands—for forearms that would make Popeye jealous.

It can take any number of machine-based isolation-style exercises to hit the arms (and chest and shoulders) from as many angles as good old-fashioned dips. Performed deep, with full range of motion, the results are undeniable. Try as many different hand widths as possible for maximum results. They can also be done on a bench or straight bar. Have some fun!

Calisthenics Back, Shoulders, and Chest

Exceptionally wide lats are a trademark of the calisthenics body. Because we don’t attempt to isolate the arms, we have a greater chance of unlocking the genetic potential of our lats through pull-ups, muscle-ups, bar levers, and the human flag. The lats play a huge role in these movements and plenty of others, and their development is a direct result of a varied bodyweight pulling program.

“The lats play a huge role in these movements and plenty of others, and their development is a direct result of a varied bodyweight pulling program.”

The shoulders are used in all upper body calisthenics strength training and get a substantial workout from every exercise mentioned thus far. The “V” formed by the lats gets even wider when we train handstand push-ups. Even guys who think they can military press massive poundage are often humbled when they attempt this exercise, but if they stick with it, they’ll discover that handstand push-ups lead to astronomical gains in the shoulders. Take ‘em slow and controlled, and touch your nose to the ground.

Of course, the push-up is the granddaddy of all chest exercises. It can be progressed to deliver a far greater punch than the classic version we all learned in gym class—and which is a spectacular exercise in its own right. But it’s tragic to stop there when we can play with inclines, limit points of contact, or increase range of motion. All of these methods employ progressive techniques to build a thick, hard, powerful chest. That chest will be your prize once you master the one-arm push-up, which combines balance, stability, increased range of motion, and muscular overload in one exercise.

[IMAGE: PHOTO4]

Calisthenics Legs

Critics of calisthenics love to perpetuate the falsehood that bodyweight athletes have underdeveloped legs. Ironically, these are the same unfounded jabs that have rocked the weightlifting community at large for years. There are many ways to skin a cat, and we all have more in common than apart. No matter how you choose to work out, everybody’s legs need training!

Take it from me: When you train your legs using only bodyweight, they get strong! And it’s not from external resistance, but rather from manipulating gravity and doing complete movement patterns. Bodyweight squats go all the way to the ground—ass to ankles. I’m more concerned with building strength through the full expression of a movement than from overloaded half-reps where the hamstring never touches the calf.

“Critics of calisthenics love to perpetuate the falsehood that bodyweight athletes have underdeveloped legs.”

Try doing 40 bodyweight squats all the way down! If that sounds easy, do it anyway just to make sure. And if it is easy, then try doing five more … on just one leg! Exercises like pistol squats exploit our inborn sense of balance, which many of us have lost track of over the years. To own this movement, you must push, pull, and stabilize using all your leg muscles, in a perfect marriage of strength and mobility.

Back bridging, another calisthenics staple, requires further recruitment of hamstrings, glutes, and spine erectors. Raw strength and supreme flexibility combine to define the backside of a bodyweight warrior.

Confidence

This one is harder to quantify than the others, but I know it when I see it. Any red-blooded man or woman who is sure that they could pull their body up—or press it through the floor, or hold it strong at any angle—conducts themselves with a certain quiet cool that cannot be explained. You can call it “relative strength,” but there’s something objectively inspiring about it.

The posture and physique is unmistakable. When you know your own pound-for-pound power and truly own the calisthenics body, you stand tall!

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