Calisthenics For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Total Fitness: No Limits
Chapter 1 Calisthenics: When Your Body Is Your Equipment
Calisthenics: For All Bodies and Abilities
Why Calisthenics Is Better than Any Other Workout
You save time
You save money
You save space
You can do it anywhere
No gymbarrassment
It’s always open
It’s safer
You will not stop seeing results
Getting the Results You Want
Become stronger
Burn more fat
Get better with age
Regain your youthful metabolism
Live injury free
Getting Comfortable with Bodyweight Exercises
Use muscles you didn’t know you had
Get off the bench
Discovering the Eight Abilities You’ll Build Through Calisthenics
Muscular strength
Power
Muscular endurance
Cardiovascular endurance
Speed
Coordination
Balance
Flexibility
Rounding Up Your Gear for Home Workouts
A backpack
Towels
Trees
Table
Chairs
Video camera
Pull-up bar
Bosu ball
Suspension straps
Elastic bands
Your Body Is Your Home
Chapter 2 You Were Made to Move
Fitness Equals Function
Practice the movements most important to your survival
Put the pieces together
Locomotion: The Secret to Your Best Physique
Understand locomotion
Improve locomotion as quickly as possible
Your Body Is a Tower
Your body’s ability to resist stress depends on its alignment
Ideal joint alignment
Spinal stabilization
Joint functions
Weight shifting
Focusing on Developmental Movements
Mobility
Stability
Force absorption
Load sharing
Perfect posture and physique
Your Performance Pyramid
Avoid neglect
Aging does not equal disabling
Living Pain Free
Coordination helps you avoid injury
Functional exercises are the safest
Lessen hip and knee pain
Ameliorate lower back, neck, and shoulder pain
Putting the Building Blocks of Calisthenics in Place
Focusing on Attention and Breathing
Performance Leads to Efficiency
You only get good at what you do
Focus on the fundamentals
Mastery of life
Chapter 3 Setting Goals and Staying Motivated
Knowing What You Want from a Calisthenics Program
Evaluate where you are and where you want to be
Create specific goals
Step away from the scale
See your effort pay off
Embrace the mental boost
Throwing Your Ego Out with the Weights
The true measure of your merit
Start small and progress gradually
Finding and Keeping Your Motivation
Big rewards, small costs
Independence day
Making your health a top priority
Overcoming Obstacles
Dealing with injuries
Modifying your routine when life gets in the way
Picking up where you left off
Facing Down Your Excuses
Giving in to your excuses backfires
Resisting your excuses creates a better you
This is your time
Part 2 The Exercises
Chapter 4 Getting Down with Floor Exercises
Gaining Big Improvements with Small Exercises
Developing better posture
Improving hip, spine, and shoulder functions
Better coordination means getting more for less
Back Lying Exercises
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Up and overs
Windshield wipers
Crawling Exercises
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Pointers
Straight wide legs
Front Lying Exercises
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y cuffs
Side Lying Exercises
Hip drops
Moon walks
Side crunches
Side leg lifts
Chapter 5 Lying to Standing Transitions (Developmental Movements)
The Role of Weight Shifting in Movement and Stability
Exercises for Coordinating Hip and Shoulder Functions
Rolling exercises
Lying to kneeling exercises
Kneeling to standing exercises
From lying to the stork stance exercises
Chapter 6 Strength Training Exercises for Your Core
Mastering the Abdominal Exercises
Bodyrocks
Reaching bodyrocks
Side reaching bodyrocks
Pillar reaches
Tripod scissor kicks
Mountain climbers
Mountain climbers across
Mountain climbers around
Rollouts
Hanging leg lifts
Scorpion kicks
Parallel leg crunches
Starfish crunches
Sit-ups
V-ups
Jack knives
Practicing the Lateral Stability Exercises
Side plank
Side v-ups
ITB (Iliotibial band) leg lifts
ITB kickouts
Learning the Lower Back Exercises
Reverse hypers
Swimmers
Skydivers
Chapter 7 Strength Training Exercises for Your Legs and Hips
Trying the Hip Hinging Exercises
Deadlifts
One-legged deadlifts
Romanian deadlifts
One-legged Romanian deadlifts
Narrow squats
Wide squats
T-arm squats
Overhead squats
Squats to deadlifts
Deadlifts to squats
One-legged squats
Squat thrusts
Bulgarian split squats
Dynamic squats
Learning the Lunging Exercises
Back lunges
Front lunges
Side lunges
Saxon lunges
Twisting lunges
Squats to lunges
Lunges to squats
Iron Mikes
Practicing the Kneeling Transitions
Long kneeling transitions
Short kneeling transitions
Side kneeling transitions
Bottom squats
Cossack squats
Strengthening with Step-Ups
Stork stances
Gate swings
Cross steps
High-knee marches
High-knee runs
High-knee skips
Chapter 8 Pushing to Strengthen Your Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Maintaining Ideal Alignment Under Stress
Practicing the Perpendicular Pushing Exercises
Classic push-ups
Staggered push-ups
Archer push-ups
Contra presses
Tripod push-ups
Dips
Seated dips
Bouncing push-ups
Semi-planches
One-arm push-ups
Trying the Inline Pushing Exercises
Military presses
Dive bombers
DF glides
Bear crawls
Chapter 9 Pulling Exercises to Strengthen Your Back, Biceps, and Forearms
Finding Tools for Pulling Exercises
Practicing Perpendicular Pulling Exercises
Let-me-ins
Let-me-ups
Trying Inline Pulling Exercises
Pull-ups
