How to Make a Full Body Workout Routine

This entry was posted in Exercise Fitness Workouts on by (updated on )

 

You’ve just signed up for your brand new gym membership & you’re excited to get started on your fitness goals, and then you walk in on your first day and see a gym floor full of equipment, and you have no idea where to start.  It can feel very overwhelming!

 

Gym Equipment

 

You may’ve even watched a few You-Tube videos and kinda know what your doing, but once on the spot, it seems kind of confusing.  All you know is that you want to work on your Abs, and lose some weight.  So what do you do?  Head to the cardio room and do the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do some crunches or use the Ab machine?

 

Even though you just want to work on your Abs, doing only crunches will not get you a six pack…sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  The more we train our full body, the more lean muscle mass we build the more fat we burn overall.

 

I always recommend hiring a coach or joining a group training program of some type, if you’re just getting started so you can work on form and technique.  However, this isn’t in everyone’s budget, so I’m going to show you an easy way to make a full body workout routine.

 

How do I Make a Workout Routine?

 

Instead of training specific muscles, think of training movement patterns.  If you train movement patterns, you’ll hit all of the major muscle groups, too!  Also, we do a lot of certain movement patterns in every day life, and I find that when we build workouts around these movements, people move, look, & feel better.  So here we go!

 

The basic sets and reps to start with is always 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise.  As you become a little more advanced in your training, you’ll play with the sets and reps.

 

Here are the 5 Main Movement Patterns to Include in your Workout

 

  • Push
  • Pull
  • Knee Dominant
  • Hip  Dominant
  • Core

 

Examples of Exercises Found in These Categories

 

Push

1. Vertical Push

Any type of Overhead Pressing Motion

 

2. Horizontal Push

Push-Ups – Bench Press – Floor Press


Pull

1. Vertical Pull

Lat Pull-Downs & Pull-Up Variations

 

2. Horizontal Pull

Any variation of the Row


Knee Dominant

Any variation of Squats, Thrusters, Leg Press, Step-Ups, &/or Leg Extensions


Hip Dominant

Hip Bridges, Leg Curls, Lunges, Dead Lifts, &/or Kettlebell Swings


Core

1. Stabilization

Planks and Plank Variations, Side Planks, Stability Ball Roll-outs, Crunches, &/or Dead Bugs.

2. Rotation & Anti-Rotation

High to Low Chops, Low to High Chops, Turkish Get-Ups, Get Up-Sit Ups, Stability Ball Circles, LIM Rotation, AR Press, Windmills, Farmer’s Carries, Russian Twists, & many more.

 

How Do I Put It All Together?

 

Here’s a basic workout to get you started.  Usually a full body workout that is based on Movement Patterns will have 6-8 exercises.  Each exercise below is linked to a You-Tube Video for demonstration purposes.

 

Complete 3 Rounds of the Following 6 Exercise Circuit, after going through a Dynamic Warm Up!

 

  1. Skaters x 24 Reps (Knee Dominant)
  2. Resistance Band Rows x 24 Reps (Horizonal Pull)
  3. Mountain Climbers x 24 Reps Each Side or 48 Total (Conditioning & Core)
  4. Push-Ups x 24 reps (Horizonal Push)
  5. Jumping Lunges or Reverse Lunges x 12 Ea Side or 24 Total Reps (Hip Dominant)
  6. Forward Facing Limited Rotations x 12 Ea Side or 24 Total Reps (Core-Rotation)

 

This workout above is considered Metabolic Resistance Training, the rep counts are higher and you’ll get your heart rate up, so no extra conditioning is really necessary.

 

However, if you were doing just 3 sets of 10-12 of each of the above exercises or just a basic strength routine, you may want to finish your workout with some cardio intervals or conditioning exercises for about 5 minutes or so.  You’ll choose a couple of the exercises to super set below and do work/rest ratios for them.

 

Examples of Metabolic Conditioning Exercises:

  • Burpees
  • Ball Slams
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Battling Ropes
  • Jump Squats, Jump Lunges, Jumping Jacks, Jump Rope
  • Bear Crawls
  • Sprints

 

You could choose to do Burpees and Ball Slams.  I’d set a timer for 30-45 sec and do as many Burpees as I could, then I’d rest for 30 sec.  Then, I’d do as many Ball Slams as I could do for 30-45 sec, and then rest for 30 sec.  You might complete 3-4 rounds of this and it shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes or so.

 

Remember, if you find yourself not doing your workouts due to lack of motivation, or want additional instruction on form and technique for certain exercises, consider trying out our 30 Day PT Experience at Being-Fit.

 

Thanks for stopping by,
Tommie