Women- You need calisthenics to stay physically strong and resilient

Break the bias. Calisthenics and Women? It is not a question, instead an answer. A lot of physical activities require extensive training and strength, unknowingly or knowingly, we put a stamp that it is only desirable for a man.

Calisthenics, which relies on a person's body weight, is more of a strength training. All you need is strength, endurance and flexibility, irrespective of gender and other stereotypical notions.

History, today and inspirations

Calisthenics is not new to women. They have been doing it for a long. For American women and girls, calisthenics was their major exercise fad. (source) Depicted in 1831 Journal of Health, calisthenics was adopted by well-to-do women during the 1830s. It became popular amongst the female gymnasts in continental Europe.

Melanie Driessen is a female calisthenic athlete and coach. On her Instagram, you will see that how beautifully she does calisthenics.

27-year-old Maline Malle is the Nordic champion and one of the most well-known calisthenics athlete and coach.

Demi Bagby is more of a motivation for us. In 2014, she got paralyzed from a cheerleading accident. She didn't even know that she would be able to walk again in her life. Post this accident, she vowed that if she could ever walk, she would dedicate herself to calisthenics.

All you need is your OWN weight

For calisthenics exercises, all you need is to gain a hold on your weight. Your weight has all the power you need to perform calisthenics. Your body weight would help you do calisthenics movements. You can do the basics like sprinting, squatting, pushing and pulling. Don't all our body movements sound natural, normal and convenient to do? Yes, they are. It is just that we have forgotten it. Perhaps our ancestors did it pretty perfectly.

Calisthenics is in our DNA

Be it a man or a woman, our bodies are already equipped to do calisthenics. It is in our DNA, so you do not have to worry about whether you would be able to do that or not. The movements that are already in your instincts, how difficult do you think you would be able to do. Let's think of climbing. Didn't our ancestors were used to climbing trees? Perhaps due to a sedentary and busy lifestyle, we don't think of doing such things.

Calisthenics is no rocket science. All you need is the focus, willingness, and confidence to perform it. Through basic motions, like pushing, pulling, bending, running, you not only get a fit body, you get an endurant one too. In this era, when most of us have a sedentary lifestyle, we won't be able to do calisthenic movements naturally. So let us do that consciously in the form of exercises and get a sculpted body.

Excercises

To give you a head start, these are some of the best calisthenics exercises for women:

1. Burpee

With a funny name, Burpee's exercise needs to be performed with high energy. It can genuinely be called a full-body workout. Move through the subsequent action with as much intensity as you can carry while maintaining optimal form.

Start standing, squat down, placing hands down on either side of your legs. Then, push the legs out to the rear, regain standing, and jump in the air, thrusting hands in the sky. Repeat for your desired timed gap or several recurrences.

2. Push-up

We all know the classic push up, but you can add variety by altering the hands' standing, such as shifting them nearer to the body, placing them into a triangle under the chest, or rotating lifting each palm to make your pushes more challenging. The more difficult they are, the more they bring resilience to your body.

You can also do them with knees on the ground to make them more convenient. Whichever style you select, pushes are a must in any calisthenic exercise

3. Jumping Jack

Another definitive move, the jumping jack, gets the heart pumping. Start in an upright position. Jump up, push legs out to the sides, and clap your palms above your head with arms outstretched. Then, when your feet hit the base, jump back to a standing position with arms down and legs together. Keep repeating this process for a set time or number of repeats.

An old choice, especially for youths getting started with calisthenics, jumping jacks develop rhythm, balance, and cardiovascular wellness.

4. Squats

You can do numerous free squats without weights: two-legged, one-legged, half-way, full squat to the floor, crossed arms, outstretched arms, and arms aloft. Other variations contain keeping feet together or distant apart in a sumo squat. Try them all as each builds lower-body power and endurance. Be cautious; you don't over-stress the knee joints and hurt yourself.

5. Lunge

Now for a proximate rest. The lunge is an incredible workout for the butt and legs without too much high-intensity burden. For variety, do them onward, back, side, or at 45 degrees. Walking lunges can deliver more cardiovascular heat. You can also beat deep in a lunge between reps for added burn. Lunges can be a fantastic, active way to warm up as well.

6. Combo Crunch

One superb abdominals workout is the combo crunch. It blends a classic crunch, an ab curl, with legs raised or legs rolling in cycling. Focus on using your core muscles to finish the actions to ensure you're working your abs during the crunch. To tone the outer or internal oblique muscles, add a twisting gesture from the tummy as you raise your head and shoulders.

7.Plank

How long can you keep the plank? Balance your body on slightly bent forearms and toe tips, knees off the floor. Your body should be straight from the back of the head to the feet. Brace the abdominals and hold tight. If you can reach three minutes, you are doing well.

