Focus: Calisthenics | All You Need to Know

If you’re looking to build ultimate body strength, boost your performance and learn some pretty cool skills then Focus: Calisthenics is the program for you.

But first things first, what is calisthenics?
Regarded by the Spartans of ancient Greece as a way of creating ‘beautiful strength’, calisthenics relies on body weighted exercises to help strengthen your muscles, helping you to become stronger and more powerful. Based on strength and conditioning, combined with elements of gymnastics and acrobatics, calisthenics uses minimal equipment like bars to help you define, tone and boost your athleticism.

What is Focus: Calisthenics?
In her brand new program Saman has taken elements of calisthenics  to create a unique hybrid training program, helping you master your movement and enhance your strength as you learn some pretty cool skills. Throughout the 8 week program Saman will specifically help you work towards improving, enhancing and mastering 3 key movements, your push-up, pull-up and pistol squat.

Whether it’s working towards your first rep or boosting the amount of reps you can do, over the next 8 weeks, Saman will give you all the tools you need to elevate your training, boost your confidence and take your body and mind to a new level of greatness. 

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What will the program look like?
Saman has created an 8 week program with 5 weekly workouts that will take around 35-45 minutes

Throughout this program you’ll be learning, focusing and improving on 3 key movements: your push-up, pull-up and pistol squat. Mastering these movements will elevate not only your performance, but they will also become transferable skills in all your other programs, giving you the strength and stability to support yourself through daily life.

To help you achieve this, each workout will have a dedicated focus. For example:

Workout 1: Push Day | push-up focused
Workout 2: Pull Day | pull-up focused

Workout 3: Lower Day | pistol squat focused

Workout 4: Functional Full Body Day | a strength and conditioning day

Workout 5: Core | core focused

How will I track my progress?
In order to track your progression throughout the 8 weeks, Saman has implemented tests for each movement which will take place during weeks 1,4 and 8. Week 1 is all about understanding where you are at now. That's why on days 1, 2 and 3 you’ll have a chance to test how many reps you can do until failure. Week 4 the movements will scale up, and then week 8 you’ll have a chance to test and compare just how far you’ve come!

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I can’t do one of the movements, can I still do the program?

Yes! Focus: Calisthenics has been designed to help you improve your performance and bodyweight skills. So whether that is to get your first push-up or pull-up or to do more reps, this program will help to elevate your strength, skills and performance. However, that being said, you will need to have a base level of strength to be able to complete this program, so we recommend you have at least an intermediate level of fitness and a base level of strength. For those of you still at the start of your journey, don’t worry, continue on smashing the program you’re on and we’ll have something for you very soon!

Conversely if you do have any of the movements, then this is the perfect challenge to help you beat your rep score as you become stronger and more efficient. Remember during any of the benchmark challenges you can always sub the exercise for an easier or harder alternative to ensure you are applying the right amount of challenge. For example if you can do push-ups and the benchmark test calls for push-ups on your knees, just swap them round. 

What level are you expected to have? 

Saman has created this program at an intermediate level only. This is because (as we stated above), you need to have a base level of strength to complete this program. That being said you can be advanced and enjoy this program too as it is for those who want to improve certain skills, master their movement and increase their rep range. 

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Good mobility and core strength are also important and this will help you to perform and progress quicker. If you’re looking to improve these areas, why not check out some of our challenges such as Danyele’s Recover and Recharge or Melissa’s Ultimate Abs? You can find these and much more on the Workouts Tab in the app.

Finally, why did Saman choose the 3 key exercises?
A push-up and pull-up are great markers of true strength and can be translated into any program, whether that be your Power Gym, or your Strong Lower Body. The pistol squat is a fantastic lower body unilateral strength exercise that requires a lot of mobility. This exercise is also a great way to enhance your true strength and will pave the way for stronger squats, deadlifts and explosive movement. The bottom line
If you’re looking for a program that promises to help you improve your performance, increase your strength and learn some pretty epic skills then it’s time to get excited and join Focus: Calisthenics.