Although many people start a fitness program to focus on their body's problem areas, to be truly healthy, you must work all of your muscles. Full-body workouts can either be done with external resistance or with body weight.
Types of Full-Body Aerobic Exercise
The muscles of the lower body are the primary muscles used in aerobic exercise. However, some types of cardiovascular equipment combine upper and lower body activity. Examples include the elliptical machine and stationary bicycles that use both upper and lower body. Swimming, water aerobics and choreographed aerobic dance classes are also full-body aerobic workouts.
Calorie Burning
In the article, "Making Sense of Calorie-burning Claims," University of New Mexico exercise science researchers Robert A. Robergs and Len Kravitz explored the benefits of combining upper and lower body aerobics. While adding upper body work to an aerobic workout will increase the perceived exertion rating, it does not necessarily result in higher caloric expenditure. This may be due to the fact that many people are stronger in their legs than their upper bodies. If the upper body work makes the exercise seem overly challenging, there's a tendency to reduce the intensity of the leg activity. This, in turn, can lower the intensity of the entire workout. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Kravitz uses elite Nordic skiers as an example. Since they have high-level upper and lower body strength, their maximal oxygen uptake, or VO2 max, readings are impressive.
Full-Body Strength Training Workouts
Strength training can be done as a series of muscular isolation exercises, but workouts that combine multiple muscle groups are becoming more popular. The bicep curl lunge is an example. Stand with one foot in front of the other and hold a set of weights. Keep your elbows close to your body. As you bend both knees, flex your arms so that your wrists move toward your shoulders. Your front foot will remain flat, and your back heel will lift. The lateral arm raise/side leg raise is another example. Lie on your side and hold a weight in your top hand. As you lift your top leg to hip height, raise your top arm to shoulder height.
Full Body Concurrent Workouts
The term full-body workout can also refer to exercise programs that work both the muscular-skeletal system and the cardiovascular system. These programs are sometimes called concurrent workouts. An article in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, published in February 2001 - Volume 33 - Issue 2, explored the benefits of concurrent training in a step aerobics program. Researchers recruited 35 active women and assigned them to one of three groups. Group A performed a minimum of 25 minutes of step aerobics. Group B performed a combination of 25 minutes of step training with multiple sets of upper and lower body resistance exercises. Group C did 40 minutes of step aerobic exercise. While all the groups benefited from the exercise, Group B, which combined resistance training with step exercise, made the most significant improvements. In addition to reduced body fat and lower resting blood pressure, this group experienced at 21 percent increase in strength and an 11 percent boost in endurance.
Considerations
While total body workouts that combine aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise are beneficial, in his article "The Effect of Concurrent Training," exercise science researcher Len Kravitz talks about the importance of sequencing exercises. For example, if your aerobic activity consists of hill running or other types of movements that require a significant amount of gluteal strength, the resistance portion of your workout should use different muscle groups.
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