Repetitive exercises that target only a single muscle do not deliver the same results as a full-body workout. A full-body workout can help you meet your goals, whether you want to start a fitness program or need to introduce new challenges to your current regimen. You can customize full-body workouts to incorporate more fat-burning or more strength-training exercises.
Morning Melt
Dr. Mehmet Oz recommends his "20-minute morning melt." He suggests spending 20 minutes doing a cardiovascular routine first thing in the morning, before you eat. He recommends adding a strengthening component to a morning walk by lifting your knees higher and pumping your arms. Make the workout more challenging by walking and marching while holding light hand weights or soup cans. Alternate punching each arm forward for two strides. Keep movements fluid and avoid overextending your arms.
Compound Exercises
The key to some full-body workouts is doing compound exercises. Certain calisthenics and floor work target multiple muscle groups at the same time. Keep your pace fluid and fast, and you will raise your heart rate. Sports physiologist Mike Bracko recommends a 15-minute workout that cycles among five exercises. Do 20 repetitions of deep front lunges on each leg. Get on all fours and do 20 repetitions of arching your back and then making your back concave. Hold your body in the plank pose for a count of 10 or 20, release and repeat 10 or 20 times. Stand up and swing your arms from out at your sides toward your back. Hold for five counts and bring your arms forward again until they align with your torso. Repeat 10 or 20 times. Stand with one arm on the seat of a chair and raise a 5-lb. weight along the length of your side. Hold for a beat and slowly lower the weight. Repeat 10 or 20 times.
Boot Camp
Often led by personal trainers, boot camp workouts integrate aerobic exercise with muscle building and flexibility work. Routines typically feature a back-to-basics approach, mixing jumping rope, sprinting upstairs or racing through an obstacle course with strengthening work, such as hauling a heavy bag across a field. Calisthenics, such as squats, lunges, pullups and pushups, work your upper and lower body.
Circuit Training
Like boot camp, effective circuit training varies your activities so that you get a full-body workout. The key in circuit training is not to rest between stations, which keeps your heart rate raised and maximizes your fat-burning. A total-body circuit includes compound exercises such as burpees, lateral raises, abdominal crunches on a slant board and squat thrusts. For more cardiovascular activity, add sprints on a treadmill or jumping rope.
References
- The Dr. Oz Show; The Best Diet for Your Body Dilemmas; January 7, 2011
- "O, The Oprah Magazine"; 5 Exercises to Work Your Whole Body in Only 15 Minutes; Elisabeth Svoboda; May 2005
- "The New York Times"; Marching, but to Different Beats; Raul A. Reyes; August 12, 2010
- Brian Mac Sports Coach: Circuit Training
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