Does Calisthenics Get You Ripped
Calisthenic guys and girls are ripped because bodyweight exercises require a significant amount of energy, which burns lots of calories. As a result, your body fat is reduced, making your muscles look more defined. The increase in muscle definition is responsible for the lean and chiseled look associated with calisthenics.
Due to the highly intense workouts, athletes always run calorie deceit. As a result, your body must use its fat stores to burn energy. This is why athletes can eat junk food but still stay so lean because they require so much energy during their exercise that their body burns the calories straight away.
Are Calisthenic Athletes Considered Skinny?
Google defines skinny as (of a person or part of their body) unattractively or unusually thin. Therefore by definition, no, calisthenic guys and girls are not skinny because their bodies grow muscles (from training). However, compared to other athletes, such as weight training, they are seen as relatively smaller.
There are 3 biological evidence on why they aren’t “skinny”:
- A skinny individual has few muscle fibers retrospectively of their fat fibers, which often results in a flat body structure with minimal muscle definition. On the other hand, a lean individual will have vast muscle fibers compared to those of fat ones, which creates a body structure consisting of high muscle definition on a smaller structure.
- Muscle is denser than fat. Thus, if you were to put skinny and ripped individuals on scales, the ripped calisthenic athlete would weigh significantly more than the skinny individual, despite looking like they have the same body structure (assuming they aren’t topless). This is because the ripped athlete has more mass per inch than the skinny athlete.
- Skinny individuals burn few calories throughout the day, so they won’t need to replenish their fat stores and won’t get hungry throughout the day. On the other hand, a ripped individual will spend their day training which burns calories (for energy). Therefore, your body is constantly hungry , so calorie intake is a lot higher from eating all day.
Do Calisthenic Athletes Have To Be Ripped?
Being ripped brings no tangible benefit to performance in fitness. It is a byproduct of the hard work you put in. A ripped athlete doesn’t mean a better athlete. Instead, it suggests a higher strength-to-weight ratio which helps to become a better athlete.
Athletes must maintain a low body weight to perform well in calisthenics, and this is because a lower weight makes performing exercises both more graceful and fluid. The nature of calisthenics relies on mobility and flexibility, which negatively correlate with body size.
Calisthenic athletes focus on their strength-to-weight ratio. This is the strength of your muscle fibers divided by your mass (weight). In calisthenics, you want to maintain a high strength-to-weight ratio, the ability to lift heavy while keeping a light weight. This makes performing skills, tricks and exercises effortless.
Over time, your brain will develop muscle memory of how to deal with calories. If you train in calisthenics long enough, your brain will habitually burn lots of calories in a short period. This rapid calorie burn will start to occur even when you aren’t training. This is called a fast metabolism and is developed through years of calisthenic training.
How Long To Get Ripped From Calisthenics?
You are likely to see an increased muscle definition between 6-8 weeks. There are numerous factors that will impact this which include:
Intensity And Frequency:
With daily training at a high intensity, you’re likely to see improved results from week four onwards. . On the other hand, if you have other commitments and prefer a slower approach by exercising weekly at a moderate intensity, the results will become visual at circa week ten.
Previous Calisthenics Experience:
If you used to be shredded, you will find it significantly easier to get ripped and return to the body. This is due to the muscle memory prior to putting weight on. However, if you’ve always had low muscle definition, it could take a little longer to get ripped. This is because your muscles, brain, and digestive system need to learn how to operate with less fat and more muscle fibers for the first time.
Composition Of Fat And Muscle Cells
If two individuals weigh 60kg but each has different muscle/fat compositions, let’s say one person has 30% fat and 70% muscle, and the other has 12% fat and 88% muscle. The individual with the lower fat percentage (in this case, 12%) will become ripped faster because there are fewer body fat fibers to burn, assuming they train at the same intensity.
Exercise Technique:
You can make minor but effective variations to your style to get ripped faster. For example, squeezing engaged muscles, holding a position longer than expected, or going slower to increase muscle tension time makes each exercise require more energy. As a result, more fat is burnt, getting you ripped faster.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Being Lean
If you stick with calisthenics you’ll become ripped. While it’s deemed desirable, a few downsides aren’t considered before starting calisthenics. However, let’s start with the benefits.
- You can eat whatever you want without putting on weight due to the fast metabolism developed via calisthenics.
- Your flexibility and mobility improve through the movement of each exercise. This makes day-to-day tasks effortless as well as reducing the chance of injury.
- Creating a solid six-pack and making a desirable, healthy-looking body.
- Clothes, especially shirts, fit great and can make you look dashing.
The major disadvantages include:
- Due to the low body fat, you tend to feel the cold more sharply as your body uses fat as insulation.
- Because of the fast metabolism, you’re constantly hungry and always need food. This can get expensive and become an inconvenience.
- It’s hard to show others your body without being topless. This is because you won’t be able to see muscle definition if you are, for example, wearing a baggie hoodie
Summary
In conclusion, you will become ripped if you consistently train in calisthenics, but it takes time and effort. You can’t compare yourself to others as there are a variety of different factors which influence how fast your body can shed off its fat.
However, it isn’t a necessity of calisthenics; instead, it is a consequence of calisthenics. While the majority see this as a benefit, a few athletes don’t like the idea of being ripped, so they will choose other training methods.
Lastly, being ‘ripped’ is intangible, so you will never recognize the exact moment you achieve it. Rather, you will have a slow, steady progression over a period where you develop more muscle and lose fat.
This may lead you to think there isn’t progress; however, when you compare your current body to when you first began calisthenics, you’ll recognize the change. Remember, it’s a long journey and won’t come overnight!
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