9 Bodyweight Exercises For Calisthenics Workout At Home Without Equipment

Calisthenics is a form of exercise that uses just your bodyweight to build strength, increase flexibility, and improve overall fitness. Calisthenics training focuses on weight-based training exercises to strengthen your muscles without a gym or any equipment besides your body. This article will cover the 9 best calisthenic exercises for a full body calisthenics workout at home and includes pictures of each exercise..

Benefits of Calisthenics

The best calisthenics workout plan has many incredible benefits. These include:

• Improving Strength
  • Calisthenics is strength training but also promotes balanced muscle growth by engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
  • Functional Strength: Movements involved in a beginner calisthenics workout plan build functional strength with only bodyweight training, which translates to everyday activities and decreased fall risk.
• Injury Prevention
  • Greater flexibility and mobility help prevent injuries by ensuring that muscles and joints move efficiently and effectively.
• Endurance and Stamina
  • High-repetition exercises in calisthenics build muscular endurance
  • Cardiovascular Health: High-intensity interval training (HIIT), like in specific calisthenics training routines improve cardiovascular health by keeping your heart rate elevated.
• Balance and Coordination
  • Proprioception: Calisthenics improves proprioception or the body’s ability to sense its position and movement in space, leading to better balance and coordination and most importantly decreasing fall risk.
• No Equipment or Gym Required
  • Calisthenics relies on bodyweight exercises, so you can perform these exercises with just your own body weight in your own home.

Calisthenics Exercises

Calisthenics exercises are a form of resistance training which can be performed with just your own body weight in the comfort of your own home. This calisthenics workout plan will strengthen the muscle groups of the entire body. These exercises include 1. Lunges 2. Mountain Climbers 3. Air Squat 4. Bulgarian Split Squats 5. Pistol Squat 6. Push Ups 7. Jump Squats 8. Tricep Dips 9. Plank.

1. Lunges

• Lunges are a great exercise for building muscle in the lower body.
• Start with your legs hip width apart.
• Now take a step forward with your right leg and bend both your right knee and left knee down towards the ground.
• Now push back with your right leg to return to starting position.

2. Mountain Climbers

• This exercise helps to improve core strength.
• The starting position for this exercise is in a high plank position on your hands.
• Lift your right foot off the ground and drive your knee to your chest.
• Now bring your right leg back to the ground and do the same movement on your left side.
• Perform this exercise FAST.

3. Air Squat

• A calisthenics training program would not be complete without air squats!
• Start with your feet hip width apart.
• Now squat down by bending your knees and pushing your butt back.
• Squat down to a comfortable range, usually to the point where your knees and hips are at 90 degrees and then stand back up to the starting position.

4. Bulgarian Split Squats

• Start with one leg resting on a support surface behind you such as a bench, chair or couch.
• The other leg should be in front of you.
• Now slowly bend both knees towards the ground.
• Do not allow your torso to lean too for forward.

5. Pistol Squat

• This exercise will build muscle mass and muscle strength in the quad muscles of the legs.
• Start by standing on one leg with your opposite leg raised off the floor.
• Now bend the knee that you are standing on and squat down.
• Do not allow your knee to cave inwards.

6. Push Ups

• This is a great exercise for the upper body and chest.
• Start in a high plank position with your right hand directly under your right shoulder and your left hand directly below your left shoulder.
• Now bend your elbows and lower yourself to the floor until your chest is almost touching the ground and then extend your elbows until you are back in the starting position.
• Your entire body should stay in a straight line throughout the exercise.

If this is too difficult you can perform a push up on your knees and hands as seen in the picture below.

7. Jump Squats

• This is a whole body exercise.
• Start with your feet hip width apart.
• Now squat down, building power in your legs and jump on your way up from the squat.
• Land evenly on both legs and land softly on both legs.
  • You should not hear a loud “slap” as your feet hit the floor.

8. Tricep Dips

• Sit on the edge of a chair.
• Place your hands next to either side of your hips.
• Now lift your hips off the chair, supporting your weight with your hands.
• Slowly bend your elbows and lower your body towards the ground.
• Now press through your palms to straighten your arms and lift your body back up to the starting position.
  

9. Plank

• The starting position for this exercise is on your forearms and toes.
• Keep your body in a straight line by avoiding the hips from sagging downwards or allowing your butt to move upwards.
• The hold time for this plank exercise will depend on your skill level, however for most beginners 10-15 seconds is a good starting point.
• A modification to this plank exercise is to perform on your hands rather than your forearms as see in the second picture.

Summary

This guide includes beginner-friendly circuits for an effective calisthenics workout. It is important to perform these 9 calisthenics exercises with proper form. These calisthenic exercises will improve your overall strength in your lower body, upper body and entire body.

If you are looking for more bodyweight exercises you can find them at 10 Best Bodyweight Exercises For Seniors For Strength Workout.

If you are looking for a full body workout that you can perform at home you can find the workout at 29 Best Band Warm Up Exercises For Quick Full Body Workout.