The peculiarity of the workout training program is the use of exclusively your own weight.
To perform the exercises, you can use a regular crossbar. Therefore, this is an excellent option for economical activities that do not require the purchase of expensive equipment or a gym membership.
Preparation
In order to successfully complete a workout training program for beginners, you need to follow basic recommendations that will help you avoid injuries and sprains.
In addition, it is advisable to decide in advance on the location of the classes, this will allow the nervous system to prepare in advance for performing grueling exercises.
It is advisable to purchase protective gloves, since with constant contact with iron, the skin can be damaged, leaving calluses that will prevent you from continuing to exercise.
You can increase the impact of your training if you find a partner.
In addition to the motivation that each of you will receive, your friend will be able to point out mistakes in performing the exercises.
In addition, joint training is more difficult to miss due to laziness or other frivolous reasons, since the person subconsciously bears responsibility for his friend.
Before you start, you need to choose a working training program, otherwise your consciousness will not be able to focus and the effect will be minimal.
As Steve Jobs said, “Without a strong root, a tree cannot grow big and beautiful,” so do athletes, without defining goals, training will not have a good effect.
How did it all start?
If we consider workout as a set of exercises, then it has always been included in the basic level of training for athletes of any status. You can recall the norms of physical fitness in the USSR, where the required minimums for pull-ups and push-ups on uneven bars were indicated for each age and category.
But if we consider workout as a separate discipline, then it can be called a relatively young area of fitness, which completely excludes any work with iron. Street workout arose on the basis of calisthenics - a new direction in fitness in which only rough movements are used for development:
- push ups;
- pull-ups;
- squats;
- working with the press;
- run.
Interesting fact: today street workout is a large complex of different exercises that are more related to gymnastics than to calisthenics. But the workout elements of CrossFit took all the best from calisthenics, and not from the gymnastic component of the workout.
The spread of calisthenics has become widespread with the development of the Internet. The peak of popularity of workout (in particular, street workout) is due to the fact that at the beginning of the 2000s, not all segments of the population had access to gyms, and sports grounds (especially in the CIS countries) are available in almost every yard.
Interesting fact: the original work without special equipment was at first a forced necessity, which then grew into a separate philosophy based on opposition to bodybuilding and powerlifting.
With the development of workout as a separate direction, separate subspecies began to appear. This:
- Street Workout. It incorporated not only elements of calisthenics, but also various gymnastic exercises.
- Ghetto Workout. It is also called old school Workout, or classic Workout. It retains the principles of calisthenics and implies the development of exclusively strength and speed-strength indicators without the use of special weights.
In the future, we will mainly consider ghetto workout, since it has a more extensive theoretical and practical basis and appeared earlier, therefore, it has the right to be called classic.
Warm-up
In order to avoid injury from exercise, you need to pay enough attention to warming up and warming up your muscles.
Usually, a person who wants to do workout has never lifted anything heavier than a shopping bag in his life. And then after going to the store, almost everyone was tired.
And if you suddenly load cold and flabby muscles with the weight of your own body, the effect can be sad.
The closest analogy to muscles is rubber. If you take two identical sections, heat one to a temperature of 36.6 degrees, and the other, for example, to 30, the first one will stretch better and last better. The second one may simply break at the most inopportune moment.
This suggests that warming up can protect muscles from strains and injuries, and in addition, it can increase the impact of exercise.
A proper warm-up includes two stages: warming up and stretching.
First you need to start moving, this can be various swings and rotations. After this, it is advisable to run or squat a little, which will allow the heart to start working faster and raise body temperature.
When you feel warmth in the muscles and a lack of stiffness, you need to start stretching. Movements should be slow. It is advisable to stretch each large group separately.
How to start workout without even knowing how to do pull-ups
You should start working out with regular training, which will later turn into extreme strength training. If you don't know how to do pull-ups, then you need to find some parallel bars. Try this workout exercise for beginners:
- grab the pipe;
- move your legs as far as possible into a reverse bench press;
- Use your hands to pull your chest toward the bar without using your legs or lower back.
Read more about low bar pull-ups →
When you learn how to do pull-ups on a low bar at least once, you should move on to neutral pull-ups.
