Best Whole-Body Workouts

Whole-body workouts provide many benefits, including working all muscle groups in one workout and creating lean muscle mass. We spoke to HOI’s sports medicine physician, Jin Choi, D.O., to learn about the best whole-body workouts, the importance of working all muscle systems and advice for someone just starting whole-body workouts.

Q: What is the best whole-body workout and why?
A: There are many different ways to work out your whole body. Some of the most common workouts are push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, dead-lifts, burpees, planks and kettlebell exercises.

The best type of whole-body exercise is the one that suits the individual. One of the advantages of the whole-body exercise is the short amount of time it takes to do a full workout. Anyone can set aside 20 to 30 minutes a day to do a complete whole body exercise program and gain great benefits. I recommend finding exercises you can do easily at home or at work and do them regularly.

Q: Why is it important to work out all muscle systems?
A: In the real world, when we do any type of physical activities, we don’t just use one or two muscles at a time, but use multiple muscles groups in coordination to create motor movements. Therefore, it is very important to focus on using our whole body when we exercise, activating multiple muscle groups together. It also helps burn more calories per given amount of time.

We cannot forget about cardiovascular and pulmonary exercises, or commonly known as aerobic exercises, such as running, swimming, or cycling. Adding aerobic exercise to your whole-body workout regimen is crucial to our overall health and fitness.

Q: What advice can you offer to someone starting out with a new routine for a full body workout?
A: I recommend starting low and slow and gradually ramping up the intensity as you start to improve. We all have to start somewhere, and I would not recommend jumping straight into high-intensity exercises without warming up to it first. This is how you could get injured or become discouraged and stop exercising all together.

My advice is to pick 3 to 5 different exercises you can do per day, and go light and slow in the beginning. Once they become easier, then you can advance yourself to more intense and difficult exercises. You can add variations to the same exercises as well, such as doing push-ups with renegade rows or squats with dumbbell shoulder presses. You can pick up some equipment along the way, like pull up bars, kettlebells, and resistance bands, and add them to your routine also. Push yourself gradually, and make sure to focus on maintaining good forms.

Q: What else do you want readers to know about getting the best full body workout?
A: Everyone is different. Not one exercise program fits everybody. We all have to start somewhere, wherever that may be, and work our way up to more challenging exercises. Set goals and achieve them one at a time.

Whole-body exercises are very effective and efficient, and the best part is you can do them anytime and anywhere. You don’t need to be at a gym to do them. The point is to stay healthy, avoid unnecessary injuries, and have fun!