Variations contain holding the position on the forearms, rotating between extended arms and forearms, and doing cliff climbers (running the legs) while in a plank. Side plank and reversal plank are two more choices.

8. Wall Sit

This is an isometric variation of the classic squat, except you brace yourself against a wall in the squat with quads roughly parallel to the base. Hold, hold, hold. Reaching 60 seconds is acceptable; 90 seconds is ideal. Aim to do a few reps of wall sits with intervals in between.

9. Bench Dip

On a secure chair, bench, or podium, face outward with hands on the chair, heels on the floor. Keep hips near to the chair (and near your palms). Dip your hips down from the chair for a pack of 12 to 15 reps. Straight legs raise the intensity, and bent knees make it easier. Both versions work the triceps.

10.Star Jump

The star jump is not identical to the jumping jack, but it is relatively similar. The star jump is more active as you thrust arms and legs up and to the side and back jointly in mid-air in a right move. Practically, you make a star or X shape with your body in the air, forming and ending from a standing post. This is a high-energy workout.

With great calisthenics, comes great benefits!

Do calisthenics from anywhere

The best part of calisthenics exercises is you can do them from anywhere. If you want, you can do it from your home as well. For women who have hectic lives and cannot hit the gym whenever they want, calisthenics can prove the great way to build strength and tone their muscles. You need a small space, mat and that's it.

Strengthens tones the muscles & builds functional strength

Like, any other physical exercise, calisthenics helps you strengthen your body. It builds functional strength by using your body weight. It happens because your body's natural movement patterns get converted into an energy weaved with calisthenics exercises, which further channelizes as calisthenics strength. It brings endurance to your whole body.

The compound moves, which involves our day-to-day patterns of movement, allows you to make the quality of life better than before. You will realize the changes in your body. Once you start doing calisthenics, the manual labour tasks like carrying heavy items or picking things up would seem more accessible.

A study was conducted to witness the impact of calisthenics on older women (60-80 years). After 4 months of regular calisthenics exercises enhanced their physical fitness, bodily pain, general health perceptions, vitality, social functioning, role limitation of emotional, role limitation of physical, mental health. Source: Pinar, Lamia & Kara, B. & Kozan, Ö. (2014). Effects of long-term calisthenics on physical fitness and quality of life in older women. Fizyoterapi Rehabilitasyon. 25. 47-55.

Want to lose weight?

By doing calisthenics for a month, you would realize that the exercises are helping you to lose weight. You will also observe that the weight loss is not making you skinny, instead it is building your muscles, and your body would look toned. Calisthenics should never be explicitly seen as exercise which helps to reduce body weight. It builds your muscles along with maintaining the required weight.

However, while doing calisthenics, your aim should not be limited to losing weight. Your vision should be broad- to increase the muscle mass and lose weight. When your muscle mass increases, your body's strength increases. This would happen when you use your body weight for resistance and do push-ups, planks, step-ups and crunches. Calisthenic exercises are bending, jumping, twisting and kicking, and that’s how they bringing endurance and strength. Since all these forms of exercises use your body fat and you require energy to do them, it burns your calories. The crux is calisthenics helps you to stay in good physical shape.

Never-ever you need equipment

You save money doing calisthenics because you do not need to invest in gym memberships and equipment. All you need is your body weight, the desire to create a better body for yourself. No bodyweight training is as cheaper as calisthenics. It gets you into shape without spending a lot of money. It does not even require you to leave your house. It is like on the go. No more wasting time going to the gym or an exercise class. What all do you need?

Say bye bye to procrastination

We tend to procrastinate the self-care part when we have some other work, work deadlines or household chores. The priorities get exchanged, and ultimately you sacrifice your exercise for something else. But when you do things at home, there are lesser chances of procrastination.

You won't find many ideas for giving yourself an excuse. Because you can do calisthenic exercise anywhere, even if it is raining outside, snowfall or a sunny day, you can do these workouts in the comfort of your home. So, when there is no excuse, exercise becomes a habit.

Prevents Osteoporosis

According to ncbi women start losing bone at an earlier age and a faster rate than men. This makes them more vulnerable to osteoporosis. The bones of women are lighter than men. Engaging in calisthenics can help you to prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Calisthenics, including push-ups or pull-ups, help provide you with resistance and improve bone mass density. It is a part of strength or resistance training whenever you do such exercises. They stress your muscles and bones.

Summary

When it is about calisthenics, do not talk about having time. Instead, make time for it. Again, it is not the race that you have to join. Understand what results do you want to obtain from calisthenic exercises. Before you start doing that, get expert help. Talk to the people who are already doing the calisthenics. They would be able to tell you with their expertise and experience what calisthenics has given them so far , and how it has impacted their lifestyle and health.

Make up your mind and say 'yes' to calisthenics.

If you want more calisthenics excercises we have compiled a small database of common excercises which you can check out here