Full Body Workout Routine?

_lyndseybrooke_
_lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
With my work schedule, I can only get to the gym one night per week - the rest of the week I work out at home using FitnessBlender.com. I usually do a lower body routine Monday, upper body Tuesday, abs and cardio Wednesday, cardio Thursday (usually kickboxing), and then I go to the gym on Friday for a full-body strength training routine. Sometimes my FB workouts include weights, particularly with upper body routines, but a lot of them are body weight only. I know some think it's best to split up body parts, but I have to do what I have to do.

I'm trying to design my own full-body routine, and this is what I've come up with. I'm not sure how long this will take me, but I'm trying to get it all in within an hour. I'm trying to hit a different muscle group with each exercise so I don't have to rest throughout the entire routine. I plan on doing three rounds of 2-4 moves per muscle group with a moderately heavy weight.

WARM UP
5 Minutes on elliptical
5 Minutes on stair-climber

ROUTINE - THREE ROUNDS
Chest Press – 10 reps
Hammer Curls – 10 reps
Tricep Dips – 10 reps
Front Raises – 10 reps
Bent-Over Rows – 10 reps
Decline Sit-Ups – 20 reps
Russian Twists – 20 reps
Leg Presses – 10 reps
Incline Bench Press – 10 reps
Incline Bicep Curls – 10 reps
Tricep Pull-Downs – 10 reps
Lateral Raises – 10 reps
Deltoid Flies – 10 reps
Good Mornings – 10 reps
Leg Curls – 10 reps
Leg Extensions – 10 reps
Upright Rows – 10 reps
Lat Pull-Downs – 10 reps
Step-Ups – 10 reps per leg

COOL DOWN/STRETCH (20 SECONDS EACH)
Hamstring stretch/shoulder pull-over
Standing quadriceps stretch
Inner thigh stretch/arm cross-over
Tricep stretch/calf and hip flexor stretch
Downward facing dog
Cobra stretch
Child’s pose

*I plan to eat dinner 1-2 hours before heading to the gym and I will follow this up with a protein shake before I go to bed. I usually do not do a regular workout (though I try to get in some activity) during the weekends, so I'll have two rest days before beginning to work out again.

Too much? Not enough? Bad order? Tell me what you think! Also, feel free to suggest more moves that I could experiment with, because I don't plan on doing the same exact thing every single Friday forever. I'm pretty new to the idea of lifting and I'm a weakling, so be gentle. :)

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    what exactly are you trying to accomplish here? that seems like a lot of unnecessary volume to me. i would strongly suggest doing an established routine...you do not have the requisite knowledge to program your own; it takes a good deal of experience to program your own routine...and even then, most people use variants of tried and true programs and routines.

    that there is going to take you a lot of time with little benefit...not to mention, 2x weekly is pretty much bare minimum for any full body lifting program. 3x weekly is pretty standard for a full body routine and 4x weekly is pretty standard for a split routine. Once per week isn't going to do a whole lot for you...you'd be better off doing just about anything else.

    again, for best results and less wasting of your time, do an established program.
  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
    Woah! That is a huge amount of volume and way too much un-needed isolation exercises. Do a barbell weight training program where you add weight every workout. Stick with compound movements. Do this 3 x per week. To make it easy go with the 5x5 program or Starting Strength. They are popular and both work well.

    Do your cardio afterwards or on opposite days. You will get way better results.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    what exactly are you trying to accomplish here? that seems like a lot of unnecessary volume to me. i would strongly suggest doing an established routine...you do not have the requisite knowledge to program your own; it takes a good deal of experience to program your own routine...and even then, most people use variants of tried and true programs and routines.

    that there is going to take you a lot of time with little benefit...not to mention, 2x weekly is pretty much bare minimum for any full body lifting program. 3x weekly is pretty standard for a full body routine and 4x weekly is pretty standard for a split routine. Once per week isn't going to do a whole lot for you...you'd be better off doing just about anything else.

    again, for best results and less wasting of your time, do an established program.

