How often do you workout, on average? Maybe once or twice a week? Maybe three or four times? Maybe you’re always in the gym? No matter how long you spend running on that circuit or spending time in front of an exercise machine, it’s important to note how much you’re working each part of your body. Because without a holistic exercise routine, you might just be doing yourself a disservice.
Working out your whole body is very good for you; it ensures your entire body gets enough focus every single time you hit the gym, and it means you’re never missing out and underdeveloping a certain muscle group. Sure, some days you might want to focus on a certain area, but in general, it’s best to stick with a varied routine that keeps your whole body on its toes.
So it’s time to focus on working out your whole body; you’ve probably got some time to do so right now! You can work out from home, even if you don’t have any specialist equipment to make use of, and you can always adjust your routines to suit how you’re feeling throughout the day. Make sure you take note of the tips we’ve collected below if you’re new to working your entire body through a routine, and make sure you take your time!
Why It’s Good for You
Working out your whole body can do a lot for you, no matter if you’re a man or a woman. Most of all, it can save you a lot of time down the gym, especially if you’re a busy person or you don’t want to be forking out too much for a gym membership! Simply put, because you’re working out your body holistically, you won’t be having to fit in more and more workout routines to try and exercise other areas of your body.
Similarly, it’s much healthier for you, especially if you’re trying your hardest to develop your muscles and commit to a long term fitness routine. The rate of recovery is much faster when you’re working out your body as a whole, because you’re not overexerting one or two areas at once, and you can get straight back to working on these areas tomorrow as well!
And finally, if you’re someone who gets bored easily, or feels like your time down the gym is sucking up way too much of your life, a whole body workout allows you to fit other activities in around it. You can still go swimming, or play golf or tennis with your friends, when you’re working out your body holistically. Instead of needing to rest and recuperate, you’re giving yourself a chance to diversify, and you’ll certainly be a lot happier for it.
Start With the Chest
There are a few muscles in your chest that you should get to know: the pectoralis major, the pectoralis minor and the serratus anterior. Include workouts involving these muscles at the start of your routine, and try to circuit them for only a few reps (near 5 to 10) at a time. You can always do each exercise twice over if need be!
But what should you be doing throughout your full body workout, to focus on the chest and be able to move down your body in a satisfactory manner? Well, squeeze presses are pretty good for activating all three of these muscles, as well as various different types of bench presses – close grip and incline, used with both barbells and dumbbells. Get to know the different types of equipment that are used in a variety of chest muscles workouts, and make sure you know how they differ.
Press ups are also pretty good for activating the muscles in your chest, seeing as press ups alone depend on your upper body strength to be strong enough to hold your entire body up. You can do press ups in a variety of ways, including clap press ups, which mean you have to clap and catch yourself before you fall back to the ground again! Sounds a bit more fun, doesn’t it?
Work on Your Shoulders
The upper half of your body is one of the biggest areas of muscles throughout your entire physique, and thus, it only makes sense that you’d put a lot of time and focus into working out your shoulders on top of your chest exercises too. Indeed, there are plenty of Deltoid Exercises on the market, for both flexing and strengthening your shoulder muscles, so whatever you need to do for your shoulders, you’ll be covered!
One of the best workouts for shoulders is pull ups – sure, there’s a lot of focus on the back as well, but your shoulder muscles are targeted quite deeply, thanks to how much you’re going to be using your arms here. Similarly, if you have a pair of barbells, or some other kind of heavy weight you can lift, bench pressing them is going to beef up your shoulders as well, despite being a chest orientated workout.
But if you want to focus on your shoulders specifically, something like a standing overhead press would be best to circuit through as well. It’s one of the best exercises for developing your upper body strength, but it pulls your deltoids, triceps, and the serratus anterior (which also fans out into your chest) into the action most of all. In fact, it’s shown to completely activate the entirety of your deltoid muscles, so this could be the most effective exercise of all!
Then Target Your Lower Half
The lower half of your body is where you need to head next, and work on both your thigh muscles and your calf muscles, to ensure your legs are as strong and flexible as you need them to be. After all, people are often quoted as ‘skipping leg day’, and that’s certainly not something you want to fall into the trap of doing either! Working out your whole body is best for ensuring you remember your legs each and every time you hit the gym.
Leg workouts are quite simple in practice, and can be easily fitted into a whole body workout routine as and when you want to complete one. You can do most of the best and most effective leg routines at home already, so you won’t even need any gym equipment on your side either.
You can also focus a lot on your bottom here; working out your butt may give you the glutes you’ve always dreamed of, and if you want to be beach body ready in the upcoming months, the butt is definitely a big part of the picture! You can even work out your butt by lying down for the latter half of your full body workout, and who knows, that may just be the respite you need to get back up again.
Make Sure You Cool Down!
And once you’re done with your full body workout routine, you’re going to need to cool down in a similar efficient and effective manner. You’ve not just worked out a one or two groups of muscles here, and thus, you’re going to need to take a little more time ensuring your heart rate returns to normal, and your body is in a good place to heal up over night.
You’re going to need to stretch here, most of all, and hold each stretch for at least 20 seconds at a time. Go from your abs, to your hips, to your quads, and then back up again to your shoulders. You can go through a very succinct 5 minute cool down right here, if you don’t already have some preferential stretches you’d like to do, that you know your body responds to in a very beneficial way.
Once you’ve gone through your cool down, your time at the gym, or using an exercise mat in your living room, will be over and done with! Now isn’t that a real time saver routine?
Ready for a Full Body Workout Routine?
A full body workout routine doesn’t have to be as hard to follow as you may think; many people have gone to great efforts to put routines together for you, and it’s key to follow in their footsteps.
We’ve worked out why it’s good for you, and where in your body you should start and finish your routine. As you settle into a full body workout routine, you can switch things around as you feel like, but make sure you’re never accidentally pulling muscles or hurting yourself as you go!
Your body will thank you, one day, for all the work you’ve put in with a routine like this! You’ll be feeling much stronger, much more supple, and you’ll never feel like you’re top or bottom heavy from your time in the gym. It’s important to remember just how important every single muscle group in your body is, and it’s up to you to keep them in good shape.
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