blacKandi Fitness

Holy huge triceps you have there bK!   Yes, they are big.  They are bigger than my biceps unfortunately, but I am working on changing that whole situation.   Today’s topic is all about CALISTHENICS!

Calisthenics has done wonders to / for my body – tightens my tummy, makes my bunz hard and shapely, grows my muscles, melts the fat, improves my balance, makes me STRONGER across the board.  There is nothing like working with your own body weight.  I’d rather do decline diamond push ups than do close grip bench presses with a weighted barbell any day.  I started doing calisthenics about two months ago and have not even looked at my barbell or dumbbells at all since then (not to say I will never use them again, but I really don’t need to).  I have made more gains in strength and in muscle mass in the past two months than I have in the past year.  Amazing!

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Why do I do calisthenics? Because it makes me strong and it shapes my body the way I always wanted it to be shaped.  I kid you not.  My butt is crazy round and hard ya’ll.  Finally.  Seriously.  I have sculpted my body well and it shows.  People ask me all the time what I do to look the way I do.  My answer is I work hard and on a consistent in the home gym doing various things, but mostly calisthenics now.

If you want to burn fat and replace it with muscle, get that flat belly and firm rounded butt, grow a great pair of huge gunz…do calisthenics or add a bit of calisthenics to your current workout routine each day.  No matter what I do, workout wise, everyday I do some sort of calisthenics.

I first learned about calisthenics or learned that word when I came across this guy named Hit-Man YouTube, doing freestyle bar workouts.  I was in awe as I watched him in the playground.  Not only was his freestyles off the hook, but his body was too.  He has lots of videos on YT where he shows you his daily routines…he only does calisthenics (uses no weight equipment) and I’m sure he does straight cardio too to keep the fat off and keep his endurance up.  You need endurance to be able to pump out millions and millions of push ups like how he does…this is HIT-MAN:

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What is Calisthenics? (from Wikipedia – best explains the meaning to me)

“Calisthenics are a form of organized exercise consisting of a variety of simple movements––performed without weights or equipment––that are intended to increase body strength and flexibility using the weight of one’s own body for resistance. They are usually conducted in concert with stretches.”

When I think about calisthenics I think about gymnastics right away…the two are related.  The basic calisthenics exercises are pull ups, chin ups, push ups, tricep dips and sit ups.  And when you do different variations of each, incorporating your core, your body becomes more a fat burning, muscle and strength building machine.

Here are some simple actions/additional movements/variations that you can add to those basic calisthenics exercises to make your workout even more challenging and more effective are:

1. static/hold (pause into a position)
2. close-grip (position hands close together)
3. leg push outs (lift legs up, hold and push legs in and out)
4. alternating (switching from one hand or side to the other)
5. wide-grip (position your hands apart making them wider than your shoulders width)
6. scissor (alternating each leg in a scissor motion)
7. twists/washes (moving just abdomen from left to right or right left continuously)
8. turn back to front (make movements that will turn your body from back to front)
9. cross walking (moving arms as if moving across monkey bars)
10. horizontal (movement going across in straight lines)
11. raises (lift your legs up and back down),
12. hand stand (standing upside down on your hands instead of on your feet)
13. vertical (up/down)
14. lifts (pull yourself up)
15. full crow (yoga move where you stand on your hands and bring your knees to your elbows)
16. bent leg (bend knees in a 90 degree angle)
17. swing up (swing the body up and down)
18. diamond (position both hands into a triangle shape)
19. over-under hand (one hand holds under the bar, the other hand hold over the bar)
20. stands (perform a sit up, stay up and lift into a standing position and back down again)
21. incline (hands on top of an object and feet on the floor)
22. decline (hands on the floor and feet on top of an object)
23. hanging (to stretch – which is important when strength training)
24. glide (hold position and move from left to right or right to left slowly)
25. speed (adjust speeds slow, regular, fast, pulsing motions, etc. to make exercises more challenging or to shock the body)

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And the last thing I want to post about Calisthenics are my routines.   I follow the routines from Thug Workout (search on Youtube for the videos if want to see).   I had to watch the entire video to pull out the meat of information so you don’t have to watch the videos if you don’t want to because it’s all spelled out for you below.   A side note, the Thug Workout video is terrible production wise….what a shame, but it is useful and is full of important information as to how to use calisthenics to your advantage so that’s a plus.  Anyway, here are the routines.  Incorporate some of them into your daily workouts and I guarantee your body will change faster than expected.

BEGINNER WORKOUT
Notes: Take your time!
Pull Ups = 1 set, 3 reps
Push Ups = 3 sets, 5 reps each

PHASE 1
Notes: Move at a regular speed
Pull Ups w/ Leg Lift variations = 3 sets, 5 reps each
Pull Ups w/ Leg Lift variations = finish out = 5 sets, 7 reps each

PHASE 2
Notes: Slow Speed Movements
Sit Ups (hanging) = unlimited
Pull Ups = 5 sets, 7 reps each
Push Ups = 5 sets, 15 reps each
Dips = 5 sets, 7 reps each

PHASE 3
Notes: Move at a regular speed, this is circuit training, keep moving back to back with no rest
Pull Ups = 15 reps
Dips = 10 reps (elevated, add speed variations)
Push Ups = 25 reps (on decline)
On-Bar Knee Raises = 10 reps (bring legs up and then down very slow)

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OK so those are the routines I do and depending on the other workouts I’m doing on any given day I’ll choose one of the four to fit into the current routine. I will revert back to the beginner workout when I have completed another intense workout on a given day.   Switch it up! Shock the body!

The routines and variations are there for you to mix up your basic calisthenics workout and to make them more challenging for yourself. Work hard and what I mean by “work hard” is to fry your muscles…you should be feeling a burning sensation in the muscles being worked and you’re almost yelling to get that last rep out.  Keep going until you fail out and when you fail out get right into jump jacks and cool down (bring your heart rate back down to a steady pace).

Let the Hit-Man be motivation and an inspiration to you.  I will never (I know for sure) will be able to do all that he does in his videos, but I will become upper strong and head strong without a doubt as long as I keep training like this.   “Eliminate yourself!” — Peter Clarke

Lastly, I will tell you all that calisthenics or working out period is easy so know that you will have to work at calisthenics (as I still am – and yes, it’s hard for girls), build up your strength and have patience doing it.  It takes time to make gains and the more you do your workouts the better you will become and the more gains you will make.  Take it day by day and put your all into your workouts.  You will succeed if you stay focused and consistent.  And and and…never neglect your leg muscles…always get your squats and lunges in or get to running up hill to strengthen those butts, thighs and calves.

Give it a try!

Questions?  Leave me a comment.