Progressive Calisthenics Benefits: Five Of Them
I was active as a child and my folks were very supportive in getting me out of the house. Skating, skateboarding, swimming, etc. Southern California was a great place to grow up in the 90s. I recall for a limited period of time attending some gymnastics classes and the only thing I really enjoyed was jumping around and doing tricks on the trampoline. The folks who devote their lives to being gymnasts pound for pound have some of the best physiques on the planet as well as the strength to complement it. They can sprint, jump high, and perform amazing feats with their upper body strength. But that takes years of dedication and it’s unlikely that your average Joe could reach that level of fitness. But despite this, each and every person has the tools to develop higher levels of strength using just their body and the right progression of exercises.
This route, of using progressively harder variations of bodyweight exercises I believe has several advantages compared to lifting weights or using high-repetition bodyweight exercises.
Time/Freedom
I was in for a rude awakening when I came back to the States. I was a Marine Officer and I had been going day to day thinking that I was defending something/peserving a way of life. While in Okinawa Japan I spent some weekends sitting in the duty hut as a glorified security guard. While on a tour in Syria I was the leader of an IT Helpdesk/Communications hub so I had no weekends.
The weekends were more relaxing but whatever network problems occurred always needed to be dealt with immediately.
I say all this because I was giving my time and freedom away. That time that I thought I would get back when I got out. Time to work on myself, time to make a living, and time to focus on religious matters. But when I came back, between various jobs I was applying for and working at I noticed that the five-day workweek wasn’t a thing anymore.
Saturdays are now on the table and so are Sundays to some extent. Where’s the time for family, friends, God, etc? You’d think the more time we spend at work we would be swimming in cash but the opposite is the case. However, I should state that the World Economic Forum states that we are working less hours than our predecessors.
This lifestyle of work, being stuck in traffic to and from work, poor sleep, poisonous food, and more are wreaking havoc on our bodies. We need a way to fight back. To regain and maintain our vigor. But, this needs to be done in a way that maximizes time.
My specialty is finding ways to get an awesome workout with very little equipment. I don’t expect to reach the level of gymnasts but for myself, and those that I train we will make decent headway. Unfortunately, there aren’t many certifications for such training as most certs are geared toward gym life and the money that can be gained from that.
When you modify your bodyweight workouts and gear it towards strength you will find that you’ll need less time to complete them. You wake up, get dressed, walk outside, warm-up, and then hit the workout.
I keep my stuff simple on some days. Push, Pull, & Squat. Secondary is abs and posterior chain work(aka the back of the lower body). Not many sets are needed. The main goal for any workout is to send the correct stimulus for improvement and get out of there. Over the past few years and given the right frequency in between workouts; two work sets of any muscle group(s) is enough. These days I even just fool around with one set of calisthenics and add on some other stuff afterward. My goal is not mainly hypertrophy but a mix of that and a good strength-to-weight ratio. I don’t need to bring myself to the point of death to achieve this. Pushing yourself is important from time to time but it's how much you progress that matters. How much we progress is reliant on the rest we give our bodies.
When you are engaging in performing two work sets of the big three(Push, Pull, Squat) and sometimes a fourth(abs or hamstrings), as well as leaving a few days in between for rest the total time you spend working out each week will be a mere fraction compared other methods such as
Driving to the gym and back while fighting folks for a machine or piece of equipment
Performing 100s of repetitions of push-ups, pull-ups, and bodyweight squats.
Cycling for hours on the road and interfering with traffic(just joking, I have friends who are cyclists)
My times for working out each week are no more than 60 to 80 minutes per week. Keeping in mind that my workouts contain both calisthenics and overcoming isometrics. Training with progressive calisthenics gives you more time to do other things in life in this increasingly time-restrictive environment we find ourselves in. Now the above three methods as well as others definitely do work. But I’m throwing out a path that works for me and I believe can be a help to others. Because the world doesn't move to the beat of just one drum, what might be right for you, may not be right for some…
Due to my training schedule, if I have extra time during the week I spend it reading, getting in touch with nature, or learning something new.
