😱😱 There are so many types of workout programs out there that it can be challenging to decide which exercise program is the best for you. It is essential to choose a challenging program but also one that you will be able to stick with. Along with this, it should suit your goals and lifestyle.
This blog post will discuss the pros and cons of some of the most popular workout programs. We will also help you determine which program is the best for you!
✨Factors Affecting the Training Program You’re Going to Choose
When choosing the program for you, you should consider these factors first. You shouldn’t jump right into the program without knowing it and aligning it with your goals and needs.
🎯Goals
The first factor you need to remember is the type of goal you want to achieve. This is the most crucial because this will relate to all the other factors later.
There are many different goals, such as the ones below, that we’ll get into deeper later:
- Muscle-building
- Strength-building
- Fat loss
- Skill acquisition
- Mobility & flexibility
- Endurance development
- Sport-specific training
- Rehabilitation
- Athelthicsm and Power
🤸Training Approach
After determining the goal you want to achieve, the next one is choosing the training approach to help you get there.
This article will focus on calisthenics, as this approach can be adjusted to fit many different goals.
🏋️♂️Training Structure
The next step is to choose the training structure. First of all, you can opt for a strict training structure or more of a free-flowing intuitive training style.
Strict Structure
The strict structure lets you adjust the variables easily. You can see which one you need to adjust to continue your progression. The path toward the goal is clearer since everything is laid out and organized.
Intuitive Structure
An intuitive training style flows more and lets you enjoy your training more. This is because you have more freedom in exercise selection and the reps you do. Usually, the intuitive training style still has a specific main goal, so the main exercises used are still consistent. But the training volume is more flexible.
Intuitive Structure follows 📍auto-regulation into its training. This means you can easily adjust the program based on your feelings and how you can perform that day.
Combining Both
Of course, you can pick off pieces from both training styles to get a more comprehensive approach. This is what The Movement Athlete app offers. This means that the training program has a clear path and structure while still offering flexibility as it also applies auto-regulation in its programming.
🏃Skill level
And the next factor is the skill level you will start with. Unfortunately, not all individuals can immediately start with planche training, for example. While some coaches claim beginners can immediately start with planche, it’s still always worth starting with a better foundation of strength and skill.
This doesn’t only hold true for planche and calisthenics skills. Other training programs have a requirement, so it’s always crucial to consider the minimum requirement for what you’re getting into.
🔎Accessibility
Some programs require equipment. Some require going to the gym. Some require some fancy equipment or sport-specific tools.
🔎Enjoyment and Satisfaction
In the end, you should do the exercise that you enjoy. Weigh each approach’s pros and cons and see what you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy it, you can try a different approach for your training.
Remember that even if you love the training program and approach, there will be days that it will feel dull. Or maybe there will be certain exercises that you don’t enjoy. You can switch it up if that’s the case, as most movements will have alternatives.
🤸Different Types of Exercises
Now that you’ve been oriented with the factors that might help you
👊Strength Training
One of the most popular types of workout programs is strength training. Strength training can help you build muscle, lose fat, and improve your overall health. There are many different ways to do strength training, but some of the most common methods include lifting weights and using your body weight AKA calisthenics.
Strength training is straightforward. It helps you develop the amount of your body to produce force against resistance which can be either external, like weights, or internal, like your own body weight. The benefits of strength training are many. It helps improve bone density and decreases the risk of injuries. Furthermore, those who engage in strength training tend to have better posture and a lower body fat percentage.
Building strength is crucial for many functional movements. It also helps improve everyday activities, like carrying groceries or playing with your kids. However, strength training can be challenging, and you must use the proper form. Otherwise, you could injure yourself.
Strength can also be used for optimizing your performance for specific movements and challenges, such as strength-based calisthenics movements such as:
- Planche
- Front Lever
- Dragon Flags
- One-arm pull-ups
If you are new to strength training, it is important to start slowly and gradually increase the intensity depending on your skill level.
Read more here: 📍How to Progress in Calisthenics
🙌Aerobic Training
Aerobic training is another popular type of workout program. Aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, is any type of physical activity that increases your heart rate. Some examples of aerobic exercise include walking, running, swimming, and biking.
Aerobic exercise is important because it helps improve your cardiovascular health. It also helps increase the amount of oxygen your body can use. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve mental health, increase lifespan, and decrease the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Aerobic training is a great way to get your heart rate up and improve your overall health. However, it is important to listen to your body. If you are new to aerobic exercise, it is important to start slowly and gradually increase your workout intensity.
