There are many different types of calisthenics workouts that can be thought of in terms of cardiovascular exercise. Typically, if you choose to design any calisthenics routine with minimal to no rest periods, you are going to end up achieving some type of cardiovascular benefits. Usually, calisthenics cardio workouts can really enhance your cardio endurance, which means it can help your heart move blood more efficiently through your body. It can also help with your lung capacity, which allows your lungs to bring more oxygen into the body, and lets the heart pump blood containing more oxygen to the different parts of the body.
Calisthenics Cardio Workouts: The Background Info
We are going to spend some time looking into some exercises and set-ups that are going to positively influence your cardio capacity, while still gaining muscle or losing body fat as well. These movements that we are going to discuss more in depth are the kinds of movements that involve most of, if not all of your major muscle groups. This can allow you to have a better workout in much less time since more muscles are being activated.
If you choose to participate in calisthenics exercise routines that are more cardiovascular in nature, there are some similarities and some differences from those other types of workout routines that involve calisthenics. Yes, they can still be considered HIIT, or high intensity interval training. However, there will be many different types of stress placed on muscle groups once you try to improve your cardio.
When you perform HIIT, you may spend more time working on circuits. That being said, if you really want to improve your heart and lung capacity, you may have to stop thinking so much in terms of repetitions and sets. We will be discussing some different types of routines and setups where repetitions are still used, but manipulated differently than before. There will also be different types of interval training that you otherwise may not have tried before now. Workouts of this type will typically concentrate more on time, rather than quantity. We will spend some time discussing three routines that are very effective when you are trying to perform cardiovascular calisthenics workouts.
EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute) - Intervals/EMOM/Tabata
An EMOM workout can be performed in many different ways. They can be used in a traditional gym, with iron weights or maybe even a cable machine. They can also be used with bodyweight exercises. In this case, we will be talking about how you can perform an EMOM while using those functional, or primal movements that we touched on before. These primal movements use almost all of your major muscle groups, or at least a large amount of them, so you are using a lot of energy with every rep. This is much different than those other workouts where you are trying to focus on one muscle group at a time.
EMOM’s can be a big help, especially if you only have a certain amount of time that you can exercise. You can successfully complete an EMOM workout if you only have 10 minutes, or if you have 60. These are very adaptable. Usually when you do these, “rounds” occur each minute. You will perform a determined number of reps, and rest for the remaining time of that “round”. Or, in some cases, you may perform more than one exercise per round. This will decrease your rest time. Burpees are amazing with EMOMS.
Example EMOM
Round 1 (first minute) 10 Burpees - rest the remainder of the minute
Round 2 (second minute) 10 Burpees - rest the remainder of the minute
Continue for 10 rounds = 10 minutes of work = 100 burpees
The Tabata Protocol
The Tabata protocol, or more commonly referred to as simply “Tabata” is a concept that was created by Izumi Tabata. It was created to be a great aerobic activity concept that actually takes up very little time. A Tabata workout is designed to take eight minutes. There is a five-minute warm-up so that the body will be properly prepared. You are expected to exercise for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. This will be repeated for eight rounds. You will have to perform those 20 seconds of activity as intense as you possibly can for this to work. Tabata workouts are very intense, and not exactly fun. However, they work very well.
Following the workout, you will be allowed a two-minute cooldown. If you wish, you can always take a five-minute break and then attempt another Tabata workout. If this is something that you want to incorporate into your workout routines, you need to be sure that you allow at least one day of rest between Tabata days. Start slowly and do not overdo it!
Example Tabata Routine
5-minute warm-up
20 seconds double-under jump ropes, 10 seconds rest
Repeat this for 8 rounds, maximum effort
2-minute cooldown
Intervals
Intervals can be done in many different parts of the fitness world. I’m sure that you have taken part in intervals as some time or other. These intervals are usually something that can be done with running. This includes jogging, sprinting, and running hills. Naturally, calisthenics intervals aren’t done by jogging. However, you can perform intervals by sprinting for 10 seconds and jogging for 20.
Think of it like a reverse-Tabata concept. Other such intervals can include hill sprinting, box jumps, split jumps, lunge jumps, jump ropes, and many other forms of extremely plyometric movements. Much less emphasis is placed on the final number of repetitions, you are working on training your cardiovascular endurance and your lung capacity.
Example
30 seconds of box jumps, 1 minute of rest
Complete ten of these intervals
Once completed, you have exercised for 15 minutes
Rest Break:
Rest breaks are different depending on the different types of calisthenics cardio workouts that you are completing. If you are short on time and decide that an EMOM workout is best fitting, you will use the remaining time of each minute to rest. If you choose to perform one Tabata routine or a series of them, then you will rest for 10 seconds in between every set of maximum effort 20 second bursts. If you choose to do intervals, you will be able to dictate how much rest time you take in between working sets.
