Lifestyle Asia Logo
Style
Food & Drink
Travel
Culture
Beauty & Grooming
Living
Gear
Most Trending
What’s the difference between simulant, synthetic and natural diamonds?
Most Recent
10 Thai designer brands to shop this festive season
  • Fashion
  • Watches
  • Jewellery
Most Trending
Where to find the best nasi lemak stalls in Singapore
Most Recent
The 7 essential cafes and restaurants in Lavender to visit
  • Dining
  • Drinks
  • Reviews
  • Discover Johnnie Walker
Most Trending
Why Stockholm is home to Europe’s hippest nightlife scene
Most Recent
Check out: Auckland, New Zealand’s ‘land of a thousand lovers’
  • Destinations
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Exploring China with SQ
Most Trending
Your alternative Christmas playlist for this festive season
Most Recent
Pantone has named Classic Blue as 2020’s Colour of the Year
  • Entertainment
  • Architecture
  • Events
  • Art & Design
Most Trending
Acqua di Parma and Gio Pastori team up to create whimsical festive fragrance gifts
Most Recent
Embody the Man of Many with your BOSS Bottled cologne of choice
  • Grooming
  • Makeup
  • Skincare
Most Trending
Acqua di Parma and Gio Pastori team up to create whimsical festive fragrance gifts
Most Recent
Embody the Man of Many with your BOSS Bottled cologne of choice
    Most Trending
    Odin Properties launches Odin Hills, a private residential village in Niseko
    Most Recent
    7 key elements of Japanese interiors for a minimalist home
    • People
    • Wellness
    • Property & Interiors
    • Luxe Living Asia
    Most Trending
    Lamborghini reveals the secrets behind Huracán Performante
    Most Recent
    McLaren unveils its most hardcore road-going Sports Series car ever made
    • Tech
    • Motoring
    Most Trending
    Lamborghini reveals the secrets behind Huracán Performante
    Most Recent
    McLaren unveils its most hardcore road-going Sports Series car ever made
      • sg
        • BK
        • PAR
        • PAR [CN]
        • KL
        • SG
        • HK
        • IND
      • Search
      A guide to calisthenics, the bodyweight workout that builds muscle fast
      Sort & Filter
      Close Filter
      Sort By
      Date
      Relevance
      Filter By Category
      All Categories
      All
      Style
      Food & Drink
      Travel
      Culture
      Beauty & Grooming
      Weddings
      Living
      Gear
      Apply
      Filter By Location
      singapore
      All Countries
      7 key elements of Japanese interiors for a minimalist home
      Living
      Odin Properties launches Odin Hills, a private residential village in Niseko
      Living
      Elie Saab to launch home and furniture collection
      Living
      Lifestyle Asia Logo
      sg
      A guide to calisthenics, the bodyweight workout that builds muscle fast
      Back
      All  Style
      • Fashion
      • Watches
      • Jewellery
      Back
      All  Food & Drink
      • Dining
      • Drinks
      • Reviews
      • Discover Johnnie Walker
      Back
      All  Travel
      • Destinations
      • Hotels & Resorts
      • Exploring China with SQ
      Back
      All  Culture
      • Entertainment
      • Architecture
      • Events
      • Art & Design
      Back
      All  Beauty & Grooming
      • Grooming
      • Makeup
      • Skincare
      Back
      All  Living
      • People
      • Wellness
      • Property & Interiors
      • Luxe Living Asia
      Back
      All  Gear
      • Tech
      • Motoring
      • Kuala Lumpur
      • Paris
      • Paris [Chinese]
      • Hong Kong
      • Bangkok
      • Singapore
      • India
      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • Instagram
      Sort & Filter
      Close Filter
      Sort By
      Date
      Relevance
      Filter By Category
      All Categories
      All
      Style
      Food & Drink
      Travel
      Culture
      Beauty & Grooming
      Weddings
      Living
      Gear
      Apply
      Filter By Location
      singapore
      All Countries
      Living
      03 Oct 2018

      A guide to calisthenics, the bodyweight workout that builds muscle fast

      Shatricia Nair Senior Writer
      Standard Article Hero
      Planks are a regular classic in calisthenics. (Image: Ayo Ogunseinde)
      Trending Now
      Travel
      Check out: Auckland, New Zealand’s ‘land of a thousand lovers’
      Read More
      Food & Drink
      The 7 essential cafes and restaurants in Lavender to visit
      Read More
      Style
      10 Thai designer brands to shop this festive season
      Read More
      Style
      What’s the difference between simulant, synthetic and natural diamonds?
      Read More
      Created with Sketch.
      Sign up for our newsletter to have the best news and reviews from Lifestyle Asia delivered straight to your inbox.

      So you’ve put yourself through CrossFit, and gotten slightly manhandled at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, if you’re the sort who prefers a fuss-free, muscle-building workout without the frills of a gym, exercise partner, or fancy equipment, look no further than calisthenics. 

