By Any training that suits your lifestyle and allows you to get the work done will be effective. This also depends on your initial goals. Many people like to lose weight first and foremost, and full-body training allows you to get the most bang for your bucks when it comes to using lots of muscle groups. I’m going, to be honest with you upfront and tell you that I personally do not train full body at all. But this is in preference to my goal, which is to gain muscle mass and stay lean (or get leaner for that matter). I have made my training work with my schedule that allows a full workout at least 5 days per week. Let’s go into the pros and cons a bit deeper
3 things you may not realise full-body training does for you
- It is a quick way to get your workout completed (if you are time poor). Full-body workouts are great because you can get away with completing an intense workout in half the time. This is great if, on a particular day, you are in a hurry or are time-poor. It’s a great way to get in and out of the gym, as well as achieving your exercise goals for the day.
- It’s very effective for fat burning and muscle building. Because you are working almost all of your body with each exercise, you are surely tapping into your fat-burning potential a lot more effectively than a normal weight training session. Usually, full-body workouts don’t allow rest periods, which produces an even greater amount of fat-burning potential and the afterburn effect.
- You build up endurance. Full body training is a great way to build up your endurance. The workout is quite testing on the body, but full-body workouts are a must if you prepare for endurance events. They will test your body, mind and soul.
3 things you may not realise that full-body can harm you
- It can lead to injury. When a workout is too exhausting, you may be susceptible to completing the exercise with poor form, thereby increasing your injury risk. To stop this from happening, listen to your body when it’s had enough, and always ensure that your form is as precise as possible. Injury can leave you without a workout for many days, not to mention frustrated and angry with your halt in progression.
- You are not increasing muscle mass. Full-body workouts don’t always focus on the best exercises to build muscle and strength. Perhaps this is not something you have considered. I want to point out that building muscle is the most effective way to lose weight and maintain a high metabolism. Weight training is your ticket to the buff and lean body of your dreams.
- It’s exhausting. A friend of mine is completing an endurance training schedule. Every day, she confesses that her workout leaves her exhausted and lacks any energy – even for her job. Now, because she’s training for an athletic event, she has to keep going. But along the progression of the training, she has injured her weak links. This is something to be aware of, so do please proceed with caution.
As you can see, there are always pros and cons to many different forms of training. As a coach and strength trainer, my advice is to implement full-body sometimes – and make sure you implement strategies like strength training and some cardio. Your overall training program should contain a strategy that will help you achieve your individual goals and keep you in check, so you do not suffer injury or exhaustion.
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