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Beginners Guide To Calisthenics PDF
Beginners Guide To Calisthenics PDF
TO CALISTHENICS
Building the foundations
to become awesome
Its more than just pounding away at the gym on the treadmill or on the bench press. Its about
exploring the physical movement potential we all have inside and mentally challenging ourselves to
redefine our own impossible.
If you apply what we are going to teach you, train hard with consistency and patience, as your
individual journey progresses you are going to achieve some awesome feats of strength and
control. Movements like the human flags, handstands, muscle ups and levers might seem a million
miles away but that is what the School of Calisthenics was established to teach.
We are confident that we can support anyone to do things they currently believe to be impossible.
But getting started is the hardest bit. Rather than watching videos of people doing amazing things,
this beginners guide is going to give you the knowledge and tools to build the basic movement
patterns and strength, setting the foundations required to redefine your impossible!
Calisthenics is a form of physical training based primarily around mastering your own bodyweight,
using minimal equipment. Calisthenics comes from the Greek words kallos and sthenos, which
mean beauty and strength. When the Greeks saw bodyweight training all those years ago, they
named it beautiful strength!
Calisthenics combines strength training and basic gymnastic movements that can be done
anywhere; at home, in the park, at the gym or even in the office. Its the most basic form of physical
training. The human body is designed to move and that very fact has enabled the human race to
successfully survive a multitude of extreme events and challenges throughout our history. But
modern society and lifestyles are threatening the very thing that is at the core of our existence.
Calisthenics represents a de-volution of training, going back to basics and exploring what amazing
things the body is capable of and in the process developing strength we can use in the world, not
just within the confines of a gym.
Getting started in Calisthenics however is not easy. Not because it is complicated but simply
because most people just dont know how to begin. It looks difficult and might even feel physically
impossible. You are going to ask your body to move in ways it may never have done before or at
least not for a long time. With something so new and challenging you are going to need some help
and guidance to navigate the physical complexity. But now youre part of the School of Calisthenics
we are going to help you learn new, seemingly impossible things. However it doesnt end there, well
also help you to improve your physical fitness, conditioning, wellbeing, nutrition and maybe even
change the way you approach the wider challenges you face in life! Calisthenics is not just good for
our body it develops mental strength and fortitude as well.
The School of Calisthenics was founded in 2015 but our roots go back much farther than that. Our
tutors have been working in the field of elite sport and athlete training for many years. They have
trained athletes who have won medals at European, Commonwealth, World and Paralympic level.
This experience of coaching combined with relevant academic qualifications is what our school is
based on and we now want to share all that with you.
Teaching students to achieve new, awesome and often seemingly impossible things through
calisthenics is what all our tutors are passionate about. The School of Calisthenics foundations are
built upon the principle that when given the right education, coaching and guidance you can achieve
awesome things. Things that you might previously have assigned to the impossible box in your
brain!
Calisthenics is not impossible; even if it feels like that at the start, dont worry. Our extensive
experience in professional sport and elite performance strength and conditioning has enabled us to
develop an approach to teaching, which is progressive and systematic. We understand movement,
physical adaptation and exercise physiology and the school exists to apply that within the realm
of calisthenics. To do that we have created a unique framework which will take you from this
beginners guide all the way to human flags, levers, muscle ups, handstands and beyond. We have
developed specific frameworks and exercises for each of these movements which can be found on
our website schoolofcalisthenics.com
We are passionate about calisthenics and even more so about helping anyone begin their journey
by removing the barriers which often prevent them from even getting started, let alone becoming
awesome.
This guide is designed to give you an insight into the phases of the School of Calisthenics
Framework that will help you to build the foundation movements and basic strength needed to
start your Calisthenics journey. Once youre ready you can either sign up to one of the School
of Calisthenics face to face workshops or set yourself a goal of training towards and achieving
awesome things like; human flags, levers, muscle ups and handstand push-ups, with the use of our
downloadable Training Programs.
The School of Calisthenics framework is explained briefly in the following pages but for this guide
we are going to focus on two of the phases; Movement Preparation and Capacity Strength. The
other two components, Movement Patterning and Applied Strength relate to specific Calisthenics
movements and the exercises and progressions necessary to achieve them.
In the Training Programme section of this guide youll find links to exercise videos on our website
showing demonstrations and full coaching instruction from our School of Calisthenics tutors.
The framework is based on two key physical components: Movement and Strength. Weve included
an overview below to give a brief explanation of how it works and how to use it, however more
details can be found at www.schoolofcalisthenics.com
PREPARATION APPLIED
MOVEMENT STRENGTH
PATTERNING CAPACITY
Movement is broken down into two sub-categories; Movement Preparation and Movement
Patterning. This is such an important part for all Calisthenics movements as they demand high
levels of joint mobility and co-ordinated muscle activation.
