The full body workout is the top fat burning strategy of all the best boot camp trainers, celebrity trainers and fatloss experts in the world. This is great news because it means that more and more people are ditching their old school bodybuilder style workouts and adopting more effective workout routines. The trick to getting better results from this ultra popular style of exercise is to know the difference between full body exercises and a full body workout.
The Full Body Workout: A full body workout targets all the major muscle group and some of the smaller ones as well. It can focus on one goal such as strength or fatloss but can also focus on multiple goals such as endurance (muscular and/or cardio), weight loss, mobility, balance, flexibility and more. A full body routine can include isolation exercises that mainly work 1-2 muscles at a time for example:
db press works the chest/biceps
db row works the back/biceps
squat works the legs/glutes
plank works the core/arms
cardio interval burns fat and boosts endurance
A workout that includes exercises like the ones listed above can be considered a full body workout but none of the exercises in it are actual full body exercises and that is the main difference between a full body move and a full body routine.
burpees - work legs, chest, arms shoulders, and core
db squat/press - works legs, glutes, biceps, shoulders, triceps, and core
inverted bodyweight row - works back, biceps, core, glutes, and legs
There are hundreds of exercises that can be considered full body moves (watch the video to see a few really great ones) and the reason these are so popular among top fitness experts is these exercises are much more demanding than isolation moves so they burn tons of fat and calories and they also boost fat burning hormones for up to 48 hours after your workout (after burn effect) which means your body burns tons of fat as fuel for up to 48 hours, in turn speeding up the fatloss/weightloss process. Isolation exercises do not have the same effect even when combined into full body workouts simply because they are just not as challenging.
So should you always stick with full body exercises? That really depends on your fitness goals and also on your fitness level. Full body exercises are very complex and demanding and best for fat burning, weight loss, endurance and general fitness but not every person has those fitness goals. Some people exercise to reduce stress or to recover from a serious illness like cancer or adrenal fatigue or to rehab injuries and they may need more isolation before they can progress to complex movement. When in doubt about what exercises to do or whether to train the entire body simply write down your fitness goals in order of importance and then focus on finding workout routines and exercises that are going to help you achieve those goals. For most people a mix of both isolation and more complex moves works best.
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