Aren’t we always looking for the most effective fitness program or exercise that will deliver us speedy and significant results? Of course we are, and I’m here to let you in on a little secret…
Efficiency in fitness is found in full body exercises! Meaning, you have to do exercises that stimulate multiple muscle groups at once, and these exercises will save your ass a lot of time in the gym.
Let’s be honest. In this day and age, most of us don’t have an hour a day, 5 days a week to spare for training. For the luck few of you who do, wouldn’t it be nice to cut that back a bit?
We are living in the new age of fitness. Gone are the days of muscle isolation – separating back days from chest and leg days to reach optimal personal fitness.
Think QUALITY over QUANTITY when it comes to you workouts and you will be far more productive and efficient with your training program.
Now this isn’t rocket science or is it groundbreaking news, but it is vital you understand the benefits of full body exercises, who they are best for, and which exercises you have to choose from.
5 Benefits from Doing Full Body Exercises
● Greater caloric expenditure in less time.
● Build strength & muscle tone.
● Increases training program efficiency.
● Allows for more training variety and decreases your chances of overtraining and burning out.
● Challenges aerobic capacity.
Who benefits from full body training?
Almost everyone can benefit from full body training. Full body training incorporates the most muscle recruitment per exercise, which means you get more caloric expenditure, muscle activation, culminating in more muscle tone.
This helps build size, strength and endurance. The only time full body training isn’t ideal is for serious bodybuilders because they need to focus all their energy and efforts into one muscle group to make specific gains.
My 7 Favorite Full Body Exercises
1. Overhead Lunge
This brutal exercise is extremely demanding and dynamic as you are holding a pair of dumbbells, kettlebells or barbell overhead while walking into a traveling lunge. Great for upper and lower body strength.
2. Burpees
Come on, you cannot train without tossing in a few sets of burpees. Burpees are the epitome of fitness. As much as they suck, this bodyweight exercise is a complete upper and lower body exercise.
3. Dive Bomber Push Up
Also known as a Hindu Push Up, this dynamic push up challenges strength, shoulder, and hip flexibility. It takes a traditional push up and transforms it into a super push up.
4. Thrusters
This upper and lower body combination is torturous. This exercise combines a front squat to an overhead press in one unbroken movement. Perfect for building full body strength and making you feel miserable.
5. Pull Up
The pull up is a must-do-exercise! It enhances the shoulder and posture, builds bicep and grip strength, and activates the core. Make sure to include all types: mix grip, under/overhand, close/wide grip and slow/fast pulling.
6. Farmer Walks
The farmer walk is amazing in building grip, core, back and posture strength. Usually done carrying a heavier load, the farmer walk is tested by traveling varied distances.
7. The Plank
While some may laugh at the simplicity of the plank, it is genuinely a phenomenal exercise that targets the glutes, core, posture, quads, shoulders, and many small stabilizer muscles. The plank is a great exercise that never gets old!
Are these the only full body exercises that you can do? Of course not! There are plenty of others but I feel these bad boys really drive results.
Below is a sample to give you an idea of how to incorporate these exercises into your training (reps and sets are dependent on your goals). Feel free to mix things up, add in both core and conditioning sets to boost your results.
The key is to do the bulk of your training with full body exercises.
Sample Workout Plan for the Week
MONDAY
Strength
A1: Pull Ups x 7-10 reps x 3-5 sets.
A2: Burpees x 20 reps x 3-5 sets.
MetCon
B1: Jump Rope x 50 reps x 3 sets.
B2: Plank x 30-60 sec x 3 sets.
TUESDAY
OFF
WEDNESDAY
Strength
A1: Thrusters x 7-10 reps x 3-5 sets.
A2: Dive Bomber Push Ups x 15-20 reps x 3-5 sets.
MetCon
B1: Kettlebell Swings x 10 reps x 3 sets.
B2: Plank x 30-60 sec x 3 sets.
THURSDAY
OFF
FRIDAY
Strength
A1: Overhead Lunge x 60 sec x 3-5 sets.
B2: Farmer Walks x 30 sec x 3-5 sets.
MetCon
B1: Double Unders x 10-15 reps x 3 sets.
B2: Plank x 30-60 sec x 3 sets.
SATURDAY
OFF
SUNDAY
Mobility & Flexibility Work
A1: Foam Rolling.
A2: Dynamic Stretching.
A3: Static Stretching.
Full body training can save you time in the gym without sacrificing your results. Make your workouts count and don’t waste time. But wait!
Couldn’t increasing your training frequency help you to achieve faster results? Sure it can, but that doesn’t mean you need to stress out and force yourself to train all week to get fit.
Cycle in my top 7 full body exercises regularly and witness your fitness go from zero to hero!
Good Luck!
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