Building your ideal physique by using calisthenics exercises is convenient, safe, and effective. While bodyweight exercises are more than enough, if you want to take your calisthenics workouts to the next level, consider making an investment in calisthenics bars.
Bars aren't just great for people who are advanced in calisthenics and capable of acrobatic movements or busting out sets of 20 muscle-ups. They're an essential and accessible way for someone with no experience to increase their strength, endurance, and flexibility. I've found bars come in handy when I travel. Either I can take a door frame pull-up bar in my bag, or find a set of bars in the local park. That way I avoid carrying around bulky equipment and paying gym fees to a place I'll only go to once or twice.
I think hat self-sufficient, minimalist aspect is part of what has made calisthenics so popular in recent years. It's a rebellion against complicated, unnecessary pieces of equipment. On top of that, calisthenics take away all excuses:
If all you need is your body and a bar, why not train?
A piece of sturdy and tough exercise equipment, calisthenics bars can help to perfect your form during certain exercises while increasing intensity and difficulty for better results. Let’s take a look at the four types of calisthenics bars. I’ll even throw in a complete calisthenics bars workout to get you started today.
Types of Calisthenics Bars
Here are the most common types of calisthenics bars, all of which can be used as outdoor calisthenics equipment:
Pull-Up Bars
Calisthenics pull up bars can be installed as a permanent fixture or as a removable piece of fitness equipment that typically goes in a door frame. Ideal for calisthenics back exercises such as pull-ups, chin-ups, and suspension-based movements, a pull-up bar allows you to perform a variety of foundational calisthenics in limited space.
Check out our article on the top 5 Pull Up Bars here.
Dip Stands
Dip stands are a pair of adjustable metal tubes that allow you to expand your calisthenics workout repertoire. Built to last, dip stands offer a high level of durability as they need to be able to last through a variety of bodyweight exercises at different intensities. Dip stands are a perfect traveling tool for road trips, as you can easily fold them up and place them in the trunk or floor of the backseat.
If you’re looking to purchase a Dip Stand, we recommend the Prosource Fit.
Obviously, dips are one of the cornerstones of most calisthenics workouts, and a set of parallel bars is necessary if you want to add them into your routine. For some people, this is as simple as going to the local park or gym. However, if those options aren’t available to you, or you’re just looking to create a calisthenics home gym, then purchasing a set of your own parallel bars is your best bet.
The ProsourceFit Dip Stand Station is one of the most popular parallel bar products on Amazon, and easily the most affordable. But is it worth the money?
Let’s find out.
The Good:
Out of the box, this thing only takes about 15 minutes to assemble. Once constructed it feels sturdy, so long as it is on an even surface. I even tested it out with 45 pound weighted dips, and the ProsourceFit Dip Stand held up with no problems. This was my primary concern with this sort of unanchored parallel bar set, especially at such a low price.
One of the ProsourceFit Dip Stand’s best features is the adjustable distance between the bars. I prefer to do narrow dips, and setting the bars 16’ apart made it easy. I’m 6 2’ and 190 lbs. and had no trouble with the height, width, or sturdiness of these bars.
The Bad:
The pieces fit together quite tightly, so making adjustments sometimes takes a little finesse. Rubber feet protect your floors from the metal of the bars and help prevent skidding, but on a couple of occasions, the bars did move around a bit. This would only be a real problem if you aim to perform more acrobatic movements on the bars.
Recommended?
For fifty dollars, the ProsourceFit Dip Stand Station can’t be beaten. It stands up to the more expensive competition by being reasonably sturdy, easily construct-able, and suitable for almost any size of person. I definitely recommend it for someone trying to get a convenient set of parallel bars.
Push-Up Bars
Think of push-up bars like a miniature version of dip stands. Push-up bars force your body into the correct push-up position by properly aligning your wrists, forearms, triceps, and shoulders. What’s more, traditional push-ups and advanced versions of the push-up can put a lot of strain on your wrist. Push-up bars take wrist strain out of the equation as your wrist isn’t bent.
Even more convenient than dip stands, push-up bars can easily be stored in your carry-on luggage if you’re traveling for pleasure or business, making it easy to take your workout with you.
The Body PL1000 is Amazon’s choice(and ours!) for affordable Push-Up Bars.
Push up stands are basically a low to the ground set of parallel bars. They can be used for a variety of exercises, from leg raises, to push-ups, up to extremely advanced handstands and acrobatics. However they’re used, they need to be sturdy, stable, and reliable. There are a lot of cheap push up stands sold on Amazon and elsewhere.
Of all calisthenics equipment, they might be the most affordable, approachable, and easy to set up. But that doesn’t mean that the choice of which push up stand to buy is unimportant. Let’s check out the Body Power PL1000 and see if it’s a good choice for someone looking for an affordable Push Up Stand.
The Good:
The Body Power PL1000 comes with a construction tool, and I had no problems putting it together. Within minutes I was testing it out and pleased to see the weight limit was 380 lbs. and so I felt comfortable trying just about any movement with them. On carpet, the PL1000 didn’t slide at all. Positioning my hands felt really natural with these bars, which is great as an even grip is essential in properly preforming push=ups, dips, etc.
