If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

One of the biggest criticisms of calisthenics training is the typical accusation of not training legs in calisthenics. This can be due to several reasons, moving our body weight is a challenge for our upper body, however, our lower body is already used to supporting all our weight, so to do a calisthenics leg workout you have to be more imaginative and use other movement patterns that stimulate our lower body well.

It is true that the most efficient method of training legs is through loads, but do not panic because that does not imply that if we do not have heavy material at hand we cannot do a calisthenics leg training that will also help us not only to gain strength and hypertrophy but to improve other equally important aspects such as balance and mobility

In this article we are going to teach you several very interesting leg exercises to add to your calisthenics leg workout and we will finish by proposing a very interesting routine that is not very well known that we promise will create a killer calisthenics leg workout.

In our list of exercises we are not going to talk about the basic leg exercises such as the Squat, Lunge or Gluteal Bridge, since we assume that you already know these exercises and as we previously mentioned, as soon as we have some strength they will quickly fall short. . Remember, as Yerai Streetworkout, committed to calisthenics leg training, says: “Don’t be a palisthenic.”

– “Pistol” squat: the basic leg After training with body weight, it can be difficult to master it and we recommend starting to do it with assistance to gradually gain strength and work on ankle mobility, which is key to maintaining balance when executing this squat, but once we have it, it is an exercise brutal for our lower body that has nothing to envy to a squat with loads. If they fall short or are too difficult, don’t worry, we have several simpler or more demanding proposals depending on your level.

– “Sissy” squat: this variant of the squat is little used but has a lot of potential to develop our anterior chain since it focuses almost all the work on our quadriceps. It is a complex exercise strong and we will have to work on our mobility to progress in it, but it is undoubtedly very undervalued for leg work.

– “Shrimp” squat: if for some reason the “pistol” squat falls short, an even more advanced version is the “shrimp squat” or shrimp squat in its Anglo-Saxon name. This exercise is also dominant for the quadriceps and special care and control must be taken when dropping the knee, since if we hit the ground when going down uncontrollably, we can injure our kneecap due to the impact.

– Hawaiian squat: this alternative to the pistol squat is quite curious and requires a little less force, since the hip is involved in the movement. In this variation, the foot of the non-working leg rests on the knee of the working leg, albeit a little awkward, but in the end it’s more stable than it looks.

– Skater squat: this type of squat is also easier than the pistol, since we move the center of mass forward and we will have more balance. Like all the squats that we propose, it requires the anterior chain, that is, the quadriceps, and we must also be careful when touching the ground with the knee since we do not want to hit this joint violently.

– Dragon Squat: the most difficult of all, a challenge of strength, mobility, flexibility and balance. You only have to see it to realize that it has a very complex technique. This exercise is very very complete, since in addition to exercising our quadriceps, the way in which we go down makes us also work the abductors, buttocks and hips. Without a doubt, if you manage to control this squat, you are a master of calisthenics leg training.

– Isometric squat: to add variety to our calisthenics leg training, we can opt for exercises that are not measured in repetitions but in time. Try holding the parallel squat with your back against the wall and let me know how your quads turn out. This exercise is a perfect finisher for our leg routine and is highly recommended. There are also other versions of this isometric squat working facing the wall or simply holding the parallel squat without a wall.

– Nordic Curl: all the exercises that we have proposed are dominant of the anterior chain, and we cannot forget our hamstrings and biceps that also need their dose of work. Our favorite for training the posterior chain of our leg. Although it is quite difficult to perform the entire exercise, we can begin to progress in this exercise by inserting negative repetitions into our calisthenics leg routine with the help of a partner to hold our ankles.

– Cossack squat: although this exercise also touches the anterior chain of the leg, it is highly demanding on the adductors, gluteus, and hip flexors, so we recommend it for the posterior chain of the leg. This exercise is especially good for improving hip mobility and flexibility, but it also adds stimulation to our lower body.

Glute Bridge / Unilateral Hip Thrust: in weight training the exercise par excellence for the gluteus is the Hip Thrust but, taking into account that in calisthenics we are not going to use loads, the method that we will use to increase the stimulus is doing it with one leg, increasing the stimulus through higher relative load and instability.

With these exercises, you have all the tools you need to create a demanding calisthenics leg workout for when bodyweight squats and lunges fall short.

To get an idea of the difficulty of the unilateral squats and progress in them, the order of difficulty is as follows: < <, < <. Did you think that pistols were the most complicated unilateral squats? When you master them you will still have half of the progression left!

Bonus: The Ballet Squat Routine.

