Every newbie wants to figure out an approach that would help him or her achieve their goals as quickly and efficiently as possible. Training, as it soon turns out, requires not only physical but also an intellectual investment. In order to understand which methods and practices fit your aspirations, you need to grasp multiple aspects related to the way your body functions. Finding an effective training strategy is the foundation of your success. Full body workouts every day is one of the strategies that’s becoming more and more popular these days. Proponents of this type of workout argue that it is more effective and takes less time and resources than the classic body part split workout. This article looks at the peculiarities of full body workouts in detail. What happens if you do a full body workout everyday? Let’s find out.
What is a full body workout?
During a full body workout, you train your entire body, activating different muscle groups in a single workout. Full body workouts are contrasted to body part split workouts. Body part split workouts are focused on particular muscle groups. For example, you devote a day to chest and back, another day to legs and core, another day to arms and shoulders.
Full body workouts are based on compound movements – exercises that activate different muscle groups simultaneously. By contrast, body part split workouts mostly include isolated exercises – the ones targeting just one muscle without activating any other.
Benefits of a full body workout
Full body workouts are reported to yield diverse benefits (5).
They are time-saving
Full body workouts take less time than classic workouts. Typically, full body workouts are performed two-three times a week as your muscles require rest. This saves time for those with busy schedules. In addition, since full body workouts train the whole body, you can sometimes skip a session without worrying about the imbalance. Each individual full body workout can take a little longer than a split workout, but overall you are spending less time while getting similar results. Aside from that, during a well-planned full body workout, you need less time for recovery, since you’re rotating the muscles worked on by targeting various muscle groups in each session, thus giving one muscle some time to rest while you’re training the other one.
Read More: Working Out Before Work: Peel Out Of Bad And Get Sweatin’!
Better muscle recovery
One of the most widespread problems faced by people who exercise every day is poor muscle recovery rates. This means that their muscles simply do not have time to recover despite the fact that they focus on different muscle groups on different days. Since full body workouts are recommended to be separated by at least one day of rest, your muscles have time to recover, which leads to better results.
They’re good for flexibility
As you age, your muscles perform progressively poorly. Full body workouts help improve your flexibility and range of motion by making your muscles work as a unit.
Time for other sport activities
When you train your whole body several times a week, you have time for other types of training. For example, if you perform cardio training for health, or you’re striving to run 10 km, full-body workouts give you 4-5 days a week for such activities.
Hormonal boost
If your goal is muscle mass gain, the amount of testosterone in your body during exercise is extremely important. The more testosterone your body produces, the faster you gain muscle mass. During a full body workout, you activate different muscle groups, which stimulates the production of more testosterone. By contrast, when you load only one muscle, less testosterone is produced, so you gain lean muscle mass at a slower rate.
The structure is more flexible
One of the most annoying things almost guaranteed for anyone who trains for a long time is the training plateau. This describes what happens when you realize your vigorous workouts are not yielding the desired results. At this point you are either not improving your performance, not getting stronger or not gaining muscle mass, despite the fact that you train hard regularly. One reason for the plateau may be a lack of change in your routine.
Therefore, constantly changing something in your training program is imperative. Full body workouts make changes easier by targeting one muscle group with only a few exercises that can be easily substituted for others. On the contrary, split body workout makes the task more difficult for you, since you are already performing a lot of exercises on that target one muscle group. In addition, if you are injured, the full body workout is easy to modify in order to avoid overloading your injured body part. In the case of a split body workout, you will have to miss an entire session, which may seriously disrupt your plans.
Better CNS recovery
Another plus of full body workouts is less stress on the central nervous system on a weekly basis. When you exercise – no matter how exactly – you strain your central nervous system. Therefore, if you feel constantly tired and unable to improve your performance, one of the reasons may be the effect on your central nervous system. Full body workouts reduce the risk of CNS fatigue and subsequent reduction in the effectiveness of your workouts, since they follow recommended day-offs between sessions.
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Great for home training
If you don’t have access to a gym, full body workouts may be your perfect option. Achieving the required variety of exercises for training by only focusing on one muscle group may be difficult without gym equipment. By contrast, full body workouts are possible to do even with a pair of dumbbells, since only a lesser variety of lifts overall is required.