Movement Preparation
Many of the calisthenics movements place a large emphasis on the shoulders. Our modern
day lifestyles involve extended periods of sitting that often results in less than optimal postural
alignment. Shoulders become tight, rounded forwards, the head protrudes and we lose thoracic
spine mobility. This is a long way from what position the body should be in and where it needs to
be for optimal force production needed in Calisthenics. If we ignore postural dysfunctions, we face
an increased injury risk and can expect a limitation on our ability to progress. We must therefore
prepare the body for movement. Its an ongoing process but real changes can be achieved in
minutes within a session. Our aim is simply to remove muscular tension, improve muscle length,
enhance mobility and activate the muscles we intend to use thus preparing us to move. The
ultimate aim is to get back to as close to optimum posture as possible.
Movement Preparation is a key element of this beginners guide as poor postural patterns are an
epidemic and getting this sorted is the first step on everybodys journey.
Movement Patterning
Movement Patterning is about teaching the brain and body new movements patterns. This is
particularly important when working towards a new Calisthenics movement (like a Human Flag
or Reverse Lever for example) as your brain and body have never linked the muscles before into
the correct movement pattern. However this beginners guide focuses on building the foundation
strength to start your Calisthenics journey, rather than developing specific movement patterns,
which will be covered in full detail in each of the specific training programs for the different
Calisthenics movements will be available at www.schoolofcalisthenics.com
As with Movement, the Strength component of the School of Calisthenics Framework also has two
elements; Applied Strength and Capacity Strength.
Applied Strength
Applied strength is specific to a chosen calisthenics movement. For example, to do a reverse lever
or a human flag for the first time means putting your body in a position it has never been before
and applying high levels of muscle force in that shape. That takes some programming through
the movement patterning but also by using progressive exercises that allow the body to build the
strength required. These exercises are specific to the goal or calisthenics movement and therefore
this phase of the framework will be covered in more detail in future training programs designed for
each specific calisthenics movements published on our website www.schoolofcalisthenics.com
Capacity Strength
For beginners this phase of the School of Calisthenics Framework is where the bulk of your training
will be done. Building a basic level of strength in a number of key areas will set you up perfectly
to chose your first calisthenics movement goal and begin your journey. Its really important that
you remember this key phrase; earn the right to progress. Often we see people jumping to more
advanced movements without mastering the basics or relevant progressions. They want to go
straight to level 5 without really completing levels 2 to 4. Inevitably in all cases the athlete has to
come back to go through the stages properly if they are to achieve longer term success.
The exercises in this phase are less specific, global strength exercises that will help build strength,
however we can also develop neuromuscular control, postural stability, robustness and muscular
co-ordination which are all essential in calisthenics movements. For example you can do push-ups
without thinking about it, or you can do push-ups with some coaching points from our tutors and
get loads more physical adaptation which will transfer into your future training.
The exercises we have included for you as part of this beginners guide are not just for people
getting started, we still do these exercises ourselves. The development and progression of basic
strength is essential and something that always needs developing.
Push-up variations
There is so much more to push ups than the standard variation most people know. Firstly a lot
of people dont do them with correct technique and that is always the priority. Secondly there are
loads of progressions that make this a really challenging movement. We have included a few to get
you started.
Calisthenics places a huge demand on the core, and by that we mean all the muscles that attach
to the spine or hips. Core is a lot more than a six pack and something that will require continued
development as your quest for more advanced movements progresses. Whilst there is some
specific transfer to certain movements youre going to use your core in calisthenics movement. It
was always designed to work like that, in complete harmony with human movement, not just to do
crunches!
If you trained just once per week wed recommend that you do a combined session of push, pull
and core. If you can do 2 sessions a week you can separate your push and pull exercises onto
different days but build in some core on both. Similarly if you do 3 sessions per week you could do
the same but add a combined session in as well. Alternatively you could do 3 combined sessions
per week, rotating the actual push, pull or core exercises between sessions.
The volume you can achieve in a session or training week will increase as your training progresses
so building up your reps and sets is part of the journey. It maybe that the first time you try an
exercise you only complete 3 reps, thats fine! Through consistent training you will get stronger and
can build towards increasing that number. Your only competition at this stage is yourself so focus
on what you can do.
Calisthenics is demanding on your whole body every session. You are not isolating particular
muscle groups so you cant expect to train your whole body on consecutive days repeatedly, you
just simply wont recover!
Push session
Warm up using the Movement Preparation Exercises
Pull session
Warm up using the Movement Preparation Exercises
Core session
Warm up using the Movement Preparation Exercises
Combined
Warm up using the Movement Preparation Exercises