When it comes to working out and staying fit, there are a large variety of exercise programs that you can choose from. Even though weightlifting and hitting the treadmill at the local gym remains popular choices, many people are looking at alternative options that they can perform anywhere. This is where calisthenics comes into the picture, an exercise method that has been gaining a significant amount of popularity recently
Calisthenics is an exercise method and not a specific program. It involves a wide range of exercises that uses the body’s weight in order to produce resistance. When it comes to starting out with a calisthenics workout, having support is important.
This can help to keep you motivated and even allow you to find a local street workout community. We take a closer look at the best communities and platforms that you can join for your calisthenics workout efforts in this post.
Why Should You Join A Calisthenics Community?
Calisthenics workouts are great for improving your fitness and even when you want to build muscle. The physical demands on your own body, however, can be tough – especially for beginners.
Whether you are completely new or coming from a weightlifting routine, joining a calisthenics community is definitely a good idea.
There are multiple reasons why you should consider joining one of these communities or other platforms. We will discuss some of these reasons and the benefits you can expect in the list below:
Provides Motivation
A lack of motivation has been shown to have a significant negative impact on a person’s will to exercise. When you take on calisthenics exercises like hanging leg raises, muscle ups, and other options alone, you may find that you do not feel motivated. Being part of a community allows you to show your progress. It also gives you a chance to see the progress that other people have made – which can certainly help to keep your motivation levels up.
Local Exercise Opportunities For Calisthenics Workout
If you find a local forum with like minded individuals, you may identify locations where people perform calisthenics as a street workout.
This gives you an opportunity to see individuals performing more advanced exercises that form part of calisthenics. By seeing how they perform in a street workout session, you can also get a better view about what you can expect should you continue to pursue your interest in these body weight exercises.
Advice To Achieve Your Goals With Body Weight Exercises
When you are part of these communities, you can ask questions when you are uncertain about the street workout methods or calisthenics exercises that you want to perform.
People in the community can also give you tips about how you can build muscle mass without the need for a weightlifting routine.
Street Workout Community Courses And Guides
Some communities also offer street workout and calisthenics exercise programs for beginners. This will tell you how many pull ups, pushups, and other movements that you need to perform every day to achieve your particular goals.
Everybody in these forums are often supportive and can contribute to your training routine. While you read through the threads on the forum or community where you made an account, you can often find similar threads on the side or bottom region oft he platform.
This allows you to find other threads that also gives you access to community assistance that helps you lose fat and build muscle without weightlifting.
The Best Calisthenics Communities To Join
When you look up communities related to calisthenics, you will find quite a large selection of options out there. This can make things feel overwhelming, as you do not know which of these communities can give you the stuff you are looking for.
Sure, you can decide to make accounts on every forum and community you find, but this can be a tedious task.
You still have to filter through the content related to body weight workouts and calisthenics, and determine if the people that are active on the platform can be helpful.
We did some research, diving through these various calisthenics communities that currently exist on the internet.
The main factor is to help you find communities that are sure to help with your training, whether you want to lose weight or build muscle mass. We present our findings of the top platforms where you should consider signing up to find inspiration, training videos, community help, and more.
Reddit’s Bodyweight Fitness Community
The first community that we are going to take a look at is on Reddit. This is a social media platform that has gained a lot of popularity over the years. It is divided into subreddings and there are thousands of different topics that you can explore – including calisthenics.
Diversity is an important point when it comes to the Bodyweight Fitness Community on Reddit. There are more than three million members that belong to this particular Reddit group.
An estimated 800 to 900 people visit this group every day, which means there will always be someone who can provide you with assistance in your time of need.
When you first sign up to this group, you can visit both the FAQ and Wiki sections. Both of these sections offers a wide variety of useful information.
If you are new to calisthenics, then we urge you to visit the Wiki section of the subreddit. There are beginner-friendly training programs that you can utilize to get started with your workouts.
These workouts does not require weights, as they use your body for resistance to build muscles.
It’s a great community for people who want to be part of a very active group. One thing to note, however, is the fact that there have been cases where some users provide answers that are not considered helpful or friendly.
Calisthenics Unity
Calisthenics Unity is a community that has a commitment to create a positive environment for people who want to skip the standard weight lifting gym workouts and rather use a body weight exercise program.
You are welcomed at Calisthenics Unity even if you belong to an existing group already. There is a dedicated member options as well, which can get your videos featured on the site’s YouTube page.
One thing to note is that Calisthenics Unity is not for a complete beginner. In order to join this particular community, you have to submit a short four minute video that shows you performing certain exercises within a time limit.
Requirements To Fullfill
Here is an overview of the exercises you need to perform on the video:
- 5x muscle ups
- 10x dips
- 12x diamond push ups
- 5x pistol squats with each leg
- 5x wide pullups (Hold the bar in between the pullups)
- 5x regular pullups (Do not let go of the bar)
- 8 second tucked planche
- 10 second L-sit (hold)
The forum is not very active and the community’s Facebook page also lacks recent activity. This means people are not as active every week anymore. Still, there are a couple of free streams and video content that you can take advantage of.
FitnessFAQs
FitnessFAQs is a type of forum that has grown into a large community over the year. Daniel Vadnal, which is a renowned calisthenics expert.
He founded FitnessFAQs in 2010 and the community still continues to grow today. The community function at FitnessFAQ does require access to a VIP subscription, but there are other features that you can enjoy without having to pay anything.
Whether you want to learn how to do a one arm push up, understand how kettlebells work, or your focus is in achieving the body of athletes – there are content here that you can use to have a better understanding of what you need to do.
