Calisthenics Vs Weight Training
Calisthenics Vs Weight Training
Your training will bring you results, be it calisthenics or weight training. Let’s think about the bigger picture of why we train the where, the when, the how, and the frequency. Anyone can tell you that one form of training is with your body, and that the other is with some form of weight. The lens to process this article is understanding exercise and activities, which is a form of physiological hygiene.
Physiological hygiene, thing like brushing your teeth, getting out of bed, and doing day-to-day tasks. These are things we do because they’re part of life now. If you implement that concept towards your fitness practice, then you’ll reap some amazing rewards and start making a difference in your health. Your hygiene at best needs to be non-negotiable; it’s something you do to maintain or improve health.
The calisthenics advantage
Calisthenics has 4 distinct advantages over weight lifting.
1: Accessibility
2: Useful
3: Sustainable
4: Easily integrated
The accessibility factor is that calisthenics is everywhere you go! Psychologically speaking, this puts habit forming at your disposal anytime, anywhere. Compared to the gym, most folks have to drive 10- 30 minutes, not to mention the barriers of waiting in line for the equipment if you can find it as some gyms are disorganized. Other things to consider could be missing dinner with family, hanging with friends, or getting to a project that needs time, carving out hard blocks of time, etc, etc.
Daily calisthenics is useful in the fact that it breeds consistency more easily than traditional gym life. It’s also sustainable; you're less likely to hurt yourself doing the basics. Such an easy integration into life can make one very confident because you win every day, body weight training allows more frequency, meaning most common goals such as body composition, managing weight, improving heart health, or flexibility, or even posture are all available at a moment's notice.
The long-lasting effects
One thing that remains clear is that stands above weight training in a class of its own is relative strength. If you've never heard of it, don’t worry, we've got you covered. Relative strength is one’s strength-to-body weight ratio. Gaining this type of strength is more on the long-haul type of spectrum. Once you gain it’s hard to lose to it, especially because calisthenics ingrains itself seamlessly into one’s nervous system, frequency, and its nature of being high-rep endurance-based, maintaining 20 push-ups is easier than maintaining 20 reps of 225 lbs for the bench press.
Relative strength, you get it, you keep it!
Aesthetics
Calisthenics alone will most likely not build you a bodybuilder physique. However, other qualities such as general health, strength-to-body weight ratio, mobility, and more are yours. Calisthenics usually provides people with what is known as the Greek statue look, or the fighter type of build. You will look very lean, trimmed, and detailed. Another caveat is that calisthenics rewards those who lower their body fat percentage as those who are leaner tend to have an easier time with calisthenics. But anyone who is carrying more mass shouldn't be disappointed because there is a blessing in size. The person weighing 185 lbs who can do 10 pull-ups and aims to lower weight or body fat percentage will have their pull-up numbers skyrocket than let's say someone who was doing 10 pull-ups at 175 lbs.
To wrap it up, calisthenics can, when done correctly, really be a trainee's best friend. the strength gained in calisthenics can directly impact your weight training, which we can't get from weight training, translating into calisthenics.
The advantage of weights
Templ3 of health weight room
Weights have a way of letting people know how strong they are. It's very easy to identify what’s difficult and what’s not, as the proof is in the number you see on the barbell, the weight plate, the machine, and the kettlebell. Let’s go over the 4 distinct advantages that weights have over calisthenics.
Variability
Measured metrics
A sense of strength
Relability
Variability can offer accessibility. As mentioned above, there are so many forms of weight training, moving objects, and finding resistance. Not to mention the different styles, you have bodybuilding, crossfit, strongman, kettlebell sport, sandbag training, machine training, the list goes on. So with all these various forms, with a little ingenuity, you’ll find yourself being able to train with almost anything.
Measured metrics. There is an old saying, “ what gets measured gets accomplished. “ It goes without saying that if people know what the path entails of they have a better understanding of how to navigate it. Weights are simple in terms of their way of progressing or regressing.
A sense of strength. The primal feeling of picking something up from the ground and throwing it, or pushing a weight, is rooted in our genome. We come into objects all the time that must be moved. Looking at a piece of weight on the floor can be symbolic of our problems with weight. Move that weight and triumph just like you should your problems in life. Although everyone is different, there is an audience out there that finds the Iron Paradise very therapeutic.
In today’s world weights reign supreme as form of strength training due to popularity and its metrics, Calisthenics is still on the rise but has a barrier t entry that could prove to be tougher than weights, there is more of a learning curve when it comes to learning how to use your own bodyweight as a means of fitness.
Nevertheless, fewer choices are always ours to do one or the other, fuse both, or simply run a program to specialize in one but then visit the other to see how it affects you. Likewise, both skills are worth working on.
Enjoy the path,
Coach Semet,