Perhaps at first glance it may not seem so, but ballet dancers have a highly developed lower body since it is essential to perform the pirouettes of their choreographies. We know of cases such as the action hero and martial artist Jean Claude Van Damme who attended ballet classes to gain mobility and strength in his lower body. He went so far as to say that “if you are capable of surviving a ballet training you can endure the training of any sport”.

That is why we are going to propose a very simple training but that ensures stiffness in our entire lower body since it is very demanding and we probably have not trained that way in our lives. Jon Yuen proposes it and as we said it is a challenge for our legs.

The routine is very simple and simply consists of doing squats in the 5 ballet positions, known as “pli”.

• Squat in 1st position:

• Squat in 2nd position:
  
• Squat in 3rd position:
  
• Squat in 4th position:
  
• Squat in 5th position:
  

I have recorded these videos myself and the technique can be improved, I am working on it! The main advice when doing these squats is to keep your trunk straight and your knees out. I know it’s a bit counterintuitive, but these squats work like that and they’re great for our mobility. The way I execute this routine when I don’t have time or material to train legs with loads is a simple 5×5, that is, five sets of five squats.

We hope that with this article we have dispelled the myth that calisthenics does not train legs and everyone who reads can get ideas for original and challenging calisthenics leg workouts beyond endless sets of bodyweight squats and lunges.

Thank you very much for reading and see you at Fitenium!

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can share the progress they make with their calisthenics training at home. Download it here.

I am sure that it is not the first time that you consider starting to train constantly to improve your health and physical condition. You have gone to a gym and it may even be that you have paid several months in advance. You started out very motivated, but you have a complicated routine, little time and in the end you end up leaving the gym aside. You wonder what has gone wrong and you get frustrated because you have failed in your goals. Perhaps your best option is to train calisthenics at home if you don’t have time to train.

It is quite likely that you are not familiar with how to train calisthenics at home, but do not worry because in this article we will share with you tips and routines for calisthenics at home. You will have no excuse because the routines are done quite quickly, they are adaptable to your level and some do not require any type of material that everyone does not have at home.

For those who are not familiar, calisthenics is a training method in which you use your body and gravity to work your muscles, using repetition exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups or squats as well as tension exercises such as planks or “levers”. Normally to train calisthenics you need some minimum equipment that is a pull-up bar and parallel bars. However, to start calisthenics at home we will recommend exercises that do not require any specific material.

exercise progressions

In the gym, you usually progress through a progressive overload system, that is, you repeat the same exercise by adding more weight, repetitions or series. In calisthenics, it is true that you can weigh yourself down with many exercises, but especially for beginners, it is advisable to start with versions of the exercises.

Exercise 1: Push-ups

Level 1: Knee Push-ups

Level 2: Incline Push-ups

Level 3: Normal Push-ups

Level 4: Decline Push-ups

Exercise 2: Squats

Level 1: Partial Squats

Level 2: Parallel Squats

Level 3: Deep Squats

Level 4: Single Leg Squats

exercise 3: backgrounds

Level 1: Bent Knee Dips

Level 2: Straight Leg Dips

Level 3: Horizontal Funds

Level 4: Parallel Dips (equipment is required for this exercise)

Exercise 4: Burpees

Level 1: Burpee with Chair

Level 2: Burpee in two counts

Level 3: Burpee in one beat

Level 4: Full Burpee

How do I know what level I am at? When you can do a set of 20 repetitions of each of these exercises, you’ll be reasonably ready to move on to the next level. The case of the squat is quite different from the others since the squat on one leg is very dependent on the balance and ankle mobility that you have more than on strength. We recommend that you visit our Calisthenics Leg Training article so you can see other options for progress by doing bodyweight squats.

routine

To train at home easily and quickly, we recommend doing a circuit of the aforementioned exercises. Depending on your level you will opt for one level or another of each exercise and a number of repetitions. A simple progression that we like is to gradually increase series and repetitions until we level up in each exercise, returning to the initial number of repetitions. We will start with 3 rounds of 8 repetitions of all the exercises (except the squat, which will be double the repetitions), resting one minute between rounds and if we have managed to do the 3 rounds of 8 repetitions of an exercise without failing in any round, we will go up 3 repetitions ( or 6 in the case of the squat). Each home calisthenics exercise progresses differently, and we can go more advanced in some exercises than in others. Once we’re able to do maximum reps, we’ll add a fourth set to make sure we can move to the next level. The progression will be like this.

Once we can with this, we will move on to the next level of exercises.

Once we are able to do this calisthenics routine at home, we can go back up.

And finally, we would come to this routine.

