CALISTHENICS FOR BEGINNERS:

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AN INTRODUCTION
Welcome! It’s awesome to see you here.

We are going to have some exciting training

ahead of us. Now, calisthenics is not quite your
average gym session. It’s about physically and
mentally challenging yourself, and pushing past
your limitations.

We are going to work together for you to

achieve your impossible. As you progress along
way you may notice that you achieve some
amazing strength, mobility and flexibility.

I’m going to teach you to be awesome. All it

requires is some dedication, persistence and
patience.

Are you ready to be awesome? Follow me…..

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What is calisthenics?
Hey, I see you’re ready to be awesome!

So before we begin you are probably thinking

what the heck is calisthenics? I know the name
seems weird but stay with me on this you’re
about to be amazed.

Calisthenics derives from the Greek word Kalos

meaning beauty and sthenos meaning strength.
So really calisthenics means beautiful strength.
See, now doesn’t that sound cool.

Calisthenics is a form of exercise which requires

just your bodyweight to improve your strength.
You may have seen many weird and wonderful
moves such as the human flag, muscle-up and
backlever and that’s all because of the result of
calisthenics.
Still interested…..

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Benefits of Calisthenics
Now, when it comes to calisthenics it’s not like
your normal repetitive training session in the
gym. With calisthenics you can take it
everywhere, anywhere, much cheaper than
those expensive gym memberships. You can do
it from the comfort of your own home to the
shopping centre down the road and the best
part is you don’t even need a to buy or use
expensive equipment. Your body-weight is the
only thing you need! Even without equipment
you can do push-ups, squats and so much
more.

Calisthenics is cheap and effective therefore this

method is used in the army to train soldiers
using their own body weight.
The amazing benefit you get from calisthenics
exercises is the ability to understand your body
which will positively impact your everyday life
and help avoid injury.

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Why should I start with calisthenics
today?
Calisthenics is a great way to master your body,
gain muscle strength so you can hang off that
lamppost outside your house.

But, also to truly be in control of your body.

Helping to achieve greater vigor, flexibility, and
agility from your muscles leading to overall
energy boosting, better body stamina and high
mental concentration. Your body is the only
possession that stays with you throughout life,
so it should be your duty to take very good care
of this gift.
With calisthenics you are doing some real beast
stuff. You push and pull your own body. Also,
you’re preparing yourself for a real-life situation.
Imagine that you are in the dangerous situation
and you are running from some wild beast. You
must jump over the fence or the beast will eat
you alive. I know it’s a bit insane, but this is
where your calisthenics training comes in.
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Fundamentals
When I started calisthenics training 4 years ago
I couldn’t do a proper pushup. The first step I
took was to start working on my pushups. So,
here I am giving you the three basic but
important exercises I did constantly to gain
strength. These were the building bricks to my
foundation.
1. Push-ups

Get into a high plank position. Place your hands

firmly on the ground, directly under shoulders.
Lower your body. Begin to lower your body,
keeping your back flat and eyes focused about
three feet in front of you to keep a neutral
neckuntil your chest grazes the floor.
Push back up.
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 2. Pull-ups

Grip a pullup bar with your palms facing

whichever direction you prefer.
Squeeze shoulder blades.
Pull your bodyweight up until your chin is just
barely above the bar.
Lower yourself until your arms are fully
extended.

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 3. Dips

Pull the shoulder blades back and keep the

chest out. Look down and tuck your chin
against your chest. Staring down will encourage
you to lean forward. Bend your knees and lift
your heels toward your butt. Lock out your
elbows fully so that your arms support your
bodyweight. Descend until the elbows slightly
surpass the shoulders or just slightly more than
90° at the elbows. Push back up while
maintaining the downward stare. Pause when
you reach the top for a moment.

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Now, to begin with these may seem difficult so I
suggest that you buy yourself a resistance
band. It is the best piece of equipment money
can buy. Available to buy
from eBay for less than £10.
A great tool for beginners
but also experts too. I may
be 4 years into calisthenics
training, but I still use a
resistance band. It helps
improve correct form when
performing a certain exercise and helps
distribute your weight, so you can easily get
used to lifting your body weight.

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How to use a resistance band

Assisted dips: Bend your

knees toward your chest
while keeping your foot (or
feet) in contact with the
band. Lower under control in
about 3-5 seconds. Once in
the bottom position.
straighten your legs. Press
back up. Repeat

Assisted pull-ups: Start from

the bottom hang position with
your foot, or feet, in the band
(keep your shoulders down).
Take a good 2-4 seconds to
lower back down. This is the
important part when doing band
assisted pull-ups. Make your
muscles do the work and lower
slowly. Pause in the bottom
hang position and repeat.
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These two progressions will help you gradually
improve your strength and performance, and
eventually you’ll be able to do unassisted pull-ups
and parallel bar dips.

Now, with push-ups you

can have a band to assist
you too. Wrap around a bar
and put your stomach onto
the band which will help to
distribute the weight
making it easier for you to
lift your body and get used to the movement.
Also, you can start with knee assisted push-ups.

Lie flat, face down, on an exercise mat. Place your

hands at shoulder height and a little wider than your
ribs. Your thumbs will be right under your armpits.
Push-up so that your arms are extended and you're
resting on the tops of the knees where they attach
to your thighs. Bend your elbows until they're at a
90-degree angle. Extend your elbows to the start
position to complete one repetition.

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Why is rest important?

Rest for your body is important, this is when the

adaptions to your body and muscles start to
occur. Especially with calisthenics as it’s
physically demanding on the body therefore rest
helps reduce fatigue, allow recovery so the
muscles are fresh for every workout, prevent
injury and restore the energy in your muscles.

If you start training 3 times per week, it’s

important to have a rest day in between training
days. Remember! It’s important to listen to your
body so if your body says no not today then do
what it says.

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Thanks for reading this e-book. Hope this
information has been useful and now you can
slowly start to begin your journey into
calisthenics. Stay tuned for more!

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