calisthenic

Edited by Roberto Rillo - Book Author: Calisthenics BodyBuilding

What is it?

It is the most common form of free-body gymnastics.

Etymology of the term: the Oxford Dictionary defines it perhaps an acronym between the words "Hellenic" and "aesthetics" or "strength and beauty" and in general describes it as a series of gymnastic exercises, performed in a rhythmic manner, designed to develop the beauty, the strength of the figure and the elegance of the movements.

In the Anglo-Saxon world, Callistenic means:

a) all those movements of heating performed with free body

how to alternately throw your arms up high, surround them, perform skips alternating arms and opposite legs, etc.

b) all movements performed with natural overload of the body, such as bending on the arms, sit-ups, pull-ups etc.

This section was born from the "legendary" memory of a period in which there were very few body building gyms, training machines were rare and having a real barbell with cast iron discs was a luxury.

Nevertheless the callisthenics have been used in the athletic preparation of young athletes with excellent functional results; the results with hypertrophic purposes are minor.

The organization of the exercises was lacking according to a protocol that provided for the fundamental variables of intensity, volume, frequency, etc.

The mistake was to always perform the same exercises, every day, for the maximum number of possible repetitions, eating gnocchi with meat sauce and waiting for the miracle to become Steve Reeves.

With the current knowledge and combined with a good diet, callisthenics on the other hand can be a productive and effective workout on all those occasions where you can't go to the gym due to time, money, vacation closures etc.

Being able to lift one's body requires a fair degree of strength, which often those who use barbell and dumbbell do not have. Therefore these exercises are very hard and tiring but by changing on the body lever, the distance between support / traction and resistance can be followed more easily.

An effective protocol for the execution of callisthenics foresees for each group or muscular area, a warm-up with an exercise of medium difficulty, then a hard exercise to be performed in an explosive manner for many series and few repetitions, finally it closes with an average exercise difficulty performing a single series for 15 repetitions and over reaching exhaustion for lactic acid.

Quadriceps
	From the starting position, explode as high as possible, stretching the legs and landing, locking in the starting position. Restart immediately.
	Stand up with a single leg placed on a rise or even directly from the ground. The leg that acts as a ballast can be held in a team in front of him or completely relaxed forwards or to the side. Run near a wall or near a support so as not to lose your balance
	Never perform as a first exercise, this is the infamous sissy squat and can be dangerous for the knees. Move the center of gravity forward to get to kneel slowly braking with the strength of the thighs and immediately get up again. During the ascent do not help yourself with the bust.
Calves
	With one foot on a rise, raise yourself as high as possible and return to position by lowering your heel as low as possible. The hand in support serves only for balance.
Biceps back
	Homemade variant similar to the oarsman with barbell or low pulley. Keep the body straight throughout the movement.
Biceps
	A variant, even more homely than the previous one, of the barbell curl. If the leg is completely relaxed you will be amazed at how heavy it can be, especially if performed after the oarsman.
Back
	Lying prone, at the same time lift the chest and legs, maintaining the position for a few seconds, return and repeat. The arms can stand, in order of difficulty, stretched along the sides, open laterally or extended forward.
abdominal
	Raise the legs by balancing with the torso backwards. Re-position in a static square resting only on the coccyx.
	Keeping the pelvis retroversion, stretch the legs and then collect them in the chest. The legs can be gathered and extended instead of simultaneously, even alternately between them.
Aerobics
	Skip the rope for 10-30 minutes at a medium slow pace. Or jump at 30 second fast intervals followed by 1 normal minute for 8 consecutive times. To make the execution less monotonous it is possible to perform the jump with alternating step, with two feet, crossing the arms etc.