Training your entire body with a full-body workout, two days a week, is all you need to do to maintain your musculoskeletal health and fitness. A proportioned workout means you train your muscles according to their relative mass. That is, if your legs are small in proportion to your chest and back, you should do more sets for your legs. Or, if your upper body is quite small, you should do more upper body sets compared to lower body.
Intensity and Volume
The intensity and volume of a full-body workout falls between a muscle-toning and a muscle-building program. Muscle-toning programs incorporate light to moderate resistance for three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions. Muscle-building routines entail four to six sets of six to 12 repetitions. Choose a muscle-toning or a muscle-building route if your body is well-proportioned. However, if your upper body is small relative to your lower body, do heavier weights for four to six sets of six to 12 reps for your upper body muscles and three sets of 15 to 20 reps for your lower body muscles. Do a muscle-building routine for your lower body and a muscle-toning routine for your upper body if your upper body is relatively smaller.
Circuit Training
A full-body circuit training program utilizes exercise stations in which you move from one station to the next with no more than 30 seconds of rest between each station. Dumbbell and machine exercises are ideal for this type of training, because it is much easier to change weights than it is to slide weight plates and collars off and on a barbell. Include chest presses for your pectorals, pull-downs for your back, leg extensions for the front of your thighs, leg curls for the back of your thighs, dumbbell curls for your biceps, dumbbell extensions for your triceps, lateral raises for your shoulders and situps for your abdominal muscles. Complete three to six rounds of the circuit, depending on your needs.
Superset Training
Lifting weights utilizing the superset style of training means you pair two exercises together, completing all the sets you need to do before moving on to another pair of exercises. For instance, in a full-body workout, pair a chest exercise with a back exercise, a quadriceps exercise with a biceps exercise, a hamstring and glute exercise with a triceps exercise and an abdominal exercise with a shoulder exercise. Complete three to six sets of each exercise in a pair. If your upper body and lower body are not proportioned, pair your upper body muscles together and your lower body muscles with an abdominal exercise.
Giant Set Training
Giant set training pairs three to five different exercises together for the same muscle, completing one set of each exercise while resting only about 10 seconds between exercises. You would do three to six rounds of the giant set. For instance, do a set of pushups, flat dumbbell presses and flat dumbbell flies one right after the other for your chest. Then, repeat this trio of exercises two to five more times before working on your next muscle. A giant set for your back may include one-arm dumbbell rows, lateral pull-downs and seated rows. Incorporate squats, leg extensions and dumbbell sumo squats for your quadriceps. Do one-legged dead lifts, leg curls and barbell dead lifts for your hamstrings and glutes. Perform cable curls, alternating dumbbell curls and concentration curls for your biceps. Include triceps dips, two-arm triceps extensions and triceps press-downs for the back of your arms. A giant set for your shoulders may include dumbbell shoulder presses, dumbbell lateral raises and upright dumbbell rows. Finally, do situps, double crunches and bicycle crunches for your abdominal muscles.
In a full-body workout, do three exercises for one muscle group. Complete one giant set or three total sets per muscle if you are toning your muscles. Do two giants sets or six total sets per muscle if you want to build the size of your muscles.
References
- "Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 1997
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle; 2000
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults; William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., et al.; 2002
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