______                              THE Full Body Workout. 

Full-body workouts are the starting point for beginners. They are a great way to incorporate compound exercises to train the entire body in a short amount of time.

It is often overlooked as the emphasis is biased towards complex training regimens by ripped, seasoned bodybuilders. This gives the new gym enthusiast a false information base and a reason to incorporate training schedules reserved for professional bodybuilders when his body is not anywhere near ready to do so.

Every fitness trainer will promote his or her favorite split training routine to justify their employment while ignoring the requirement of the client. These simple and effective training sessions don’t get the credit they deserve.

For the beginner lifter, there is no method of training more effective than the full-body workout. 

Firstly, let us clarify…

WHO EXACTLY IS A BEGINNER?

The general definition:

A beginner is someone who is taking up weight training for the first time. They may have played a bit of sport or done some free-hand exercises in their time but never lifted weights which pushed the limits of their capability with the intention to build muscle. 

However,

The point missed by most is:

Even if one has 10 years of serious weight training experience under his or her belt BUT has taken a hiatus from the gym for a year or two and lived a sedentary lifestyle during that time, he or she may have the knowledge of training but the body has regressed to that of a beginner.

Remember, if not worked and instigated with weight training, the excess developed muscle in the body is not required and only the required (used at the time of a sedentary lifestyle) muscle mass and strength are retained.

One cannot expect to return to the gym after a year’s layoff and lift the same poundage he or she did during their peak.

WHY A FULL-BODY WORKOUT?

In a nutshell: Motor Control.

Before any kind of muscle mass can be developed, the beginner has to learn how to control their muscles while under the tension of weights. How to perform different exercises with proper form and technique.

The best way to do this is by performing compound exercises which are the backbone of any gym training. Thus, getting the body accustomed to perform exercises without putting any particular joint under excessive stress.

This will reduce the chance of injury and provide a foundation for the body to incorporate complex training methodologies and techniques in the future.

Full-body training allows beginners to train the same movement patterns multiple times a week rather than the once or twice a week advanced training splits.

Beginners can train movement patterns with high frequency because they will recover quickly from the session. After 1-2 years of training the beginner becomes an intermediate and could shift their training to upper and lower training splits.

WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?

The standard full-body workout consists of a three days per week format

 i.e. A Monday, Wednesday, and Friday training schedule. This provides plenty of time to recover between sessions.

On each day the six basic movements should be performed under the stress of additional weights. These are the squat, lunge, bend, push, pull, and core.

The exercises should be performed in the order of complexity or amount of energy needed to be executed.

This would mean compound exercises involving multiple muscle groups and joints, like the squat, followed by the isolation exercises which are easier to perform due to the use of one joint or muscle group, like barbell curls.

HOW MANY REPS AND SETS?

There is no hard and fast rule with regards to the amount of weight used as everyone’s starting strength and capabilities vary.

However, some consistency can be brought into the mix by way of the repetitions.

A good starting point is in the range of 10-15 repetitions, for 3 sets, with an amount of weight that would make you complete the last couple of repetitions with some degree of effort. 

If you can do 15 reps and feel you could have done a couple more, increase the weight. If you finish short, at around 12 reps due to muscle failure, then reduce the weight just enough to get you to 15.

In time,

One can add more volume by increasing the repetitions and sets,

and/ or

Increase the intensity by adding to the load and decreasing the repetitions.

However, these changes would be incorporated after a minimum of 4-6 months. By that time the body would be sufficiently conditioned to adjust to the added stress and the experience of one’s motor control would ensure good form and lower risk of injury.

Guidelines:

Do one exercise for each of the major muscle groups.

The first two weeks focus on practicing your form so the weight should be light. Do an additional set if needed.

For the second two weeks add another set. Start with a light warm-up set, then choose a slightly heavier weight for each of your next two sets. You should approach muscle failure by the target rep listed. Don’t sacrifice good form to do more reps if the weight is too heavy. You know you reach muscle failure when you can’t do any more reps on a given move with proper form.

For weeks 5-8 start with a light warm-up set then choose a more challenging weight for your second and third sets.

As you get stronger over time, do more reps and/or increase the weight to progressively challenge the working muscles.

If a given barbell or dumbbell exercise is too difficult, find its machine counterpart and practice on that before going back to free weights.

Follow this workout three times per week on nonconsecutive days (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).

Example of a full-body workout:

Alternate Full Body Workout A:

Barbell back squats – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Pull-ups/chin-ups (use assistance if necessary) – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Overhead Press (seated or standing, dumbbell or barbell) – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Dumbbell single-arm row – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Bench press (dumbbell or barbell) – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Alternate Full Body Workout B:

Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Barbell bent-over row – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Dumbbell walking lunges (or barbell reverse lunges) – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Lat pulldown – 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Incline bench press (dumbbell or barbell) – 3 sets of 8 to 12

Remember

Take it slow and do not focus too much on the aesthetics just yet. Building muscle and looking ripped takes time and effort. It will not happen overnight.

Take this time to learn the ropes and get your body to acclimatize itself to the new lifestyle.

The muscle building and the looks will automatically follow.

More importantly, there is no point in looking good if you are always injured and require recuperation more that training.

A good foundation will ensure a long and injury free gym lifestyle. All the Best♥

Also read: Warmup

“Image courtesy of farconville at FreeDigitalPhotos.net”