If you want to try an equipment-free routine that’s super functional and will still get your muscles working, might we recommend a beginner calisthenics workout?
It’s actually a really good way to get started with strength training. While your mind might go to tough, advanced moves with you first hear “calisthenics”—think: pull-ups, handstands (or, um, handstand push-ups), or burpees—the real truth is a little simpler: Basically, calisthenics is bodyweight training, Susane Pata, a NASM-certified personal trainer in Miami, tells SELF. Any exercise that you can perform that uses your own bodyweight as external load (no dumbbells, barbells, or bands), can qualify. So that means squats, lunges, glute bridges, and planks can all be considered calisthenics exercises! A lot less intimidating than you thought, right?
Want to give it a try? Read on for the details on which exercises to choose, the benefits you can reap—and how you can put it all into practice, with a six-move beginner calisthenics workout that Pata created just for SELF.
What makes for a good calisthenics workout?
The exercises you program come in clutch here. The best calisthenics workouts focus on foundational movement patterns, Pata says. That’s because these mimic the way we actually move in everyday life—think squat, lunge, plank, hinge, rotate, push, and pull.
It’s important to master the basic form of these before you start dabbling in fancier versions. Nailing foundational movement patterns with proper form and in a solid range of motion can help reduce your risk of injury once you feel ready to try more challenging, complex exercises—say, by adding weight to a squat or a single-leg hop to a reverse lunge. “You have to master [the basics] first in order to effectively and safely move up the progressive timeline,” Pata says.
The best calisthenics exercises for functional fitness are those that will have you moving in multiple planes of motion—again, because that’s how we go through everyday life! Lots of traditional gym staples (like squats, lunges, or presses) involve the sagittal plane, or forward and backward motion. But working in movement on the other planes—frontal, which includes side to side movement (like lateral lunges), and transverse, which involves rotation (like wood chops)—is vital too.
Multiplanar movement can help reduce your risk of injury and allow you to move strong, Pata says. And it has a direct carryover to everyday life, since there will inevitably be instances when you need to quickly cut to the side (like to step out of the way of an oncoming car, which would be motion in the frontal plane) and move diagonally (like to twist to put away dishes, which would qualify as transverse plane motion). Training in all directions just makes for a more functional—and better balanced—workout.
What are the benefits of calisthenics?
A biggie: You can build body awareness with calisthenics when you learn how to do the primary movement patterns properly, Pata says. This can help set you up for exercise success down the line, like if you’re looking to add weight or try a more advanced variation.