I also train with the expectation of being a family man one day maybe with my own piece of land and animals. Will my training complement my lifestyle, or will it be a hindrance?
Cheap
Because of powerful entities both “Elected” and nonelected things are becoming more expensive. If I had all the money in the world there are several pieces of training equipment I would buy. However, the things I would like to buy are not needed. They are under the category of nice to have. I can make do with very little.
I guess that’s the silver lining to all this. You learn to find ways to make things happen to “Accomplish the mission.” or
Bodyweight exercises will teach you to do this. It in some ways helps you to think outside the box and this you can apply to other areas of life. All this with very little money coming out of your bank account. Even when I was making Captain’s pay in the Marine Corps did I find it unnecessary to spend money on certain things fitness related. This extra money can go to other things like the poor, a friend in need, or that grass-fed beef patty over the Beyond-meat burger patty.
Convenient
Unless it's a nice day outside I pretty much just work out in my garage as some of yall can probably tell from my photos. But working out with bodyweight doesn't require the commitment of other training modalities although this does not make it any easier. You will still need the right mindset/intense focus to jump into your workout and complete all your sets and reps with excellent form. Consistency is important in whatever we do so why not make it easier to stay consistent? Remove the shackles of things that call on you to commit.
Better Mobility / Connective Tissues
Apparently, there are millennials out there with back and joint issues. This may be for several reasons but here is where I believe progressive calisthenics can be part of the solution. Our body works as a unit, so when we train our different muscles and tendons to work in synergy our body gets trained as a unit. There’s such a thing called the length-tension relationship. Its where certain muscles are in an elevated state of activation while others are in a lower state of activation. This over time can cause pain and joint issues.
It’s like that one cart you get at the grocery store with a wheel that is jacked up. Can you properly maneuver with that thing? Probably, but it takes effort.
Our bodies are the same way and walking around with a constantly activated hamstring and limp quadricep, or a constantly activate chest with weak Lats, is a recipe for disaster. Progressive calisthenics, applied intelligently over time, will be a tool to level out some of these muscular imbalances. Despite years of physical training, hikes with heavy gear, and manual labor I still feel just as good as ever.
With this improved efficiency of your muscles, you’ll find your connective tissue has become stronger as well. This is due to the stretching of your muscles under load during your movements. The greater the stretch(within the range of motion) and load the stronger the connective tissues will become. But this needs to be done safely with plenty of rest in between workouts. Sissy squats for a newbie would be devastating for their knees but for someone advanced it will be like a powerful medicine.
Cross Benefits / Carry Over
For a workout to be beneficial I believe there should be some level of carryover. What is meant by this? For example, when I first got into pistol squats a few years ago I found that after a few weeks and without any kicking practice, my roundhouse kicks were much stronger. Later when I started practicing on the Marine Corps obstacle course I found that all my bodyweight training from the pistol squats, handstand push-ups, pull-ups, and muscle-ups helped me to navigate some of the obstacles with ease although my cardio needed some improvement.
You’ll find that bodyweight also has some carry-over to weight lifting. A famous gymnastics coach by the name of Christopher Sommers stated that some of his pupils could bench twice their body weight after all their gymnast training. Even if we don’t replicate all their movements I believe this strength can be achieved with other advanced bodyweight exercises.
But is the same the other way around? Can I get good at kicking, obstacle running, and weightlifting and jump into advanced bodyweight exercises? Not Really. There’s coordination that’s needed as well as tendon strength and mobility. This can only be developed through progressive calisthenics. But when you get good at this you’ll notice that carryover to other forms of training and facets of life. I find it important to engage in the form of training that gives you a stronger/bigger base. The stronger and bigger the base the easier you can jump into other things.
Wrap Up
Time-efficient training is something that anyone can use especially as we move forward through this clown world.
Thank you for making it to the end and comments are below.
Until Next time