A workout for your body should not concentrate on one area of the body and should include your entire body. The best way to achieve a full body workout is to engage in a number of exercises that are powerful, effective and are relatively quick to do. Cardiovascular exercises, as well as strength exercises, are integral to a full body workout.
Cardiovascular Training
In order to burn fat and get your body in top condition you need to do cardiovascular training. You can run, swim, bike or walk in order to get a full cardio workout. The key factor is that you push your body for 25 minutes. If you are running, you don't have to go at full speed but you need to push yourself to at least 70 percent of your top speed. You are not strolling; you have to push yourself for 25 minutes to get a full workout.
Back and Chest Workout
The back and chest are two of the largest muscles, and both can be worked out with many of the same exercises. Start off with the back. If you want a stronger back, due pullups, bent-over barbell rows and seated cable rows. For the chest, do the bench press, the inclined barbell press and the dumbbell press. Spend 15 minutes on each area to get a full workout without having to overtrain.
Arms and Shoulders
For the biceps, you need to do standing barbell curls and preacher curls. The preacher curls are done on a seated rest that resembles a preacher's stand. Hold the curl bar at shoulder height. Slowly lower the bar until your arms are extended. Do this 10 times, take a 1-minute break and repeat the set. For the shoulders, do dumbbell presses, behind the neck presses and upright rows. These are all high-intensity exercises that require explosive movement.
Legs and Calves
Do squats and leg presses to build the large muscles in your thighs. The squat should be done by taking the weight off of a squat bar, stepping away from the bar and squatting as low as you can go before raising up. The leg press should be done with a leg press machine like Nautilus or Bowflex. When working out the calves, you should perform standing calf raises and seated raises to build up those explosive muscles used for running and jumping.
Overtraining
Do not lift weights every day. In order to get a full body workout, you should push yourself to lifting to the point of exhaustion. That means if you are doing the bench press, lift the weight until you get to the point of failure. However, don't lift again the next day. This will give your body a chance to recover. If you do strength and weight training one day, do cardiovascular the next day. Avoid heavy weight lifting two days in a row.
References
- Body Building: Full Body Workout
- "The Strongest Shall Survive"; Bill Starr; 1999
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