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No Gym, No Problem: Crush Your Fitness Goals
With This Calisthenics Workout

No Gym, No Problem: Crush Your Fitness Goals
With This Calisthenics Workout

Are you looking for a way to get fit without equipment or a gym membership?
Look no further than calisthenics – a form of exercise that uses your own body
weight to build strength and flexibility.

When it comes to working out, you don’t need a gym membership or fancy
equipment to get fit. Here is a simple and effective calisthenics workout that you
can do almost anywhere, and at any time.

Calisthenics Workout Routine

When creating a workout it’s important that you target all major muscle groups in
your body.

Another thing you may consider is doing exercises with lowering intensity. Start
with the hardest exercise first when you are still fresh. Continue with easier
moves and leave the easiest for the end of the workout.

Always start your workouts with a short warm-up and conclude with a cool
down/stretching. This is important to reduce the risk of injury.
This calisthenics workout includes six exercises that will work all major muscle
groups:

Warm-up

Do a short 5-10 min warm-up to prepare your body for the main part of the
workout. A warm-up routine will increase your blood flow, get your muscles
activated and make you more focused.
This can be something simple like running in place, jogging, skipping rope, or
biking. But it can also be a full-blown warm-up routine that will also focus on
mobilizing specific joints you will use in the resistance workout.

Pull-ups

Pull-ups

Target muscle group: Upper back, biceps
How to do it: Find a pull-up bar from which you can hang without touching
the ground with your feet. Grip the bar with your palms facing away from
you and your hands around shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up until
your chin is above the bar. After that, lower yourself back down to the
starting position. If you can’t do a full pull-up, you can modify this exercise
by using a resistance band. Do 3 sets of as many reps as possible. The
best will be if you can do 5-8 reps in a set.
Progression: Pull-up progression starts with beginner exercises like
Australian pull-ups and dead hang and goes to very hard variants like
muscle up

Push-ups

Target muscle group: Chest, triceps
How to do it: Start in a plank position with your hands a bit wider than
shoulder-width apart. Lower your body down by bending your elbows, then
push back up. Do 3 sets of as many reps as possible. (if you can barely do
5-8 reps you are working on strength and hypertrophy)
Progression: Push-up progression starts with easy exercises like planks
and goes to hard variants like one arm push up

Hanging Knee Raises

Target muscle group: Abs, hip flexors
How to do it: Hang from a horizontal bar with your palms facing away
from you. Lift your knees up towards your chest, then lower them back
down. At the end of the movement lift your butt a bit forward and up. This
small movement will activate your abs. Up until this point, only your hip
flexors will do the work. Do 3 sets of 5-8 reps.
Progression: Hanging knee raises are a part of progression targeting your
core muscles. Some of the easier exercises are laying knee and leg raises.
You can go to hard or very hard versions like toes to bar, dragon flags, or
front lever.

Pike Push-ups

Target muscle group: Shoulders, triceps
How to do it: Start in a downward dog position with your hands a bit wider
than shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-width apart. Lower your head
down towards the ground by bending your elbows, then push back up. Aim
for 3 sets of 5-8 reps.
Progression: When you want to work your shoulders using nothing but
your own body weight, you can start with easy exercises like downward
dog hold. You can progress to very hard exercises like handstand push-
ups.

Squats

Target muscle group: Quads, glutes
How to do it: Stand with your feet a bit wider than hip-width apart. Lower
your body down by bending your knees. Push back up to the starting
position. Do 3 sets of 5-8 reps.
Progression: When you want to work your legs you can start with very
easy, almost rehab-level exercises like glute bridges and work yourself up
to very hard skills like levitation and pistol squats.

Superman Lifts

Target muscle group: Lower back
How to do it: Lie with your face down on the ground with your arms and
legs extended. Lift your arms, chest, and legs off the ground at the same
time. Lower back down. Repeat for 3 sets of 5-8 reps.
Progression: One of the neglected muscle groups is the lower back. This
is where the back lever progression comes in handy. When you want to
improve the strength of your lower back you can start with beginner
exercises like arch hold, move through superman lifts and end with back
lever versions like tuck and full back lever.

Cool down – stretching

Perform a 5-20 min cool down stretching routine. To slowly lower your heartbeats
and blood flow do a light stretching routine. It will help you elongate your muscles
and return your body from a heightened working state into a calmer resting state.

Equipment Needed

Calisthenics is great because you will need no, or minimal equipment. For this
workout, the only piece of equipment that is absolutely necessary is a pull-up bar.
Even this can be replaced by let’s say a tree branch. For convenience, you can
also use an exercise mat for superman lifts. But this is optional.

So if you have this available, here’s the equipment that will be useful for this
workout:
● Pull-up bar (can be replaced by a tree branch)
● Exercise mat (completely optional)

Tips For Proper Form And Technique

When it comes to calisthenics exercises, proper form, and technique are crucial
for getting the most out of your workout and preventing injury. Here are some tips
to keep in mind:
● Keep your core engaged: This will help you maintain proper form and
prevent your lower back from arching (unless you are doing superman lifts
where you are supposed to arch your back).
● Focus on your breathing: Exhale as you push or pull, and inhale as you
release. Or, said differently, exhale on the concentric part of the move and
inhale on the eccentric.
● Use slow, controlled movements: This will ensure your muscles work as
hard as possible. Doing slow controlled movements will need more
strength than using momentum. So, your muscles will work more. This will
help you build more strength and muscle mass.
● Don’t push yourself too hard: It’s important to challenge yourself, but not
to the point where you sacrifice form or risk injury.

How To Progress The Workout

If this workout feels too easy, you can increase the number of reps. But, don’t do
more than 15 reps per set. Going over 15 reps per set will no longer be in the
strength/hypertrophy range. You will be working on endurance instead. The other
way to make things more challenging is by trying more advanced variations of
the exercises.
● Increase reps: Once you can easily do 8 reps of an exercise, try
increasing the number of reps to 9 or 10. But, don’t go over 15. If you can
do more than 15 reps, move on to harder exercise in a progression.
● Try harder exercise variations: For example, you can try a decline push-
up or a deep squat. These more advanced variations require more
strength, so be sure to master the basic exercises first. Those variants can
be found in calisthenics progressions for each muscle group.


Key Takeaways

Calisthenics is a simple and effective way to get fit without any equipment or gym
membership. By incorporating exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, squats,
superman lifts, hanging knee raises, and pike push-ups into your routine, you can
target all major muscle groups.

Calisthenics workout will improve your strength and joint mobility. Always do the
warm-up before and cool down after the main part of the workout to avoid injury.
Remember to focus on proper form and technique to make your workout the
most efficient.

You can progress the workout by increasing reps or trying advanced exercise
variations. With consistency and dedication, you can crush your fitness goals
with this calisthenics workout.

Author Bio

Lucky Butorac writes about regular resistance training and balanced nutrition for building
strength and muscle. He was able to lose 20 lbs of fat and build 9 lbs of lean muscle mass in 2
years using bodyweight training and a healthy nutrition plan.

He is also a certified skiing instructor and is actively participating in FIS Masters Cup races. In
his blog, he writes about calisthenics and nutrition for strength and muscle building for men over
40.

When he’s not writing, training, or skiing he is passionate about finding great investments and
turning his hard-earned money into passive income.