Full body workouts are those where you train muscles from every part of your body. Instead of having a series of different workouts split into different body parts, such as having one workout day specifically for your upper body and on for your lower body, a full body workout can make your workouts more efficient. Depending on your goals, they can also be more effective than more complicated routines.
Benefits
A full body workout has a number of benefits. Unlike weight training routines when you work separate body parts on different days, you can work your entire body in one session, making it more suited for a casual gym user if you can't guarantee that you will be able to do each session every week. Working your entire body is more efficient when it comes to saving time, and also in terms of calories burned and for building muscle.
Types
By using your whole body, you engage more muscles. According to strength and conditioning coach John Berardi, whether you are looking to burn fat or build muscle, this remains the most efficient way to achieve your goals, as you are working a larger proportion of your muscles at one time. You can do a full body workout in one of two ways. You can focus on doing exercises that will work your entire body at once, or you can combine different exercises that work on different parts of you body into one workout.
Examples
Examples of full body exercises include burpees, where you drop from a standing position to a squat, kick your legs out behind you into a push up position before jumping back to a standing position. The deadlift is an example of a full body weight lifting exercise, which will work all the large muscles in your legs, buttocks, back and shoulders. Though the burpee is a cardiovascular exercise and the deadlift a muscle building one, the fact that they engage most of the body in a single exercise mean that both are excellent for burning calories, or for building muscle or strength.
Purpose
Your choice of exercise will depend on your goals. Generally, if you are looking for quick workouts, then you will stick to full body movements. If you are looking to lose weight or burn fat, then a circuit comprised of full body cardio exercises such as burpees and sprinting will be ideal. If you want to lose fat and build muscle, then a routine as simple as five sets of eight repetitions of deadlifts at increasing weight will be enough to get your body burning calories and your muscles rebuilding themselves, bigger and stronger than before.
References
- "The Ultimate Guide to Conditioning"; Mark Hatmaker; 2007
- "The Metabolism Advantage"; John Berardi; 2006
- Body Building: Burpees
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