What is calisthenics?

Calisthenics is the oldest gym there is: a body, the ground, and maybe a bar. It has had a stylish second life in recent years, with outdoor parks full of people swinging, balancing and hanging off metal frames, but its basics are the same exercises many of us did at school.

The basics

Wikipedia describes calisthenics, also called bodyweight exercise, as strength training that uses your own weight for resistance, usually with little or no equipment, which is why it is so convenient and inexpensive. The name comes from Greek roots meaning roughly beauty and strength, which is a lovely thing to be named after.

The core exercises:

• Push-ups and their easier and harder versions; see our guide to the proper push-up.
• Squats and lunges for the legs; see how to squat.
• Pull-ups and chin-ups on a bar.
• Dips on parallel bars or a sturdy bench.
• Planks, leg raises and hollow holds for the middle.
• Jumping jacks, burpees and skipping to get moving.

Progressions: how bodyweight gets harder

The clever thing about calisthenics is that you make an exercise harder or easier by changing its angle or leverage, not by adding plates:

• Push-ups go from against a wall, to a kitchen counter, to the floor on knees, to the full version, to feet raised.
• Pull-ups start with hanging from the bar, then rows under a low bar, then slow lowering from the top, then the full movement. Our guide to your first pull-up walks through it.
• Squats go from sitting down onto a chair, to full squats, to split squats, to single-leg versions.

That makes it suitable for almost everyone, at almost any starting point.

Calisthenics parks

Many cities now have outdoor calisthenics parks: frames with pull-up bars at different heights, parallel bars, monkey bars and wall bars. Wikipedia notes these free outdoor parks as part of the scene, along with competitive street workout events. They are friendly places on the whole. Regulars are often happy to show a newcomer a progression, and there is something about training outside in the morning light, with a sea or a river nearby, that a basement gym cannot match.

If you are new to a park:

• Watch first, then use the lower bars and simpler stations.
• Share the bars, taking turns between sets.
• Bring a towel and water; metal bars get cold in winter and hot in summer.

The skills people chase

For many, calisthenics becomes about learning skills that look like circus acts. The best known include:

• The muscle-up: a pull-up that continues over the bar into a dip.
• Handstands, on the floor or on low parallel bars; see our guide to a handstand as an adult.
• The L-sit: holding yourself up on your hands with legs straight out in front.
• The front lever and back lever: holding your body horizontal while hanging from a bar.
• The planche: balancing horizontally on your hands, without your feet touching anything.
• The human flag: holding your body out sideways from a vertical pole.

These take a long time and patient practice, which is part of their charm. There is always a next step.

Getting started

• Pick a handful of exercises covering pushing, pulling, legs and the middle.
• Choose versions you can do with good control, even if that means the wall push-up.
• Do a few sets, stopping each with a couple of good repetitions left in the tank.
• Progress slowly to the next variation when the current one feels comfortable.
• Warm up first; our guide to a good warm-up has a simple routine.