My Workout - Calisthenics Routine

I see all the advertisements and commercials for different types of equipment that will help you build the muscle tone you are looking for and have that "Greek God" body. The reality is that you don't need any of that at. Having lean muscle helps burn calories, so the goal is to tone up the muscles and simple calisthenics are easy to do.

I looked back to the Physical Training or PT we did while I was in the Army and decided to put together a routine that you can do with little or no equipment. The only thing specific I use is a small medicine ball, other than that its just your body weight that you are lifting.

I begin this workout with some aerobic warm up, jumping jacks work well for this. Below is the complete routine done in no specific order.

• Sit-ups - for abs
• Push-ups - for upper body
• Abs side bridges - for the oblique abs
• Bent elbow planks - for abs
• Supermans - for the lower back
• Seated Russian twists - for the oblique abs
• Lunges - for the legs

I use the medicine ball for the seated Russian twists but you can use a 5 or 10 pound dumbbell. The bent elbow planks and the ab side bridges are timed exercises, you hold the pose for 20 to 30 seconds, wait one minute, then hold the pose again. All the other exercises are done with sets of repetitions. Just do as many repetitions that you can, rest for 1 minute, then try to repeat the same number of reps or time for the second set.

You will burn calories doing these exercises but the lean muscle you build will help continue to burn the fat for long after you complete the routine. This routine can be done daily and should take about 30 minutes to get through.

For some examples and more exercises click on Sports Fitness Advisor or military.com/military-fitness/workouts/avoid-gym-by-using-calisthenics.