“Street” workouts are popular now because they evoke grit, sweat, minimal equipment, and maximal strength. So with the new fitness book by Tee Major, “Urban Calisthenics: Get Strong and Get Ripped with Progressive Street Workouts You Can Do Anywhere,” we are promised something quite compelling indeed. The premise of the book is that you don’t need a gym to get in shape, just “a few simple pieces of equipment, and the willpower to make it happen.” Let’s take a look to see if that’s really all you need, and if this is the fitness book for you.
The book comes in two formats: paperback and Kindle. The paperback book is 192 pages–the layout and full-color pictures are quite attractive and the pages are thick and glossy. There are eight major sections to the book:
- Calisthenics Essentials
- Whole-Body Workouts
- Pushing Movements
- Pulling Movements
- Core Movements
- Cardio Movements
- Leg Movements
- Whole-Body Movements
The first section, “Calisthenics Essentials,” provides background and motivation for why the author is focusing on calisthenics, as well as some “philosophical” motivations for his specific approach to fitness. For example, the author describes how the Japanese process improvement strategy of “Kaizen” motivates his approach to conquering life challenges. Also, diet plays a key role in any exercise program, especially if you want to ever “get ripped,” and so I was glad to see the author include guidance on proper nutrition and eating habits.
The second section, “Whole-Body Workouts,” is the heart of the book. Here, the author presents ten workouts of varying intensity levels, and the purpose of each workout is to condition, train, and strengthen the entire body. Each workout is composed of multiple exercises, and the number of repetitions, the number of sets, and timing constraints are specified for each exercise. Suggestions for warmup and cool-down are also given, as well as the specific page numbers to reference for each exercise.
Sections three through eight of the book contain detailed descriptions for all the exercises specified in the whole-body workouts–almost 70 exercises in total. Each exercise is described with text and pictures illustrating the beginning, middle, and ending positions, and suggestions are given in terms of how many repetitions of each exercise are required for “mastering” that particular movement.
I should point out that while the exercises highlighted in this book do not require typical equipment in modern (21st century) gyms, such as bench presses and squat racks, quite a lot of equipment is actually required to complete the workouts in the book. The exercise equipment required though is more typical of “physical culture” gyms from the 19th century. Since you (or even your gym) might not have all this equipment handy, here is a list of the equipment needed (and an example exercise) to perform the exercises in this book:
- Parallettes (eg, “Handstand Push-Up”)
- Kettlebells (eg, “Turkish Get-Up”)
- Plyo Boxes (eg, “Dip to L-Sit”)
- Gymnastic Rings (eg, “Skin the Cat”)
- Pullup Bar (eg, “Chin-Up”)
- Horizontal Bars (eg, “Bodyweight Row”)
- Vertical Bars (eg, “Tuck Human Flag”)
- Dumbbells (eg, “Weighted Pull-Up”)
- Towel (eg, “Uneven-Grip Pull-Up”)
- Climbing Rope (eg, “L-Sit Rope Climb”)
- Power Bands (for if you need assistance in performing some of the exercises)
Foam rollers and mobility balls are also suggested for maximal benefits.
Thus, the book’s subtitle of “Get Strong and Get Ripped with Progressive Street Workouts You Can Do Anywhere” is accurate only if the street where you live resembles the gymnasium where Sherlock Holmes trained. “A few simple pieces of equipment,” indeed.
All in all, “Urban Calisthenics: Get Strong and Get Ripped with Progressive Street Workouts You Can Do Anywhere” is really for someone who is experienced with fitness training and who wants to take their fitness to the next level with bodyweight and traditional calisthenic exercises. I personally find the book useful, as it complements my own aerial (circus arts) training. That said, while the exercises are described and illustrated well, the beginner may have trouble pulling some of them off on their own, and I would have liked to see more emphasis on safety. Also, yes, the workouts are very effective, but again they are more for someone more advanced in their fitness level and background. To better target beginning to average fitness levels, the book could have suggested more progressions for the exercises and offered workout variations and customizations. But especially if you are comfortable with kettlebells, parallettes, and training alone, this book can certainly help you get into the best shape of your life.
Pricing and Availability on Amazon: “Urban Calisthenics: Get Strong and Get Ripped with Progressive Street Workouts You Can Do Anywhere” (aff)