Calisthenics
It's early March 2020. There is some strange illness going around coming in from the airports where in other countries it was reportedly worse. I start to feel ill. On the second day, before I went to bed that early morning, I couldn't help but notice a discomfort in my lungs. Something I haven't had since suffering from mild asthma as a kid. When I wake up the next morning, it's all gone. The fatigue, malaise, chest stuff nowhere in sight. I'm completely back to normal.
A week later, the world effectively shuts down making life difficult for everyone.
I was due for a hair cut which is only a 3 to 4 times per year occurrence. But this was banned so my hair became long again. Well, not well past my shoulders like it was for a good chunk of my life, but nearly at my shoulders.
Grocery shopping became really interesting. Store employees would shop for you and bring everything to your car.
I/we had to wear a mask everywhere, something I hadn't done since my days working in a clean room as a microelectronics engineer. Man, I had forgotten what my fresh breath smelled like.
Oh, and gyms shut down. But interestingly enough, liquor stores stayed wide open. Insert facepalm emoji of choice here please.
So, as an avid fitness person I had to become creative. Nothing out of the ordinary for me since I've had to make lemonade from lemons virtually the whole of my adult life. No sweat. What was my solution? Something you may have heard me mention before...calisthenics. Or more specifically, using your own body weight for strength training.
The mid-elementary school (3rd to 5th grade) I attended as a child was nearby. I knew it had a playground complete with jungle gyms. Really, this is all the type of equipment one needs to get a proper body weight workout in.
As it was early March in the northeast, it was still cold. So my cutoff was 35 degrees F. I would dress up. Gloves, knit cap if needed. Heavier socks. Long sleeves. Oh, and my wireless earbuds and music from me phone. Which is a lot for me because I usually do not listen to music while I exercise at all.
Let me tell you though, it was great. Last time I attended that school was when I was 11. Just before middle school and exposed to all the things that humans go through in that setting in America. An interesting time in one's life to say the least. I jammed some music in said earbuds reminiscing the days of my tween years. Recollecting people I had met at that school and what they, we, eventually became in middle and high school. Wondering what they are up to present day. The music listening, in and of itself, was very interesting because I began listening to full albums from late 80's and early 90's bands, and artists, that put out a few songs I liked from back in the day.
It was amazing. Being in the fresh air. Whether, pun intended, it was overcast or the sun was shining. Being among nature, overlooking the nearby hills of my hometown. Among the athletic fields where I used to play soccer and baseball as a kid. It was nice.
So I drudged along, powered through, executed the calisthenics routine I hastily designed for myself to keep my fitness somewhere in the ballpark for the time when gyms would eventually open up again. It was a solid plan with the best possibility for my desired outcome.
As time went on, it became warmer and I needed to cover up less. However, I noticed that my muscles started to atrophy. As in my pants started to have some extra space in the butt and thigh area. My shirts started to fit a little looser in the back area, but to a lesser extent. My chest and shoulders somewhere in between.
Now at this point I will briefly go over my calisthenics routine and what happened when gyms opened back up. For my lower body this was doing a one legged style piston squats on a balance beam. One legged dead lifts on the same balance beam. Walking lunges. Calf raises and reverse calf raises. Pull-ups, body perpendicular and parallel to the ground using a jungle gym. Shrugs using some heavy seesaw thing. Handstands against a wall for time. Then for my arms, tricep raises using a picnic table bench, and bicep curls as best as possible using the seesaw thing again. For chest, push up throws (aka chest throws, or plyometric push-ups) both legs on the ground and elevated on a bench.
The amount of sets and reps were determined in the usual manner to which I've always suggested. The last rep of the last set of each exercise should be just about doable. But just.
And the verdict was that when gyms opened back up and I had the opportunity to touch proper weights again, I lost strength but primarily in my lower body. Perhaps unsurprising to you since I hinted at this from the physique changes I mentioned above. With a mild exception given to the shoulder shrugs and bicep curls, all the upper body calisthenics did a pretty good job of keeping my normal strength levels on par with how they were prior to the shutdowns. However, the lower body stuff I was doing could not match up. Now, at my gym when I squat, dead lift, do lunges, or any other lower body exercise I am lifting on the lighter side compared to most others. Having said that, I currently am doing all those three at an all time personal record. And I was not that far off prior to the shutdowns to where I'm at now. Squatting and for sure dead lifting well over 200 lbs was hard to replicate with my body weight alone. I mean, we're talking 2.3x my body weight at the time. Doing body weight one legged dead lifts and squats is technically going to round out to about 0.75x to 0.8x of my body weight which is considerably less.
Combined with the fact that when stress comes on in droves, I'm the type to lose weight, not gain weight. In fact, I found it so hard to keep my normal pre shutdown weight up, even though I was eating hordes of food, that I just went with it to see how lean I could get. Which was interesting to say the least and I shall discuss in the future. Anyway, all told I lost nearly 20 lbs. My squat lost the most in terms of strength levels and this took a while to get back to normal. As in many many months. My dead lift and lunge prowess bounced back much quicker.
And so has my weight for I've gained back all of it that I lost and then some, particularly since I am much leaner now. So more lean mass which is good.
Overall calisthenics was a great experience for me especially considering the circumstances at the time. Getting out in nature and exercising in the fresh air using unconventional apparatuses was interesting and posed a new challenge. Great to get out of the monotony of the same old same old. However, sometimes the same old same old is just what the doctor ordered for it gets the job done in a way that, in this case, calisthenics cannot.
I am someone who needs to keep my hip and back health, particularly my lower back, up to snuff. A major way I do this is by training my lower body. Squatting and dead lifting the amount of weight I do at the gym keeps this foundation well intact, in place, and strong. It does not leave me overly muscular in these areas. But, it does leave me very well capable of easily performing everyday physical duties without any fanfare.
If anything, I believe a hybrid approach of leaving the majority of calisthenics for the upper body while using a Olympic barbell for lower body exercise would work. Your mileage may vary, but not by much. Anyway, this is just my opinion. What is important is to find out what works for you. Start from my suggestion, and experiment from there. Then share your results below...!
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