How To Get A Whole Body Workout Without Spending Alot Of Money
There are many approaches to fitness and improving health and vitality. Some of the approaches are undoubtedly better than others. Remember the Thighmaster? That was a great example of an incomplete fitness program.
Today trainers, fitness enthusiasts, and even the medical community are realizing the benefit of whole body fitness. If you want to get into the best shape of your life, you wouldn’t focus on one area of your body or one movement, you’d focus on your entire body, right?
What Is a Whole Body Workout
A whole body workout is a fitness program that focuses on functional movements. When you move your body, say to grab a dish out of an upper cupboard, you don’t just move your arm. You move your entire body. You plant your feet on the ground for balance. You might even shift your weight so that you can stretch and reach higher.
You hold your core muscles tight and your reach up. You’re using muscles from your feet to your fingertips. In the gym, most of the machines and movements work in isolation. For example, the butterfly machine that works your pectorals and latissimus muscles is probably great for bodybuilders who want to focus on building strength and bulk in isolated muscles.
However, there just isn’t a functional application for that movement. When in life do you need strength to bring your elbows and forearms together? You don’t.
So a whole body workout prepares you to better manage the rigors of daily life. You’ll gain strength, mobility, and endurance. You’ll be ready to handle whatever life throws at you, whether it’s climbing a tree to rescue a cat, or hiking the Grand Canyon.
A Whole Body Workout Gives You a Beautiful Body
A whole body workout does more than just make your body move and function optimally. It also helps work your entire body so that all of your muscles are worked. Have you ever noticed how unbalanced some athletes look?
For example, if you look at a cyclist, they often have large legs if they do a lot of hill climbing, or they’re quite thin if they ride for distance and endurance. Their upper body is often quite disproportionate. And that’s fine if they LOVE riding bikes.
A whole body workout combines cardio and strength training so that you burn calories and fat while you’re building and toning your muscles. It’s how a person gets six-pack abdominals. You can do all the sit-ups in the world and not get a six-pack if you have a layer of fat hiding your work. A whole body workout attacks both – it gets rid of that layer of fat and builds those muscles.
Let’s also say that a whole body workout gives you all of the health benefits that cardio and strength training can provide, including:
* Improved heart health
* Reduced risk of obesity and diabetes
* Reduced risk of depression
* Better sleep
* Better posture
* Reduced risk of osteoporosis
* Improved mobility
* Stronger joints, tendons, and ligaments
* Better endurance
* More energy
* More confidence, body awareness, and improved brain function
And that’s the short list. There have been entire books written about the health benefits of a combined fitness approach. If you want to look great naked, and clothed, and you want to improve your health, energy, and fitness, then a whole body workout may be your path.
It’s a Time Friendly, Budget Friendly Approach
Whole body workouts require little time or financial investment, so the whole body workout may be ideal for you. Workout at home if you don’t have time to go to the gym or if you do not have time to spend hours on a fitness machine.
If you are on a budget, it’s good to know that you can get in great shape without spending a fortune.
The following are the components of a complete whole body workout.
Next, let’s take a look at the components of a complete whole body workout. Then we’ll talk about types of movements and help you begin to create your whole body workout program.
Four Core Components of a Whole Body Workout
A whole body workout is exactly what it sounds like – it works your entire body. There are a few different approaches that you can take when you embrace a whole body workout program. You can focus on certain areas of your body and take a strength and cardio focus, and we’ll talk about how to do that.
Or you can work your entire body with a variety of functional movements and we’ll talk about those too. First, let’s take a look at the various components of a whole body workout and we’ll give some functional and exercise examples.
1. Your Core Muscles
Your core muscles are those muscles that are found in your back and stomach. They reach from your neck all the way to the top of your buttocks. There isn’t really a movement that you can perform day-to-day that doesn’t use your core muscles.
When you sit down or stand up, you use your legs and your core muscles. When you wave goodbye to someone, you use your arm, shoulder, and core muscles. As you age, the strength of your core muscles can help keep your spine erect and allow you to look ahead. And strong core muscles can help prevent back pain and reduce the risk of back injury. And let’s face it, a nice strong stomach is pretty sexy.
Functionally, most exercises use your core muscles as well. You can’t run or jump or lift weights without using your core. There are movements that strive to make your core work harder. They include the plank, sit-ups, and an L-sit. However, these movements also use other muscle groups including your arms and legs, so they’re considered whole body.
2. Lower Body
Your lower body muscle group includes your leg muscles and your gluteus muscles. They’re often thought of as your largest muscle group and they’re stronger than your other muscles. This makes sense because you stand, walk, and move a good portion of your day and you require a lot of your lower body.