If you are able to do the last routine, it can be said that you have a fairly high physical level and you are a lover of training, so it will not be a big problem to join a gym to continue progressing.

conclusions

You can start training with my little material is to improve, for this, calisthenics exercises at home are your best option, and with this routine you can progress until you reach a fairly high physical level.

January, the month when you will join the gym as a new year aspiration is just around the corner. With the intention of taking off these extra kilos, the Spanish tend to overflow the gym during the first two or three months of the year and then begin to abandon the purpose of being healthier.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

To save that financial loss that can include paying the annual gym fee and leaving after a few months, we do what you do in the living room with no (or at least) equipment. Go over the best exercises you can and the comfort of your home.

squat

We couldn’t start the list of exercises without talking about one of the great classics such as squats, one of the basic exercises to move the lower part of the body with our weight.

This exercise points out two important points to consider when avoiding injury. One is the posture of the back, the lumbar spine (lordosis) and the dorsal side (kyphosis or “hump”). If you find it difficult to hold the pose, a good way to start a squat is to choose an isometric variation for the wall. You stand with your back to the wall and bend until your knees are at 90 degrees. At this time, hold the position for a few seconds and return to the starting position.

The second point to consider is the form of limitation or functional damage. If for some reason you cannot squat due to lack of strength, you may choose to squat in a chair. From sitting on the edge of the chair to keep your back straight, you can use a sit-down chair to limit your range of motion if you can’t bend over in the traditional way. This option is also a good alternative to work on the lower body of the elderly.

push ups

And if the squat is a classic exercise that exerts the strength and strength of our lower body, then when we talk about our upper arm, the arm, the thoracic muscle and the core (the latter because it intervenes in the stabilization of posture), the key exercise is push-ups or push-ups.

If you are too weak to do a full pushup on the floor, you may choose to land on your knees instead of your feet. This allows you to “lose” some of the weight you are working with.

strides

Lunges are another way to utilize your lower body power and are a great complement to your squat work. Because, in addition to strength training, it improves balance by activating the gluteus medius.

If you want to add difficulty to this exercise, you can choose to hold some weight with one hand. This requires more work in the kernel to compensate for this “imbalance”. On the other hand, if you are not very well balanced, you can start next to a table that can help you if you lose your balance in the middle of an upgrade.

abdominal plank

One of the best, if not the best, exercises for our abdomen to work. And with all the viable variants they cause the core to work globally and fully and, more importantly, the risk of injury.

One option that can be included if you have the equipment you need is to do it in lieu of ab planks, which is the main workout with ab wheels. This accessory can be purchased at very affordable prices (about 20 euros) in stores like Decathlon.

Burpee

This already classic movement, loved or hated by people of the same part, not only makes our bodies work all over the world, but also me, because the upper, core and lower part of the body intervene for its dynamics. It is also a magnificent exercise that moves our body. cardiovascular resistance.

glute bridge

To move your lower body from a “rear” perspective, the glute bridge is a very good exercise that primarily works the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. As with all exercises, there are many variations depending on the difficulty of the work. The most basic thing is to start with your legs bent and lying on your back on the floor. Elevating the foot support, such as placing your foot on the edge of a sofa or chair, increases the work done by your hamstrings and gluteal muscles.

climbers

Complementary exercise to the plates that allows you to continue working the core muscles, plus cardiovascular resistance. If you are unable to start this exercise directly at the first floor push-up, it is recommended that you start with your hand supporting the chair. This allows us to lean on the ground and walk (the main objective of the exercise is to move as quickly as possible). There are numerous options, depending on the difficulty you want to work with to add strength and demand to your training.

After seeing the main exercises that you can do at home with your weight to get fit and lose weight after Christmas, I suggest two types of routines to work at home. One is based on the series. -The repetition system and others are HIIT circuits.

routine in series per exercise

We recommend a 45-90 second break between each set, depending on your physical condition, and a 1-2 minute break between exercises.

Burpee: 2 x 10
Squats: 3 x 10
Glute bridge: 3 x 15
Lange: 2 x 10 (each leg)
Push-ups: 3 x 10
Climber: 3 x 20
Plancha abdominal: 3 x 30seg

HIIT circuit mode exercise routine

If you want to perform these exercises in high-intensity circuit mode, set up using the Tabata method, which consists of 20 seconds of work time and 10 seconds of rest. For beginners, three rounds of this circuit is a good way to get in shape. It is a good idea to complete 3-6 rounds for Intermediate and 10 rounds for Advanced. Between rounds, depending on the physical level of each user, the breaks vary from 3 minutes for most beginners and from 45 to 60 seconds for the most advanced.

The exercise order is the same as in the previous workout: Burppe, Squat, Glute Bridge, Lunge, Push-ups, Stair Climbers, Plank.