The Perfect Full-Body Workout to Shed Fat and Gain Muscle
If you're unable to dedicate a full hour at the gym each day to do isolation arm workouts and leg workouts, or even a push day protocol like a chest and triceps or chest and back workout, embrace the full-body workout. Whether your goal is brute strength or a functional workout for longevity and injury prevention, this routine fits the bill.
We all come to a point in our lifting journey when ego takes a back seat in order to stay healthy. This full-body workout is suitable for experienced lifters and weight lifting for beginners. It comprises compound exercises, as well as lower-impact moves that stimulate muscle growth throughout your entire body without taking up hours of your week.
You'll need access to a full gym for this full-body workout routine to utilize a barbell, dumbbells, weight bench, Smith machine, parallel bars or dip machine, and Swiss ball. If you're traveling or doing an at-home workout, try our top full-body dumbbell workout, full-body kettlebell workout, full-body workout at home, and full-body calisthenics workout.
Related: Sissy Squats: The Secret Weapon for Leg Strength and Mobility
Best Full Body Workout Plan
1. Deadlift
James Michelfelder & Therese Sommerseth
How to Do It
With a barbell in front of you, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Roll the barbell up to your shins, to start.
Bend down to grasp the bar outside your knees.
Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, push through your heels and extend your hips until you’re standing with the bar in front of your thighs.
Make sure to keep the bar close to your body throughout the movement.
Perform 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
2. Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Bench Press
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Lie back on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip (palms facing one another), to start.
Arch your back slightly and tighten your glutes and abs.
Plant your feet firmly.
Push your feet into the floor as you press the dumbbells back up.
Complete 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
3. Bulgarian Split Squat
James Michelfelder
How to Do It
To start, hold a dumbbell in each hand.
Rest the top of your left foot on a bench or box behind you so that your back knee is bent 90 degrees.
Bend your hips and right knee to lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor.
Keeping your torso upright, drive through your planted leg to rise.
That's 1 rep.
Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
4. Inverted Row
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Set a barbell in a power rack (or use a Smith machine) at about hip height.
Lie underneath it and grab it with hands about shoulder-width apart with the bottom of your heels on the floor.
Hang from the bar so your body forms a straight line.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull yourself up until your back is fully contracted.
Complete 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
Related: How to Do Spider Curls for Bigger Biceps
5. Dip
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Keeping your arms straight, hold your body up on two parallel bars that are a little wider than shoulder-width apart, to start.
Descend until your chest is roughly in line with your hands, then push back up to the starting position, locking out your elbows.
That's 1 rep.
Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, resting 60 seconds in between sets.
6. Seated Incline Dumbbell Curl
James Michelfelder
How to Do It
Sit on an incline bench while holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, to start.
Keep your elbows close to your body as you curl the weight up.
Squeeze your bi’s at the top.
That's 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
7. Swiss Ball Roll-Out
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Kneel on the floor and rest your forearms on a Swiss ball, to start.
The ball should be directly under your shoulders.
Roll the ball forward as you would with an ab wheel until you’re about to lose tension in your abs, and then roll back.
That's 1 rep.
Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, resting 60 seconds between sets.
8. Burpee
Beth Bischoff
How to Do It
Stand with feet at shoulder-width.
Keep your back straight as you squat down and place your hands on the floor.
Brace your weight and jump back into a pushup position.
Keep your core tight as you hold the pushup, drop your belly to the floor, or perform an actual pushup, then jump your feet to your hands and stand back up.
Immediately jump up as high as you can with your hands overhead and hips extended.
That's 1 rep.
Complete 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Related: What 4 Body Fat Percentage Ranges Look Like
What Is a Full-Body Workout?
If you have kids or a demanding job, a full-body workout plan is the key to building muscle and strength without having to go to the gym five to six days a week.
"I prefer the full-body split because I think sometimes when you do specific body-part programing and you're sick for two days, you start to get a little bit unbalanced," says Nike personal trainer Brian Kent.
Unlike a workout split, which trains individual body parts, a full-body workout plan trains the entire body. While workout splits tend to utilize isolation movements and machines, the best full-body workouts include total-body exercises that work several muscles at a time. While many split routines include compound movement such as deadlifts and back squats (or some sort of squat variation) a full-body workout plan depends on them.
For the last few decades, bodybuilders have sworn by the use of split workouts for gaining size and strength. However, studies suggest that when the same amount of exercises are performed, full-body workouts are just as effective as split workouts when it comes to gaining muscle.
How Long Should a Full-Body Workout Be?
Like any routine, the length of your full-body workouts depend on your goals. While some people may need to spend hours at the gym in order to get an effective workout in, others can build muscle with just a few full-body workouts a week. It's not really about the amount of time spent in the gym, but rather the quantity of sets and reps per week, says NASM certified Sports Nutrition Coach and Personal Trainer and owner of Nastasi Nutrition, Pete Natasi.
"A full-body workout typically takes a bit longer than a traditional bodybuilding split, usually ranging from one to two hours," says Nastasi. "This is because you're targeting multiple muscle groups in a single session. Research suggests that performing 12 to 20 sets per muscle group per week is ideal for maximizing muscle hypertrophy. If you’re following a three-day-per-week full-body routine, which I highly recommend, aim to include 4 to 6 sets for each major muscle group per session with weights between 60 to 80 percent of your 1-rep max."
Related: 7 Best Oblique Exercises to Put the Finishing Touches on Your Six-Pack
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