Calisthenics Exercises in Olympic Events

With Paris 2024 Olympics just around the corner, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement and inspiring performances from all the athletes and competitors, especially if you’re passionate about fitness and seeing how far you can push the body to it’s physical limit. So obviously we love to compare calisthenic exercises to their Olympic event counterparts here at Gravity Fitness and let’s face it, we’ve all watched events and thought “I wonder how I would do in this?”. Well, if you’re a calisthenics geek like us, there are a load of exercises which are very similar…if not the same!

Still Rings

The Still Rings, also known simply as Gymnastic Rings, is an apparatus and event in men's artistic gymnastics. The event consists of two wooden rings, each suspended from a steel frame by straps. The rings are typically placed about 50 centimetres apart and 2.8 meters above the ground. The event demands immense upper body strength, shoulder stability, balance and grip strength. As one of the most challenging events in men’s gymnastics, it requires both strength and precision to perform routines, which is why you will always see competitors with massive, ripped upper bodies!

Gravity Fitness offer wooden gymnastic rings in our range, which can be suspended from a metal frame at varying heights, so you can either use them for inclined press ups or for complete suspension and bodyweight exercises such as dips. You could even increase the challenge by wearing a weighted vest!

The Pommel Horse

You may remember seeing this apparatus during P.E classes at school. The pommel horse is a rectangular unit with two handles, standing about 1.15 metres heigh and 1.6 metres long. During the event, the gymnast will perform a routine which consists of circular and scissor movements with their legs, while maintaining stability with their hands on the pommels. Routines are judged by the difficulty, execution and rhythm, demanding both upper body and core strength. It’s one of the most challenging events, as the gymnast must coordinate both hands and legs perfectly to maintain balance and momentum.

Unfortunately, Gravity Fitness doesn’t sell pommel horses…because delivery costs would be astronomical! However, you can grab a set of parallettes of varying heights and sizes from our range, which are perfect for mastering upper body strength and bodyweight training, perfecting your balance through a complete workout of multiple muscle groups.

Parallel Bars

Perhaps one of the most impressive and entertaining to watch, the parallel bars consist of two synthetic bars, around 3.5 metres long positioned parallel to each other. The gymnast must perform a routine between these two bars, executing swings and daring flips, while they are judged on technical ability, artistic flair and control. Some signature moves for the parallel bars event include the Stutz, which is a front uprise to handstand with a half turn used to transition, the Diamidov, which is a turn before a regrasp while in a handstand position and finally a Healy Twirl, which is a full turn performed with one arm.

Although you might not be able to perform mid-air flips and full dismounts, Gravity Fitness’ XL adjustable parallettes are perfect for practising handstands, with additional space for more movement at 94cm maximum height. With a brushed steal material, they are both lightweight and sturdy, giving you the confidence to push your bodyweight exercises like a true gymnast.

Shot Put & Hammer Throw

Both the shot put and the hammer throw demand loads of rotational strength and power. Macebell exercises, which often involve swinging movements, help build rotational strength in the core, shoulders, and hips, while helping to condition athletes for this movement. Holding and controlling a macebell, particularly during dynamic movements, can improve grip strength significantly, which is crucial for shot put and hammer throw athletes who need a strong grip to handle the weight of the shot or hammer and to execute the throw with precision. Exercises like 360s and 10-to-2s with a macebell can enhance the range of motion and strengthen the stabilizing muscles around the shoulder joint, which are essential for the powerful and explosive movements. Some macebell exercises include:

• Mace 360s
• Mace 10-to-2s
• Mace Swings
• Mace Chops
• Mace Single-Arm Movements