PARALLETTE UNIVERSE
Lift your bodyweight workouts off the floor and cover all bases with PT Rory Allen’s action plan
The 10 best moves on a versatile and space-saving piece of home-gym kit
Parallettes may be the baby brother of the full-sized parallel bars, but they more than make up for what they lack in size with the benefits they bring to your home bodyweight workouts. The science is simple: by creating space between your body and the floor, the parallettes allow for a deeper range of motion that recruits a greater number of muscle fibres, as well as increasing instability, forcing you to engage your core more than usual. The following exercises may seem like bodyweight staples but adding the parallettes will have you working harder from the off. Try them as a circuit: 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, doing four sets with a minute’s rest between each.
First, a warning from Allen: “For all exercises requiring you to hold the parallettes and take your own bodyweight, ensure that your wrists are stacked right on top of the frame, rather than off to the side. This helps to avoid wrist injuries.”
Get ready to bring your physique in line.
PRESS-UP
Adopt a plank position with your hands gripping the parallettes (A). Lower your chest, keeping your elbows close to your sides (B). See how far down you can go before pushing back up to the start.
SHOULDER TAP
Using one parallette, hold a high plank position with both hands on the frame. Keeping your hips steady, slowly take one hand off and tap the opposing shoulder (A). Replace your hand and repeat with the other arm (B).
V-TUCK OVER
Sit in front of a parallette with your chest up and your knees raised. From here, without touching the floor, straighten your legs under the parallette (A). Bring them back in and then straighten them again – this time over the parallette (B).
L-SIT
Grip the parallettes with your wrists stacked on top of the frames and raise yourself until your feet are off the floor (A). Extend your legs in front of you and hold an L-shaped position with your knees locked out (B).