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| Bodyweight Friendly
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| Easily bored consumers are always on the prowl for whatever is new and exciting in equipment or technique, but bodyweight calisthenics are here to stay.
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“Bodyweight calisthenics have withstood the test of time in developing athleticism in athletes. Training with calisthenics you can’t go wrong. Pushups, chin ups, dips, Hindu pushups, Hindu squats, knee bends, squat thrusts, lunges, one-legged squats, rope climbing, glute-ham raises and step-ups on boxes are some of the best bodyweight cals available,” says Ethan Reeve, head strength and conditioning coach at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
Bodyweight calisthenics are a critical element of ‘combat conditioning,’ an aggressive and increasingly popular
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fitness approach designed to improve strength, endurance and overall functionality. Bodyweight resistance training concentrates on the body’s large muscle groups and promotes lean muscle mass, which is ideal for high-performance athleticism where speed, power, balance and control are essential.
They intensify body awareness while building-in variety to your workout and there are endless combinations of exercises to try.
By recruiting muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments, a regular program of bodyweight exercises also helps to protect against injury.
“As a former wrestler and wrestling coach I believe very strongly in bodyweight cals. We will always train athletes using calisthenics in one form or another. We used to have our wrestlers work doing ‘density training’ (taking less and less time to do more and more exercises) with chins so they could all get to 10 chins in 10 minutes,” says Coach Reeve.
A superb upper body-pulling exercise, chin ups can be effectively paired with front squats, lunges, power cleans, clean-n-presses, dips, push ups, rope climbs and glute-ham raises according to Reeve, who also advocates the addition of conventional weight lifting.
“The combination of free weight with calisthenics is superior to just doing one of these forms of training individually. Of course, I’m speaking about athletic development. The average person will do just fine with bodyweight calisthenics.”
Density Training Using Bodyweight Calisthenics:
“With this workout you are working the cardiovascular system while doing athletic movements in a short period of time. You are also making the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments stronger and more flexible,” says Reeve.
Sample Time Frame and Sequence:
- 10:00-Squats (free-standing, below parallel squat without weights)-10 reps
- 10:01-Push ups (with three-count pause at top of push up)-10 reps
- 10:02-Chins (overhand, underhand or neutral grip)-3 to 5 reps
- Repeat same three-minute sequence, six more times
- Total Workout Time: 20 minutes and 15 seconds
- Squats: Total reps—70
- Pushups: Total reps—70
- Chin Ups: Total reps—21 to 35
A Personal Workout from Ethan Reeve:
- Sit ups-25 reps (full sit ups with knees bent)
- Walk-140 yards
- Chins-10 reps (neutral grip, palms facing each other)
- Walk-140 yards
- Repeat exercise sequence, seven more times
- Total workout time: 35 to 40 minutes
- Sit ups: Total reps-200
- Chins: Total reps-80
- Walk: 2,240 yards
“By setting up these bodyweight calisthenics for density training, you’re developing quads, lower back, glutes, hamstrings and the push-n-pulling muscles of the upper body,” says Coach Reeve. “Density training is one of the best ways to train when doing any form of training, whether it’s Olympic lifts, squats, power lifting, hill runs, sprints or calisthenics.”
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