Calisthenics is a form of bodyweight training that involves a wide range of exercises that can be performed using your own body weight and gravity as resistance. These exercises are designed to improve strength, flexibility, and overall fitness. One of the most appealing aspects of calisthenics is the variety of skills that can be learned and mastered. On this page, we will take a look at some of the most popular skills in calisthenics and explain them one by one.
1. Muscle-up:
A muscle-up is a compound exercise that combines a pull-up with a dip. The movement starts with a pull-up, then the athlete pushes their body over the bar with the help of a kipping motion and finally completes the movement with a dip. It is considered one of the first challenging exercises in calisthenics, requiring a high level of upper body strength, coordination, and technique.
Learning a muscle-up:
The best way to learn the muscle-up is by starting with adding resistance bands. These pull-up bands help you with learning the muscle-up motion and decreasing the physical stress of going from a pull-up to a dip position on the bar.
At ON THAT BAR provides high-quality and stylish resistance bands.
Check out our resistance bands set and start learning your first skill!
2. Handstand:
A handstand is a calisthenics skill that requires a significant amount of upper-body strength, balance, and core control. The athlete supports their entire body weight on their hands while upside down. This skill can be performed against a wall for support or freestanding. It is a great exercise for developing shoulder and upper body strength, as well as core stability.
We soon will offer parallettes bars which suit perfectly to learn the handstand on a bar!
Check them out!
3. Human Flag:
The human flag is a highly advanced calisthenics skill that requires a great deal of upper-body strength and core control. The athlete holds their body in a horizontal position, parallel to the ground while holding onto a vertical pole or bar. This skill targets the entire upper body and the core and is considered one of the most impressive exercises in calisthenics.
4. Planche:
A planche is a skill that requires a great deal of upper body strength and core control. The athlete holds their body in a horizontal position, parallel to the ground while supporting themselves with their hands. This skill targets the entire upper body, as well as the core, and is considered one of the most challenging calisthenics exercises calisthenics.
5. Front Lever:
The front lever is a skill that requires a great deal of upper body strength, core control, and posterior chain activation. The athlete hangs from a bar and pulls their body up to a horizontal position parallel to the ground, with their chest facing up. This skill targets the entire upper body and the core and is one of the most challenging exercises in calisthenics.
Learning the front lever/back lever:
To learn a skill like the front lever or back lever a lot of patience is needed. These skills are very difficult to learn and require enormous body control.
getting control over the body and learning which muscles to activate in different positions is time-consuming.
Gymnastic rings are a great tool to get body control instead of a fixed bar because they can move independently. Your body will learn faster how to stabilize, which muscles to contract, and get body control.
We offer one of the best gymnastic rings on the market. Check them out today and start getting your body under control :)
6. Back Lever:
The back lever is a skill that requires a great deal of upper body strength, core control, and posterior chain activation. The athlete hangs from a bar and pulls their body up to a horizontal position parallel to the ground, with their chest facing down.
This skill targets the entire upper body and the core and is one of the most challenging exercises in calisthenics.
In conclusion, these skills are considered some of the most challenging exercises in calisthenics, requiring a high level of upper-body strength, coordination, technique, and core control. It is important to note that mastering these skills requires consistent and progressive training, patience, and proper technique. It's always important to start with the basics and gradually progress to more advanced skills, never to rush the process and risk injury. To learn these calisthenics skills, it’s best to implement different skill sets into your workout program. At ON THAT BAR, we provide FREE calisthenics training programs to reach your goals.