Good Full Body Workout Routine For Fat Loss

Resistance training is essential for long-term weight control and quality of life. Regular resistance-training sessions add lean muscle to your body, increasing your strength and lower your body fat. Full-body workouts exercise each major muscle group in one workout and are a good way to reduce your body fat. Combine full-body workouts with cardio for the most effective fat loss.

Strength-training Recommendations

Perform your full-body workout routine two or three times per week on nonconsecutive days. Choose one exercise for each major muscle group in your body, for a total of eight to 12 exercises. If you are new to exercise, start with one set of eight to 12 repetitions per exercise. As your conditioning improves, increase up to three sets per exercise. Every four to six weeks, change the exercises you perform to prevent a fat-loss plateau.

Sample Program

One exercise for each major muscle group may seem daunting because you have so many choices. But you don't need your workout to be complicated to be effective. Start with basic exercises and when you change your program, try new things. A good full-body routine can start like this:
Back — Pulldowns.
Chest — Barbell chest press.
Quadriceps — Dumbbell squats.
Shoulders — Dumbbell lateral raises.
Hamstrings — Stepups.
Biceps — Barbell curls.
Calves — Standing calf raise.
Triceps — Pushdowns.
Abs — Exercise ball crunch.

Circuit Training

You can increase your fat-burning, full-body workout by performing it in a circuit. Circuit training involves performing each exercise back to back with little to no rest between exercises. It increases your calorie burning by raising your heart rate higher than traditional weight training. You can do your circuit by performing eight to 12 reps of each exercise or by timing the exercises. For example, do pulldowns for 30 to 60 seconds before moving to bench press next for 30 to 60 seconds, continuing on in this manner for each of your circuit stations. At the end of one circuit, rest two to three minutes and repeat it one or two more times.

Importance of Cardio

Cardio is an essential component of your fat-loss program. Full-body workouts yield better results when combined with regular cardiovascular exercise. Perform cardio at least three to five days per week for 30 to 60 minutes each session. Keep your intensity moderate to high for the most fat loss from your entire body. Walking is a good way to start, but gradually increase the difficulty of your sessions by running or doing the stair climber as they burn more calories per workout, according to MayoClinic.com.