Overall, The Body Power PL1000 proved to be a sturdy set of bars, capable of handling both simple exercises and myself whilst wearing a weight vest that brought me near to the 380 lb. weight limit.
The Bad:
The tool this thing comes with isn’t great. I’d recommend a socket wrench if you want to avoid frustration. Also, you’ll probably want to add lacrosse tape or something similar to the grips, as they’re quite slippery once you start sweating. Watch your feet if you plan on working out barefoot, as the nuts on the PL1000 are exposed and could catch your feet.
Recommended?
This is a great set of bars for the price, and the drawbacks are really minor when compared to the product you get, and its price point. These would make a great addition to any calisthenics home gym.
Check Price on Amazon
Power Tower
If you have the budget and space in your home, I highly recommend a power tower. It is the ultimate piece of calisthenics exercise equipment. The power tower offers you the benefits and accessibility of all the exercise equipment listed above. You can make it a semi-permanent fixture in your home by screwing it into concrete-fastened holders. Or you can simply throw a few weight plates on the ends to hold it in place during your toughest workouts.
I think The Weider Power Tower is the best on the market in the sub-200 dollar price range.
Calisthenics Bars Workout.
There are a lot of Power Towers on the market right now. They seem to be the go-to at-home calisthenics product, and why not? In it, you get a pull-up bar, dip station, leg raise station, push up station, and an interesting piece of interior decoration. But the last thing you want is to buy one of these things and find out it’s flimsy, ugly, and not even adequate for your fitness goals.
Let’s see if the Weider Power Tower stands apart from the crowd and proves itself the best Power Tower on the market.
The Good:
The Weider Power Tower is fairly simple to put together, and the instruction manual provided describes the necessary steps clearly. For someone with a little experience putting together furniture, it should be doable in 1-2 hours. With a helper, even less than that. It has a nice look, with the black and red giving it more character than most of its flat-grey competitors.
This thing is sturdy, and easily the sturdiest Power tower at this price point. If you want the feel of bolted to the ground gym equipment at home, this is as close as you’re going to get in the sub-200 dollar price range.
Doing dips, pull-ups, push-ups, and knee-raises all feel great on The Weider because of the arm and back cushions and well-spaced grips.
A nice feature I only noticed after several workouts with the tower is the crossbar between the two main support poles. You can rest your feet on this and actually do a form of assisted pull-ups. The Two metal protrusions on the curved bar segments also allow you to do calf raises.
The Bad:
The stability isn’t perfect. This was especially noticeable during dips when you're furthest from the tower's center of gravity. I’d recommend putting sandbags or something similar down if you plan or preforming acrobatic movements on this tower. Also, other reviewers have reported issues with small parts and damage during the shipping process. This wasn’t my experience and seems to be rare.
The Weider Power Tower isn't cheap, and neither are most of its competitors. I wouldn't recommend purchasing the Weider Power Tower unless you're fully committed to integrating calisthenics into your daily routine.
The top bar of the tower stands at about 6 feet 11 inches(2.1m), so if your ceiling is less than around 7 feet 8 inches(2.34m) your head won't have clearance during pull-ups. It'd be a real shame to buy and build such a large piece of equipment only to find you can't actually use it in your house.
On top of that, the max weight limit of The Weider Power Tower is 225 lbs. I weigh about 200, and felt like the tower could easily handle my weight, but if you're over 230 lbs. I wouldn't want to risk it with a piece of equipment at this price point.
Recommended?
If you’re looking for a Power Tower for less than 200 hundred dollars, The Weider Power Tower is your best option for performance, aesthetics, and durability. Among all the sub 200 dollar power towers, it is the best built, easiest to construct, and best to use, despite a few minor issues.
Here are intermediate-level total body workouts that you can perform with each of the following types of calisthenics bars. Click the links to view demonstrations.
Pull-Up Bar Workout
Pull-Ups: 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions
Bodyweight Squats: 3 x 10 – 12
Push-Ups: 3 x 10 – 15
Side Lunges: 3 x 12 – 15
Close-Grip Pull-Ups: 2 x 12
L-Sit Hang: 2 x Failure (hold as long as you can)
Dip Stand Workout
Front Lunges: 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions
Chest Dip: 3 x 10 – 15
Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 12 – 15
Reverse Row: 3 x 8 – 15
Triceps Dips: 2 x 10 – 15
L-Sit Hold: 2 x Failure
Push-Up Bar Workout
Push-Ups: 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions
Reverse Lunges: 3 x 12
Pike Presses: 3 x 8 – 12
Jump Squat: 3 x 8 – 12
Triceps Bar Dips: 2 x 12 – 15
Extended Plank: 2 x Failure
Power Tower Workout
Pull-Ups: 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions
Chest Dips: 3 x 8 – 15
Three-Way Lunges: 3 x 10
Close-Grip Chin-Ups: 2 x 10 – 15
Triceps Dips: 2 x 10 – 15
Hanging Knee Raise: 2 x 8 – 12
Hanging L-Sit: 2 x Failure
Which Calisthenics Bars Do You Prefer?
Like the convenience of push-up bars? Or would you rather have the best of all worlds with a power tower? In any case, a set of bars is essential to development in calisthenics, whether it be found in a home gym or a local park. Let me know your favorite calisthenics bars in the comments below.