Are Parallettes Good For Beginners?

Parallettes are a fundamental tool in the Calisthenics training arsenal, and they are absolutely great for beginners to Calisthenics. Paralettes can be made out of wood or metal, and they allow for slight elevation, compared to having your hands on the ground. Choice of materials is completely personal, but I prefer wooden ones myself as the grip and the texture firm. Using this elevation means you can increase difficulty of exercises, making them wonderfully scalable. You can also use this elevation to string techniques together later on, like in a frog press to L-Sit for example. They help with grip adjustment and placement too, removing undue load and tension from the wrists and hands. Parallettes are also useful for learning handstands and other transition skills. You can push the ground away from you with a firm base, allowing your wrists to remain solid and this leads to greater links through your body’s kinetic chain fostering nerve and muscle strengthening.

Are Parallettes Good For Beginners?

Absolutely! Even if mastering the basics of Calisthenics, Parallettes allow you to have greater range and stability through your movements, meaning you can focus on the correct form and solid muscle engagement. Also, if you’re not used to putting strain and stress through your wrists, Parallettes are a great way to prepare your grip for that load, meaning you can build up your strength and power at a good pace for you. Adding the extra range through your fundamental pushing exercises, will also lead to strength gains as well as greater mobility through the end ranges throughout your upper body. 

What Exercises Can You Do On Parallettes?

Parallettes have incredible range when it comes to exercise choices. You can add range to press ups, practice your L-Sit work, Pike Push Ups, Planche Drill practice, strengthen your shoulder musculature, etc. These are just a few of the different ways you can work with Parallettes. And with XL Paralettes you can work on your Dips and Rows as well! These different exercises cover the upper body ‘Push’ & ‘Pull’ ranges through the varied planes of motion, whether horizontally or vertically, leading to a great upper body workout. You can add all of these exercises to your routine using only bodyweight and you’ll feel the difference of going through that full ROM (range of motion). With shorter Parallettes, you can even elevate your heels during a squat! This specifically targets your Vastus Medialis and your Quads, and with a slight hip hinge from that position, your glutes specifically too.

Can You Get Strong Using Parallettes?

As you advance through Calisthenics skill you will need to build greater strength to foster good strong muscle engagement throughout the body. Parallettes will definitely help you get there. The L-Sit is one of the fundamental expressions of strength, allowing you to depress and engage your Scapulae to keep you off the ground in a seated position with straightened legs. With Pike Push Ups, you can start working towards the Handstand Push Up and strengthen your overhead pushing range and Scapula elevation. Calisthenics is effectively using your bodyweight to foster correct full body muscle engagement, and mastering your technique, grip and skills with your Parallettes, means you’re already on your way there!

Are Parallettes Worth It?

100% - if not just for the portability alone. You can take them anywhere and keep your skills on point wherever you are. A set of Parallettes really will become a piece of equipment you can no longer live without! You can check our the Gravity Fitness Paralettes below:

Tag us @gravity.fitness on IG so we can see your progress with your Parallettes, and check in with you! The community is always here to help, so get in touch if you need any inspiration, or any extra help with learning about your Parallettes!