Recommendations
In order not to injure yourself when performing a weight training program, it is advisable to take into account your own capabilities.
To do this, you should not start doing complex exercises if you are a beginner. Many of them require the athlete to have certain skills and a degree of training.
You need to listen to your own body. A good indicator would be if the muscles ache slightly after exercise. But this pain should have a good, pleasant character.
If it is aching and pinpoint, and continues for a long period, there is a possibility that you have been injured, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
In order to determine their own capabilities, a beginner can do maximum approaches on various equipment. This amount will be the desired amount to fulfill.
In addition, you need to pay more attention to the technique of execution rather than the number of repetitions. If done incorrectly, the effectiveness of the training will be much lower, and the muscle groups will not be tensed as they should be.
You can combine a visit to street gyms with a workout training program at home.
In fact, at home everyone has a set of equipment necessary for classes, this is a floor and books. You can do push-ups and do a lot of exercises on them, but the outdoor bar allows you to better work your back muscles.
Types of workout
In a rough sense, street workout can be any workout on horizontal bars or uneven bars. And this is how he was at the beginning of his inception. However, at the initiative of the active pushers of this movement, it began to develop, turning into spectacular sets.
Workout, in turn, is usually divided into 3 similar, but different directions:
- power extreme;
- gymnastics;
- Jimbar.
Power extreme
Extreme strength is a form of physical activity familiar to everyone, where an athlete works to build muscle mass or develop physical strength. The list of typical exercises includes standard pull-ups with different grips and parallel bars. In some cases, the floor press can also be used, but this is rare. The fact is that our body adapts to the necessary exercises or load, therefore, if we want to achieve success on the horizontal bar, we need to master it.
However, workout is not just exercise, it is a constant development and initiative that goes beyond the usual limits of understanding. If, in principle, no one can be surprised by a two-handed exercise, then the flag, swallow, planche or hang, even despite their old age, still take the breath away from passersby and even experienced athletes. The athlete must be well prepared before attempting any elements. Approximate working repetition numbers should reach 15 times. In some cases it can be lower, or even higher. It all depends on your goal.
As mentioned earlier: the engine of this movement is initiative. Active athletes began to come up with a huge number of different new exercises where they needed to drag their body onto the horizontal bar: captain's exit, officer's exit and various other exits with wonderful names.
Gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics is one of the most traumatic activities on the horizontal bar. However, it has a great feature - you do not need to have particularly strong physical training. In its usual understanding, gymnastics is various acrobatic rotations around the crossbar. Mostly it's the sun. This type is less wide-format, but even here they managed to come up with quite a lot of different variations of this element: crescent, reverse, sitting, standing. However, to practice gymnastics, an athlete must have additional sports equipment - straps. These are special straps that secure your hands to the bar. These “helpers” will save you from a bad fall if your hands start to slip. But they can become your trap, when it’s easier to just fall than to twist your joints. First of all, you need to take care of your joints by thoroughly warming up before training. Plus, this kind of workout gymnastics is not suitable for practicing at home.
Jimbar
The next and most interesting branch comes out - jimbar. This subspecies originated in Colombia, but later gained great interest throughout the world. This is a specific symbiosis of extreme strength training and street gymnastics. All elements in this style are unique. The athlete’s goal is to reach a certain point on the horizontal bar in an extremely uncomfortable position. Roughly speaking, you should be spinning around the bar like a snake, pulling yourself through sheer physical strength rather than momentum.
Jimbar requires very strong physical fitness, but also great flexibility. You literally have to hang by one arm and use your back muscles to lift your body horizontally, rotating 180 degrees. Popular elements include: nivelada, yoyo, demon's exit, crabs. From the names themselves, it is already remarkable that the Colombian discipline has undergone a process of globalization.
However, there are many elements that are difficult to categorize into one genre. This is an indicator that the discipline is developing very rapidly.
Workout is not just a sport. On the contrary, it is not considered an official sports discipline. These are associations of people. Basically, everyone learns from each other, observes, and then repeats. Such organizations then travel to various competitions that are actively held around the world.
Sample lessons
Below is an average workout program for a week, which can be modified depending on your goals and physical capabilities.
- Monday:
- Pull-ups on the horizontal bar 4 sets to the maximum.