Perfect for fat loss
If your goal is fat loss, a full body workout is your best choice. Why is it so? Since at this time you are consuming fewer calories than you normally would to lose weight, your resources for recovery are limited. At the same time, you cannot give up training completely, since you risk starting to lose muscle mass instead of fat. As full body workouts are not overly demanding in terms of recovery, they allow you to achieve balance and successfully move towards your ideal body.
They’re less boring
Full body workouts are not as boring since you train less often. Secondly, you can make them as diverse as possible, and movements are changed frequently to make your routine exciting and satisfying.
Can I Do Full Body Workout Every Day?
NSCA recommends 2-3 days a week of resistance training workouts for all muscle groups for beginners (1). Everyday full body workout routine may not be as effective as you’d expect, and you’ll just waste your resources on nothing and exhaust your body.
If you’re at an intermediate or advanced level, you may consider increasing the number of your workouts to 4 or 5 per week. But in any case, a full body workout everyday is not recommended. Your body needs time to rest, recover and grow your muscle.
Best Exercises For A Full Body Workout
As mentioned before, you should focus on compound exercises, and target smaller muscles or specific areas towards the end of your session. Here are some of the best compound exercises for your perfect workout.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts may seem a technically simple exercise, yet it is crucial to perform them correctly if you want to achieve maximal efficiency (2).
With your feet flat beneath the barbell, squat down and grasp the barbell with your hands approximately shoulder-width apart.
Keep your chest up, and pull your shoulders back while looking straightforwardly rather than up or down.
Lift the bar, keeping it close to your legs. Focus on taking the weight back onto your heels, rather than your toes. Think about pulling the weight towards yourself on the way up. Lift to thigh level, make a small pause, then return under control to the starting position.
Let the weight come to a full rest between each rep. While it’s on the floor, take a second or two to ensure your body is in the proper position. Your chest should be up, upper back tight and eyes looking forward. Now, you can repeat the movement.
Read More: Benefits Of Deadlifts: A Triple Threat For Your Back, Booty, And Legs
Kettlebell swing
This exercise will get you solid glutes, more flexible hips, and a core of steel (3)
Stand wider than shoulder-width apart, and set the kettlebell on the floor or a mat about 12 inches in front of your feet. While bending down to pick up the kettlebell, make sure to position your back parallel to the ground. Hips have to be precisely in line with your chest or slightly above depending on your height.
You can be sure your stance is done well if your shinbone is perpendicular to the ground. If you’re on the taller side, a slight angle is possible. Turn the crook of your elbows out past your shoulders. Grip the top handle with both hands, palms facing you.
Hike the kettlebell back as if you’re hiking a football. Swing the kettlebell forward using your glutes, keep it in a low swing. Make sure you swing it to approximately chest height, where your forearm is parallel to the ground. Swing it to the height of your head after you have adjusted to the move and feel comfortable. Bring the kettlebell back down and try to catch it in your hip and then hike it back using your shins. The kettlebell should hit your butt on the arc behind you. That’s one rep, make 10-20 repetitions.
Burpees (4)
Stand up with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Squat down with your back straight and locate your hands on the floor between your feet.
With your weight on your hands, kick your feet back so that you’re on your hands and toes in a pushup position.
Perform one push-up before jumping your feet back to their starting position.
Leap up strongly from this position, reaching your hands and arms over your head.
Final Thought
To sum up, a gym full body workout every day of the week is not recommended for most, particularly beginners. More exercise does not always mean better, and overtraining does not yield great results. Two-three days of a full body workout will be enough for most people. Attempts to perform full body workouts every day of the week may result in diminished performance and constant fatigue.
Working out is extremely important if you wish to lose weight, but your diet is a primary factor determining your success. Consider Keto diet for a protein boost, or a Mediterranean diet for balanced, well-rounded nutritious meals. Don’t forget to drink lots of water, especially before, during, and after your training sessions.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
SOURCES:
- Can I Do a Full Body Workout Everyday? (2019, livestrong.com)
- How to Deadlift with Perfect Form (2019, menshealth.com)
- One Calorie-Burning Exercise You Can Do During Commercial Breaks (2018, apartmenttherapy.com)
- The 10 Best Moves to Lose Your Love Handles (n.d, menshealth.com)
- The Top 10 Reasons To Use Full-Body Workouts! (n.d., bodybuilding.com)
