The 10 Best Parallettes
Special Honors
Pullup & Dip These well-built parallettes are designed to protect the joints in your wrist from pain and burnout, which should ultimately enhance the overall quality of your workouts. They’re offered in low and medium handle height, and they’re backed by an impressive five-year warranty. pullup-dip.com
Fringe Sport Fringe Sport describes itself as a supplier for the functional fitness movement, and these two sets of parallettes certainly fit that description. While both are made with powder-coated steel for long-term durability, the Mega Grip set is a bit more broad and rugged than the more portable standard set. fringesport.com
Garage Fit Meticulously crafted with quality hardwood, these brawny bars are set ten inches above the ground to provide enough floor clearance for pushups, handstands, dips and more. They’re super resistant to sweat, and they easily assemble and disassemble for traveling fitness enthusiasts. garagegym.net
Editor's Notes
November 11, 2020:
We made a couple modifications to the listing for the Relife Rebuild Stabilizer, noting that large individuals may notice a minor wobble when using them. Thanks to their size and adjustable height, they can be utilized for a wide variety of exercises, enabling the user to target areas across the entire body. We also highlighted that the Lebert Signature are available in a black, chrome or yellow finish.
Only one item required removal, and we replaced it with the Withgear Premium. These compact, collapsible parallettes are ideal for taking along on a vacation or a work convention, and despite their lightweight design, users seem impressed with their sturdiness. They’re a good value for the money.
If you’re worried about potentially scratching up a slick hardwood floor, consider one of the options with rubber feet. In addition to protecting the floor, these should provide stability and prevent the parallettes from sliding or shifting during use.
Another thing to keep in mind: these are all useful for pushups, but if you're looking for an at-home training method that can mimic heavy lifting (like a bench or shoulder press), try pairing your parallettes with some resistance bands.
December 10, 2019:
We eliminated a couple models upon discovering some quality and durability issues, noting that the screws that are supposed to secure the handles of the Jfit Pro frequently become loose, making this item a potential safety hazard. The Ultimate Body Press is poorly designed, lacking significantly in balance and stability. The Black Mountain Dip, which has similar problems, appears to rust easily as well.
The replacement items vary in style — one is a full-blown dip station with adjustable height settings; another is a thick, heavy-duty wooden set; and the third is a highly portable option with bars that can be stored within the frames.
Users seem to really appreciate the range of exercises that can be performed on the Relife Rebuild Stabilizer, including pushups, dips, rows, tricep extensions, and a variety of leg workouts.
The Humble But Mighty Paralettes
One of the simplest and most effective tools a person can add to his or her calisthenic workout is a set of parellete bars.
The best path to overall fitness -- a regimen that both tones and strengthens your body while minimizing body fat and maximizing your cardiovascular system's efficiency -- is one of mankind's oldest approaches to exercise: calisthenics.
The word "calisthenics" comes to us from Ancient Greek; it is derived from their word kalos, which means beauty, and sthenos, which means strength. Little wonder, then, to see so many statues carved of men and women with immaculately formed bodies. Note the quote by arguably the most famous Ancient Greek of all, the philosopher socrates, who stated that: "No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
Calisthenics is essentially weight training using the body's own weight and gravity to create resistance. When various exercises are performed in a repetitive fashion -- pushups, sit-ups, and pull-ups constitute the quintessential calisthenic routines -- they can help a person develop lean, efficient muscle tissue and can lead to greater flexibility and cardiac strength as well.
Calisthenic exercise has long been a mainstay of military training and of measuring the physical readiness of troops. It is also growing increasingly popular as an organized group activity, with "boot camp" style gym classes putting civilians through military style exercise routines. So-called Urban Calisthenics is a movement also in ascendence, with adherents performing exercises in public places using the features of the city, such as benches and railings, to enhance the efficacy of their workout.
One of the simplest and most effective tools a person can add to his or her calisthenic workout is a set of parellete bars. Paralettes are simply compact, sturdy bars stabilized by "feet" set perpendicular to the main bar. They are used to help an athlete, dancer, or gymnast in training to perform superior pushups, dips, balancing exercises, and more. The use of paralettes allows a person to use ideal hand placement for safe and effective workouts, and can greatly increase the difficulty of various exercises, thereby making them more productive.
Parelettes For Arm Exercises
Before you commence a paralette exercise routine, you should spend some time performing more basic exercises that will approximate the same activity without the added difficulty of the bars -- think regular pushups before those performed on bars, e.g. It is easy to over extend yourself when using new equipment for the first time, so ease into your new regimen.
Basic paralette dips are a great way to develop your triceps, shoulders, biceps, and even to improve grip strength and workout your forearms.
Basic paralette dips are a great way to develop your triceps, shoulders, biceps, and even to improve grip strength and workout your forearms. And they could not be much simpler to perform. A paralette dip should be performed with the bars set slightly wider than your shoulder width. Stick your legs straight out in front of you and hold them aloft during the exercise, or else rest your heels on a medicine ball, block, or a step. Lower yourself down to where your elbows almost bend to ninety degrees, then raise up again until just before your elbows lock. That is the whole exercise, and it's one that pays off fast in terms of "cut" arms and shoulders.
The paralette pushup is another great way to strengthen the triceps, and this exercise can also help build chest muscles, as well as the lat muscle groups (properly known as the Latissimi dorsi muscles) set just outside and below the shoulder blades. These are the muscles that give a torso its impressive and desirable V shape. Paralette pushups can be performed with your feet on the ground, with your feet elevated to be level with your hands, or with your feet elevated higher than the paralette bars for an increased challenge and a more efficient maneuver. While parelatte pushups may be harder than regular pushups, they actually put less stress on your hands and wrists, which is another bonus on top of their muscle building attributes.
Using Paralettes For Core Training
The paralette plank is a great way to tighten and tone your abs and core muscles while also strengthening your arms. Rather than resting on your elbows as is typical with a basic blank, you will instead be using your hands to grip the bars and bending your elbows to nearly ninety degrees, making sure to keep them tucked in close to your body. If you elevate your feet to be parallel with the paralette bars, so much the better. Hold this position for as long as you can without faltering, and feel the burn in your stomach and arms all at once.
Paralette handstands are not to be tried the first day you get your new set of paralettes out of the box; however, if you have worked up to their attempt by growing comfortable with handstands performed on the flat ground, go ahead and give one a try. Just make sure to give yourself plenty of space on your chest side for pitching back down to earth, and consider performing these exercises with a wall near your back -- that way, you can only fall in a direction that your feet can catch you. It is primarily your core strength that will be holding you straight upright, so hold this grueling pose for as long as you can and know you are tightening and toning that torso through and through. (Also consider attempting this move with a safety spotter present until you have it down pat.)