How Long Should A Calisthenics Workout Be
Calisthenics gets you out of breath quickly! As a result, beginners often become concerned they train for a too short duration in each session. But, rest assured, this is how it’s designed to be.
Keep your calisthenic workout short and intense. Between 35-50 minutes per session, excluding warm-ups and cool-downs, is best practice. Where you fit on this time scale depends on your workout split, fitness goals, and how intense you exercise.
We conducted a study that involved recording the average claimed time of how long a calisthenics workout should be. After calculating the mean, 43.3 minutes was the standard across the board. It’s also interesting to know that the longest time was 90 minutes, and the shortest was only 8 minutes!
We expected these results since most of our training sessions are similar – be calisthenics or hybrid training. 40 minutes gives us enough time to incorporate a range of compound exercises that work all major muscle groups. So, we have plenty of opportunities for growth and calorie burn, but don’t risk overexhaustion.
But, it’s worth mentioning, this isn’t set in stone. We work until we finish our sets and reps – not to a time limit. The point being, everyone trains calisthenics to a different standard. So while it’s good to know an average, over time, you’ll develop your own sense of how long is optimal for you.
Don’t get obsessed with the time. For example, you may accomplish as much as we do in 30 minutes. This doesn’t mean you need to train for an extra ten minutes. Remember, it all depends on your workout split, fitness goals, and (most importantly) how intense you exercise.
Why Are Calisthenic Workouts So Short
Each calisthenics session targets 73%-92% of your maximum heart rate. Maintaining this level for a prolonged amount of time could lead to fainting, heart attacks, or dizziness. This is because your heart can’t keep up with the high demand of oxygen that the body requires, forcing you to stop and feeling burned out after 35-50 minutes of exercise.
Calisthenic sessions are shorter than other forms of exercise because athletes tend to have more training sessions per week – calisthenics tend to be trained short and often, compared to long and few.
For example, calisthenics athletes will train between 3-4 times a week compared to weight trainers who will exercise in a range of 2-3 times per week. The reduced number of rest days means total time spent exercising (per week) is similar between calisthenics and other forms of exercise, despite each session being shorter.
Calisthenic athletes prefer building training programs like this for two reasons:
- Calisthenics is an anaerobic exercise, meaning it can only be trained in short burst periods.
- Recovery time is fast in calisthenics; therefore, it can be exercised frequently.
Another reason calisthenic workouts are so short is the majority of movements are compound exercises. For example, push-ups require deltoids, abdominals, triceps, and pectorals. As a result, more energy is needed to fuel each group engaged in the exercise, and this brings fatigue a lot quicker, shortening your calisthenic workout.
Dangers Of Exercising Calisthenics For Too Long
Overexercising can hinder your progress to the point where fitness reversibility; a negative return on exercise will occur because your muscle fibers deteriorate through significant muscle rips and tears. This can permanently damage your muscles, putting a stop to being able to complete specific movements or exercises comfortably.
Examples of fitness reversibility include:
Wear And Tear On Connective Tissues And joints:
Calisthenics can be harsh on your joints, which if trained correctly, benefits your joints by keeping them active. However, muscle fatigue reduces the amount of support, so your body compensates by putting more pressure on your joints and connective tissue. The longer you overtrain, the greater the strain on your joints and connective tissue. This could lead to sprains, arthritis, or internal bleeding.
Extreme Exhaustion:
Calisthenics uses movements where your feet won’t be on the floor; a lack of control can become dangerous. Let’s use a muscle-up as an example. The more fatigued you become, the more careless you become with your body weight. This could lead to numerous accidents, such as kicking other athletes or falling over someone.
Infecting Calluses
Calisthenics uses lots of bar work (e.g. pull-ups, tricep dips, or dead-hanging), so pressure between fingers and the bar surface is significant. Many individuals can withstand the calluses that grow, however; overexercising can irritate pre-existing calluses and infect them. Click here to learn more.
Can I Train Calisthenics All Day
Numerous athletes train in calisthenics for pure enjoyment rather than thinking of it as a workout. However, is it sensible to train calisthenics all day? Yes, you can train calisthenics all day as long as the proper precautions are taken throughout the day and you keep sensible.
The precautions you must take include:
Having Frequent Rest Periods:
If you want to train throughout the day, you must split your active time with rests in between. These rest periods could include snacking, relaxing, or chatting with a friend – as long as you aren’t concentrating on exercising. This ensures your body flushes out lactic acid, keeps hydrated, and reduces muscle tension.
Use The Correct Equipment And Gear:
This involves clothing, footwear, chalk, and soft landing mats. This helps avoid any rubbing or joint pain. For example, the correct footwear will help reduce shock on your knees when swinging off bars, or chalk helps prevent callus growth on your fingers.
Fluctuate The Intensity:
You should be training at full power during a short calisthenics session. It’s unreasonable to train at full intensity for any calisthenic session longer than one hour; instead, you should split your training program into chunks of high, low, and medium intensities. Doing this prevents quitting because of exhaustion.
How To Time A Calisthenics Workout
Calisthenic workouts are short, so it is imperative to use time effectively. The best practice is planning your activities before and then sticking to a structure. Below are some tips for planning your time in a calisthenics workout:
Warming Up And Cooling Down:
These will elasticize your muscles, increasing flexibility and reducing the chances of injury. I recommend setting seven minutes to warm up and cool down outside your original session. This will bring a gradual rise/fall in heart rate and body temperature.
Schedule Time For Short Breaks:
Set aside 25% of your total workout time allocated to rest. For example, a 40-minute workout should have 10 minutes allocated to rest. The way you use these 10 minutes is dependent on your training style. This rest should consist of hydrating, deep breathing, and relaxation of muscles which all help during muscle recovery.
Plan Time Spent On Each Muscle Group:
This enables you to target and focus on the muscles you want to improve. Some athletes prefer spreading their time on numerous muscle groups, whereas other athletes prefer dedicating each session to a specific group. There is no right/wrong way of doing this; however, because calisthenics uses compound exercises, I recommend training different muscle groups each session.
For example, spending 25% of your time training your upper body, 25% training your core, 25% of your time training legs, and using the last 25% as rest time will divide your time evenly across your whole body and guarantees a solid workout program.
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