The word Calisthenics comes from the Greek words kálos and sthénos, which literally translates as beauty and strength.
- Beauty– To emphasize the aesthetic pleasure that causes the perfection of the human body.
- Strength– Great mental strength, courage, physical strength and determination.
Calisthenics is an art using one’s body weight to perform a variety of exercises, often in a rhythm without using equipment or apparatus generally.
Just like two different varieties of potatoes, Street Workout and Calisthenics are two different forms of exercising. To avoid any confusions, calisthenics is not gymnastics and is not a street workout.
Moreover, according to Wikipedia, Street Workout is a combination of athletics, calisthenics, and sports.
Due to the lack of knowledge and the right information, often people remain confused with two terms and find both of them to be same, thus the word Calisthenics failed to create a buzz in this world.
In a blog of website “StreetWorkoutMagazine.com”, the author revealed that ‘When the domain name was to be chosen for their website, they preferred the name StreetWorkoutMagazine.com because of the fact that not everyone is familiar with the term Calisthenics and the words “Street” and “Workout” are common words that easy to spell. So according to them, it is a practical move.’
The article discusses various benefits of calisthenics that makes it different from Street Workout.
- Time efficient and effective
In this busy and fast-paced lifestyle, fitting in time to drive to the gym or finding a park for exercise is a luxury that many people just can’t afford and for them sticking to a regular workout routine is a challenge.
On the other hand, with calisthenics, you always carry your gym with you. The benefits of Calisthenics are as follows:
- You don’t need any extra equipment.
- Can work out in a minimum of space.
- Based on the philosophy of ‘Train right here, right now.’
The added advantage of calisthenics is that you get rid of excuses, thereby following a ‘No-Excuse’ approach. As mentioned, with calisthenics, you follow ‘Train right here, right now’ approach with requirement of no special equipment and place, you will be left with no excuses if you skip a day while training with calisthenics.
- Age or Ability is no bar when it comes to Calisthenics
Calisthenics is for everyone. It is near to impossible for elderly people suffering from overweight or any other illness to follow hard weight reducing training programs using various equipment. However, with calisthenics training, there are many exercises which are doable for them and are very effective.
According to a research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, calisthenics exercises “have the ability to combat weakness and frailty and their debilitating consequences. Done regularly (e.g., 2 to 3 days per week), these exercises build muscle strength and muscle mass and preserve bone density, independence, and vitality with age”.
Thus, Calisthenics is the perfect remedy for the problems of aged people.
- It helps to lose weight
As most of the calisthenics exercises are compound exercises in which various muscle groups work together, hence your body burns more calories which in turn act as fuel for the muscles. So, calisthenics burns fat.
Moreover, training with calisthenics fills your body with more oxygen, thereby strengthening the cardiovascular system as well.
“I helped one of my clients with reducing the extra fat which he was unable to get away with various cardio exercises. I made him follow regular calisthenics circuit training which proved to be beneficial and burned his unwanted fat without compromising too much on his diet.”
- Reducing the risk of injury for sportsmen
Injuries are the major hurdle that stops people from training. While training in the gym or following street workout, a sportsman has likely more chances to get injured. So, what is the best approach to avoid injuries in the first place?
Following the calisthenics training, not only lowers the chances of injuries but also strengthen the muscles which help to prevent future injuries because of the compound nature of the movements.
Keeping into consideration the above benefits of the Calisthenics, it will be an injustice to consider it similar to street workout. According to some teams in NYC, using the term “Street Workout” carries a negative connotation and hence they avoid using such term. V12Vital (Beast), a veteran of the bar game, even made a song about it.