Calisthenic Workouts For Over-all Calisthenic Fitness
Calisthenic workouts for improving calisthenic fitness levels.
Calisthenic workouts must include calisthenic exercises that work to balance not only your abdominal muscles but your hip flexors as well.
You may not be aware that the majority of calisthenic exercises that people use to strengthen their abdominal muscles in fact work the hip flexors. This can cause you to over-train your hip flexors and not train your abdominal muscles at all.
Now, it's important to remember that you need to properly train your hip flexors and abdominals for complete core balance. The problem however is that if you concentrate on calisthenic exercises that focus too much on your hip flexors, you will run into lower back problems.
It's been noted that over working your hip flexors during any
calisthenic workouts
may change the curvature of your spine and place added stress on the front of your vertebral discs.
Most fitness training experts agree that the majority of lower back problems that athletes in various sports experience is directly associated to the hip flexor exercises they perform as part of their calisthenic fitness training program.
The strength of your hip flexors is an important part of any calisthenic fitness training program but you need to remember and balance hip flexor exercises with good quality and effective abdominal exercises.
Before starting any calisthenic workouts you need to determine which calisthenic exercises are the best for each muscle group and the individual muscles themselves. Include them all in your calisthenic workouts to avoid any muscle imbalances.
Calisthenic workouts need to involve some type of flexibility exercises as well.
Calisthenic exercises that raise your feet or legs up off the floor will tend to focus more on your hip flexors rather than your abdominals. During these calisthenic exercises your torso and upper abdominal muscles will stabilize your pelvis.
If you exercise your hip flexors before your abdominals they will become fatigued and therefore when you do your abdominal exercises, it will only be your ab muscles doing the work – which is what you want.
"Tips For Abdominal Strength"
Use calisthenic fitness exercises that only work your abdominal muscles and not your hip flexors.
Do not use any calisthenic fitness training exercises that do focus on your hip flexors, more than twice a week. And don't use high reps when doing them.
Try to increase the total number of abdominal exercises you use each week. Most people can perform ab exercises at least 3 days a week.
Incorporate exercises such as back extensions, supermans, donkey Kicks, etc. into your calisthenic workouts.
Use a flexibility program that works your entire body.
Always use proper exercise techniques during your calisthenic workouts.
If your muscles do not have the strength to perform the exercise you are doing properly then other assistor or stabilizer muscles will be used. In some cases this can lead to injury if the stabilizers are called into a situation they’re not meant to be in.
As an example: if you are performing calisthenic fitness training exercises that are over-stressing your lower ab muscles your hip flexors will start to help. If you have stronger hip flexor muscles than ab muscles you will tend to have a stomach that pushes out, leading to lower back problems.
"Tips To Reduce Lower Back Pain During Calisthenic Fitness Training Exercises"
Always keep one foot on the floor to reduce the stress placed on your spine and lower back. If you are performing calisthenic exercises that require both feet to be up off the floor at the same time you can easily change them so that one foot is always down for support.
Many people find that putting a rolled up towel under your glutes will reduce the stress on your lower back by keeping your spinal column aligned properly.
If you lift your head up and roll your shoulders forward a little bit you will put your spine in a proper position to avoid injury.
As mentioned earlier, do your hip flexor exercises before starting any ab fitness training exercises.
"Sit-Up Tips"
Sit ups are not done today as they were years ago. They have changed a lot over the years because if not done correctly, they can lead to many different lower back problems and injuries. If you use sit ups in your calisthenic workouts then make sure you know how to do them properly.
When doing sit-ups, bend your legs at approximately a forty five-degree angle at your hips. Place both of your feet flat on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Your legs should be turned outwards a wee bit. Do not pull your head forward with your hands.
You need to focus on using only your ab muscles during all parts of the exercise. A good tip is too keep your eyes directed straight above you staring at the ceiling. This will reduce the tension on your neck.
When in the proper position, you will be able to slightly raise your torso up to a point where your shoulder blades come off the floor. This will cause most of your abdominal muscles and muscle fibers to become activated.
If you start your sit-ups from the extension position you won't be able to perform as many reps per set. But of course, your main goal when performing these
types of calisthenic exercises
is the quality of the reps not the total number you can do.
Once you get to the point in your calisthenic workouts where your muscles are strong enough that you are able to do more than fifteen reps per set, you can make the exercise more difficult by changing the variables of the exercise.
You can add weight, do the exercises on a slight decline, change the position of your arms, etc. Here are some ways to change your arm position in order to make the sit ups more challenging:
Place them at your sides;
Across your chest;
At the back of your head;
You can also put your hands together at the top of your head.
If your main goal during your
calisthenic fitness training
sessions is muscle development and improving your strength you need to use enough weight to keep your reps from reaching fifteen or more per set. After you have built a proper muscle foundation you can then begin to improve your muscle endurance.
If muscle endurance is your goal during your calisthenic workouts, make sure you're not using too much weight as to not be able to do over fifteen reps per set.
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