full body workouts

[jmarlaire]

I was just wondering if anyone else has chosen full body workouts verses isolation exercises and what your results were/are?

[Maxit]

I just finished "stage one" of New Rules For Lifting For Women that uses full body workouts.  I am a fan of full body workouts over spot training because I want to gain functional fitness - that is, I want to be able to strengthen in order to lift and pour those heavy bags of dog food, bins of laundry that need to to downstairs to the washer, hang those drapes, have enough upper body strength to pull myself up when hiking and run into an obstacle, etc.  I am very pleased so far - and my body is looking more toned head to toe (plus inches lost in the right places).

[raychulj]

I've been doing a program called Piyo from BeachBody the same makers of Insanity and P90x. After I finished Insanity I started Piyo to give my joints a break. It's low impact, but very intense. It works every part of the body while improving balance and flexibility.  It's a two month program and I just finished month one. I've noticed more definition everywhere.

[DeAnnC]

I do Less-mills Body pump 3 times a week and gets you a pretty good full body workout and great cardio.

[Heybales]

---

@jmarlaire wrote:

I was just wondering if anyone else has chosen full body workouts verses isolation exercises and what your results were/are?

---

Full body compound lifts - more bang for the time available.

Lets see, I could do curls for bicep isolation, or I could use the biceps in every single compound pull move I make. Pullups, bent-over row, upright row.

Same with triceps, spend time on them alone, or get in several better lifts using them and a primary muscle. Bench, shoulder press, incline.

Depends on your goal too.

What is your purpose in wanting to do resistance training?

Sporting event related might benefit from some iso stuff, some compound stuff, some plyo stuff.

For increased calorie burn, so you can eat more, circuit training, which is usually easier using machines, which is sadly mainly iso lifts. But you can still chose to spend time wisely there and pick biggest muscle.

If only so much time, do you work out quads or forearms to get a good burn in?

[jmarlaire]

Sounds good keep up the good work. It's pretty much what I've been experiencing 🙂

[jmarlaire]

Definition with plyo ok I actually have the stuff have to dig it out! Thx

[jmarlaire]

OK have to look into that workout!

[gerrymcd]

Most of the time I do full body workouts - typically using a TRX trainer.  Its been really, really beneficial in terms of improved stability, balance and flexibility.  In the past I used to get niggling injuries quite frequently.  I think the problem was due to some muscles being more overdeveloped than others, and perhaps not enough strength in some of the smaller, stalibilizing muscles.  Since I switched to full body workouts -- 6 or so years ago, I've rarely had an injury.   

[Nick17]

I do full body workouts 3 times a week with weights.    All it takes is a good knee dominant exercise (squats for example), a hip dominant exercise (stiff legged deadlifts or deadlifts for example), an upper body push (bench press or overhead press) and an upper body pull (chin-ups, pulldowns, or rows) plus about two assistance/isolation exercises and I can get through that in 45-60 minutes.

Whether you are doing weights, dumbbells, TRX, or resistance bands, you will get a good calorie burn, increase your resting metabolism as you add some lean mass, and also improve your overall health. 

Find something you like, have fun with it, and you can't go wrong.

[Wyogirl]

I personally do T25 5 times a week along with PiYo 5X a week.   I am 48 years old and my focus is keeping my metabolism up so I need to build and maintain muscle.  So this combination gets me cardio and muscle (T25)  as well as cardio/muscle/flexibility (PiYo).   It is a great combination.

You need to know what works for YOU and work towards your goals.  

I will tell you that I do isolation exercises for my abs 🙂  

Great question!

[Wyogirl]

@DeAnnC  Body Pump ROCKS!   Have you tried Combat?