Interval Training
Interval training is a type of workout program that alternates between periods of high-intensity and low-intensity exercise. Interval training can be done with any type of aerobic exercise. For example, you could walk for one minute and then run for one minute. Or, you could swim for two minutes and then rest for one minute.
Interval training is a great way to improve cardiovascular health and increase overall fitness. Interval training has improved mental health, increased lifespan, and decreased the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
A popular interval training is called HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training. It’s an effective cardio workout that’s also effective for fat loss in a very short amount of time. Thanks to the high-intensity and minimal “rest” (quoted because you’re still moving) periods, workouts are generally less than 20 minutes.
Check out this effective fat loss cardio 📍HIIT: 20-min HIIT Workout For Fat Loss
🤸Athleticism Training
Athleticism training is a type of workout program that helps you develop the skills and abilities needed to excel in sports. Athleticism training can help you improve your speed, power, agility, coordination, and balance.
Athleticism training is a great way to improve your overall fitness level and increase your sporting performance. Athleticism training has improved mental health, increased lifespan, and decreased the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
🦵Flexibility and Mobility Training
Flexibility and mobility training is a type of workout program that helps you develop the range of motion needed to perform everyday activities. Flexibility and mobility training can help you improve your quality of life, increase your joint stability, and decrease your risk of injury.
Flexibility and mobility training is a great way to improve your overall fitness level and helps you manifest your strength in a wider range. The better your mobility is, the better you can show your strength in different positions.
Improving your mobility and flexibility also unlocks certain skills, such as the press to handstand and the back lever.
These types of training are generally associated with yoga and pilates. However, calisthenics can also be considered a form of flexibility and mobility training.
💥Sport-specific Training
Sport-specific training is a type of workout program that helps you develop the skills and abilities needed to excel in a particular sport. This training can help you improve your speed, power, agility, coordination, and balance.
Sport-specific training is a great way to improve your overall fitness level and increase your sporting performance. The type of sport-specific training you need will depend on the sport you want to excel in. For example, football players will need different types of training than basketball players.
However, all sport-specific training programs should be designed to improve your overall fitness level and decrease your risk of injury.
🤔Which One Is the Best for You?
Now that you know the different types of workout programs available, which one is the best for you? The answer depends on your goals. If you’re looking to improve your overall fitness level, any of the above workouts will be.
🔥Different Types of Calisthenics Training
Now, if you want to try calisthenics, then you have many ways to use the approach.
Bodyweight training is a type of workout program that uses your body weight to provide resistance. This makes it an ideal form of exercise for those who don’t have access to gym equipment or free weights.
And even if we’re only using our body weight, we’re not limited by what we can do with calisthenics training.
💪Muscle-building Training
A common myth is that bodyweight training cannot build muscle. However, this is far from the truth.
YOU CAN BUILD MUSCLE WITH BODY WEIGHT ALONE.
Most people are unable to build muscle with calisthenics because they are not able to maintain the correct level of progressiveness in their bodyweight training. You need to induce progressive overload by using the progressive principles of calisthenics.
In addition, you can also use common muscle-building principles from weightlifting to calisthenics to promote superior hypertrophy gains. If you’re unsure of how to do this, you can read more on this topic in the link below.
Read more:📍How to Build Muscle Mass with Bodyweight Only
🏃Endurance Training
Calisthenics can also be trained to build endurance. Now endurance can be placed in different forms. You can build general aerobic endurance, which is the ability to maintain a lower heart rate while performing low-moderate intensity movements such as walking, running, and other bodyweight cardio exercises for an extended period. This type of endurance can help facilitate fat loss and build cardiovascular endurance.
Or you can build muscle endurance which is similar but while performing general resistance exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups. Muscle endurance is crucial for overall development and functionality because it lets you move against resistance for longer periods.
To train for muscle endurance, use a lower-intensity exercise and aim for 15 to 30 reps per set. A study shows that this is still an effective way to build muscle if you train close to failure. Take note that you won’t gain strength in this manner of training style.
🤯Fat Loss Training
Going back to the first type of endurance training, which trains the cardiovascular aspect, a 2012 study that tackles the effectiveness of fat loss between three exercise protocols (Resistance training vs Aerobic training vs a Combination of both) found that aerobic training is the most effective for fat loss.
But take note that along with this fat loss comes the loss of lean muscle mass. You need to train in some form of resistance training like calisthenics to build still or retain muscle while going through your fat loss journey.
Ultimately, a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular activity is superior for maximizing fat loss potential.
And for fat loss, the best way to achieve this goal is to combine this with a caloric deficit. This means fewer calories than the recommended to maintain your current weight. It’s calories in vs calories out. Without a caloric deficit, you won’t achieve fat or weight loss, no matter how hard you train.
