Home Calisthenics Workouts and Equipment (Beginner)

Home workout saves money, are simple and affordable, and you can gain the result as good as in the gym. You don't need a fancy gym membership to reap all the perks. Be it lose fat, gain muscle mass, and greater mobility.

Working out at home can be what it takes to gain back your fitness groove if you lost it (or never had it). Anyone can get amazing result in building strength and hypertrophy at home with just bodyweight workout.

Use this guide to get started:

Are home workouts better than gym

Working out at home has a dozen of advantages over training at gym, especially for those who just getting started.

• Consistent showing up: Showing up is 80% of the game. And showing up at own home is way easier than the long trip to the gym. Between work and family, most people are either too busy or too fatigued to hit the gym. Home workouts save time and make it easier to stick with your fitness plan.

• Customizability: Gyms and fitness studios can be intimidating, especially for new beginners. Home workouts give you the advantage of working out at your own pace. No trainer trying to sell you training packages. No know-it-all guys to give advice for every movement you did.

• Focus: No need to adapt to the new environment. No one has more control over your home other than you. So you can pay full attention to your workout. You are free to be yourself with no fear of judgment, and no one laughs at your beginner steps or your workout outfit.

• Comfortable: Your home is certainly comfier than the gym. On top of that, you can choose your favourite workout music, adjust the temperature, and stock the fridge with powerful snacks.

• Equipment that works: Gyms are in the business of money, so they focus on gear that looks nice. Working out at home is a chance to focus on equipment that delivers results. Most at-home workout equipment are affordable, minimalistic, and portable.

Prepare these for a perfect home workout

Bodyweight training

You don't need a gym when your body is already a complete gym. Calisthenics is another word for this training method.

Different from weight lifting, you decrease body leverage to make your movement harder. For instance, if normal push-up is easy for you. Try to move the hand position closer to waist line, away from the shoulder.

That's the secret you get to gain enormous strength by manipulating your own bodyweight. Many gym rats have found their body coordination improved vastly after switching from weight lifting to calisthenics training.

YouTube is a great place to learn all the creative variations to these routines. Thenx and FitnessFAQ makes some great calisthenics content.

Make a plan

Determine your goal so you can plan around it. What appeal to you the most?

• Perform fancy skills like handstand and front-lever
• Gain inhuman strength
• Lose fat for the super hot beach body
• Endurance so you can run 10km like breeze

Generally, the famous Reddit's Recommended Routine is a great start for beginner in bodyweight training. It covers how to use compound exercise to train every part of your body. Back, legs, and core. It is also designed according to urban lifestyle so the routine is compact and efficient.

Make time for it

Get right with your prioritization. If you are serious about getting fit, plan your daily schedule around the fitness plan. Mark the days on the calendar and put alarm reminders on your phone.

Don't overthink what you should do and how to do things with perfection. If you are just starting out, you are going to progress and improve quickly. Pick a plan and stick to it.

Consistency is critical for your workouts at home. Stick to the plan as much as possible.

Create a YouTube playlist

Personal trainers don't come cheap. But you find equally great fitness content on YouTube, for free.

Nowadays it is quite impossible to find something that hasn't being talked about on the tube. People create easy-to-follow routines and often educate the purpose of their training method.

Pick the training style you like, type in the keyword, add them to your playlist. Optimize the list and you get a 100% personalized fitness program playlist over time.

Do it alfresco

Is space an issue? Try the outdoors-you can do your powerful morning workouts on the rooftop or in the playground near your place. This gives you the advantage of free workout gear such as monkey bars and benches for your pull-ups and step-ups. It also gives you the company and motivation of like-minded people in your area. The fresh air will also do you wonders.

Top 5 Calisthenics Equipment You'll Need for Home Workouts:

When people are building their home gym, they often think about huge machine and rack with tons of weight plates. Most people don't have the space luxuries and budget. That's why calisthenics is getting more trending over the years for home exercise. Here's the characteristics of calisthenics gears:

• Versatile: Can be shared among different exercises.
• Portable: Minimalist, easy to carry around and keep.
• Durable: Lesser complicated mechanisms, lesser component to go haywire.

Here is some of the best home workout gears to invest on:

1) Weighted Vest

Weight vest is almost a game changer for bodyweight training. They are designed to attach to you body with snug fit, with external weight. So you can turn any movement a resistance workout, you'd even sweat by sitting still (for the first time) with a weight vest.

