Use your own body.
It is intense and flexible at the same time. It is fashionable but it is as old as the beginning of civilization. The warriors and athletes of the Greek and Roman societies were prepared through calisthenics. In fact, the term comes from the Greek words "kallos" (beauty) and "sthenos" (strength). The beauty placed in the strength, in the power to do with one's own weight all kinds of exercises. In short, it is an activity that manages to expose the capacity of the body in its magnificence. Any examples? Stay in the same position for a certain time (one of its classics is the abdominal plank) and, in turn, do different types of exercises (with their different degrees of difficulty) from that same pose. At first, some postures may seem simple, but they are not, but require strength and concentration, as well as flexibility and agility. These are some of the benefits that are worked with this sport and that, little by little, are incorporated as a capacity. Anyway, everything starts from mind control, since the movements mostly work the nervous system. In order to adopt the right position, concentration is key.
The truth is that many people have ever done calisthenics without even knowing it. "When boys and girls play in the squares hanging on the bars, they are practicing this discipline," says Pablo Urruty, president of the International Federation of Calisthenics and Street Workout (ICSWF), former president of the Argentine Calisthenics Foundation. He assures that it is a training system that "replicates those movements that we did as boys. It's playing with your own body, like you're 6 years old again." Anything better than training having fun and doing a childhood revival?
In recent years, this technique that today revolutionizes gyms had an interesting boom. The pandemic, with its restrictions, was one of the main reasons why many people began to train at home with what they had at hand, and this discipline has the particularity that it does not require additional loads, the body itself is the main work material. The restrictions due to Covid-19 passed and it continued to grow, especially in younger people, since it is special and distinguishes from other physical activity in that "it gives you control of your body that makes you do incredible things, which you did not know you could achieve," says Urruty. In tune, Yesica Humeres (37), who has been training since 2019, confirms it: "What I liked most about this sport is the happiness you get when you overcome your fears, your limits, when you reach what you saw doing and that you thought you were never going to arrive. It took me six months in my first pull-up and from there I didn't stop."
Although it was something very unknown in the country -says Lucas Griffo, calisthenics coach, physical trainer and specialized in bodybuilding and fitness, teacher at SportClub-, "they approached, in general, the boys who were full with the internet and wanted to learn to do strength tricks, then the female audience began to animate. " For example, Griffo says, girls who did pole dancing and used calisthenics as physical preparation to be able to compete, improve their line, their posture, or circus practitioners who wanted to improve their flexibility. At present, "a more varied audience began, from boys of 11, 15 years to people over 50 who want to train and are bored by the gym; In addition, they like the fact that it is outdoors and, above all, because with this physical preparation they improve their posture and the cardiovascular part, "says the fitness specialist.
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
It is a sport that can be done both at home -it does not require any special equipment-, in a gym and in the squares. Although to begin with, says Pablo Urruty, it is recommended to do it accompanied by a calisthenics professional and advises "to be careful with YouTube autodidacts, because they do not have training in physical education." Now, with basic knowledge you can do the training at home, in addition to the bars that, although they are not unpredictable, are very useful. And for the more experienced, any beam serves to hang and do the most complicated exercises.
But if there is a place where calisthenics exploded, it is in the squares, since this training, as its motto says, makes the world a gym. In these green spaces, street workout became all the rage, which attracts the attention of the youngest because they can do pirouettes and, among other skills, turns, and because, as Urruty explains, it makes them children again. However, "calisthenics and street workout are not the same; The first is a training system in which one's own body weight is used to train the body, the other is a social movement in which the elements that are on public roads are used to do acrobatic exercises (it has five modalities: freetstyle, powerfreestyle, streetlifting, durance, workstyle; each way of practicing it has its special characteristics). In short, calisthenics is the basis for street workouts."
In the city of Buenos Aires there are 291 aerobic posts in its green spaces, which have calisthenics circuits and gymnastics equipment. Some of these are in Recoleta, in the Parque República Oriental del Uruguay; in Belgrano, in the Plazoleta Nodo Libertador; in Palermo, in the Parque Gral. Las Heras, in the Patio Jacarandá, in the Republic of Haiti Square – it is the largest circuit in the city dedicated to the practice of this discipline – and in the Enrique Francini Square. There are also spaces to do this training in matches in the province of Buenos Aires, such as Vicente López, Tres de Febrero, La Matanza, Avellaneda.
THE WORLD IS YOUR GYM
But what specifically is this sport about? It is a physical activity – it was born with the beginning of civilization, with the Romans – based on exercises with one's own body weight. Lucas Griffo tells what are the basic steps to start training: pull ups (or pull-ups), push-ups, squats, static work -such as a plank (cor work)-; Then, intensity is added, since there are different levels.
"For someone who does not have much strength, assisted exercises are done with elastic bands or with the feet resting on the floor to remove load and gain strength more progressively. In this way, physical fitness is achieved, conditioning so that gradually you start working, to educate the body for certain movements, "says Griffo. And he adds: "I need different types of strength, endurance, that the body is prepared and understood to be able to carry out a more difficult position. Everything is little by little and depends on each person."
At the age of 19, Florencia Cabrera (26) began practicing calisthenics "because she assimilates a lot to sports gymnastics and since childhood she dreamed of this sport, but she could not attend classes for a family economic issue. Years later, I found this discipline, willing to achieve everything I proposed; I love strength and figuring out how far my body can go."
The best thing about this resistance training is that it is a physical activity that can be done by anyone, at any age, since, as Pablo Urruty says, it adapts to any physical condition; So, there is no age to finish practicing it. In fact, he recommends starting at any time, "the earlier the easier and better the better, this is transversal to all disciplines. It is advised from 4 years onwards." In addition, something he suggests to those who have young children, "as parents is an axis, an excuse to share with them."
CONTROL YOUR BODY!
By working on technique, relaxation and posture, he has a mixture of concepts from martial arts, yoga and stretching. "Besides, it is a training that works as the basis of many disciplines, such as functional, sports gymnastics, artistic, break dance and even parkour. In fact, it is used as a specific complement to Olympic sports, with one's own body weight being the basis of other preparations. And in turn, the human movement, basically," Urruty emphasizes.
As Yesica Humeres says, she practiced other sports as a girl such as taekwondo, "but I had never been so passionate about calisthenics. The discipline that I was acquiring along with the passion, the frustration, but also that happiness when you achieve it, I had never experienced it. The changes in my body, the control over it and being stronger than other boys, all motivated me to become more and more passionate."
So much so that he was encouraged to go for more: "In 2021 I received an invitation to participate in a streetlifting competition (a branch of calisthenics) in the weighted resistance modality. I was in second place in my first participation and from there I continued to join. Being a sport that is in its infancy, we are still few women, although there are many more training and competing both in streetlifting and in other branches of the sport."
Florencia Cabrera also began to compete: "I have participated in several national championships for five years. And in 2021 I decided to prepare throughout that year to be in Spain in 2022 and be the first female world champion of streetlifting calisthenics to represent Argentina in the Arnold Classic Europe".
For his part, Professor Lucas Griffo, before teaching calisthenics, says that he did martial arts from the age of 5, then -at 14- he began to do gym, went through crossfit and acrobatics: "That allowed me to have the line and consciousness and then based on different stimuli venture into calisthenics at age 30".
Wanting is power, they say. Calisthenics provides the necessary tools, from the physical and the mental, to overcome the limits that each person needs. Nothing more powerful than mastering one's own body. In addition, it is tempting to suspend oneself in the air, effortlessly, as if levitating; It is an invitation to enter this world that makes strength, agility and flexibility a perfect combination to be on the axis.
