A Step-By-Step Outdoor Calisthenics Guide to Get Started With Park Workouts

Outdoor calisthenics are impressive and come with a certain sense of freedom. That said, how can you get started with an outdoor calisthenics program? Where can you find the surfaces, equipment, and tools to rip your body on an outdoor calisthenics workout plan?

Let’s introduce you to everything you need to start an outdoor calisthenics workout plan, including where to find the equipment or resources near you, or how to do it with no equipment. But first, let’s show you how effective calisthenics is for fitness and body composition. 

Can I Do Calisthenics Without a Gym?

Outdoor calisthenics is available in a heartbeat with some tips, and the benefits may include:

• Improved body composition (21)
• Overall body strength increase (21)
• Better posture (21)
• Enhanced mental health and concentration (21)
• Ability to progressively  overload (8)
• Improve cardio health (20)
• Healthier overall body  (20)

But first, let’s look at some facts before showing you the key to mastering outdoor calisthenics. 

Why Are Calisthenics Guys So Ripped?

Let’s look into some research to understand why calisthenics guys are so ripped. One small Italian study with untrained men found that calisthenics workouts improved posture, body composition, and overall body strength, without equipment (21). 

A randomized trial in North Dakota found that men could enhance upper body strength with progressive calisthenic push-ups (8). These men improved their one-repetition maximum and total upper body strength, which indicates that strength progression occurred through this style of exercise.  

Another recent study found that calisthenics could provide similar benefits to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) (20). This study further showed that calisthenics can be as effective at improving cardiometabolic rates as running on a treadmill. 

The way to achieve a ripped body is to use a slower cadence, more reps, and heavier reps (16). This means that calisthenics guys are ripped because they’re lean, strong, and in great overall shape in comparison to most. This gives them the appearance of being sleek, toned, and ripped.

To learn more about calisthenics vs bodybuilding, check out our in-depth article on the topic.

Is Calisthenics Harder Than a Gym?

You can make an argument for either. Calisthenics, similar to weight lifting in the gym,  requires the need for progressive overload to keep building mass and strength. This is possible with calisthenics (8), but it tends to be more difficult in comparison to a gym workout. One could then argue that progressive overload is easier at the gym because you can more easily add weight and repetitions. Therefore, calisthenics appears more difficult because you are using your body weight as the load and not dumbbells or machines.  

If you’re curious about calisthenics for calves, check out our earlier article.

What Is the Difference Between Calisthenics and Parkour?

Calisthenics is a bodyweight exercise to strengthen and tone the body by using your body’s weight as resistance (3). On the other hand, parkour individuals focus on moving and controlling their bodies through a set of obstacles to come out the other side without failure.

Step-By-Step Outdoor Calisthenics Gym Plans

Let’s help you plan your outdoor calisthenics station, workout conditions, and workout sequence as a beginner. Step three replaces step one, if you can find an outdoor calisthenics park near you. Alternatively, invest in outdoor calisthenics equipment or find alternative tools.

Step 1 – Set Up Some Outdoor Calisthenics Equipment 

An outdoor calisthenics frame, dipping station, or pull-up bars can make all the difference in targeting various body parts in a single calisthenics workout. For example, Morgan Sports suggests pull-up bars can build functional strength and bulk the arms, shoulders, and back (12).

Additionally, parallel bars or dip stations can provide gait training and upper body conditioning, even after an injury (17). Meanwhile, pull-up bars can strengthen the upper body while doing leg lifts on the bars can tone and strengthen your core muscles (4). 

Also, push-up bars can help you progress your upper body strength (8). On the other hand, a simple outdoor step that mimics steppers can help with proprioception, which is the ability to better determine where your body is in space as you move (22). 

Meanwhile, a step added to your equipment can target your lower body for a complete workout on your calisthenics outdoor equipment. In addition, you can add a sit-up bench to your outdoor equipment for another core-conditioning calisthenics workout (13). 

Also, add a decline bench to your outdoor calisthenics equipment to target and rip your pecs (18). Go all out with a human flag wall to train yourself toward advanced calisthenics in your backyard equipment. 

The human flag requires core strength, proper technique and functional strength which all come together to create a full-body workout (14). It also builds proprioception and can help you gain full control of your body. In summary, add as many outdoor calisthenics frame additions as feasible to target the whole body. 

Our previous article covers everything you need to know about a 10-minute calisthenics workout without equipment.

Step 2 – Adapt Healthily to Outdoor Calisthenics Workout Conditions

Setting the right outdoor calisthenics workout conditions will set you up for success, whether you’re in tune with the weather or feeding your body the right nutrients. First of all, don’t shy away from bad weather conditions.

A small University of Kentucky study found that exercising in cold weather could help your body burn more calories (9). Dress warm and warm your muscles up before hitting your outdoor calisthenics gym, but embrace the cold to potentially burn more calories.

Don’t let the heat stop you, either. Instead, embrace the heat while staying well hydrated to prevent dehydration. Your body’s ability to dissipate heat is reduced in hot weather, and sweating will lead to more body fluid loss (19). With that in mind, drink plenty of water before, during, and after calisthenics.

