7 Best Full Body Exercises To Work Your Entire Body

Wanna be in the best shape? Then do the best full body exercises and work every muscle. Start with these super-effective workouts.

Exercise is the perfect metaphor for life when you stop and think about it.

After all, the more you put into it and the harder you work, the more you get out of it.

Despite this, however, we also know that many of you lead very busy lives, and you simply cannot find the time to exercise six times per week, for hours on end.

What’s more, many of you will probably not want to spend every free minute you have in the gym, no matter how dedicated you are.

Thankfully, you needn’t have to. If time is against you and you can only train, say, 3 days each week, a full body workout routine is ideal.

As the name implies, a full-body routine means that you work your entire body every time you hit the gym.

Rather than just working one major muscle group, or possibly two, you will instead work all major muscle groups. Although it may sound easy, in reality, it is anything but.

To help give you a few ideas of what you can do to maximize your time while in the gym, here’s a look at 7 best full body exercises that will allow you to work your entire body.

The Best Full Body Exercises

Here are the best full body exercises that trainers personally do in the gym:

1. Burpees

Anybody that says that burpees are easy is obviously a liar, a sadist, or both. Burpees are not easy.

In fact, they’re very difficult, which is why we have included them in our list of the best full body exercises today.

Burpees build core strength, explosive power, and they are one of the best exercises for conditioning that you could ever wish for.

To perform a burpee:

Begin by getting down into a squatting position, placing both hands down on the floor directly in front of you.
Next, kick both feet back so that you are now in a push-up position with your chest grazing the floor.
Now, jump up so that you are in a squatting position once again and jump up into the air as quickly as you can.
Once your feet touch the ground, that’s one repetition completed.
If you really want to show off, clap your hands together while jumping.
Repeat for as many reps as required.

2. Barbell Bench Press

The key to a successful full-body workout is heavy compound exercises. If you aren’t giving each muscle group 100% max effort, you won’t see or feel the benefits.

The barbell bench press is arguably the king of the compounds and will work wonders for those of you looking to pack mass onto your chests.

To perform this exercise:

Lay down on a flat bench, and position yourself underneath a barbell, so that you are looking directly up at the bar.
Grasp the bar securely with a fairly wide grip, and slowly and carefully lift it from the rack.
Lower the barbell down until it gently grazes your chest.
Hold for a second until you begin to feel a slight stretch in your chest, and slowly press the bar back into the air, not quite fully locking out your arms.
Repeat for as many reps as required, and carefully re-rack the bar when you have finished.

3. Dumbbell Shoulder Press

If you’re looking to build boulder shoulders, seated dumbbell shoulder presses are perfect.

They target all major aspects of the deltoids muscle, and they’re great for piling on the mass as well as for toning.

To perform seated dumbbell shoulder presses:

Take a pair of dumbbells, grasp one in each hand, and take a seat on a bench set at an upright position.
Next, bring both dumbbells up to ear height, rotating your palms so that your palms are facing in front of you.
Now, slowly press the dumbbells into the air above your head, making sure NOT to touch both dumbbells together at the top of the lift.
Try to focus pressing the dumbbells into the air, without bringing both palms too close together.
Hold for a second, and slowly return the dumbbells down to the initial starting position.
Repeat for as many reps as required.

4. Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are considered by many to be the ultimate back exercise. As mentioned on On Steroids Lab, they not only tone the back muscles, they also are great for building quality muscle mass.

They are also proof that you can build quality muscle mass without the need for heavyweights, or any weight for that matter, other than your own body.

Here’s how they’re done:

Position yourself underneath a secure chin-up bar.
Reach up, or jump up if the bar is too high, and grasp it firmly with an overhand grip, that is a couple of inches wider than shoulder-width.
Now, cross both feet, bend the knees, and pull yourself up into the air.
Pull yourself up until your chin is level with the bar.
Hold for a second, slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position, and repeat for as many reps as required.

5. Walking Lunges

While squats are great for working the legs, we always tend to focus on them, so today we’re going to focus on walking lunges instead.

To perform this exercise:

Begin by standing with both feet just wider than shoulder-width and both arms down by your sides.
Now, slowly take one step forward with your right leg, bending the right knee as you do so.
Bend the knee until it is as close to the ground as it can go.
Now, push up with the right foot, stand back up so that you are in the starting position, and repeat the exact same movement with the left leg.
Repeat for as many reps as required.

6. EZ Bar Bicep Curls

No full-body workout routine would be complete without mentioning the guns.

If you don’t have an impressive set of biceps to flex, do you even have an impressive physique at all?

EZ bar bicep curls are perfect for hitting both heads of the biceps muscle, and they are much more forgiving on the forearms too.

Here’s what you need to do:

Begin by taking an EZ bar and loading it with a weight that you know you can handle.
Grip the bar with an underhand grip, just wider than shoulder-width.
Keep your back straight, look up, and slowly curl the bar up into the air, until it is level with your chin.
Hold for a second until you can feel a deep squeeze in the biceps, and slowly return to the starting position.
Make sure that you resist the temptation to swing the weight and bend your back.
If you do, the weight is too heavy.

7. Close-Grip Bench Press

The bench press is not just an exercise for working the chest muscles. If you adjust your grip, you can actually target numerous other parts of your body, including the triceps.

Close grip bench presses are the perfect exercise for anybody looking to build meaty triceps. And as you know, it is the triceps that give arms their mass, not the biceps, so don’t neglect them.

To perform this exercise:

Begin by laying on a flat bench, underneath a barbell just as you would when performing a bench press.
Grasp the bar with an overhanded grip, bringing your arms much closer to your body.
Ideally, you want both elbows to be tucked in at your side before you begin.
Slowly un-rack the weight, lower the bar down until it grazes your chest, hold for a second, and press the bar back into the air, not quite locking the elbows out.
Making sure to keep your elbows tucked, repeat for as many reps as required.

Now, these are the best full body exercises you should focus on if you’re trying to get shredded.

At the beginning aim for 10-12 repetitions for each exercise, then, in time, increase the difficulty by adding more weights and doing more reps.

You should perform 3-4 sets per day, 3-4 days a week. That’s how you’ll build your muscles properly.