Military Calisthenics: Why And How

Military Calisthenics: Why And How

By Adriel Yapana CPT

In the military calisthenics is the standard form of physical training. The military does not use weight training because this only builds muscle mass without increasing cardiovascular fitness and stamina. They use calisthenics, also known as muscular strength and endurance training.

Endurance is the ability to go on for a long time with some demanding activity. So for example running a marathon requires endurance, but sprinting does not. Clearly for a soldier endurance is much more important than the ability to lift a heavy object one time.

Endurance can be very important in civilian life too. Many men neglect this aspect of fitness training in favor of body building. In fact, even for a body builder, endurance should be developed alongside muscle mass, because it will reduce the risk of heart attacks and other serious problems being caused by the intense stress of body building exercises. Calisthenic exercises are a great way to do this.

Military-style calisthenic exercises do not require a gym or any expensive equipment. You build your strength and endurance by doing this training at home.

The most popular exercises for strength and endurance are push ups, sit ups and pull ups.

Push Ups

Most people know how to do a regular push up. Starting from lying face down with the hands a few inches out from the shoulders, you push the whole body up keeping the back flat until arms are straight and you are supported by hands and toes only, then lower. This type of push up works the chest, shoulders and triceps about equally.

To vary the push up, you can change the position of the hands. Starting with them wider from the shoulders will work the chest muscles harder. Starting with them in under the shoulders will work the triceps and shoulder muscles harder.

Sit Ups

Basic sit up: start lying on your back with the knees bent at a 90 degree angle, and hands locked together under the head. Raise the upper body up into a sitting position, keeping the neck straight. Then go back down. Both raising and lowering the upper body must be done slowly and steadily, with no jerking movements.

The full military version is a double sit up, where the body is raised, then lowered only to the point where the bottom of the shoulder blades touch the ground, then raised again to sitting before going all the way back down.

For an easier version you can hook your feet under a solid object or only raise the body a small way off the ground at first.

Pull Ups

Pull ups are considered the most difficult of the exercises but anybody who is not very overweight can learn to do them by starting out easy.

A full pull up involves gripping a bar above head height with both hands, pulling the body up until the chin is over the bar height, then gently lowering down.

If you cannot do this but have reasonable arm strength, try a negative pull up. Here you stand on something or have a partner lift you so that you start with your chin above the bar, and just lower the body down. Hang from the bar for a count of five before dropping to the ground.

If this is still too difficult, try assisted pull ups using a bar that is only 3-4 feet from the ground. Begin by gripping the bar while sitting under it. Pull up until the chest meets the bar. The feet remain on the ground all of the time to support the body, but try to pull with the arms rather than pushing up with the legs.

These three are the most important strength building exercises. However, you will also find bends, lunges, rowing movements, body twists and leg lifts included in a full military calisthenics program.

Thanks for reading.

Adriel Yapana