Discover the best full-body strength workouts recommended by Men’s & Women’s Health for optimal results. In a busy world like today, planning one’s schedule to include an appropriate full contingent of workouts to target and develop full-simulated workout is almost synonymous with choosing which series to binge on Netflix, it seems like there are too many options and probably a few hours would be spent on the couch. It doesn’t matter if you’re an old timer at the gym or going to the fitness center for the very first time, this guide will help you gain strength, build positive image, and reveal that superhero hidden within you all along. And, no, there will be really lots of fun as well. Because building muscles does not mean that we are not going to use our comical muscle too.
Why Full-Body Strength Training?
The pleasure of full body workouts is that you are able to exhaust several muscle groups at once thus saving time and also enhancing functionality as a whole. Rather than focus on shaping only one specific area of your physique (yes, we are talking about your bicep curls), these movements are meant to develop and distribute strength evenly over some areas so that people will not have upper bodies that are capable of grappling bears and lower bodies that can’t climb stairs.
Full-body training is beneficial for both men and women because not only are muscles developed, but levels of endurance increase, metabolism is augmented, and injury risks are also eliminated. Who wouldn’t not wish for a body which is able to execute strenuous activities and still possess enough strength to twist off a stubborn pickle jar?
Let’s explore those wonderful full-body workouts which are going to make you feel like captain marvel or thor without the cape and the god-like powers although the muscles, or abs to be specific, should suffice.
1. The Classic: Squats
Squats can be compared to the Scottish knife, only that it is equivalent to almost all workouts. In a single go, these will target your gluteus, hamstrings, quadriceps and your midsection. Also, you will be thankful to them when the day comes when you can stand up from a sofa or a chair with no need to use your hands to push yourself up. Zoom in or out, that for me is good news.
How to do it:
- Stand with play pal frame of people where the distance between their legs is equal to the distance between the ankles.
- Pout welcome and keep your chest out while bending the hips as if there indeed existed a chair behind you.
- Bend until your thighs are in parallel with the floor surface or till your body allows.
- Then press your heels into the ground and stand up.
Pro Tip: In case the sound of cracking bones wafts her ears, she should not worry. Her body is assuring her, “We got this!”
Squats Progression Guide
| Level | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Bodyweight Squat | 3 | 12 | 30 seconds |
| Intermediate | Goblet Squat (with weight) | 4 | 10 | 45 seconds |
| Advanced | Barbell Back Squat | 4 | 8 | 60 seconds |
2. Deadlifts: The Exercise Where ‘You Pick Up What You’ve Put Down Back again’
Deadlifts may seem like an exercise which can only be utilized when losing something under the bed such as the TV remote, but rather it’s one of the most effective ways of developing the muscles in the back, glutes and hamstrings which are referred to as the posterior chain. Plus, they give one the opportunity to yell inaudibly while at the gym and without getting strange and judgmental stares from other participants.
How to do it:
- Assume a standing position with feet placed shoulder width apart with dumbbells/barbell in front of you.
- Slightly bend your knees and then hinge at the hips and hold the bar/dumbbells with your hands.
- The back should be kept straight as the Appendular weight is raised by erecting the hips and knees and pulling the weight onto the body.
- With the arms, gradually lower the Appendular weight offering resistance until the arms are straightened down.
Fun Fact: Deadlifts are one of the few instances in one’s life where for example dropping the ball weight is permissible if not encouraged.
3. Push-Ups: The Exercise That Is an Upper Body Chronicles That Has No Rival on Body Weight Workouts
What coffee is to Mondays is what pushups are to workouts. Pushups are permanent components of any workout routine. Push-ups works the chest, shoulders, triceps and the core as well thus targeting the entire body although a common misconception is that it is only an upper body exercise. Besides that, the abs give you the opportunity of pretending that you are performing a plank which is incorporating doing ‘abs’ when midway through, you feel tired.
How to do it:
- To begin, get into the plank position and place your palms on the floor a little bit more than shoulder width apart.
- From here, continue lowering your body until your chest is nearly an inch above the ground.
- Use your palms again to press yourself back on the starting position.