- Push-ups on parallel bars.
- Press leg raises.
- Close grip pull-ups.
- Wide grip pull-up.
Wednesday:
- Push-ups 4 sets to the maximum.
- Press.
- Close grip push-ups.
- Reverse crunches.
Friday:
- Squats 4 sets max.
- Lunges.
- Jumping with knees raised to chest.
- Calf raises.
- Shuttles.
This type of training is ideal for a workout program for girls and beginners.
Workout: training program
The workout program in a workout should be based on gradual increases. I recommend using the wave in repetitions:
- first 50% of maximum repetitions;
- then 75%;
- then again 50%;
- You can end up with an endurance fight, trying to overcome your previous record.
You can postpone 100% for the 5th approach. Leading exercises to the element can be performed in a regular workout program, but to work different muscle groups. Such workouts exhaust the body quite a lot, so you shouldn’t do the complex every day. However, this is also situational. You can perform 4 approaches without a final push on your endurance, then this will be acceptable for daily development and even good. But with exhaustion and wear and tear, you can’t go too far. In any case, the workout program is like this:
- or 1 to 1, that is, every other day;
- or 3 to 1, where 3 are working days.
Technique
Execution technique should be one of the main criteria for training.
To avoid unnecessary casualties, it is advisable not to make sudden movements or jerks, especially if not enough attention has been paid to warming up and stretching.
Movements should be smooth, the active phase should be slower than the negative phase, which should be explosive, but not too much, in nature.
The body should be straight, shoulders laid back. When performing slowly, you need to make sure that the technique is performed correctly; when it is broken, you can take a break.
You shouldn’t work your muscles to capacity, this will bring less benefit.
When performing push-ups on the uneven bars, your chin should be pressed to your chest.
Depending on the goal being pursued, the elbows can be spread out to the sides or brought towards the body. The first option will allow you to pay more attention to the pectoral muscle groups, and the second to the triceps of the arms.
In order to develop the correct technique, you can not chase repetitions, but complete a 100-day workout program with an emphasis on smoothness and clarity of movements.
After this, you will be more comfortable performing the exercises, and your muscles, accustomed to the correct load, will become stronger and stronger.
The history of workout as a sports discipline
There is a theory that this sport originated from black Americans of low social status. Such people did not have the funds for physical development in gyms, so they were forced to train wherever they could. This is how street workout was born. Considering the Western influence on our culture, it is not difficult to assume that various Internet resources and video hosting sites began to be filled with the results of dark-skinned men. One of the most popular representatives of this discipline abroad is Hannibal King. This is a legendary person, known to everyone who has ever tried to be interested in this movement. It was he who had a huge influence on the development of the sports subculture. His videos began to appear somewhere back in 2008. They showed incredibly complex sets of exercises, which are still, like, a test of strength.
But we should not forget that sports are developing not only in America, but throughout the world. For example, the same USSR had a culture of physical development. To maintain a healthy nation, sports grounds were built. They were used by schoolchildren or those simply interested in doing conditional workout. One of the key figures in the CIS was Denis Minin from Ukraine. His active participation in this sport began somewhere back in 2010. About 7 years ago, a video of his training was released on YouTube, which gave great motivation to different people. Now he actively travels to different cities and gives master classes or holds competitions. He can be considered a full-fledged leader of the movement.
In 2012, a group of workout artists won the Ukrainian show “Ukraine’s Got Talent”, which greatly attracted attention to this subculture. In Russia, one of the most significant personalities can be called Mikhail Baratov. This guy not only participated and held competitions, but also made educational videos on various elements. One of the athlete’s favorite subspecies was the jimbar.
Complication
Workout training programs for advanced people include a large number of static load exercises. They are aimed at giving strength and endurance to muscles.
These are exercises such as:
- Hanging on the horizontal bar with bent arms.
- Plank.
- Lifting and holding legs.
- Half squat.
- Hanging on parallel bars with arms bent 90 degrees.
When performing static exercises, the athlete mainly works the tendons. This makes them stronger, allowing you to make quick movements with ease.
Workout elements
In workout, not only the exercises, but also the elements are of great importance. Elements are static or dynamic actions that are spectacular. This is what athletes are ready to demonstrate during performances. One element may be repeated one or more times during a performance program. Workout includes gymnastic and strength elements.