Read here:📍 The Ultimate Guide to Fat Loss
👊Strength Training
Calisthenics build amazing relative strength. Relative strength is the ability to move your body or a certain load about your body weight.
For example, if you can do a one-arm chin-up easily, that’s relative strength. Because you can move your entire body weight using only one arm, which is already impressive on its own. Another example is if you can do a human flag. That’s also relative strength because you can hold your entire body weight using only your hands while being horizontal to the ground, which is already impressive on its own.
But just because calisthenics builds relative strength doesn’t mean it can’t help you increase absolute strength. Absolute strength is the ability to move a specific load period. It doesn’t matter if it’s your body weight or not.
What matters is that you can increase the amount of force you can produce, which can help improve your performance in other physical activities such as running, jumping, other sports, and daily functions.
Hybrid (Calisthenics + Weights)
However, if you’re advanced enough, you can also train with a hybrid training plan. This type of training combines calisthenics and weighted training.
This type of training aims to help you build absolute strength, which can then convert to relative strength.
This means that the focus will be on building muscle and increasing your one-rep max, which can also help you build specific strength for your desired calisthenics strength-based skills. For example, weighted pull-ups can massively help you with one-arm pull-ups.
With one of the most powerful and comprehensive calisthenics apps, The Movement Athlete app, you can easily incorporate your favorite weight-lifting exercises into your calisthenics regimen.
While we love calisthenics, we don’t hate weights at all. In fact, we love all forms of movement!
Read more here: 📍How to Use Weighted Calisthenics for Ultimate Strength Gains
🦵Mobility and Flexibility Training
Bodyweight training can be adjusted to suit flexibility goals. Whether you want to work on your flexibility for a sport or specific discipline, such as dancing, or just to be able to move freely, calisthenics can help you develop this aspect.
In addition, one significant advantage of calisthenics is its innate nature to improve mobility.
Mobility is the ability to move a joint or group of joints through its full range of motion. Since calisthenics exercises focus on the full range, you also get to have absolute control of your movements, which are excellent for moving freely and pain-free.
And with the help of The Movement Athlete app, you can easily find a mobility routine that is tailored to your specific needs.
🤜Rehabilitative Training
When our bodies aren’t moving how they are supposed to (i.e., when sitting in front of your computer for hours), our brain sends signals of pain.
Pain and aches due to lack of movement, weaknesses, tightness, and overuse can be cured by movement. Even though it seems counterintuitive, the movement helps facilitate recovery, y which studies support.
Calisthenics’ natural movements and progressions can help alleviate pain and improve movement, which is essential for daily function. This is why calisthenics is an excellent approach for treating injuries, as you can read more in the article below:
Read more: How to Treat Injuries with Calisthenics
Moreover, since it’s a form of resistance training, it also helps build muscle which can further support your joints.
🤸Skills Training
What makes calisthenics stand out in terms of fun and having a great sense of fulfillment is skill training. There are various calisthenics skills that you can train for, which are not only visually impressive but will also make you feel like a badass.
Skills training helps with coordination, proprioception, and balance, which are essential for daily function and other sports. However, the main goal of skill training is achieving specific skills. These skills vary in specificity.
Proprioception is the ability to sense the position of your body in space, which is key for movement. This is covered in all skills as every skill requires full body control, whether it’s a mobility-based skill such as a back bridge or strength-based skill such as a planche, or a technical-based skill such as a one-arm handstand.
While calisthenics skills seem like the end goal, the process of learning a skill is already an amazing accomplishment since it can also help you develop strength, build muscle, and stabilize your joints.
🧐Which Workout Program is Best For You?
Picking the right workout routine is important to reach your fitness goals, whether they are related to weight loss, strength, or flexibility.
Each type of workout has its own set of benefits which can help you achieve your desired results.
The best workout program for you is the one that fits your goals, schedule, and lifestyle.
But regardless of your goals and type of workout, we highly recommend developing your calisthenics fundamentals first!
This will help avoid injuries, set you up for success, and make sure you have a solid base to progress.
Learn other calisthenics programs here: The Best Calisthenics Programs on the Internet
📌Takeaway
There are many types of workout programs out there, and deciding which is the best for you can be difficult. However, by considering your goals, fitness level, and schedule, you should be able to narrow down your options and find a program that is perfect for you!
If you need help figuring out which program is best for you, then opt for a PERSONALISED and ADAPTIVE calisthenics training program that can cover everything you need.
To start you calisthenics journey, test your skills so The Movement Athlete app can provide a program that’s tailored to your skills.
