Get strong and stay healthy with workouts you can do at home

Calisthenics For Dummies will teach you how to become stronger and leaner, have more energy and less stress, and live longer, all while enjoying an exercise program that saves you time and money. With calisthenics and bodyweight exercise, you don't need any equipment--just a little space and the knowledge to train comprehensively. This book teaches you the basics, with workouts covering all the muscle groups and important advice on how to stay injury-free. You'll find suggestions for multi-week programs that you can ease into, taking the intimidation out of working out. Get motivated and get moving right away with this simple Dummies guide.

• Get lean, lose weight, and build strength
• Add an easy, quick workout routine to your self-care strategy
• Exercise anywhere, any time--no gym membership or equipment needed

• Improve your coordination, balance, and joint health

  This is book is great for anyone looking for a workout that they can do anytime and anywhere, without having to spend a fortune on equipment. Calisthenics For Dummies will give you the power to improve your health and stay fit.

  Autorentext

  Mark Lauren is an internationally recognized expert in bodyweight training. For 15 years, he trained U.S. Special Forces as a military physical-training specialist. With Joshua Clark, he is coauthor of You Are Your Own Gym and Body By You. Joshua Clark is an international best-selling and award-winning author, editor, filmmaker, music producer and journalist.

  Klappentext

  Get motivated, get moving, and stay fit You can do bodyweight workouts any time, anywhere-no equipment needed. Calisthenics For Dummies teaches you the principles of lifelong fitness and offers easy-to-follow workouts to keep you in shape. Discover the muscle groups, joint functions, and athletic skills that you need to stay strong, lean, and injury-free. Then get started with multi-week exercise programs-or design your own-and enjoy the results. This friendly Dummies guide will help you get strong, so you can tackle anything life throws your way. Inside... Basic muscle anatomy Creative exercises & workouts Proper form for push-ups, squats, lunges, and beyond Exercise routines for every fitness and experience level Workouts for busy schedules Staying fit and active