Humor Break: Give me a line if you think the floor is hard… I will tell you why the floor is the most comfortable thing.
Push-up Progression Plan
| Level | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Knee Push-Ups | 3 | 10 | 30 seconds |
| Intermediate | Standard Push-Ups | 4 | 12 | 45 seconds |
| Advanced | Plyometric Push-Ups | 4 | 8 | 60 seconds |
4. Lunges:
The Stairmaster’s Cousin If squats were to have a cuter, but all the same effective version, it would be lunges. These are amazing in targeting legs and glutes, while also throwing in a balance challenge – but who doesn’t want their exercises to be a little more demanding?
How to do it:
Stand straight and bring the two feet together in a comfortable position. One leg is stepped forward and the outer hip bones stretches down till there exists a 90-degree bend in both knees. Thrust the force from the ground through the front heel to reach the standing position. Bonus: After doing a few sets of lunges, the normality of walking might seem a purposeless act but that further emphases on ‘building strength’ is more likely to happen.
5. Pull-Ups:
Gravity’s Worst Enemy Rarely will one complete an exercise with as bitter feelings as in a pull up. For what does not seem complicated at all: just take a bar and pull the whole mass upwards. Out of many such pull ups one would not hesitate to make it sound so painful as pulling a tree out of the ground with one’s bare hands. But once you understand the concept, you start to feel omnipotent – and as though you are suspended in air (Wicked soundtrack).
How to do it:
Grip the bar with palms facing away and the hands closer than the shoulder width. Curve the body and lift it up till the chin crosses the bar. Gradually come down to the initial position.
Humor Break: The initial few pull up attempts can make you wonder if the force of gravity has suddenly increased. Hold on! Remember you are developing superhuman strength, one failed rep at a time.
Pull-Up Progression Plan
| Level | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Assisted Pull-Ups | 3 | 8 | 60 seconds |
| Intermediate | Negative Pull-Ups | 4 | 6 | 60 seconds |
| Advanced | Standard Pull-Ups | 4 | 8 | 90 seconds |
6. Planks: The ‘Shake It’ Core
Let’s face it, there is no type of exercise that is as underrated yet so painful and effective like planks. It literally allows you to be as still as a statue, but after the first 30 seconds one is surprised how moving images is so time consuming. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help that they are really worth that amazing burning feeling in the core, and working your abs, back, shoulders and legs as well.
How to do it:
- Assume the position for a push-up but this time supporting your weight on your forearms instead of your hands.
- Draw-in your abdominal wall such that your body forms a straight line from the head to the heel.
- Thereafter, without allowing your hips to drop, try and hold the position for the longest time.
Pro Tip: When you are doing a plank and shaking like you are doing a cha cha shake it off or pretend like you are shaking all the bad things that happened to you on that day.
7. Burpees: The Love-Hate Relationship
Burpees are the marmite of exercises you either love it or dread it. Bringing together a squat, a push up and a jump all in one motion- and none of those motions are usually very fluid or smooth to say the least, burpees are a total body exercise that is more effective in raising your heart rate than your boss telling you to work overtime.
How to do it:
- Stand at ease in an erect position
- Squat down, put the hands on the floor, and simultaneously kick the legs back into the push-up pose.
- Perform one pushup, bring feet back to your hands, and jump up.
- Repeat. And feel a bit pain in the heart.
Funny Interlude: You can consider this as a lesson of sorts – as far as life is concerned, you may fall down but keep rising (and rising and rising and so on…).
Last Words: Make Sure There is Strength Along with the Wow Factor of the Workouts
Getting strength of the entire body need not be tedious work. It’s about appreciating the process, enjoying the embarrassing moments (lunge falls upon us all from time to time), as well as those little victories along the way – like getting all the grocery bags in one go. Keep in mind that workouts need to be done consistently. They do say consistency is the key, Rome was not built in a day, and neither were muscles.
Now turn your favorite playlist on, make sure your water bottle is with you and prepare to handle those full-body power packs in a super-hero-like manner. As for who motivates you – think about how the sofa is always there for you when the work is over.
“Exercise? I heard extra fries!” – I know this is highly crazy but fun to think about.