Full Body Workout Routine Not Only Builds Muscle But It Torches Fat … in Less Than 60 Minutes.

Why A Full Body Workout?

Full body workouts are probably the single most under-utilized workout routines in the gym.

Regardless of your experience level or existing strength, working your entire body in a single session is not only challenging, but an extremely effective way to build muscle, strength and even burn fat in the process. Even experienced bodybuilders can reap the benefits of switching to a full body workout, especially if they’ve been on a split routine plan for an extended period of time.

Before we actually take a look at a full body workout routine, let’s quickly discuss some of the advantages of working your entire body in a single session and the basics you need to know about before getting started.

The Benefits of Full Body Workouts

There are a number of benefits to performing full body workouts, including:

• Better core development
• Less overall time in the gym
• Improved recovery intervals
• Reduced risk of overtraining
• Greater training frequency per muscle group
• Increased energy expenditure during and after training
• Increases in beneficial growth hormones
• Highly customizable to different training goals, whether that is strength, muscle size (hypertrophy) , endurance or a combination of the three
• Better overall muscular development and symmetry
• Reduced risk of developing muscle imbalances, especially among smaller stabilizer muscles
• Secondary cardiovascular benefits
• Appropriate for all ages and levels of experience, from beginners to advanced trainees

10 Rules For An Effective Full Body Workout

Before you jump into full body workouts, there are a few of rules that you need to follow, especially if you are used to higher-volume, higher-frequency split routines:

Rule #1: Perform only one exercise per muscle group.

This is the hardest rule for most experienced trainees to follow, since you will probably be used to performing 2-3 exercises for each muscle group as part of a traditional split routine. However, because you will be working out your entire body, not just 2-3 muscle groups, it’s critical that you choose one exercise per muscle group on this plan.

Rule #2: Perform a different exercise for each muscle group each workout.
For example, if on Monday you performed barbell bench presses for your chest, on Wednesday, you’ll perform incline dumbbell chest presses. By choosing a different exercise each workout segment, you’ll work the muscle in slightly different ways, and from different angles. This will contribute to better overall strength and development.

Rule #3: Do not perform more than three sets of any given exercise per muscle group (you can perform one additional light warmup set, however.)

Again, if you are used to high volume workouts with lots of sets, you may be tempted to perform more than three working sets per exercise, per muscle group.

Don’t.

The goal here is maximum intensity during the three working sets, not to maximize volume. By the end of the three workouts each week, you’ll  find that you’ve either matched your split volume in terms of overall sets, or even increased it. And because you aren’t fatigued from previous exercises targeting that muscle group (as can be the case with split routines), you’ll likely find that you are able to lift more weight with a full body routine than with a split.

Rule #4: Ditch the Machines.

Most weight or resistance machines isolate muscle groups, which is the opposite of what you are aiming for with a full-body workout. 

Other than the Smith Machine or leg press machine, stick to free weights. Cable machines — especially Free Motion machines – are fine for some exercises, and you’ll see them included below.

This workout can be adapted to machines, but to get the maximum benefits of this particular full body workout plan, you’ll want to use free weights — equipment like dumbbells and barbells and some body weight machines like pull-up bars or chin-up stations, parallel bars for dips, etc.

Rule #5: Do not perform this routine two days in a row.

Because you are working every muscle group each workout, full body routines can put additional stress on your central nervous system and muscles. Resist the temptation to perform this workout two days in a row. Give yourself at least 48 hours rest and recovery time between each full body workout.

Rule #6: Choose compound exercises.

Again, the goal of a full body workout is to optimize your time in the gym, maximize the number of muscles you recruit and build core stability. With the exception of bicep and triceps, avoid isolation exercises and instead focus on compound, multi-joint movements — things like dips, presses, squats, etc.

Rule #7: Use a weight that allows you to perform between six and eight reps.

This plan can be modified to target strength (lower reps, higher weight) or endurance (reps in excess of 15), however, initially the goal is to build both strength and muscle size.

Keep your reps between six and eight per set, which will build a good foundation. Later, if you want to substitute a higher or lower rep day, that’s fine. But for the first 4-6 weeks, focus on keeping your reps in the strength and hypertrophy range.

Rule #8: Eat Right.

Pay special attention to your pre- and post-workout meals. Full body workouts are intense and require extra energy to keep your workout fueled up. Make sure to eat a balanced pre-workout meal with plenty of protein and slow digesting, complex carbs. Follow-up your workout immediately with a fast digesting protein like whey and some simple carbs to aid in recovery.

Rule # 9: Minimize rest time between exercise sets.

With this full body workout, you’ll be working out eight major muscle groups with one exercise for three working sets each. In order to get through the entire routine in under an hour, you’ll need to keep moving. This means limiting your rest time between sets to no more than 60 seconds, or ideally, performing an exercise for a different muscle group in-between sets (a super set.)

For example, if you just completed a set of barbell chest presses, instead of resting on the bench for 60 seconds, go immediately to the pull-up station and perform a set of pull-ups for your back and then return to the bench for your next chest set. If your gym is particularly busy and you’re afraid of losing your place on the weight equipment, this may not be practical. In that case, opt for the shorter rest period.

By super-setting with other exercises between sets or limiting your rest periods, you’ll keep your heart rate up (good for fat burning) and get through this challenging workout in under 60 minutes.

Rule #10: Watch the order of your exercises

Because full body workouts strength train all of your major muscle groups, as well as many of the smaller, more easily fatigued supporting stabilizer muscles, you need to pay attention to the order that you perform the exercises.

For example, you generally want to avoid working smaller muscle groups like triceps and biceps early in your workout, since you’ll rely heavily on them to assist with your larger, higher-weight movements like chest, back and shoulder exercises.

If you perform tricep or bicep exercises first in your workout, the smaller muscles will be fatigued, limiting the amount of weight you can move during pressing or pulling exercises.  Also, leave ab and lower back exercises (like back extensions) until after you’ve performed heavier leg exercises like squats or deadlifts. Both of these exercises require a great deal of core stability, and if your ab and lumbar muscles are fatigued, they can limit the effectiveness of leg exercises, as well as increase the risk of injury.

Rule #11: Don’t Be Afraid To Change It Up 

That said, it’s not a bad idea every now and then to change up the order that you perform certain exercises.

While it’s still a good idea to keep tricep, bicep and core exercises toward the end of your workout, changing the order that you perform your larger movements like chest and shoulder presses can help you break plateaus.

For example, performing shoulder presses before chest presses, when your triceps are fresh, will often allow you to move more weight on shoulder exercises than when you perform them after your bench press. However, expect your bench to be more challenging, since your triceps and front delts (shoulders) will be more fatigued from the earlier shoulder presses.

Within the larger movements, it’s a good idea to change up the order ever couple of weeks — not just to keep things fresh, but to ensure that you are always challenging your muscles as fully as possible.  

The full body workout routine I’ve put together below is set up to take the role of stabilizer and assistor muscles into account. So at least initially (the first four weeks), try to stick with the order I’ve provided. Below the workout, I’ve provided some suggestions on ways you can change out the order without dramatically impacting your overall performance during the workout.

Don’t Forget Your Exercise and Training Log!

To get the most out of this — and any workout — keep track of your progress with an exercise log. Increasing strength, mass and muscle endurance requires you to gradually increase the weight, reps and volume (sets) each successive workout to keep your muscles challenged and growing. Because this particular full body workout routine fixes your sets at three, progression will primarily be a function of increasing reps within the 8-10 range, as well as making slight increases in weight week-over-week.