To perform most of the elements, good physical preparation is required. First, we will look at some elements of workout and a brief description of basic exercises suitable for doing at home, and only then workouts that will gradually lead you to mastery in their implementation.
Static elements
These are the elements that are associated with holding the body in a certain position. Most of them require good muscular endurance to perform. Let's look at some of the static elements.
Planche
The planche (or horizon) is an element that requires good physical fitness, patience and training. It is especially important to have developed upper body muscles.
an exercise that requires considerable physical preparation
Planche can be performed on parallel bars or on the floor
This exercise is a handstand in which the back, pelvis and legs are parallel to the floor. In this case, the legs can be either spread apart (an easier version of the exercise) or brought together (a more complex version).
Beginners should start with preliminary exercises before performing the horizon, such as:
- classic push-ups;
- push-ups on parallel bars with palms located at waist level;
- “frog” hand balance;
- pull-ups.
Video: Instructions for performing planche at home
Frog handstand
One of the basic static workout exercises, which also serves as a preparatory element for the planche. Suitable for doing at home.
preparatory exercise for planche, as well as an independent element of workout
Technique for performing the “frog”:
- We lower ourselves into a squat position, place our palms on the floor at a distance slightly wider than our shoulders, rest our elbows and triceps on the inner thighs.
- From this position, we continue to bend our elbows to a right angle and move our body weight forward, trying to lift our legs off the floor. To make it easier to maintain balance, your gaze should be directed straight ahead, that is, forward and slightly down. If you can’t lift both legs yet, lift them off the floor one at a time, trying to gradually find balance.
Front hang
The front hang is an element that involves hanging on a horizontal bar or parallel bars so that the body is parallel to the floor. This element is difficult for a beginner and requires additional preparation.
Requires good physical fitness to perform
Lead-up exercises for the front hang:
- Wide grip pull-up. To start learning how to do a front hang, you need to be able to do at least 10 pull-ups.
- Corner on the horizontal bar. An exercise that involves hanging on a horizontal bar with your legs raised at right angles to your body. You can start the exercise by raising your legs bent at the knees, and then gradually moving on to the classic exercise with straight legs.
hanging on a horizontal bar with legs bent at right angles
- Push-ups on the horizontal bar or parallel bars.
Once you learn how to do all these exercises, you can begin to master the front hang. At first, you can try to do it with your legs tucked towards your stomach. Then you can try to stretch one leg forward, strictly monitoring the execution technique, then return it back and stretch the second. When you begin to manage to keep your body parallel to the ground, you can begin to work with stretching both legs.
Video: How to learn to do a front hang (basic)
Handstand
Handstand is a static element of workout, which consists of standing vertically on your hands perpendicular to the floor. To perform it, you need well-developed muscles of the upper body, as well as developed balance skills.
muscles that work during the execution of the element
The most common way to learn a handstand is to first perform it on a wall bar. The sequence of actions in this case will be as follows:
- We stand with our backs to the wall bars and bend forward. We rest our palms, located slightly wider than our shoulders, on the floor.
- Leaning on your hands, step up the stairs with your feet.
- We tear off one or the other leg from the wall, little by little trying to tear both legs off it and gain balance.
Video: Handstand with Swedish wall from scratch
Dynamic elements of workout
Dynamic elements of workout are gymnastic elements that involve movement.
Spichag
Spichag is a dynamic element of workout, which consists of performing a handstand with raising and spreading the legs. This element is also not made from scratch and requires preparation.
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Preparatory exercises for the element will be:
- Plank. Develops the abdominal and core muscles, which will allow you to step into a match and help you maintain balance.
- Hanging leg raises will also work your abdominal muscles.
- Push-ups and pull-ups will work the shoulder girdle.
- The handstand must be performed perfectly and without support. You can also try doing push-ups from a handstand.
- Also, to perform a match you need a good stretch. It is worth doing exercises to stretch your legs (primarily exercises leading up to the cross splits) and stretch your back (a fold works well).