    I don't have the money or the time for a personal trainer or a strength training program. If this is too much volume, I'll cut it down - that's why I asked this question here, to get suggestions. I figured since I was doing some strength during the week, even if it's not with heavy barbells, that would constitute as 2-3 days of strength. Like I said in the question, I can only get to the gym once per week, and I'm not going to waste it up on the elliptical or something when I can do cardio at home and burn more calories.

    If I cut it down to 1-2 moves per muscle group, would that be better?
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    Woah! That is a huge amount of volume and way too much un-needed isolation exercises. Do a barbell weight training program where you add weight every workout. Stick with compound movements. Do this 3 x per week. To make it easy go with the 5x5 program or Starting Strength. They are popular and both work well.

    Do your cardio afterwards or on opposite days. You will get way better results.

    Like I said, I can't get in the gym more than once per week. I already wake up at 5:30 AM and I'm not willing to wake up earlier to drive to the gym. I don't get home from work until 6:30 PM and, after cooking dinner, eating, and doing the dishes, it's nearly time for bed. On Fridays, I can go to the gym between 8 and 10 PM and not have to worry about losing sleep.

    What kind of compound movements do you suggest?
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    How's this?

    WARM UP
    5 Minutes on elliptical
    5 Minutes on stair-climber

    ROUTINE - THREE ROUNDS
    Chest Press with free weights – 10 reps
    Hammer Curls – 10 reps
    Tricep Dips on bench – 10 reps
    Front Raises – 10 reps
    Bent-Over Rows – 10 reps
    Decline Sit-Ups with medicine ball – 20 reps
    Russian Twists with medicine ball – 20 reps
    Leg Presses – 10 reps
    Good Mornings – 10 reps
    Weighted Squats – 20 reps
    Upright Rows – 10 reps
    Lat Pull-Downs – 10 reps
    Step-Ups – 10 reps per leg

    COOL DOWN/STRETCH (20 SECONDS EACH)
    Hamstring stretch/shoulder pull-over
    Standing quadriceps stretch
    Inner thigh stretch/arm cross-over
    Tricep stretch/calf and hip flexor stretch
    Downward facing dog
    Cobra stretch
    Child’s pose
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
    I agree with cwolf and 2120. Way too much volume and isolation exercises. It's doesn't take a personal trainer to follow an established program. Check your local library for free books on weight lifting or Amazon for the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women." It costs about $10.

    Compound moves that are a must include squats, lunges, deadlifts and rows. Then do variations of these moves. For example, a squat push press; front/reverse/side lunges; single leg deadlifts.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    Okay okay, I was trying the same thing you are and it didn't work. I joined the Stronglifts 5X5 group here and it's amazing. Luckily I have been able to get to the gym everyday but I used to only do it once a week. Look up the group, read the summary thread and do both workouts on your one day. It's established and it's a full body workout. Doing this one day a week is better than nothing or even the things you're trying to do. I learned the hard way that you'll do more damage trying it your way rather than an established workout routine.
  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
    I agree with cwolf and 2120. Way too much volume and isolation exercises. It's doesn't take a personal trainer to follow an established program. Check your local library for free books on weight lifting or Amazon for the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women." It costs about $10.

    Compound moves that are a must include squats, lunges, deadlifts and rows. Then do variations of these moves. For example, a squat push press; front/reverse/side lunges; single leg deadlifts.

    Agree with these guys.

    At least 80% of your workout should be compound movements.

    A good place to start is learn how to deadlift and squat with the barbell. These are two full body workouts by themselves. Youtube has tons of video on how to get good form down.

    Do 2 warm up sets, and then 5x5 for the work sets. 90 seconds rest if the set was easy. 3 mins if it was hard.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    Yep, look into New Rules of Lifting for Women. It's a great, totally body workout. I particularly like the different compound movements that they introduce. If you know know what a split squat is, youtube it, or a romanian deadlift? There's tons of videos.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    To rephrase what people are saying, I would cut most isolation exercises like curls, tricep pulldowns, etc. as well as things like sit-ups (you can do abs at home if you want to work them). Instead of just 10 reps of bench press and then moving on to curls, spend some extra time doing additional sets of bench. Maybe 5x5, maybe 3x10, but I would do more than one set. The same for the other big movements.