Assisted and negative pull-ups
Chapter 10 Exercises for Mobility
Enjoying the Benefits of Proper Positioning
Starting with the Spiderman Exercises
Hip swirls
Arm circles
A frames
Saxon tilts
Doing the Inch Worm Exercises
Bloomers
Deep squats
Vertical twists
Kneeling switches
Mastering the Quadruped Exercises
Kickouts
High kicks
Side kicks
Table tops
Trying the Starfish Exercises
Starfish twists
Starfish hip drops
Starfish push-ups
Starfish dive bombers
Part 3 The Workouts
Chapter 11 Mixing and Matching Exercises for Your Goals
Choosing Your Workout Types
Sets across
Supersets
Ladders
Timed sets
Speed sets
Circuit training
Flows
Focusing Your Training with Training Splits
Full body workouts
Upper and lower body workouts
Pushing, pulling, legs, and core workouts
Adapting Your Workouts for Long-Term Progress
Volume and intensity
Consistency and variety
Progression and regression
Covering the Essentials to Avoid Injury
Joint functions and transitions
Beginning with warm ups
Wrapping up with cool downs
Allowing time for active recovery
Chapter 12 Following a 13-Week Program
Creating a Tailored Routine
Introducing the Workouts
AMRAPs
Timed sets
Circuit training
Block 1: Weeks 1-4
Monday
Bodyrocks
Slow swimmers
Squats
Glute hip-ups
Tuesday
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Windshield wipers
Up and overs
Wednesday
Back lunges (six reps)
Tripod scissor kicks (eight reps)
Romanian deadlifts (six reps)
Y-cuffs (eight reps)
Thursday
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Straight wide legs
Pointers
Friday
Parallel leg crunches
T-arm squats
Starfish twists
Skydivers arms at sides
Saturday
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y-cuffs
Block 2: Weeks 5-8
Monday
Dive bombers
T-arm squats
Parallel leg crunches
Romanian deadlifts
Tuesday
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Windshield wipers
Up and overs
Wednesday
Glute hip-ups (six reps each side)
Deep squats (four reps)
Starfish twists (four reps)
Back lunges (six reps)
Thursday
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Straight wide legs
Pointers
Friday
Mountain climbers
Side lunges
Scorpion kicks
Skydivers arms at T
Saturday
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y-cuffs
Block 3: Weeks 9-12
Monday
V-ups
Squat thrusts
Skydivers arms at Y
Kickouts
Tuesday
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Windshield wipers
Up and overs
Wednesday
DF glides (five reps)
Saxon lunges (four reps)
Starfish hip drops (four reps)
Deadlifts to squats (four reps)
Thursday
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Straight wide legs
Pointers
Friday
Reaching bodyrocks
Saxon lunges
Kickouts
Squats to deadlifts
Saturday
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y-cuffs
The Active Recovery Week
Monday
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Windshield wipers
Up and overs
Tuesday
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Straight wide legs
Pointers
Wednesday
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y-cuffs
Thursday
Dead bugs
Glute hip-ups
Windshield wipers
Up and overs
Friday
Dirty dogs
Hip circles
Straight wide legs
Pointers
Saturday
Hip twists
Moose antlers
Twists and reaches
Y-cuffs
Part 4 Calisthenics for Special Circumstances
Chapter 13 Doing Calisthenics When You’re Pregnant
The Benefits of Exercise Before and After Baby
Taking Heed and Taking It Slow
Preparing for a Successful Pregnancy and Delivery
Getting fit before getting pregnant
Volume over intensity
Increased stress tolerance
Improved recovery
Chapter 14 Working Out with Limited Mobility
Getting the Essentials Right
Finding your safest starting point
How working with limited mobility inspired my program
Getting and Staying Prepared for Life
Getting up and down from the floor
Rolling exercises
Lying to kneeling transitions
Kneeling to standing transitions
Back lying to standing transitions
We’re the Only Mammals That Walk on Two Feet
Chapter 15 Starting Your Kids on Calisthenics
Keeping Your Kids Happy and Healthy with Movement
Leading by example and training together
Instilling/encouraging the joy of movement
Increasing your child’s injury resistance
Learning to learn better
Overcoming Complaints about Exercising
Chapter 16 Nine-Minute Workouts
Athleticism Leads to Efficiency
Structuring Your Workouts
Starting with the Pushing Exercises
Push-ups
Military presses
DF glides
Trying Out the Pulling Exercises
Let-me-ins
Let-me-ups (knees bent)
Let-me-ups (legs straight)
Moving on to the Hip Hinging Exercises
Squats
Romanian deadlifts
Back lunges
Part 5 The Part of Tens
Chapter 17 Ten Tips for Success
Stay Consistent
Schedule Your Workouts
Listen to Your Body
Strengthen Your Weak Side First
Rest and Recuperate
Don’t Do Too Much
Show Up
Keep a Playful Mindset
Count Your Wins, Not Your Losses
Eat a Healthy Post-Workout Meal
Chapter 18 Ten Bodyweight Training Myths
Men and Women Should Train Differently
Women’s Muscles Will Get Too Big If You Do Strength Training
You Can Reshape a Muscle by Doing Isolation Exercises
You Need High Reps for Definition and Low Reps for Mass
Muscle Can Turn Into Fat
You Can’t Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time
Going Hungry Means Looking Healthy
Exercise Machines Were Built for You
Bodyweight Exercises Don’t Allow You to Adjust the Difficulty
Aerobics or “Cardio” Is the Only Way to Burn Calories
Index
EULA