Full-body workout is a type of exercise

workout Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovasc ...

routine where the entire body is targeted in a single session. It is the opposite of a split workout routine, also known as split weight training or split routine, where different muscle groups are targeted on separate days.

History

During the Bronze Era of

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...

, traditionally dated from the late 19th century to the end of the 1930s, bodybuilders favored full-body routines, working out multiple muscle groups in a single session. Workouts were also done multiple times a week, emphasizing compound movements. The bodybuilder

Eugen Sandow Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, ; 2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia. He was born in Königsberg, and became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. Aft ...

(1867-1925) emphasised full-body workouts, progressive overload, and simple dietary choices. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, full body workouts were the normal way to train, and bodybuilders such as

John Grimek John Carroll Grimek (June 17, 1910 – November 20, 1998) was an American bodybuilder and weightlifter active in the 1930s and 1940s. Grimek was Mr. America in 1940 and 1941, and Mr. Universe in 1948. In 1949, he won his last contest, t ...

(1940-41 Mr. America),

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder and actor. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonist as muscular characters ...

(Mr. America of 1947, Mr. World of 1948, and Mr. Universe of 1950),

George Eiferman George Eiferman (November 3, 1925 – February 12, 2002) was an American professional bodybuilder and trainer. Born in Philadelphia in 1925, he served in the Navy during World War II and entered into the sport of bodybuilding afterwards. Kn ...

(Mr. America of 1948, and Mr. Universe of 1962), Armand Tanny,

Reg Park Roy "Reg" Park (7 June 1928 – 22 November 2007) was an English bodybuilder, businessman, and actor. His first title was Mr. Britain in 1949. He then won Mr. Universe in 1951, 1958, and 1965. He went on to star in five films. Later in lif ...

(Mr. Universe of 1951, 1958, and 1965), and

Leroy Colbert Leroy Colbert (May 9, 1933, New York, US – November 20, 2015, age 82) was an American professional bodybuilder. He is credited as the first man to develop 21 inch arms ‘drug-free’. He was the first ever Black athlete to appear on the front ...

(Mr. Eastern America of 1953), normally trained the whole body during their workouts. Similar to Reeves and Eiferman,

Vince Gironda Vincent Anselmo Gironda (November 9, 1917 – October 18, 1997) was an American professional bodybuilder, personal trainer, author, co-founder of the supplement company NSP Nutrition, and owner of the celebrity-frequented ''Vince's Gym''. A ...

favoured a full-body workout.

Advantages

Regarding the advantages of exercising the entire body in a single session,

stated, "When you work your whole body in each workout, it forces you to think about symmetry. Your focus is always on the whole and not the parts".

References

{{reflist Weight training exercises