Calisthenics
I am a huge fan of Calisthenic Exercises for three main reasons:
1) They require zero setup to perform – Just lay on the floor and start doing your crunches, squat in place or do dips on a chair, the setup time is nil. This makes Calisthenic Exercises great for time constrained people.
2) You can do them anywhere – In your house, in the hotel room and even in the park, calisthenic exercises can be preformed any place, anytime.
3) They are free – No gym membership required, no equipment needed. The best bang for your buck as far as fitness is concerned.
Some other added benefits of body-weight-only exercising include:
4) No daily commute to the gym – Because they are part of your Home Workout routine you can save hours every week cutting the commute to the gym.
5) Strength and endurance training at the same time
6) Calisthenic Exercises build a more natural and functional strength using your body as resistance
7) Lower impact on the body then running or weightlifting - Calisthenic Exercises are the perfect exercise for beginners looking to get fit. They have a lot less wear and tear on the body then many other forms of exercise.
8 ) Perfect for beginners – Calisthenics are great exercise for beginners as they are simple to perform and can be made more difficult easily as you progress.
I have had the best results trimming down performing Calisthenics Exercise regularly. No amount of cardio or weightlifting yielded the quick results of a daily high intensity calisthenics workout. Build strength, build endurance, break a sweat, calisthenic exercise is one of the best ways to get fit.
Below is a list of Calisthenic Exercises I use regularly as part of my Home Workout routines:
Upper Body —
Push Ups, Alternating Grip Push Ups, Pull Ups, Superman Pushups, Dips, Jump Pushups, Decline Pushup, Dands
Core —
Crunches, Straight Leg Crunches, V-Crunches, Bicycle Kicks, Leg Raises, Leg Circles, Reverse Crunches
Lower Body —
Prison Squats, Hindu Squats, Lunges, Alternating Leg Lunges, Jump Squats, Frog/Monkey Jumps, Mountain Climbers, Squat Thrusts
Full Body —
Burpees, the Eight Step Pushup, Burpee Pullups (if there is a pull up bar available)