Lower whole body movements include the squat, the lunge, and a good morning, just to name a few. Think about the squat movement for a moment. When you perform a squat properly you’re holding your back and abdominal muscles tight to keep your back upright.
So the squat works both your lower body and your core. The same is true for a lunge. You can add an upper body component to it by adding weights for squatting or lunging while holding a ball.
3. Arm Muscles
Your arms are a smaller muscle group but no less important. You use your arms to make your way through daily life. Imagine not having arms. Life would be a challenge. Most upper body workouts and movements also include a shoulder movement. The shoulder joint is a complex joint and is prone to injury. Strengthening it can help prevent painful injuries.
Functional arm exercises include simple things like a pull-up or a push-up. A shoulder press and dips are also movements to consider. They all use your core muscles and your leg muscles are used to a smaller degree.
4. Your Heart and Lungs
Finally, no whole body workout is complete without some degree of cardiovascular exercise. Your heart and lungs are undoubtedly functional and it makes sense to exercise them.
Think about a movement like jump roping. You use your legs to jump, your arms to swing the rope around, and your core muscles to hold it all together. You also exercise your heart and lungs, and the more intensely you jump rope, the more you use them. So simple movements like jumping rope can be a whole body workout. Let’s talk about the different types of workouts and programs that might be considered whole body. This will help you create your personal whole body program.
Types of Whole Body Workouts and Movements
We’ve given a number of examples of isolated movements that are considered whole body exercises. There are also exercise programs and approaches that you can consider. Let’s take a look at those next. It’s important to note that with some of the programs discussed, you’ll want to add a cardio element to your workout to make sure you exercise that all-important fourth group – your heart and lungs.
HIIT
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It is a short period of high intensity effort followed by a brief rest. It’s performed in intervals which means that you repeat the intensity rest pattern for up to fifteen minutes.
The Tabata is an example of an HIIT workout. The Tabata incorporates eight twenty-second intensity intervals, each followed by ten seconds of rest. The entire workout lasts four minutes.
For example, you can perform twenty seconds of sit-ups. You work as fast and as hard as you can, then you rest for ten seconds and then you repeat. You are able to combine both a cardio element (your heart and lungs will work hard) and your muscles at the same time. This type of workout can be applied to just about any movement. You can jump rope, run, and deadlift and do push-ups with the HIIT approach.
CrossFit
CrossFit has become quite popular across the world. It focuses on constantly varied high intensity functional movements. It is a whole body approach that often combines strength and cardio into a short but intense workout.
CrossFit is often performed at a gym. However, you can perform many of the CrossFit workouts at home. Here’s an example of one that can easily be performed at home or at your local park:
* 20 pull-ups
* 30 push-ups
* 40 sit-ups
* 50 squats
Repeat five rounds of the above workout for time with 3 minutes of rest between each round.
Yoga and/or Pilates
Power yoga does have an intensity component to it, so it would be considered a whole body workout. Yoga and Pilates are both whole body, though Pilates does focus on the core. However, both can be part of a whole body fitness program when you add a little cardio to your week. For example, you could do yoga and run to get complete fitness. You can find many yoga and Pilates programs online for free, or create your own.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is another whole body workout that you might enjoy. You can do it in a gym with an instructor or find an online program. Your arms, legs, core and heart and lungs will definitely get a good workout.
Kettlebells, Calisthenics and More
Other options to consider are basic calisthenics. We’ve talked about the standard sit-up, push-up and pull-up as movements that work several muscle groups and when they’re performed at a high intensity or combined with a cardio workout can be a complete body workout. Kettlebells are another option. A simple kettlebell swing with a moderate weight works your entire body. And rest assured – if you swing that kettlebell a few dozen times you’ll be breathing heavily.
As you’re thinking about your own whole body workout program, think about the movements and how you can add intensity to them. Let’s wrap up with a few tips for creating your own whole body workout program.
Creating Your Own Program
As you begin to create your own whole body program, think first about the difficulty of the movement. Is it a movement that you can do on your own or will you need instruction? For example, you probably don’t want to try a deadlift without some research on how to do it correctly.
The second consideration is time and focus. You might, for example, focus one day on your lower body and cardio and the next day on your core. Keep in mind that if you use a HIIT approach you’re already integrating cardio into the workout. How much time do you have to exercise each day and what exercises can you fit into that time? If you have twenty minutes a day for example, you might try HIIT three days a week, slow cardio one day a week, and strength training one day a week.
Functionality is the third consideration. This is a whole body approach. Focus your energy and time on movements that work more than one muscle group. For example, a biceps curl is not a functional or whole body movement. A push-up is because it uses your legs, core, shoulders, and arms.
Finally, have fun. Exercise shouldn’t feel like a chore. Find movements and exercises that challenge you and make you smile.