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Natural form of exercise- Calisthenics

By Yash Wadke in Health & Wellness
Updated 08:34 IST Oct 16, 2018

Views » 720 | 4 min read

The goal- to enjoy a fit life has always been a tempting one all round the world. The race for this has opened up boundaries of this field to a large extent. Now a days, people use different exercises, weights and equipments, supplements and nutrition sometimes medical and surgical treatments. But if you pay a careful attention we may notice that the natural forms of exercises are fading away.

Those who look upon fitness as a way to live a better life and not just to stuff yourself with muscles would agree that fitness is not about having a bulky body rather its about having a body so structured that it can carry self weight with much ease. Here comes the picture of calisthenics. 

Some people look upon it as a form of combined muscle training whereas others consider it as a form of art and aesthetics. I would refer it as a tool to get privilege of living fit and healthy life. Sometimes I do feel its closely related to yoga because most of the exercises in calisthenics involve slow movement, pumping a continuous stream of blood to affected muscles and maintaining a perfect body balance. Yoga is an Indian form of exercise which have spread widely over the world because of benefits it offers like flexibility, efficient respiration, better blood circulation, mental stability, etc. It won't contribute much towards strength and stamina. Weight training offers high level of strength, bulky body but lacks in stamina and flexibility. Parkour is another type of sport in which speed, agility, flexibility and stamina is enhanced. For those who don't know what parkour is- you might have seen in action movies people running through urban cities jumping from a terrace to another, climbing buildings, bypassing walls with ease. Yes now you know what exactly Parkour is. Technically it can be said that its the sport of reaching a location in lowest time by tackling various hurdles in urban areas. The reason behind explaining these three forms of exercises is that I find calisthenics as a combination of these three. I would be able to exactly explain my point by telling you my fitness story in next paragraph.

I believe that exercise is not just going to gym or on track in fact our daily routine is also a kind of exercise because we do put strain on muscles and burn fats though intensity might be low. But practically I started exercising (i.e joined gym) at the age of 17. That time it was like work with weights and earn muscles. I went through all those situations most have to face. I learned a lot from experience. I worked hard in gym, sometimes twice a day. I learned self motivation is the key. I was 72kg when I joined gym and turned 65kg within 2 years. But that wasn't very easy the reason behind, I never followed diet plans and supplements. I always thought, gaining a physique by compromising on what we like to eat was just like choosing one amongst the option. I wanted both. I had gained some good amount of muscles by the time. The problems started at this stage. Getting more muscles once you have decreased your fat level is a burdensome job. I tried a lot but no results. This is the stage of disappointment and it becomes very challenging to keep yourself motivated. I had started thinking that there was no other way than supplements. I started supplements even though my mind was against it. Anyways it helped me going beyond that steady stage. I had always been an admirer of physique without any artificial stuff but pure efforts. I abolished supplements after couple of months and came back to stage one. Till then I had achieved a good control over my mind and body as a result self motivation was no more an issue. Physically I was on stage one but mentally I was at stage 2. I was working, working and just working; despite all that I was not getting expected results. But these long months taught me that weights have kept me away from endurance, agility and flexibility. I learned adding reps was required instead of weights. And this worked very well in pushing me ahead of that steady stage. This habit took me more towards endurance and I discovered Calisthenics. 

The reason why calisthenics attracted me more was it is just packed with all that we need for a complete healthy life while having minimal disadvantages to our body. It draws flexibility, focus (mental stability), body balance from yoga muscle strength (of exact amount required by our body) from weight training and speed, agility, stamina from parkour. Its a package combining everything you need.

Lastly, one of the most important advantage is that it makes your joints strong and efficient to handle body weight impacting in all possible directions. Most common joint problems at old age can be prevented if you start these exercises in your youthful days.

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