Full Body Workout = Total Package!

By completing a Full Body resistance training workout just 3 x a week in under 45min each session will not only help you re-shape your body, but loose fat and gain strength. It's true full body workouts are the most under-utilized routines/programs in a gym. Regardless of your experience level from newbie to advanced, working your entire body in a single session is not only challenging, but an extremely effective way to build muscle, gain strength and burn fat all in one process. I have been doing full body workouts for over a year and there are many reasons for my decision to train this way. Here are the most beneficial reasons for utilizing full body workouts in your routine:

-Less time spent in the gym with same or greater results.
-Improved recovery, less pain and stress on the body.
-Reduce overtraining.
-Greater training benefits per muscle group.
-Great for tracking all types of goals from increase in strength, time and cardiovascular development.
-Allows for multiple day breaks avoiding continual stress on the body giving time to recover between sessions.
-Enhanced cardiovascular benefits.
-Works great for all levels of experience from first timers, to those who have been training & looking for better results, all the way up to advanced levels.
-Reduce intimidation or the "I can't" mindset because instead of having to do so many exercises for a muscle group now you can focus on the exercise being performed.

One of the hardest adjustments for most experienced trainees to follow is only performing one exercise per muscle group. It is tempting to do more than three sets per exercise, per muscle group if you are used to high volume training, but the goal is not volume it's intensity. By doing full body workouts means you will be working your entire body again in a few days, not just focusing on specific muscle groups each workout. So it is important not to get too carried away on how many exercises you are doing for each muscle group.

Because you are working on intensity and not volume, you will notice you are able to lift more weight, have less fatigue between workouts from overtraining specific muscle groups and are more motivated to train hard the next workout! Just never train full body workouts on two consecutive days in a row.

The goal with any exercise program is to find something that works for your goals and keeps you motivated. I am sharing with you what works for me, what helps keep me motivated and where I see the greatest results from increase strength and muscle growth.

Here is a sample of a single session Full Body workout. You can change up the exercises per muscle groups each session or you can repeat the same exercises. As for rep range, I do not have the belief there is a magic number to achieve greater benefits. You should always challenge yourself to failure or until you physically can't move the weight. It could be 6-8 reps, 10-12 or even 20 it's up to your abilities and how hard you are pushing yourself. It's that last rep that is so hard that counts the most! As for the number of sets my suggestion would be between 1-2 sets per exercise, but never greater than 3. The following exercises should be completed in the following order beginning with:

Leg Press
Leg Extensions
Seated or Lying Leg Curls
Lat Pull Downs (Reverse Narrow Grip) or Seated Rows
Chest Press or Bench Press
Shoulder Press or Lateral Raises
Tricep Push Downs or Seated Dips
Bicep Curls
Crunches

This may seem very basic, not enough exercises or not trendy enough, but it's effective and produces results. I want my workouts to be effective and worth my precious time. It's hard to think basic when all we are taught in our everyday lives is to be on top of cutting edge strategies, technology or concepts. With exercise it's not about fads or what's trendy, but about achieving the greatest benefits and ultimately results. I'm sorry, but the shake weight is just not going to make the cut!

If you would like more examples or different exercises to complete for each muscle group please ask! This is just an example of a full body workout, but there are MANY other exercise you can complete to achieve great results.