Glad to see a weightlifting board on here. Does anyone like to do a full body workout from time to time or simply to target specific areas and work out with them on separate days?
What I find with a full body workout is my body seems to enjoy it more and the next day instead of feeling sore I feel really alive and full of energy. As I like to work out mostly using bodyweight my full body workout is usually something along these lines:
1. Warm up - Jump rope x 200, 10 Burpees
2. Full body stretches including arms, legs and back
Usually I find stretching works better for me after a little warm up but I'm not sure how it is for others.
3. 20 x standard pushups
4. 12 x standard chin ups
5. L sit holds - 2 x 15 seconds
6. 3 x 20 squats
7. 15 x standard push ups
8. 6 x wide grip pull ups
9. 10 x close pushups/diamond
10. Warm down usually with a jog and light streches
Therefore just wondering if anyone else has a similar body workout and how they prefer it to weighted body workout and to a specific workout like legs only.
Full Body Workout
posted on 8/3/14
I think full body workouts are great.
Protein synthesis is elevated in a muscle for about 24-36 hours post-workout, so hitting 3-4 full body workouts a week can, in theory, keep protein synthesis elevated pretty much the entire week!
I like your workout set-up, but I fear your bodyweight might not be enough to stimulate much muscle growth on certain movements.
For example, on squats, a lot of bodybuilders, powerlifters, and athletes will do their bodyweight plus in excess of 100kg (in fact, a lot of powerlifters can do over 200kg!) to stimulate muscle growth.
Long-term, doing bodyweight squats probably isn't going to induce a lot of growth. Of course, you can do more reps to make it more challenging, but beyond a certain rep-range, hypertrophy and strength stop being improved, and only the endurance of the muscle is worked - think Marathon runners: these guys put their legs under huge stress, but their frames are actually very small....heavier, more powerful movements over a shorter rep range (a lot of powerlifters lift a weight they can only do for 5 reps, for example) can induce more growth and power.
If you want to do bodyweight exercises, I'd recommend Bret Contreras' book on the subject; he outlines an array of different bodyweight exercises that can be challenging for people of all levels of experience.
For legs, for example, he advocates a lot of single-leg work, since this allows for a relatively large load and stress per leg whilst using bodyweight.
I think long-term, incorporating weights into your regime will be very beneficial, since this allows you to progressively increase the load you place on your muscles, but in the mean-time, I think the Contreras book will be very beneficial!
Hope training goes well, mate, and let me know if you have any questions
posted on 9/3/14
I have been working out for about 2 years now. Just did my first total body workout on Friday and I'm really sore.
Back to my normal lifting routine from Monday
posted on 10/3/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 19/3/14
I mix it up a bit. Targeted weights, full body workouts ( which I treat as cv), cycling and running.
posted on 20/3/14
I've done a couple of full body workouts, felt good enough but I didn't really enjoy it as much. I prefer to focus on one muscle per workout before throwing some cardio and core work in.
posted on 25/3/14
I dont see the point in full body workouts if you are wanting to gain size. Will start doing them once I am at a level I am happy with.
posted on 25/3/14
^As I say, it helps keep protein synthesis elevated.
Many popular programs have been known to provide great results doing 3 full-body workouts per week: HST and Starting Strength being the two best examples.
posted on 25/3/14
Aye, thats fine if you only have time to work out 3/4 times a week though. Like you said.
If you are able to do more then I will always favour targeting specific muscle groups. The current workout would be a major stepdown for me.
posted on 26/3/14
What sort of workout split do you do?
Most suggest that frequency is king based on the elevation of protein synthesis within a particular muscle after its been trained.
If you want to train 6 days per week, Lyle McDonald has a pretty good breakdown:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/lifting-6-days-per-week-for-mass-gains-qa.html
posted on 31/3/14
Mon: Legs/Abs + Fitba
Tues: Shoulders
Wed: Fitba
Thurs: Legs and Arms
Friday: Abs
Saturday: Back & Bis and fitba
Sunday: CHEST