    Here's a sample routine for 5x5 strength training with a barbell:
    Workout 1

    Squat
    Bench Press
    Barbell Row

    Workout 2

    Squat
    Military Press
    Deadlift

    Notice a couple of things. One - compound movements. You don't see any curls or light exercises like step-ups. Exercises like squats and deadlifts incorporate a lot of different muscles into the movement (hence the term "compound" movement) and you essentially get more bang for your buck out of these exercises as a result. The other thing to notice is how few exercises this training program incorporates. You have 2 different workouts you alternate between, each with only 3 exercises and 15 total sets.

    Last point I'd make is to try and find a second day you can go to the gym - you'll be happier with your progress this way. You don't need to be there every day, but twice a week or better yet three times a week is ideal.
  • BEERRUNNER
    BEERRUNNER Posts: 3,046 Member
    When I cram I usually end up doing this routine

    Run a mile
    DIPS
    Pull ups
    Leg press
    Overhead press
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    what exactly are you trying to accomplish here? that seems like a lot of unnecessary volume to me. i would strongly suggest doing an established routine...you do not have the requisite knowledge to program your own; it takes a good deal of experience to program your own routine...and even then, most people use variants of tried and true programs and routines.

    that there is going to take you a lot of time with little benefit...not to mention, 2x weekly is pretty much bare minimum for any full body lifting program. 3x weekly is pretty standard for a full body routine and 4x weekly is pretty standard for a split routine. Once per week isn't going to do a whole lot for you...you'd be better off doing just about anything else.

    again, for best results and less wasting of your time, do an established program.

    I don't have the money or the time for a personal trainer or a strength training program. If this is too much volume, I'll cut it down - that's why I asked this question here, to get suggestions. I figured since I was doing some strength during the week, even if it's not with heavy barbells, that would constitute as 2-3 days of strength. Like I said in the question, I can only get to the gym once per week, and I'm not going to waste it up on the elliptical or something when I can do cardio at home and burn more calories.

    If I cut it down to 1-2 moves per muscle group, would that be better?

    Don't need a PT. Look into programs like New Rules of Lifting for Women, Starting Strength, Strong Lifts 5x5...these are great beginner lifting programs and produce outstanding results.

    Is there anyway you can get into the gym at least twice per week? If not, I'd recommend your one day looking like this:

    Friday

    - Squats
    - Bench Press
    - Dead-Lift
    - Over Head Press
    - Barbell or Dumbbell Rows

    Basically hit all of the compounds and don't waste any of your precious time with isolation/assistance movements.

    For home then I would recommend getting a pull-up bar and some resistance bands and doing some BW resistance work another 2 days per week...could look something like this...

    Monday

    - Pistol Squats (5x15xBW)
    - Push-ups (5x15xBW)
    - Glute Ham Raises (5x15xBW)
    - Pull-ups (5x15xBW) ***using resistance bands as needed for assistance
    - Glute Bridges

    Wednesday

    - Lunges (5x15xBW)
    - Dips (5x15xBW) **resistance bands as needed for assistance; if you can't find something to do dips with, more pushups
    - Floor Hip Extension (5x15)
    - Pull-ups (5x15xBW)
    - Planks (front and side)

    Maybe something like that...

    Also, you could forgo the gym altogether and look at resources like "You Are Your Own Gym."

    And just as an FYI, crunches and sit-ups really do very little for your core...the planks and glute bridges I noted above will do far more for your core than crunches and sit-ups.
  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
    I concur with cwolfman. Although pistol squats are pretty tough. A good way to ease into those is to do them on a stairway. On the Friday workout make sure you are going heavy with really good form.

    Other than that the program he outlined would be good.

    Jeff
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    Pinterest and bodybuilding.com also has great ideas.

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