  Inhalt

  Introduction 1

  About This Book 1

  Conventions Used in This Book 2

  Foolish Assumptions 2

  How This Book Is Organized 2

  Icons Used in This Book 3

  Beyond the Book 3

  Where to Go from Here 4

  Part 1: Total Fitness: No Limits 5

  Chapter 1: Calisthenics: When Your Body Is Your Equipment 7

  Calisthenics: For All Bodies and Abilities 7

  Why Calisthenics Is Better than Any Other Workout 8

  You save time 8

  You save money 9

  You save space 9

  You can do it anywhere 9

  No gymbarrassment 9

  It's always open 9

  It's safer 9

  You will not stop seeing results 10

  Getting the Results You Want 10

  Become stronger 10

  Burn more fat 10

  Get better with age 11

  Regain your youthful metabolism 11

  Live injury free 11

  Getting Comfortable with Bodyweight Exercises 12

  Use muscles you didn't know you had 12

  Get off the bench 12

  Discovering the Eight Abilities You'll Build Through Calisthenics 12

  Muscular strength 13

  Power 13

  Muscular endurance 13

  Cardiovascular endurance 13

  Speed 13

  Coordination 13

  Balance 14

  Flexibility 14

  Rounding Up Your Gear for Home Workouts 14

  A backpack 14

  Towels 16

  Trees 16

  Table 16

  Chairs 16

  Video camera 17

  Pull-up bar 17

  Bosu ball 17

  Suspension straps 17

  Elastic bands 17

  Your Body Is Your Home 18

  Chapter 2: You Were Made to Move 19

  Fitness Equals Function 19

  Practice the movements most important to your survival 20

  Put the pieces together 20

  Locomotion: The Secret to Your Best Physique 20

  Understand locomotion 21

  Improve locomotion as quickly as possible 21

  Your Body Is a Tower 21

  Your body's ability to resist stress depends on its alignment 22

  Ideal joint alignment 22

  Spinal stabilization 22

  Joint functions 22

  Weight shifting 23

  Focusing on Developmental Movements 23

  Mobility 23

  Stability 24

  Force absorption 24

  Load sharing 24

  Perfect posture and physique 25

  Your Performance Pyramid 25

  Avoid neglect 25

  Aging does not equal disabling 25

  Living Pain Free 26

  Coordination helps you avoid injury 26

  Functional exercises are the safest 26

  Lessen hip and knee pain 26

  Ameliorate lower back, neck, and shoulder pain 27

  Putting the Building Blocks of Calisthenics in Place 27

  Focusing on Attention and Breathing 28

  Performance Leads to Efficiency 28

  You only get good at what you do 29

  Focus on the fundamentals 29

  Mastery of life 29

  Chapter 3: Setting Goals and Staying Motivated 31

  Knowing What You Want from a Calisthenics Program 31

  Evaluate where you are and where you want to be 32

  Create specific goals 32

  Step away from the scale 33

  See your effort pay off 35

  Embrace the mental boost 35

  Throwing Your Ego Out with the Weights 35

  The true measure of your merit 36

  Start small and progress gradually 36

  Finding and Keeping Your Motivation 36

  Big rewards, small costs 37

  Independence day 37

  Making your health a top priority 38

  Overcoming Obstacles 38

  Dealing with injuries 38

  Modifying your routine when life gets in the way 38

  Picking up where you left off 39

  Facing Down Your Excuses 39

  Giving in to your excuses backfires 39

  Resisting your excuses creates a better you 40

  This is your time 40

  Part 2: the Exercises 41

  Chapter 4: Getting Down with Floor Exercises 43

  Gaining Big Improvements with Small Exercises 43

  Developing better posture 44

  Improving hip, spine, and shoulder functions 44

  Better coordination means getting more for less 44

  Back Lying Exercises 45

  Dead bugs 45

  Glute hip-ups 46

  Up and overs 47

  Windshield wipers 48

  Crawling Exercises 49

  Dirty dogs 49

  Hip circles 50

  Pointers 51

  Straight wide legs 52

  Front Lying Exercises 53

  Hip twists 53

  Moose antlers 54

  Twists and reaches 55

  Y cuffs 55

  Side Lying Exercises 57

  Hip drops 57

  Moon walks 58

  Side crunches 59

  Side leg lifts 60

  Chapter 5: Lying to Standing Transitions (Developmental Movements) 63

  The Role of Weight Shifting in Movement and Stability 64

  Exercises for Coordinating Hip and Shoulder Functions 64

  Rolling exercises 64

  Lying to kneeling exercises 65

  Kneeling to standing exercises 67

  From lying to the stork stance exercises 68

  Chapter 6: Strength Training Exercises for Your Core 71

  Mastering the Abdominal Exercises 72

  Bodyrocks 72

  Reaching bodyrocks 73

  Side reaching bodyrocks 73

  Pillar reaches 74

  Tripod scissor kicks 75

  Mountain climbers 76

  Mountain climbers across 76

  Mountain climbers around 77

  Rollouts 78

  Hanging leg lifts 79

  Scorpion kicks 79

  Parallel leg crunches 81

  Starfish crunches 82

  Sit-ups 83

  V-ups 83

  Jack knives 84

  Practicing the Lateral Stability Exercises 84

  Side plank 85

  Side v-ups 85

  ITB (Iliotibial band) leg lifts 86

  ITB kickouts 87

  Learning the Lower Back Exercises 87

  Reverse hypers 88

  Swimmers 88

  Skydivers 89

  Chapter 7: Strength Training Exercises for Your Legs and Hips 91

  Trying the Hip Hinging Exercises 92

  Deadlifts 92

  One-legged deadlifts 93

  Romanian deadlifts 94

  One-legged Romanian deadlifts 95

  Narrow squats 96

  Wide squats 97

  T-arm squats 98

  Overhead squats 99

  Squats to deadlifts 100

  Deadlifts to squats 100

  One-legged squats 102

  Squat thrusts 103

  Bulgarian split squats 104

  Dynamic squats 105

  Learning the Lunging Exercises 106

  Back lunges 107

  Front lunges 108

  Side lunges 108

  Saxon lunges 109

  Twisting lunges 110

  Squats to lunges 111

  Lunges to squats 112

  Iron Mikes 113

  Practicing the Kneeling Transitions …