Full Body Muscle Building Workout - TOTAL BEAXST | ATHLEAN-X (2024)

FAQs

Will full body workouts build muscle? ›

The main goal of a full-body workout is to target all of your muscle groups to efficiently and effectively promote muscle growth. Whether you're a bodybuilder of any level, are underweight, or want to build muscle following an injury or illness, a total-body workout can help you gain muscle and strength.

The push/pull/legs split is probably the most efficient workout split there is because all related muscle groups are trained together in the same workout. This means that you get the maximum overlap of movements within the same workout, and the muscle groups being trained get an overall benefit from this overlap.

Exercises for The Beginner

Beginners should do full-body workouts and include 4-6 movement patterns, with one exercise per pattern in each workout. (You can learn more about why full-body workouts are great for beginners here.)

A full-body workout means many groups of muscles are working at once. This helps to achieve greater workout results from a lesser number of exercises. Because these are more strenuous exercise than usual, the muscles require 2-3 days to recover from all the strain they endure. Hence, these must not be attempted daily.

Drawbacks of a Full-Body Workout

There could be an increased risk of overtraining. Full-body workouts can be difficult and exhausting. A typical full-body workout might include squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull downs, and abdominal work all in the same day.

Beginners should do full-body workouts three days a week. We recommend a Monday, Wednesday, Friday training schedule. This will give them plenty of time to recover between sessions. On each day, follow the basic functional movement patterns; squat, lunge, bend, push, pull, and core, and lift weights.

Attempting more than four exercises in one workout may make the session drag, depleting focus and energy levels. However, depending on what you're doing and your energy for the day, five or more could be totally fine for you.

'The reality is for most people, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced, between three and five,' says Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.

This holds that regardless of whether you're trying to build muscle, strength, power, or endurance, performing three sets of 10 reps per exercise is a good place to start. The scheme mostly works, especially if you're just starting out with strength training—because everything works in the beginning.

What is the number one full body exercise? ›

1. Squat with overhead press. By adding an overhead press to the classic squat, you're able to target both the upper and lower body with this exercise. Chakoian says that having to focus on both your own body weight and the weight of the dumbbells adds a little cardiovascular workout, too.

Burpees combine the benefits of a pushup and a squat, so they are an excellent full-body exercise. To do a burpee: From a standing position, drop down into a squat. Rather than jumping back up, move into a plank position.

Many people find it helpful to start with cardiovascular to get the blood flowing, then to move to strength training, and to end with flexibility once the tissues are already warmed up. By touching all three phases, you develop a comprehensive, full body workout routine.

Full-body workouts work best for most people

There are a few reasons for this, but the main reason most people should do full-body workouts over split workouts is time. Most people don't have enough time to dedicate an hour a day to exercising in the first place, let alone spend that much time on a single muscle group.

Sets. Bodybuilding legend Leroy Colbert was very adamant about full-body training and said he never trained productively any other way.

How to build muscle. Spending your whole day in the gym isn't necessary to build muscle. Weight training for 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week is enough to see results. You should try to target all your major muscle groups at least twice throughout your weekly workouts.

Full-body workouts are a great training split to follow. However, doing a full-body workout every day is not ideal. This is because you'll be stimulating your muscles in one session, and to do this daily will not give them enough time to recover. 2-3 days is a good rule of thumb to follow.