      Living
      Quinoa’s great, but here’s why you should try teff instead
      Read More
      Calisthenics pretty much prepares you for party tricks such as the human flag. (Image: Frank Medrano)

      Often the workout responsible for the gravity-defying feats of strength you see on Instagram (think human flag), calisthenics has gained quite a following for its convenience and multitude of benefits. Despite its mouthful of a name, all that the minimalist exercise encompasses is a repetitive sequence of moves that uses the resistance of your own body to build strength, burn fat, and increase flexibility. Even a weights-room junkie who’s practically living at the squat rack could do with a bit of that.

      Calisthenics vs weight-lifting

      While the main difference is glaring in that calisthenics doesn’t require free weights and a fully-equipped gym like weight-lifting does, it is a better total body workout overall. Because weight-lifting usually isolates individual muscles, it doesn’t emulate real-life situations such as lifting a large box from the ground, or heaving yourself back onto the ledge of a building in the event of a crisis — Mission Impossible style. It also reduces the risk of poor posture and injury like weight-lifting does.

      It isn’t a secret that calisthenics doesn’t build specific muscles as quickly as weight-lifting does, but it does provide the benefit of moving your body as a whole entity. A lat pulldown, for example, targets the lats, biceps and muscles of the forearm, but a pull-up does the same with the added engagement of the core and the rest of the body, using more energy and burning more fat.

      Overall, the goal of calisthenics is really to improve your aerobic and muscular condition simultaneously, alongside coordination and balance, making it a common complement to other fitness practices such as yoga. Weight-lifting, on the other hand, requires the constant attention of free weights to maintain the size and condition of your muscles.

      The benefits

      Muscles are built on the concept of progressive resistance, and the only downfall of calisthenics is that the progression ends when you’ve conquered your own body weight. While not the best option for hard core body builders, calisthenics can still build and maintain a respectable amount of muscle mass over the long run, sans the extreme muscle trauma and tearing that weight lifting can inflict. 

      Calisthenics is an all-round way to increase muscle mass while improving on flexibility and balance. (Image: John Fornander)

      Because all the muscles are working and building in tandem, calisthenics is an optimal way in improving flexibility since a strong muscle doesn’t have to strain to contract as a weak one does. Efficient fat burning is achieved with a higher resting metabolic rate from increased muscle mass, as well as from its aerobic nature. This in turn spurs a boost in increased endurance. Circuit training calisthenics consists of doing as many repetitions of an exercise as possible without rest and until fatigued, pushing your cardiovascular system and muscles to new heights every session. 

      The workout

      If you’ve done a push-up or plank before, you’ve tried calisthenics. Pushing, pulling, balancing, and core stabilisation are gross motor movements that are performed rhythmically throughout the workout. Because your range of movement is not restricted by machines and barbells, you’re free to adapt your routine to suit your needs. 

      Planks are a regular classic in calisthenics. (Image: Ayo Ogunseinde)

      Other moves that are basic calisthenic essentials are planks, pull-ups, burpees, and lunges (amongst many others), though there are more advanced variations such as the one-leg push-up and prisoner squat jumps. Reaching forward while planking instead of resting on your elbows will also rev up your core and challenge your entire body to work harder for balance. The flexibility of calisthenics makes it easy to quantify your achievements — faster reps and longer holds aside, you’ll find it easier to perform tasks like touching your toes or one day, even nailing the human flag too. 

      Living
      Review: Platinum Fitness debuts with high-tech equipment and killer classes
      Read More
      Fitness
      Bodyweight Training
      Calisthenics
      home workouts
      full body workout
      bodyweight exercises
      Shatricia Nair Senior Writer
      Shatricia Nair is a motoring, watches, and wellness writer who is perpetually knee-deep in the world of V8s, tourbillons, and the latest fitness trends. She is fuelled by peanut butter and three cups of coffee a day.
      Talk to Me About:
      Motoring
      Wellness
      Watches
      Johnnie Walker

      Up Next For You

      Living
      7 key elements of Japanese interiors for a minimalist home
      Jocelyn Tan
      Living
      Odin Properties launches Odin Hills, a private residential village in Niseko
      Jocelyn Tan
      Living
      Elie Saab to launch home and furniture collection
      Staff Writer
      Living
      How to recreate the industrial luxe aesthetic in your home
      Jocelyn Tan
      Sign up for our weekly newsletters to receive our latest event coverage and personality interviews in your inbox.
      ×
      Where are you?
      Tell us so we can display what you want to see.
      • Kuala Lumpur
      • Paris
      • Hong Kong
      • Bangkok
      • Singapore
      • India
      Hong Kong Paris Bangkok Kuala Lumpur Singapore India
      Advertise About Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
      © 2019 Copyright Lifestyle Asia
      To give you the best browsing experience, this site uses cookies. Find out more.I accept
      Cookies Policy

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

      Necessary Always Enabled

      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.