Time Commitment
When it comes to calisthenics cardio workouts, the time commitment is really up to you. You can completely decide how much time you want to spend working out. If you are really short on time and have an incredibly busy day, you can always find time to knock out a Tabata routine.
I mean come on, those things only take 8 minutes out of your day. If you have a little more time, you can design your own EMOM workout. Those things are really minimalistic, so you can perform one EMOM of one movement. Maybe one EMOM of two movements. Or maybe even two separate EMOMS with shorter time periods, that use completely different movements.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of EMOM workouts. Possibly, you find that you have a completely free Saturday morning, and you may want to complete an interval workout. You can always perform sprint intervals, hill intervals, or any of the tons of different plyometric (jumping) movements for any given period of time.
Assessment/Changes - based solely on resting heart rate/active heart rate/VO2 Max
The best way to assess your progress as you work on cardio calisthenics workouts would be by learning how to check your resting heart rate, active heart rate, and possibly even your VO2 max. Understand that heart rates can be different. These vitals can have hereditary influences. VO2 max measures how efficient your lungs can bring in oxygen and get it to the different parts of your body. Anything between 30 and 60 is considered normal. Or, if you really don’t wish to do all of the math, most fitness watches or trackers are able to calculate your different heart rates and your VO2 max.
Resting Heart Rate/Active Heart Rate
Find your pulse (carotid artery at the neck OR at the wrist)
Count the beats you feel for 15 seconds
Multiply by 4
VO2 Max (resting heart rate formula) or 15.3 x (MHR/RHR)
MHR means Maximum Heart Rate
RHR means Resting Heart Rate (# of beats in 15 seconds x 4)
Example) 15.3 x (180(MHR)/70(RHR)) = 39.34 is your VO2 Max
Samples of Calisthenics Cardio Workouts and Exercises
Keep in mind that usually functional or primal movement patterns work very well with cardio calisthenics workout routines. We will discuss different exercises across different degrees of difficulty. We will also show examples of these with all of the different routines that have been talked about. Again, you can really make most HIIT workouts very cardiovascular if you choose, but these movements will help by utilizing most muscle groups in the body.
Use the rest break. The faster you go, the longer rest you have, but you have elevated your intensity.
Example 1: 10 Minute EMOM with Box Jumps
1st minute: 10 ½ box jumps, rest for the remainder
2nd minute: 10 ½ box jumps, rest for the remainder
3rd minute: 10 ½ box jumps, rest for the remainder
Continue until 10 minutes are completed. Total - 100 box jumps
Example 2: 15-minute EMOM with Burpees and Basic Rope Jump
1st minute: 5 Burpees and 20 Jump Ropes
2nd minute: 5 Burpees and 20 Jump Ropes
3rd minute: 5 Burpees and 20 Jump Ropes
Continue until 15 minutes are completed. Total - 60 Burpees and 300 jump ropes.
Example 3: 30 minute “Double EMOM” with Jumping Jacks and ½ Burpees
1st 2 minutes: 15 jumping jacks and 15 ½ burpees
2nd 2 minutes: 15 jumping jacks and 15 ½ burpees
3rd 2 minutes: 15 jumping jacks and 15 ½ burpees
Continue until 30 minutes are completed. Total - 225 jumping jacks and 225 ½ burpees
Remember, Maximum Effort during your 20 second periods. Also, you can perform multiple Tabatas, just be sure to allow plenty of rest time as you learn.
Example 1: Speed Steps with a Jump Rope
5-minute warm-up
20 seconds speed steps (jump rope), 10 seconds rest
Repeat for 8 total rounds
2-minute cooldown
Example 2: Mountain Climbers
5-minute warm-up
20 seconds mountain climbers, 10 seconds rest
Repeat for 8 total rounds
2-minute cooldown
Intervals - These can be done with anything on the list. You simply perform a working set for a specified amount of time, followed by a slightly longer rest period. Very similar to a tabata routine.
Example 1: Sprint/Jog Interval
5-minute warm-up
15-second sprint
30-second jog (recovery)
Repeat 10 times. Total - 2:30 maximum effort sprint time. 5 minute jog time.
Calisthenic workouts are a great way to improve your cardiovascular ability without doing the same thing every day. Over time, that can become really boring. Keep in mind, you can apply all types of exercises to the routines and concepts mentioned today in order to increase your cardio capacity. It all revolves around the amount of intensity that you bring when you exercise.
References
1. Tabata Protocol. (2017). The Tabata Protocol Workout. https://www.tabataprotocol.com/
2. Laskowski, E.R. (2018, August 29). What’s a normal resting heart rate? MayoClinic.org.
3. Dexafit. (2017, October 5). How to Calculate VO2 Max. https://www.dexafit.com/blog2//how-to-calculate-vo2-max
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