Benefits of Exercise and an Introduction to Calisthenics
Just 30 min of exercise a day is shown to increase endorphin levels, which are our bodies natural hormones, plus boost cardiovascular health, which allows you to have more endurance throughout the day. Some additional benefits include sharpening your mental focus and, improve your quality of sleep.
Outside of exercising for energy, exercise has been found to lower our risk of coronary artery disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke and metabolic syndrome. Exercising improves blood circulation and therefore increases blood flow and oxygen levels. Exercise helps manage blood sugar and insulin levels. It has been shown that exercise reduces inflammation in the body, aids in the growth of new brain cells, and improves one’s ability to think, learn, and make decisions.
Exercise improves your sleep quality and quantity, improves our mental health and mood, and helps you feel more relaxed and able to better handle stress. Exercise strengthens your bones and muscles, therefore decreasing the risk of falls and fractures with age. Furthermore, exercise increases our energy levels and can be a factor in weight management.
There is no question regarding the benefits of exercise, and there are many ways to exercise, such as aerobic, strength, balance, and/or flexibility training. Within each, there are subsets of what your training session could look like. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong when it comes to exercise, the most important factor is to simply move your body. If you are new to exercise it is suggested that you partake in an activity with others that will help keep you accountable and motivated.
Exercise is meant to increase your quality of life, so make sure that you are keeping it fun and different. Exercise should not feel like a chore and if you are starting to resent your daily workout, try switching things up. Another good strategy, for not only beginners but; anyone who partakes in regular exercise is to track your progress. Tracking your progress will enable you to see the small changes, which will with time, patience, and consistency lead to big changes.
Today I am going to be talking more about a very niched way to exercise; calisthenics. Calisthenics, comes from the greek words kalos, which means ‘beautiful’ and sthenos, which means ‘strength’. Essentially it is the art of using one’s body weight when exercising. Strength training, aerobic conditioning, balance, agility, coordination and flexibility can all arguably be trained via a calisthenics workout. The beautiful thing about calisthenics, or body weight movement, is that it allows everyone, anywhere to reap the benefits of exercise.
There are 4 basic moves to a calisthenics workout; push up, pull up, dip, and squat. From these, you have an unlimited amount of both regressions and progressions. Let’s take the push up, for example. One can start their push up journey by doing a vertical push up against the wall, ensuring their core is engaged, elbows pointed backwards and pelvis tilted posteriorly. One can progress this push up to perform a push up combo, that includes the superman, triple clap and one arm. This will require not only more strength, however also endurance and explosivity.
Calisthenics, body weight movement, is great for those starting their fitness journey and needing to build foundational body weight strength, great for those with joint conditions like osteoporosis or arthritis, because you are able to dictate how much body weight you are pushing, and furthermore great for athletes who are looking to challenge themselves. When it comes to mastering your body weight, there truly is no end. You can always find a way to make things harder, which allows for a never-ending journey.
For me, I fell in love with calisthenics because it takes away any pressure to look a certain way or to complete a certain amount of reps or sets or time in the gym. I fell in love with the journey of mastering my body weight. The feeling of achieving a certain skill after countless of attempts, hours and failures, is something that is so empowering. Accomplishing something I wasn’t able to do prior keeps me growing and pursuing more skills, and lead me to become a calisthenics trainer at the gym I train at; Project RISE and pursue my own fitness and nutrition business, Nourished Movement. Seeing others around me achieve their first pull up and look over to me with a huge smile as their head lifts above that bar is one of the most rewarding feelings ever. Calisthenics isn’t just about exercising. It is about consistence, persistence, and self-belief. My philosophy is that we should nourish and move our bodies and focusing on feeling good in our bodies and proud of where we are now, Calisthenics offers a way to achieve this and more.
If you are interested in learning more about calisthenics, I would love to offer you a complementary session at Project RISE. Alternatively, if you want to join one of our classes, your first class is on me! Please feel free to contact me through my website, www.nourishyourmovement.com. A great resource for you to check out is Project RISE YouTube channel for ample beginner calisthenics videos, like the push-up one I did
Written by, Diane Tuerke, BSc. Kin, CNP, CPT.
Diane Tuerke is a Bachelor of Science Kinesiology graduate, Certified Nutritional Practitioner and Calisthenics Coach and Athlete.