FitnessFAQs has a Facebook page with a follower count that is closing in on 500,000. There is also a video channel that you can follow and a log that gives you access to all of the posts that have been created by the owner of FitnessFAQs.
StrongFirst
If you want to take up a course and be part of a community simultaneously, then StrongFirst is a good option to consider.
The company was founded by a professional known as Pavel Tsatouline. He was the first to introduce kettlebells to the West. At this time, kettlebells were commonly used in Russia.
A large part of the training and course options that StrongFirst offers are related to calisthenics with kettlebells. Everybody who joins this community gains support.
The community is also good for beginners, athletes, and those who want to improve their sports performance through calisthenics.
The movements you learn in this community helps you develop a routine that is highly efficient for your current skill level.
While there is a large focus on using a bars and kettlebells, you can also find some details about exercises you can do in an open space with just your body. You do not require weights to lift with the details that you obtain in this.
Additional Benefits Of StrongFirst
When you join the community of StrongFirst, you will be given access to notifications related to upcoming certifications. This is great for people who can perform pullups, do a squat, and other calisthenics exercises with little effort.
You can consider obtaining a certification in order to create a potential career out of the expertise you accumulate throughout your calisthenics experience.
The content is also diverse. From one arm stands to taking advantage of a bar at the gym and understanding how to work different muscles – the content is educational and the community is helpful.
Even if you want to lift weights at the gym and use calisthenics, you can still rely on the content offered by this particular website. There are more than 130,000 followers on the StrongFirst Facebook Page, and the community is very active too.
Are There Any Worthy Calisthenics YouTubers To Follow?
Let’s face it – YouTube is a go-to platform for most of us. When we want a visual representation of a problem that we need to solve, we do not head over to Google, but rather open up the app directly. Easy access and a variety of content options are only some of the features that makes the platform so popular.
The great thing here is the fact that there are many calisthenics content that you can follow to help with your training. This can be a great addition to the forum and community options that you decide to join.
In the list below, we take a look at some of the best calisthenics channels that you should follow:
- Chris Heria (4.37 million subscribers)
- CalisthenicMovement (4.05 million subscribers)
- Hybrid Calisthenics (3.2 million subscribers)
- Frank Medrano (1.33 million subscribers)
Finding More Channels To Follow
These are certainly not all of the YouTubers with great channels, but it gives you a log of top ones that you can consider following. Some of these channels will also tell you how to use equipment like bars in the gym or weights in order to add more resistance to your workouts.
Others may rather focus on achieving something specific in just a week and to pull you through the beginning phases of building strength.
Thus, you’ll work on specific exercises in order to hit these goals. Once you hit your goals, they will usually link to other tutorials or exercises you can do in your personal space.
What Are The Best Calisthenics Programs
Once you join a calisthenics community, you might also want to take a closer look at a couple of the program options that are available.
You may feel curious about the different options that are available in the world. Thanks to the internet, you can be anywhere in the world when you sign up to these programs. Start following a program bit by bit to help you build your strength and improve your health and fitness.
There are several calisthenics programs available, but they do not all cater toward the same audience. This is why you have to keep your own goals in mind when you want to join one of these programs.
What To Consider When Joining A Program
When you look for a program that can help with your training, then keep the following factors in mind:
- Consider the authors behind the program and the authority they have in the calisthenics market. Keep in mind the experience that the author has, as this tells you how much help they would be with the training they offer. Consider the goals of the training, such as to build strength, improve posture, grow muscles, or to gain a lean physique.
- Take a closer look at reviews associated with each of these programs. The reviews from previous subscribers can give you a better idea about how well structured and helpful the training is.
- Look at the platforms where you can gain access to the training that forms part of the calisthenics program. Having access to the content on your phone and computer is convenient.
- Pricing is also something that you should keep in mind when you assess the different programs that are available.
- Make sure you consider the equipment you require, such as access to a gym. If you do not want to pay for a gym membership, look at options that uses your own personal space instead.
What Are The Best Online Programs
Some of the best platforms out there include Cali Move Complete Calisthenics, VAHVA Fitness Warrior 20XX Method, and the Cali Move Body Transformation.
You’ll start by filling out an online form. You can specify your goals, such as to build strength or to improve overall health. The code of these platforms can then use the information to create personalized posts and content that is appropriate for your goals.
Some of these platforms incorporate social like factors, such as a series of posts from other members. These people will often show off their time at the gym. When you hit the gym with calisthenics, you skip the weightlifting routine and rather opt for the bars.
These posts usually provide tips and tricks that other members developed. You can look through these posts to see methods that allows you to build your strength faster, for example.
Apart from programs, finding the right site to perform your muscle training exercises is important. A calisthenics park is a great choice, but there are also gym options that focuses primarily on these training routines.
Conclusion
If you are struggling to achieve your goals with a calisthenics workout, then joining a forum or community is a good option. You can easily post details about your calisthenics workout, goals, and ask questions.
The comments section of the post will then allow you to find people who are progressing well with calisthenics and follow their advice. These support groups are great for beginners too. They can help you understand how to build muscle and what a street workout looks like.
Start with the YouTube channels, Subreddits, and other community options that we shared in this post to get some tips and tricks. The posts on these platforms will help you build strength and achieve your goals.
References
Dr. Ahmed Zayed holds a bachelor’s degree in medicine from Alexandria university and is a practicing plastic surgeon. He’s our expert on all things nutrition, medicine, rehabilitation, and flexibility. Dr.Ahmed has been a medical content writer for more than 11 years and his work reached top publications such as the HuffingtonPost