Calisthenics bar workout Essay

A German educator known as Friedrich Ludwig Jahn began a program of outdoor physical exercise for students (Britannica, 2015). He invited the parallel bars and the horizontal bars which became standard equipment for gymnastics (Britannica, 2015). People today incorporate the use of parallel bars and horizontal bars in calisthenics.

The horizontal bar, commonly known as a pullup bar, is one of the major pieces of equipment used in calisthenics today along with the parallel bar. When using the horizontal bar some of the common exercises to do are pullups, chinups, dips, and leg raises. All of these exercises have more than one variation and style when doing them. For example, one could do a standard pullup, but there is also a different variation called a wide grip pullup to help work out different muscles. Furthermore, a beginner who could not do a pullup could start out with an assisted pullup to build strength. An assisted pullup would be the decrease in amount of weight inadvertently decreasing the amount resistance with the help of someone or something making it easier to perform the exercise. One of the most common exercises a person could do on a parallel bar is called a dip, for this exercise there are also different variations and styles a beginner and more advanced person could do. For example, a beginner who cannot do a dip or is having a hard time doing one could start off with an assisted dip until he or she builds up their muscle strength. The more advanced person who can do a dip can start going into a harder variation to help improve their strength. This can be accomplished by proceeding with a regular dip, but when the dip is completed and the body has advanced to the start position the person then holds their body up for a couple of seconds before starting another dip.

When doing calisthenics there are different ways to work out. A full body work out, and a split body work out. A full body work out works out the whole body overall, compared to a split body workout that focuses on a certain type of muscle group you want to work out for that exercise. One of the different types of training and its benefit is high intensity interval training. High intensity interval training or HIIT describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of lessintense activity or even complete rest (Andersen, 2013, para. 1). Some of the benefits of HIIT are that it is efficient. A 2011 study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, just 2 weeks of highintensity intervals improves your aerobic capacity as much as 6 to 8 week of endurance training (Andersen, 2013, p. 1). HIIT helps to burn more fat and calories (Andersen, 2013, p. 2). Provides a healthier heart, helps to lose weight not muscle, increased metabolism, and HIIT can be done just about anywhere (Andersen, 2013, p. 3, 57).