How to practice outdoor horizontal bars if you are an absolute beginner

The weather is great outside, there is a playground with horizontal bars near the house, and you decided that it was time to take care of your health and figure.

This is a great idea, but you need to decide on the program in advance and gradually enter the training process. Otherwise, your motivation may end after the first lesson,

We tell you what to do on the site if the last time you pulled yourself up in a physical education lesson, and you associate sports only with running around the school stadium.

Where to start your workout

Do not skip a warm-up, especially if you exercise in the morning. It will take 5-10 minutes and will consist of three parts - the first two are shown in the video below.

1. Joint gymnastics: tilts and turns of the head, rotation of the shoulders, elbows and wrists, triple bends forward, rotation of the hips, knees and feet. Do it 5-10 times in each direction.
2. Dynamic stretching: tilt and deep squat with a turn of the body - 3 times, posture of the dog with a deep lunge forward - 3 times from each leg, lunges to the side with a touch of the opposite foot - 10 times.
3. Short cardio. This can be 20 Jumpig Jacks, 3 sets of 30 seconds running in place, or 50-100 jumping rope.

If your playground is close to home, you can warm up right there. If you need to get to it, do the first two warm-up points at home, and then run to the training site.

Run at a conversational pace - when you can move and still maintain a conversation without gasping for breath. And consider the distance. As a warm-up, do not run more than 3 km, otherwise there will be no strength left for the lesson.

If the site is further away, you can ride on bike - it perfectly warms up and sets you up for training.

What to do on the site

Your main task now is to re-acquaint the body with different patterns of movement activity.

To do this, within the framework of one workout, we will do exercises for all large muscle groups:

1. Inclined pull-ups - back, biceps.
2. Elevation push-ups - chest, triceps.
3. Handstand - Shoulders.
4. Negative bar push-ups - chest, triceps.
5. Raising the knees to the chest while hanging - abs, hip flexors.
6. Elevated steps - hips, buttocks, calves.
7. One-legged squats / lunges - hips, glutes, calves.

Remember that each movement can be made more difficult or simplified to suit your skill level. Your goal is to do 10-12 repetitions with good form. Perform each movement in three sets, resting between them for 90-120 seconds.

Inclined pull-ups

This exercise pumps the muscles of the back, shoulders and forearms and prepares the body for the classic pull-ups.

Hang on a low bar, tighten your abs and buttocks, and pull up until your chest touches the bar. Over time, you can change the height of the horizontal bar - the closer to the horizontal your body, the more difficult it is to pull up.

If your site has only a high horizontal bar, you can do eccentric, or negative pull-ups. You can also alternate this exercise with incline pull-ups to diversify your workouts.

With a jump, pull yourself up so that you get to the top with the help of momentum. And then slowly lower yourself back down, trying to stretch the eccentric phase for at least five seconds.

If you can do 3-5 classic pull-ups, you can incorporate this movement into your workout in addition to the incline or eccentric. Do three sets at close range - as many as you can.

Rest 2-3 minutes between sets so that the muscles have time to recover and you do not lose much in reps in subsequent sets.

You can alternate the grips to evenly load the muscles. For example, in one workout, pull-ups with a direct grip, in another with a reverse grip.

Support push-ups

Choose a low horizontal bar or bench and do push-ups, watching the shape: keep the body stretched in one line, tighten the abs and buttocks. Keep your elbows close to your body to prevent sagging.

Gradually lower the height of the support until you can complete a full push-up from the floor.

Eccentric Dips

Jump onto the uneven bars, lower your shoulders and tighten your abs. Then, for 5-8 seconds, lower yourself, bending your elbows until your shoulders are parallel to the bars. After that, stand up and jump onto the uneven bars again.

When you can complete the five classic push-ups on the uneven bars, change the negative to the usual and do three sets of point-blank, resting 2-3 minutes in between.

Handstand

Stand on your hands with support on the wall bars, stretch your body in one line and hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds. Then rest and repeat two more times.

If your arms and shoulders are not yet ready for this challenge, try a simplified handstand with your feet on a dais.

Place your feet on the bench as if you are going to do oblique push-ups. Then move your hands closer to the support so that the body is stretched from the pelvis to the head in one line, and the legs remain on the dais.

Hold the position for 10-30 seconds, repeat three times.

Raising the knees to the chest while hanging

Hang on a horizontal bar, tilt your pelvis back and lower your shoulder blades so that your shoulders do not press against your ears. Bend your knees and pull them up to your chest as far as you can.

Lower your legs back and repeat again. If you can do it 10-12 times without any problems, try full leg raises to the horizontal bar - before the toes touch the crossbar.

Perform three sets at close range - as many as possible.

Stepping up the dais

First, choose a support about 30 cm high. If you find it easy, you can increase the number of repetitions to 12-15 for each leg or choose a bench higher - up to 50 cm.

Do not use inertia and do not push off the floor - during the climb, all the work should be done by the leg that is on the dais. Make sure that the knee of the working leg does not curl inward during the lift, and the back remains straight throughout the entire movement.

Squats on one leg

Stand with your back to the bench and put the toe of one leg on it. Put your hands on your belt or hold in front of your chest. Squat to the parallel of the thigh with the floor or slightly higher.

Make sure that the heel of the supporting leg does not come off the ground, and the knee does not curl inward during the climb. If you can't keep your balance, replace the exercise with back lunges.

How to end your workout

If you have time left, you can do a small cool-down stretch for six minutes. It will help relax tense muscles and restore breathing.

Take a position and hold it for 30 seconds. Don't try to overcome your range of motion, breathe deeply and calmly.

Bend forward to stretch the back of the thigh

Take a step forward, straighten your back and tilt your body to parallel with the floor. Feel the stretch in the back of your thigh in front of your standing leg.

You can straighten your knee or leave it bent. In the first option, more stretch is felt in the upper thigh, in the second, in the lower.

Standing hip flexor stretch

Bend your knee, grab your foot and pull your heel towards your buttock. Tilt your pelvis back to increase the stretch.

Pigeon Pose on Dais

Bend your knee and place one lower leg on a short bar or bench. Try to keep your hips at the same level, do not slouch your back. If you don't feel a lot of tension, you can slightly tilt the body forward.

Stretching the pectoral muscles and shoulders against the wall

Put your hand on the support, lower your shoulder and turn in the opposite direction.

Stretching the side next to the rack

Stand sideways to a horizontal bar or wall bars, raise your hand above your head and grab the support. Holding on to the counter, move the pelvis to the side, stretching the side.

How often can you do

To get started, try doing this workout three times a week, with a rest day between sessions. On your days off, you can do some cardio workouts, such as a quiet 30-40 minute run or short interval workouts.

This format of training will help you not only strengthen muscles, but also improve overall endurance and pump the work of the cardiovascular system.