Best whole body exercises

Farrell D

Hi folks

Am I right to just stick to the main body exercises
Squats
Bench press
Deadlift
Overhead press
Chin ups
Dips
Burpees
Plank

Instead of doing bicep curls and small muscles exercises I would rather concentrate on the bigger muscles as you will work the whole body with them.

Black Sheep

Farrell D wrote: »

Hi folks

Am I right to just stick to the main body exercises
Squats
Bench press
Deadlift
Overhead press
Chin ups
Dips
Burpees
Plank

Instead of doing bicep curls and small muscles exercises I would rather concentrate on the bigger muscles as you will work the whole body with them.

You’re not wrong but it depends to some extent on your goals.

Bench, overhead press, row, pull-ups, squat, deadlift and variations of these are your fundamentals.

But single joint / isolation exercises can be added in after them without effecting recovery much. If aesthetics matter to you then they are necessary. They are also a way of fixing weak points on some lifts, triceps for bench etc.

Isolation work has gotten a bad rap over the years but mainly it’s a misunderstanding... Higher rep tricep pushdowns can’t replace bench presses, but they will get your arms bigger. Heavy tricep extensions might help build your bench numbers etc.

Same with the lower body stuff. You can only squat and deadlift so much in a week. Throw in leg curls, leg extensions and so on to add more volume without adding too much stress. And if you’re a low bar back squat guy then doing quad and calf work might result in better aesthetics.

Basically, you can have it all-

- Compound lifts first (Most taxing)
- Assistance / Secondary (Compound lifts. Still taxing)
- Accessories (Isolation, single joint... Not that taxing)

But ... If you’re new to this, the trick is to realise the accessory stuff is fun, kinda useful but overall, yes, less important.

turbot

Consider Thrusters as one of the most metabolically tough full body exercises

Alf Veedersane

Black Sheep wrote: »

You’re not wrong but it depends to some extent on your goals.

Bench, overhead press, row, pull-ups, squat, deadlift and variations of these are your fundamentals.

But single joint / isolation exercises can be added in after them without effecting recovery much. If aesthetics matter to you then they are necessary. They are also a way of fixing weak points on some lifts, triceps for bench etc.

Isolation work has gotten a bad rap over the years but mainly it’s a misunderstanding... Higher rep tricep pushdowns can’t replace bench presses, but they will get your arms bigger. Heavy tricep extensions might help build your bench numbers etc.

Same with the lower body stuff. You can only squat and deadlift so much in a week. Throw in leg curls, leg extensions and so on to add more volume without adding too much stress. And if you’re a low bar back squat guy then doing quad and calf work might result in better aesthetics.

Basically, you can have it all-

- Compound lifts first (Most taxing)
- Assistance / Secondary (Compound lifts. Still taxing)
- Accessories (Isolation, single joint... Not that taxing)

But ... If you’re new to this, the trick is to realise the accessory stuff is fun, kinda useful but overall, yes, less important.

Sticky-esque

melissajeffrey

I think, you are right.