Calisthenics For Dummies

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 …