With the high demand for more efficient and effective workouts, full-body training is becoming a more popular training protocol, allowing you to activate several muscle groups in one workout. However, the answer to the query of whether or not it is advisable to have a full body workout everyday is not a straightforward one. It requires a great deal of knowledge about the topic of exercise physiology, recovery requirements, and unique fitness aims. Read on to learn all about it.
What to Know About Full Body Workouts
Definition and Structure
Full-body workouts aim to engage all the major muscle groups — including the chest, back, legs, shoulders, arms, and core — during a single workout. These workouts usually consist of compound exercises that simultaneously stimulate multiple joints and muscle groups. Typical exercises may include squats, deadlifts, bench presses, or rows.
Benefits of Full-Body Workouts
- Saves time: It is possible to train more muscles into a shorter amount of time in the gym with a full-body workout. This is especially helpful for those who do not have time for individual sessions focusing on muscle groups due to a busy lifestyle.
- Higher Calorie Burn: When more muscles are being used, the heart rate will rise, leading people to burn more calories during the workout and after the workout due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).
- Better Muscle Balance: Working out all major muscle groups per session prevents muscular imbalances from training specific areas.
- Improved Cardiovascular Function: Many full-body workouts include movements that increase the heart rate, leading to better cardiovascular function.
Is it Wise to Have a Full Body Workout Everyday?
While the benefits of full-body workouts are clear, their frequency is key to maximizing gains and minimizing risks.
Recommended Frequency
Fitness experts generally recommend doing full-body trainings two to three times per week. This provides plenty of time for recovery between sessions, which is critical to muscle repair and development. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends two sessions per week for beginners and three sessions for more advanced participants.
Health Risks of a Full Body Workout Everyday
- Muscle Recovery: After an intense workout, muscles need time to recover. Doing full-body workouts daily may leave you under-recovered, leading to overtraining and injuries.
- Overuse Injuries: Doing the same muscle groups over and over without appropriate rest can lead to overuse injuries, including tendonitis or stress fractures.
- Mental fatigue: daily high-intensity training can lead to mental burnout, making it hard to maintain motivation in the long run.
When Daily Workouts Might Make Sense
Traditional strength training certainly cannot and should not be performed every day. Still, there are instances in which it is okay to have full body workout everyday:
- Less Strain: Walking or light cycling as a form of low-intensity cardio can be done every day with little straining of muscles.
- Days with Active Recovery: This does not mean to not be active at full intensity for a day, rather doing a light session either based on mobility or flexibility. It would help in sustaining the activity for the day while allowing your muscles to rest.
- Skill-Based Training: Daily practice may be beneficial without heavy lifting if the focus is on skill improvement (e.g., practicing a sport).
Structuring Your Full-Body Workout Routine
To truly put a full-body workout into practice, follow these tips:
- Exercise Selection: Focus on compound exercises that use multiple muscle groups. Target for 6-8 exercises in each session.
- Sets and Reps: Modify the sets and reps according to your goals and fitness levels. Lower reps (4-6) with heavier weights for strength improvements, moderate reps (8-12) for endurance or hypertrophy.
- Rest Periods: Include rest times between sets to recover. Go for a longer rest period (2-3 mins) for strength training and a short (30 sec to 1 min) for endurance.
- Weekly Schedule: Determine the days you will do the workouts, allowing for at least one rest day between sessions. An example of a schedule would be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for full-body days, with active recovery or rest days in between.
Conclusion
Full-body workouts are an efficient way to target multiple muscle groups in one go, but you should not do them every day because of the need for recovery and injury risk. A balanced regimen of 2 to 3 full-body sessions per week for optimal returns while considering the disadvantages and necessary rest for maximization of strength gains and health benefits.
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Sources:
- https://athleanx.com/articles/full-body-workouts
- https://fitbod.me/blog/full-body-workouts-every-day/
- https://www.pursuefitness.com/blogs/news/daily-full-body-workouts-effective-strategy-or-risky-business
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