One of the biggest benefits of calisthenics is that you can do it everywhere with minimalistic equipment in some cases you don’t even need any tools at all to get a workout done however if you want to get serious with calisthenics you will definitely benefit from the following tools.
1.CHAIRS
The first one is not even a real workout tool chairs are really good if you don’t have any kind of equipment and still want to make your workouts as comprehensive as possible the biggest pro of the chairs is that you can do exercises that are impossible on the ground you can do dips knee and leg raises step ups exercises to target your back and biceps as well as calisthenics skills please always make sure that your chairs are stable enough and that you are sticking to a safe execution another good tool you can find at home are tables similar to the chairs you got many different exercises that are impossible to do on the ground. In our home workout program we follow the same approach all exercises can be done with your furniture or no equipment at all if you want to know more about the program just head over to kellymove.com
PUSH-UP HANDLES
The next tools are push up handles and parallettes push-up handles are great if you’re looking for a handy piece of equipment that easily fits in a backpack they are also pretty useful if you are suffering from wrist problems to minimize wrist pressure simply use them in any exercise that you would normally do with your hands flat on the floor another benefit is that you can get a bit deeper than on the ground and with that increase the range of motion for many push-focused exercises there are even push-up handles that allow you to rotate your hands during the movement which can be great if you suffer from shoulder pain in fixed positions.
PARALLETTES
Parallettes on the other hand are often a bit longer and higher the additional height can be quite helpful to perform l-sit variations full room handstand push-ups and any kind of transfers between a supporting and an overhead position the downside is that they are not that handy compared to push-up handles and that it’s a bit harder to kick yourself up into a handstand the additional height could also scare you a bit in the beginning but this should get better over time for some exercises it can still be good to have a partner that spots you until you get used to the parallettes when it comes to the height we suggest anything between 25 and 35 centimeters this height is not too high or too low we also prefer parallettes with wooden handles but this is more of a personal preference of course you will find the push-up handles the parallettes and all other tools from the video on our website just click on equip and check our offers high parallettes are the next tool these are very similar to regular parallettes but also offer a few more benefits the biggest pro is that you can do more exercises on them due to the additional height you can do dips different row variations leg raises pull up holes and even front lever training the downside is that they need way more space than the lower parallettes and that all kinds of handstand kick ups press-ups and transfers are way more challenging even more than on regular parallettes so always practice these exercises on lower parallettes first and make sure that you are able to exit the handstand safely every single time otherwise you might learn it the hard way when it comes to the height we suggest anything that allows you to extend your arms at the bottom of rows without touching the ground usually this is between 70 and 80 centimeters.
PULL-UP BARS
next on our list are door frame pull up bars while high parallettes allow you to do some pull focused exercises the pull-up bar actually allows you to do real pull-ups as well as hanging leg raises skim the cat and other exercises that you can do in a hanging position also make sure you get a solid pull-up ball that you can attach safely at least if you don’t want this to happen we suggest door frame pull up bars like this one they are safer than most telescope bars and you can also set them up at max height
RINGS
The next tool are rings rings are the best tool for the upper body period no other piece of equipment offers the same usability in combination with utility rings are great because they allow your joints to move freely and don’t force them into certain positions exercises that are way better on rings than on bars or uneven pull-ups archer pull-ups [Music] archer push-ups and false grip muscle ups to name just a few there are also some bodyweight exercises that can only be done properly on rings like chest flies ring roll outs 360 pulls iron cross variations and many others rings are also very handy and cheap just put them into your backpack and train outside you can fix them on beams trees and any other stable object you can find out there the only downside is that the additional stability component makes supporting exercises way harder on rings so if you are a beginner we recommend learning all basic exercises on rigid bars or on the ground first if you want to get a pair of rings we suggest wooden ones with a thickness between 2.8 and 3.2 centimeters also look for numbered straps and a stable buckle
RESISTANCE BANDS
Next we got resistance bands when it comes to calisthenics you can use bends to make exercises easier like when training for skills or you can use them to make exercises harder like when doing regular push-ups the most important thing about bands is the effect on the natural strength curve for that we take a look at bend assisted pull ups and dips when it comes to dips it matches the natural strength curve it supports yourself in the lowest position which is the hardest part of the dip more than at the top when it comes to pull-ups it’s the opposite so the band supports yourself way more in the lowest position which is the easiest part of the pull-up than at the top this is not optimal but should be no problem if you include other beginner-friendly pull-up exercises into your workout as well good options are negative and feet-assisted pull-ups one last thing you need to know is about the strength of the band a thinner band offers less a thicker band more resistance depending on the band the resistance is somewhere between 5 and 60 kilograms in any band you have a range of resistance because the more you stretch it the higher the resistance.
WEIGHT VESTS AND BELTS
The last tool on our list are weight vests and weight belts yeah adding additional weight cannot be called pure calisthenics anymore but this is no reason to neglect it of course weights are not essential because you can modify nearly all calisthenics exercises in other ways for example if pull-ups rows and push-ups are too easy try the archer version some people still prefer additional weight because it allows you to do the basic form of the movement with a higher intensity weight vests and belts are both good but for some exercises it’s way better to use a vest such as any form of push-ups and leg exercises the belt on the other hand offers a better way to modify the weight easily while weight vests are usually limited to a certain weight depending on the type it can be a bit more laborious to add or remove some of it we recommend vests with comfortable shoulder pads this keeps the edges of the straps from causing excess friction in addition the fit of the vest is important to consider a good vest fits close to your body while still allowing you to move freely for belts make sure you’re getting one with a high quality chain and carabiners if you have no belts or a vest you can also use a backpack filled with books or water bottles
alright guys these were the most important tools for calisthenics if you are short on money we suggest getting rings because they are cheap and offer the most bang for the buck if you are an absolute beginner you could also stick to high parallettes in combination with the door frame pull up bar only make sure you are able to do pull as well as push exercises of course we also included options for all of these tools in our calisthenics workout programs no matter if you want to train on rings do weighted calisthenics or train with no equipment at all we got you covered just head over to calimove.com and pick the right program for your needs
