Exercise & Fitness Tips : Exercises That Are Classified as Calisthenics

Hi I’m Ashley Gas, strength and conditioning specialist, with brilliantathlete.com. Calisthenics are exercises that are designed to be done without a gym or equipment. So for those of you that thought you needed a gym membership in order to get in shape, you’re in luck. Now, calisthenics are designed to improve strength and overall body flexibility typically. There are several examples, I’ll show you a couple, a lower body calisthenics exercise would be a squat, so to do a squat, I will just stand with my feet about hip width or slightly more than hip width apart, hands can be up on my shoulders, and I just go down into a squat position, and I come right back up again, down into a squat position, and back right up again.

Now, some of you might not be able to go that deep and that’s Ok. You can also just do partial range squat until you get more comfortable going lower into movement. Second lower body exercise is just called lunge, step forward, one step back arms can be across your shoulders or can be just down on your sides. I go down into a lunge position, and I come right back up again, back down, and right back up again, and then I’ll switch sides.

An upper body calisthenics would be a push-up, hands can be shoulder width apart, I would keep my elbows tucked into my sides, down, and right back up again. That’s a push-up, and if you’re just starting out, you can put your knees on the ground, and do a push-up like that, until you’re able to do a full body push-up. So again, calisthenics are designed to be done without equipment, just body weight, so you really can exercise without having to go to the gym. I’m Ashley Gas, with brilliantathlete.com.