Outdoor calisthenics in hot weather can also cause you to lose electrolytes, which are the nutrients that control bodily functions, including calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium (10). Stay hydrated and potentially add these electrolytes to your diet to keep your body hydrated.

You can do outdoor calisthenics during cooler times of the day to prevent electrolyte imbalances and dehydration. Finally, you can replenish electrolytes and fuel your body with the right foods. Eat plenty of bananas, beets, salmon, potatoes, avocados, and mushrooms for potassium (11). 

Also, eat spinach, pumpkin seeds, lima beans, tuna, and brown rice for magnesium or tofu, milk, chicken, scallops, and quinoa for phosphorus. Add clams, cheese, salt, and sunflower seeds for sodium or yogurt, okra, trout, and acorn squash for calcium. 

Additionally, you could potentially drink a low-calorie or low-carb sports drink with electrolytes to replenish them. Finally, eat more lean protein to support your outdoor calisthenics workouts. A meta-analysis found that 0.5 to 3.5 grams of lean protein per kilogram of body weight daily could help you build lean muscle (7).  

Read more: Calisthenics Equipment for Home: Your Ultimate Guide to Building the Perfect Gym

Step 3 – Find an Outdoor Calisthenics Gym Near Me (Optional)

Let’s assume you can’t find equipment or live in an apartment and can’t build an outdoor calisthenics frame in your backyard. In that case, some states have outdoor calisthenics parks near you. You can search for explore all spots for calisthenics parks near you (5).

The calisthenics outdoor spots include locations with equipment already in place, including dipping stations, frames, pull-up bars, parallel bars, pull-up bars, and rope climb stations. You can narrow your search by the equipment you wish to use at the calisthenics spot. 

Alternatively, you can search for show regions and calisthenics parks near you (6). The search brings up a map of outdoor calisthenics parks by region. Surprisingly, Los Angeles alone has over 100 outdoor calisthenics parks (15). So, there’s likely to be one near you. 

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Step 4 – Use an Effective Calisthenics Park Workout (Beginner)

The final step to an outdoor calisthenics workout for beginners is to embrace any space available if you have no equipment or calisthenics parks near you. Take what you learned to design an outdoor calisthenics workout anywhere, including the shady woods on hot days.

For example, find places to do pull-ups with stable surfaces or do some incline push-ups on the roots of a tree to see the benefits (8). Add some cardio for a HIIT session and use a higher surface for vigorous stepper exercises to see those benefits (20, 22).

Embrace any outdoor space, even old buildings with steps, even surfaces for pull-ups, and use the steps for push-ups. The goal is to get a full-body workout with each session. Also, consider the most basic calisthenics exercises in your outdoor routine. 

Some top exercises include jumping jacks, trunk twists, chin-ups, sit-ups, planks, and lunges (3). Additionally, keep progression, technique, and range of motion in mind with each workout (1). Finally, use slow movements and a greater number of controlled reps (16).

Read more: Advanced Calisthenics: 7 Exercises for Greater Gains

FAQs

• Can Calisthenics Beat the Gym?

Calisthenics could potentially beat the gym to build lean muscle mass if using progressive overload. However, it’s more challenging to progress loads in the outdoor calisthenics programs, but you can increase your reps and intensity, which worked for young men doing calisthenics in a trial (8). Also, calisthenics may provide cardiovascular benefits, which is arguably harder to do with weightlifting (20), unless you are specifically focussing on the tempo of your overall lift. However, you could also do cardio at the gym if you feel the need to complete additional cardio on top of your weight lifting routine. 

• How Difficult Is Calisthenics?

Calisthenics can be challenging to start if your goal is to perfect your technique and raise a human flag. The School of Calisthenics suggests a good range of motion, strength, technique, time to master the technique, and wrist protection are the five greatest rules (1). Perfecting the range of motion and technique makes calisthenics challenging  to start and master. 

• Is it Hard to Get Big With Calisthenics?

Bulking up with calisthenics isn’t as simple as weightlifting because of the greater difficulty to progressively overload.  Progressive overload is necessary for hypertrophy, which is the ability for your muscles to grow larger.  Fortunately, calisthenics progressive overload is possible to improve muscle strength for a well-defined body (8). However, building hypertrophy or muscle thickness isn’t as easy as with a weight lifting routine. 

• Are Calisthenics Harder if You’re Heavier?

Indeed, Michigan Medicine suggests carrying more weight can make exercise harder (2). Calisthenics works with body weight, so it becomes more challenging the more body weight you must move around. But calisthenics workouts when combined with appropriate nutrition can both lead to weight loss. With less weight on your body, it could be easier to do calisthenics workouts. 

The Bottom Line

Outdoor calisthenics presents the freedom of working out anywhere, in any kind of weather, and on your terms. Consider the equipment you need, find suitable locations to do simple calisthenics, or discover your local calisthenics park to work out with other like-minded people.