Can You Do Calisthenics Every Day?

If you’re starting out in calisthenics, the first question on your mind is probably “can you do calisthenics every day?”

I understand that once you’ve made up your mind on weight loss, nothing will stop you in your tracks. I certainly don’t be the one who does.

But, it’s important that you learn your body’s limits so that you can healthily train, condition, and strengthen your body’s muscles.

To answer the question…

Can you do calisthenics every day? While you can do low-repetition, easy calisthenics daily such as push-ups and sit-ups, avoid doing full-body calisthenics in high repetitions for many hours every day of the week. Your muscles will fatigue and you will be left feeling sore and unaccomplished.

Not sure what I mean?

Read on for a more in-depth explanation that also covers:

• What calisthenics is
• 5 benefits of calisthenics
• How much time your muscles need to recover
• How you can overtrain with calisthenics
• Whether you can do calisthenics on rest days

Let’s get started!

What are Calisthenics?

If you’re not positive on what exactly calisthenics are, then here’s a definition for you.

Calisthenics is a type of strength training that focuses on working large muscle groups, typically without the need for equipment.

So, examples of calisthenics include:

• Running / Jogging
• Planches
• Push-ups
• Squats
• Sit-ups
• Burpees
• Chin-ups
• Pull-ups
• Handstands

Chances are, you’ve done calisthenics since you were in elementary school gym and you didn’t even know it.

Calisthenics usually aren’t difficult in theory, but they may require some repetitions to accurately do the exercise.

Calisthenics has a lot in common with gymnastics, if you’ve ever done that.

Can You Do Calisthenics Every Day?

Now that you know what calisthenics are, it’s time to address the primary issue at hand.

Can you do calisthenics every day?

As mentioned before, you can do simple calisthenics every day in low repetitions.

What qualifies as a simple calisthenic exercise?

Great question! Here are some examples from the exercises I mentioned above:

• Running / Jogging
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups
• Planches

These can all be done in around a 15-minute timeframe with just a few repetitions.

Here’s an example of a calisthenics routine you should NOT repeat daily 6-7 times per week:

• Run 5 miles
• 30 push-ups
• 30 sit-ups
• 10-minute planche
• 20 burpees

For the average (not so fit) person, this could end up taking hours to do. That’s a surefire way to get exhausted and overworked.

When you do calisthenics, start small and as you build up your endurance, you can increase the number of repetitions you do each day.

You should feel like you’re pushing yourself just a little bit each day. That’s the sweet spot.

5 Benefits of Calisthenics

You’ve probably been accidentally doing calisthenics your whole life, not thinking about what the potential benefits are.

I’m here to tell you that they’re abundant and will improve your overall health.

Here are 5 benefits of doing calisthenics:

1. Boosts mobility
2. Increases strength
3. Improves endurance
4. Diversifies workouts
5. Costs less-to-nothing

Let’s explore these a little more!

1. Boosts Mobility

Mobility is just another word for flexibility.

When you do calisthenics, you’re working multiple muscle groups at one time.

Working multiple muscle groups simultaneously is bound to improve your flexibility, provided that you are fully extending your movements and positions.

For example, when doing a burpee, you’re doing a push-up followed by a jump in the air.

That increases the mobility in your legs and arms.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society concluded that women with a BMI of 30 or higher were two times as likely to report functional limitations.

Losing weight is a great way to improve mobility, and calisthenics helps you do that.

When doing calisthenics, don’t forget to stretch beforehand. Warming up is a critical part of every exercise routine and shouldn’t be ignored.

While yoga is one way to improve flexibility, calisthenics are another.

2. Increases Strength

At its core, calisthenics are strength exercises.

So, it should come as no surprise that through calisthenics, muscles grow and gain mass.

But, strength isn’t limited to just muscular strength. Calisthenics also strengthens bones and joints.

Calisthenics are often preferred by fitness enthusiasts because they don’t cause as much wear and tear on muscles as lifting weights does.

They don’t expose you to a higher risk of injury, either.

Research published in the Journal of Isokinetics and Exercise Science suggests that calisthenics training is a feasible and effective training solution to improve:

• Posture
• Strength
• Body composition

All this can be done without any major fitness equipment.

3. Improves Endurance

Calisthenics exercises are typically performed in a set number of repetitions.

For example, a repetition of push-ups might include 10 push-ups. So, if you’re doing three repetitions, then you’re doing 30 push-ups.

Following me so far?

Well, now let’s factor in the idea of a circuit, which is a group of different exercise repetitions.

One circuit may include:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 burpees
• 1-minute planche

That’s what one repetition of each would be, but now they’re combined into one group. Each time you perform a circuit, you’re improving your endurance.

The same concept goes for if you increase how many of each exercise are in a repetition.

4. Diversifies Workouts

I’m personally NOT a fan of the gym. I don’t know that I will ever be.

That’s why I prefer exercises that can be done at home or without any fancy equipment. Calisthenics can also be part of an exercise routine that switches between different types.

For example, here’s a potential Monday through Friday workout:

• Monday: Yoga
• Tuesday: Calisthenics
• Wednesday: Swimming
• Thursday: Weight-lifting
• Friday: Running

This is just a basic example (you could even combine some of these on the same day), but it illustrates how you can incorporate calisthenics to break up the higher intensity of some other workouts.

