Even though full body training is incredibly effective, very often it is underappreciated. People will say that full body is only for beginners or general conditioning.
You may only be able to work out two or three times a week when life gets busy. Due to work or family obligations, people on five or six-day splits sometimes miss workouts, which can leave some muscles not worked for up to a week.
This is where full body workouts shine. They even with little time spent in the gym, keep all muscle groups engaged. They’re also excellent for a change of pace. Surprisingly, it has been more than 60 years since full body training became popular. Let’s recap the reasons of why full body workouts really work.
Who used full body workouts
Sixty years ago, when men like Reg Park and Leroy Colbert graced magazine covers there wasn’t a bodybuilder who did not use full body training.
It was an easy concept: train, recuperate, and then repeat. This ideology was widely espoused by Colbert and Park, Steve Reeves, George Eiferman, John Grimek and even Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
The seven time Mr. Olympia, Arnold is best known for his split training routines and excessive volume, which worked wonders for him. But rarely do people know that Arnold in his earlier days built his mass on a full body workout which he called “The Golden Six“.
This workout is straightforward and effective. He advised performing full body exercises three times a week on different days, with no weight training on the days off. This is a great low-volume program for beginners or anyone looking to increase their strength.
Arnold’s full body workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Barbell squat | 4 | 10 |
| Wide-grip barbell bench press | 3 | 10 |
| Chin-ups | 3 | To failure |
| Behind the neck press | 4 | 10 |
| Barbell curls | 3 | 10 |
| Bent knee sit-up | 3-4 | To failure |
Leroy Colbert
Leroy Colbert, a bodybuilding legend, was a strong advocate for full-body workouts, believing they were the most effective.
In Colbert’s time, lifters typically did three sets for each body part, fearing that more would cause muscle shrinkage. Colbert broke this norm, starting with six sets for each body part, and his success proved him right.
These are his straightforward rules:
1. Work out your entire body every other day and rest in between training days.
2. Two exercises per muscle group
3. Your reps should be between 6-10. If you can do more than 10, increase the weight so that you fall into the 6-10 range.
4. Your sets should be 6 per exercise. (although this can be a lot of volume for some individuals)
5. Maintain a push pull order within the workout. For example train chest, followed by back, followed by triceps, then biceps…etc.
6. Do the bodyparts you want to prioritize first in the routine.
Leroy Colbert’s full body workout routine (with priority on arms):
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Body Drag Curl | 4 | 6-10 |
| A2 | Close Grip Bench | 4 | 6-10 |
| B1 | Incline Curl | 4 | 6-10 |
| B2 | Overhead Triceps Extension | 4 | 6-10 |
| C1 | Weighted Pull-up | 3 | 6-10 |
| C2 | Incline Bench Press | 3 | 6-10 |
| D1 | Bent-Over Barbell Row | 3 | 6-10 |
| D2 | Decline Dumbbell Fly | 3 | 6-10 |
| E1 | Barbell Front Squat | 3 | 6-10 |
| E2 | Military Press | 3 | 6-10 |
| F1 | Hack Squat | 3 | 6-10 |
| F2 | Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 6-10 |
| G | Standing Calf Raise | 3 | 12-15 |
| H | Seated Calf Raise | 3 | 12-15 |
Reg Park
Reg’s physique was developed with three full body workouts each week, utilizing the 5×5 workout plan and heavy compound movements. In addition, he was a very powerful man who had performed bench presses with 500 pounds, behind-the-neck presses with 300 pounds, and squats up to 600 pounds.
Reg Park’s full body workout routine:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Back Squats | 5 (2 of which are warm ups) | 5 |
| Pull Ups | 5 | 5 |
| Dips or bench Press | 5 | 5 |
| Wrist work | 2 | 10 |
| Calves | 2 | 15-20 |
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Front Squats | 5 (2 of which are warm ups) | 5 |
| Barbell Row | 5 | 5 |
| Standing Shoulder Press | 5 | 5 |
| Deadlift | 3 (2 warm up sets 1 work set) | 5 |
| Calves | 2 | 15-20 |
Steve Reeves
Reeves’ favored workout routine was his “Classic Physique” program, first shared as an article in Joe Weider’s journal “Your Physique” in May 1951.
The workout, like most full-body workout variations, should not be performed more than three times per week to prevent overtraining and to give the body plenty of time for rest and recovery. It takes roughly two hours to complete the workout, which is something that many people nowadays would view as a drawback.
Steve Reeves’ full body workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Incline bench dumbbell press | 4 | 10-12 (decrease the weight as you progress in sets) |
| Breathing front squat supersetted with the exercise below | 4 | 12 |
| Dumbbell lateral raises or flyes | 4 | 12 |
| Seated barbell biceps curls | 4 | 12 (slowly lowering the weight on the negative part) |
| Dumbbell forward raise(alternate hands) | 3 | 12 |
| Barbell bent-over rows | 3 | 12 |
| One arm dumbbell rows | 3 | 12 |
| Splits with barbell | 1 | As many reps as you can |
| Alternate raises (lying position) | 3 | 12 |
| Good mornings | 2 | 12 |
| Dumbbell french press | 4 | 12 |
| Calf raises (leg press machine) | 2 | 40-50 |
| Barbell Bench Press | 3 | 12 |
George Eiferman’s Full Body Workout
Actor, stuntman, and Mr. Universe champion Eiferman traversed the nation educating high school students about the need of physical fitness.
Like other champions of the era, he was a fervent supporter of full body conditioning and used it as his primary training approach. He used to do 6 sets for larger bodyparts in the upper body and 3 sets for legs and smaller bodyparts.
His favorite full-body, three-times-per-week routine was this one:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hack Squat | 3 | 7-10 |
| 2 | Bench Press | 3 | 7-10 |
| 3 | Dumbbell Fly | 3 | 7-10 |
| 4 | Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 7-10 |
| 5 | Alternate Dumbbell Press | 3 | 7-10 |
| 6 | Cheating One-Arm Row | 3 | 7-10 |
| 7 | Cheating Barbell Curl | 3 | 7-10 |
| 8 | Dumbbell Concentration Curl | 3 | 7-10 |
| 9 | Dumbbell Wrist Curl | 3 | 7-10 |
| 10 | Side Bend | 3 | 7-10 |
| 11 | Sit Up | 3 | 8-12 |
As you can see some of these guys lived and trained in the pre-steroid era when anabolics were not known and used, but they all had great results using fill body workouts. This is something I would absolutely consider and give it a try for about 8-12 weeks.
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