04 Apr What is Progressive Calisthenics?
IF YOU HAVE CHECKED OUT MY BOOK, “THE CALISTHENICS QUEST”, THEN YOU HAVE A SMALL IDEA OF WHAT CALISTHENICS IS ALL ABOUT. BUT, WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE CALISTHENICS? CALISTHENICS OR AS IT IS TRANSLATED “BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT”, IS USING YOUR OWN BODY’S WEIGHT FOR FITNESS. BUT JUST LIKE IN ANY OTHER FITNESS ROUTINE, YOU HAVE TO PROGRESS AND, IN SOME CASES, REGRESS. LET’S FACE IT, AFTER A WILE THOSE PUSH-UPS, PULL-UPS AND SQUATS ARE GOING TO GET A BIT EASIER AND YOU WILL HAVE TO ADD IN A TON OF REPS TO GET THAT BURN… OR DO YOU? THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO PROGRESS YOUR CALISTHENICS WORKOUT WITHOUT BOOSTS REPS OR ADDING WEIGHT. SO LET’S LOOK AT SOME OPTIONS…
FIRST, LOOK AT SLOWING THAT TEMPO DOWN. SURE YOU CAN NOW KNOCK OUT 30-50 PUSH-UPS, BUT NOW TRY IT SLOW WITH A TEMPO OF 3 SECONDS DOWN AND 3 SECONDS UP. THAT TIME UNDER TENSION CAN BE KILLER AND YOUR MUSCLES WILL BE BURNING WITH FAR LESS REPS.
ANOTHER OPTION IS TO INCREASE THE RANGE OF MOTION. A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES ARE, INSTEAD OF BRINGING YOUR LEGS TO 90 DEGREES IN A SQUAT, GO ALL THE WAY DOWN BRINGING YOUR BUTT TO YOUR HEELS. IN PUSH-UPS BRING YOUR CHEST ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR, OR IN PULL-UPS TRY PULLING YOUR CHEST TO THE BAR. FULL RANGE OF MOTION MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE!
FINALLY, TRY TO PROGRESS TO A MORE CHALLENGING VERSION OF THE BASICS. THIS CAN BE DONE IS MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. FIRST LOOK AT THE PUSH-UP. YOU CAN KNOCK OUT LOTS OF CLASSIC PUSH-UPS, SO NOW TRY BRINGING YOUR HANDS CLOSER TOGETHER OR TRY THEM WITH YOUR FEET ON A BENCH TO CHANGE THE ANGLE. OF COURSE, IF THAT ISN’T CHALLENGING ENOUGH, YOU HAVE THE ONE ARM PUSH-UP. PULL-UPS ALSO HAVE MANY VARIETIES TO CHOOSE FROM. TRY PROGRESSING TO THE ARCHER PULL-UP OR EVEN COMMANDO OR L-SIT PULL-UPS. AS FAR AS THE SQUAT GOES, YES THEY CAN BE MADE MORE CHALLENGING. TRY THE ARCHER SQUAT OR THE BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT. IF YOU FEEL REALLY ADVENTUROUS, YOU CAN ALSO TRY THE PISTOL SQUAT OR THE SHRIMP SQUAT. THEY WILL NOT ONLY CHALLENGE YOUR STRENGTH BUT ALSO YOUR BALANCE.
WHEN IT COMES TO PROGRESSIVE CALISTHENICS, NEVER BE AFRAID TO TRY NEW THINGS BUT NEVER FORGET THE CLASSICS. THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE THEIR PLACE IN YOUR ROUTINES. KEEP ADVANCING YOUR QUEST!
BY, RAY SHONK NASM-MASTER TRAINER, PCC INSTRUCTOR
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