Technique for performing the match element:
- You can start entering the match while standing against the wall. Place your palms at a distance of 15–20 cm from the wall, fingers pointing towards it. As you exhale, push your feet off the floor, trying to reach the wall with your pelvis and fix the position. At the first stage, the legs can be bent at the knees.
- Then try to climb up to the wall with your legs straight and, as far as possible, spread them to the sides. It is for this purpose that we do exercises in preparation that lead to cross splits.
- If you already manage to balance against a wall, try going into a match with your legs spread apart without a wall and landing alternately on one or the other leg.
- Continue to catch the balance at the top point, and after a while you will have a full-fledged match.
Video: Instructions for preparing and performing the match at home
Recovery
Although workout is a more gentle type of training for the body, you still need to allow the body and tissues to recover.
You need to normalize your diet, otherwise grueling exercise will not be of much use. It is advisable to increase the amount of foods containing protein and collagen in your diet.
The main load falls on the athlete's tendons and joints, so it is advisable to consume various jellies and jellied meats daily.
In addition, for healthy recovery, the male and female body needs a sufficient amount of vitamin C. If it is deficient, there will be lethargy and lack of motivation. This problem is especially relevant in the cold season.
Advantages of this training method
If we consider different areas of fitness, the workout strength training program has its advantages over classical fitness:
- Low risk of injury. Associated with a natural range of motion and the absence of weights.
- Complex training. Unlike powerlifting and bodybuilding, Workout trains not only strength, but also endurance, as well as aerobic performance of the body.
- Availability. Workout is available to everyone regardless of their level of training.
- The ability to work your entire body in one workout.
- Low risk of overtraining.
- Helps to get a better stretch.
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Additional inventory
You can improve the quality of workmanship and maintain proper technique with the help of various additional devices.
If the grip strength leaves much to be desired, and the trainee wants to better work the back and biceps, then after the arms get tired, you can use belts.
The more weight used in training, the more the muscles will work.
Therefore, you can include exercises with additional weight in your classes, which can be organized by placing a water bottle in your backpack.
To provide more resistance to the muscles when running, you can use rubber. It can be found at a pharmacy or any sports store.
It is enough to tie one end to the body and the other to the support. This will allow you to train accelerations with greater intensity.
Pros and cons of workout classes
One of the advantages of street workout is accessibility. Sports grounds are everywhere: old and new. You can buy or make a horizontal bar in your yard, in your apartment, or even in the forest. It is a mistake to think that it is impossible to work out some muscle groups on the horizontal bar or to do it as effectively as in the gym.
- Firstly, the horizontal bar is the best way to pump up your back and achieve a V-shaped body.
- Secondly, workout develops mass and strength, perfectly helps to develop triceps, back, biceps, shoulders, chest, forearms, grip and even abs.
And this is all effective and almost immediately.
Another big advantage is in the forearms and grip. This makes your arms stronger, which will help in everyday physical challenges. One of the main benefits of exercising your body is that it helps in your daily life. This helps to withstand the load throughout the day.
One of the disadvantages is that it is less situational. In the gym, if your biceps are tight, you can change the exercise and focus on the triceps or another muscle. There are a lot of exercises on the horizontal bar, but they are all similar and complex. If one thing fails, then it is very difficult to work. This makes the training scheme problematic to construct.
There are still difficulties for beginners , as dumbbells can be selected, but body weight cannot be changed. This is also the reason for slow development. In the gym, the weight constantly and gradually changes, but on the bar you only have to manipulate the quantity and approaches.
The acrobatic part can do a lot of harm to your body.
Disadvantages of this training method
Workout is a rather highly specialized discipline, which, although accessible to everyone, does not provide serious development in the future.
You can expect:
- Progression limit.
- Narrow specialization.
- Lack of harmonious development of the body. Due to the lack of exercises for some key muscle groups, all Workout athletes have a “characteristic” figure, with lagging rhomboid muscles and an undeveloped upper chest. In addition, the muscles of the forearms and shoulders are much more developed than the large muscles of the body. Such an imbalance is not only an aesthetic problem, but also a medical problem. In particular, due to improper development of the abdominal muscles in relation to the lower back muscles, the body is constantly in a tense state, which increases the risk of lordotic curvature of the spine.
- Inability to exercise in winter. If your body is not warmed up enough in winter, it is easy to get a sprain.