It can make all your workouts harder without limiting your movement. Running, squatting, pull-up, push-up, or even martial arts and sports. You name it.

You are going to crush at your routine with ease after taking off the weight vest. It's not because it has become easier, but you've become stronger.

Grav Weight Vest is a premium weighted vest series that features adjustable weights (up to 16kg), super thick padding, durable Cordura fabric that is easy on skin. It has a very short profile (only covers the chest) and made for all body sizes, men or women.

If you want to "get a feel" how a weight vest works, we did a thorough comparison with Decathlon Weight Vest.

2) Gymnastic Rings

If you can only pick a gear for your upper body gain, gymnastic ring is the ultimate answer. It is way more superior than the regular bar for couple of reasons:

• Rings can do what bars can do, and it can do more.
• Easier on your joints (elbows and wrists).
• Force correct posture by exposing your weakness.
• Impose more challenges due to its instability.

These rings comprise two circular apparatuses suspended from a high point. You grasp the rings in your hand during various routines such as pull-ups and dips. Ring training is all-round training, giving you the advantage of joint health, strength building, balance, and flexibility. I'm sure you have watched videos of Olympic athletes dangling on gymnastic rings-it's crazy fun.

Whether you want to do press-ups, L-sits, or pull-ups on the rings, evaluate yourself and ensure that you have the proper control, flexibility, and strength needed. Start with a single rep holding for three seconds, then increase as you build more strength.

3) Resistance Bands

Most gym-going highbrows look down upon the purpose of resistance bands. So, they lie there unused and their potential unexploited. Embrace this piece of workout gear at home-you will miss nothing of the fancy gym equipment.

Resistance bands excel in versatility. They can be used in nearly all kinds of workout routines to strengthen your muscles and build endurance. Typically, resistance bands vary in strength. You can buy one or different resistance bands from level 1 to level 6. At level 1, the bands are lighter and easier to stretch.

As you go towards level 6, the resistance increases, and they become harder to pull. At a beginner level, your ideal resistance bands are levels 1 to 3.

In strength building, the bands exert a high amount of force on the muscles when stretched.

You can use them on your upper or lower body during training. Press-ups, bicep curls, and squats are examples of the many workouts you can do with a resistance band.

But the benefit of resistance bands is not limited to improving strength. Full body stretches with resistance bands can help to improve flexibility and range of motion. Examples of workouts include inner thigh stretch, backstretch, and kneeling quad stretch.

4) Wrist wraps

Your wrists are one of the most complicated and important part of your arm.

Complicated because it has many joints, muscles, and tendons. Important because if you don't have a strong and healthy wrists, there is no upper body gain for you.

A good pair of wrist wraps stabilize your wrists so you can:

• have more grip strength
• do more reps
• hit heavier weight
• prevent injuries

Wrist wraps prevent hyperextending when you train heavy. Or when you are practicing skills that exert huge pressure in the wrists, like a handstand.

Grav Wrist Wraps are 100% cotton with the simplest design. It is easy on skin and wrap around all size of wrists. It also features the simplest design without thumb loop. You can quickly adjust the tightness by grab and twist.

As useful as wrist wrap is, you should not use it all the time as it will hinder your growth. Use the wrap only on heavy set or when you are working on new skill.

5) Parallettes

Parallettes are two parallel bars to the floor and often made with wood handle and metal stands. They allow wrists to hold up in a natural position when doing exercise like push-up and handstand. The elevated support also allow more range of motion for more challenging workout.

Parallettes are useful in making exercise easier as well. You can use it to perform incline pushup (leg on floor). L-sit is harder to perform on the floor because the movement requires good shoulder scapula flexibility. Doing it on parallettes let you learn the movement quicker with lower difficulty.

They are usually minimal in size so keeping them is not a big issue. A pair of solid paralletes will last you a lifetime with ease.

The Bottom Line

Home workouts are fun. Having fun is the most powerful tool to keep going and stick to the game. The limited equipment make you creative in working around your body and space. Put on some good music and power your way through the drills.

Consider investing in durable and versatile equipment. Simple gear like weighted vest and resistance bands can add variation to your routine and progress faster.