For a good guide on high-intensity interval training, check out this guide.

5. Costs Next-to-Nothing

One of the reasons why I love calisthenics (on top of the fact you don’t need a gym to do them) is that it literally costs nothing to do them.

You can:

• Jog in a park
• Do push-ups in your living room
• Do handstands against your office wall

There are no requirements or rules.

Since you don’t need fancy equipment for calisthenics, you can use whatever makeshift apparatus you’ve got lying at home.

Need a weight to do squats? Grab a 5-pound bag of flour. Or your dog, if you dare.

Get creative with how you exercise and it shouldn’t cost you a lot of money.

How Much Time Do Muscles Need to Recover?

Once you’ve overworked yourself physically, you’ll know exactly what it’s like to experience muscle failure.

Muscle failure is a simple term for explaining that muscles can no longer perform any kind of repetition of movement that requires them.

When that happens, you NEED to let your muscles recover.

If you’ve severely overworked your muscles, then you should let them rest for 24-48 hours (but it will typically take two days). When I say rest, I mean complete rest.

When you exert your muscles after being overworked, you’re delaying how long it takes for them to recover.

Another way to help them recover is through massage. Research published in the Journal of Sports Medicine says that post-exercise massage reduces muscle soreness.

There is one exception to this rule…

The more regularly you work out, the quicker your muscles will be able to recover and bounce back.

Once you feel fit as a fiddle, start strumming.

Frequently Asked Questions

I totally won’t hate you if you skimmed past the important stuff above to try and find your answer at the end of the article.

I do the same.

That’s why I included 5 frequently asked questions so you can walk away with the answer you need.

Here they are:

1. Is it ok to do calisthenics every day?
2. How many times a week should I do calisthenics?
3. Can you overtrain with calisthenics?
4. Can you do calisthenics on rest days?
5. Can I do calisthenics two times a day?

Time to answer those questions!

1. Is it OK to Do Calisthenics Every Day?

Yes, it’s perfectly okay to some form of calisthenics every day.

While you can do low-repetition, easy calisthenics daily such as push-ups and sit-ups, avoid doing full-body calisthenics in high repetitions for many hours every day of the week. Your muscles will fatigue and you will be left feeling sore and unaccomplished.

I wouldn’t run 10 miles a day if you can barely manage two or three.

That’s a surefire way to exercise too much and damage your body’s overall health.

2. How Many Times a Week Should I Do Calisthenics?

If you’re just starting out with calisthenics, then you might feel an instinctual desire to work out every day until you feel tired.

Weight loss and muscle gain aren’t things you can accomplish effectively in one week. They’re something to work on and improve over time.

To answer this question, let me break down the number of times per week you should be doing calisthenics based on your experience:

• Absolute beginner: 1-2 days per week
• Intermediate: 3-4 days per week
• Advanced: 5 days per week
• Expert: 6-7 days per week

The key to take away here is that you shouldn’t be doing these days consecutively if you can help it.

Allow your muscles and body to take a break in between workout days to recover.

Again, you can do simple calisthenics daily. But, full-body, high-intensity workouts should not be done daily if you’re not trained and haven’t built up endurance.

3. Can You Overtrain With Calisthenics?

Simply put, yes.

You can overtrain with calisthenics by doing high repetitions of exercises when you haven’t built up endurance.

Intense overtraining can weaken your immune system and even knock you off your feet for 3-6 months plus. It’s not something to joke around with.

I know you want to lose weight and gain muscle mass quickly, but you should consult your primary care physician if you plan on implementing a high-intensity workout regime several days of the week with or without former experience.

Injuries can be really serious.

4. Can You Do Calisthenics on Rest Days?

Rest days are designed for rest.

Period.

When you work out, you tear down your muscle fibers. Resting allows them to build back up, becoming stronger and more durable.

While you should consider a completely passive resting day when starting out, those more experienced can have a light rest day and do basic calisthenics exercises to keep the momentum going.

But, you really shouldn’t push yourself if you don’t already know your own limits.

Rest days can be effective for lightly working out body parts and muscle groups that don’t get a lot of attention during the rest of the week, but only if you take a targeted, small approach to see if it’s effective first.

5. Can I Do Calisthenics Twice a Day?

You can certainly perform calisthenics exercises multiple times per day. That’s called a repetition.

You can do multiple circuits in a day to build endurance, as mentioned above.

If you’re thinking of doing multiple circuits’ worth of exercises twice a day (say in the morning and afternoon), I’d strongly advise against it.

Working out every hour of the day is not effective for weight loss and muscle gain. You need to allow time for your metabolism and muscles to catch up to you.

If you want to do a light workout before and after work, that’s perfectly acceptable. For example, a routine could consist of:

• Morning: 3 mile jog
• Evening: push-ups, sit-ups, and planches

It’s okay to spread your workout out throughout the day, but don’t perform an intense workout multiple times per day if you’ve never done it before.

Conclusion

If you came to this post looking for the answer to whether you can do calisthenics every day, you should have your answer.

This post also addressed:

• What calisthenics is
• 5 benefits of calisthenics
• How much time it takes for your muscles to recover

I hope you feel confident enough to incorporate calisthenics into your workout routine!

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about calisthenics I can answer so you achieve your dream figure.

To your weight-loss success!