Burning Fat Fast with a Full Body Workout

Whether you’re a beginner or gym expert, a full body workout is an essential asset to your weekly workout plan.

Not only is it a great way to burn calories at a faster rate but it also helps to increase your overall strength and flexibility.

What we also fail to realise is that a full body workout is an effective way of building more muscle.

Though it is beneficial to focus on one muscle group at a time, working out your full body ensures that other muscles are not neglected for a long period of time.

Here are some exercises for you to incorporate into your next full body workout!

Biceps and Triceps

Targeting the biceps and triceps in this workout, My Bollywood Body demonstrates 7 key workouts for you to try.

Any 2-3 of these exercises would be perfect to add to your next full body workout.

• Tricep Pull Downs
  

The instructor introduces a variation of this exercise that will specifically target the tricep muscles.

One set of this exercise consists of 10 pull downs with the rope opening as you pull and another 10 pull downs with the rope ends close together.

He suggests doing 5 sets of this exercise, with each set involving 10 reps of open rope pull downs and 10 reps of closed rope pull downs.

• Skull Crusher/Press

This exercise involves a curl and press motion.

You should be lying down on the bench as you raise the bar above your chest and curl it over your head. The instructor emphasises the importance of not moving the elbows in order to keep the triceps under tension.

The bar is then brought back up over the chest and pressed down just underneath the chest.

In order to target the triceps, it is crucial for the tension to not be felt in the shoulders when pressing down. If this occurs, then bring down the bar slightly towards your stomach until you feel the burn in your triceps.

It is suggested that 5 set of 10 reps of this exercise is performed in total.

• Overhead Extension

The overhead extension exercise can be performed with a light or heavy dumbbell.

It involves bringing down the dumbbell behind your head down to your shoulders and then back up over your head. The exercise is simple and easy to perform, and a great way to isolate your triceps.

There should be 8-10 reps of this exercise in one set, with 4 sets altogether.

• Dips 

When performing this exercise, you are able to experiment with different variations depending on your needs.

To make this a little easier, dips can be performed with the legs slightly bent at the knees as it relieves some of the pressure from the triceps.

However, to perform this at a more advanced level, the legs should be completely straight. If you want to make it harder, then placing your feet on another bench will significantly increase the burn felt in your triceps.

3 sets of this exercise should be performed, with there being 20 reps in one set.

• Barbell Curls and Plate Curls

When performing these exercises, it is important that the elbows are kept tucked next to your body and not moving around as you bring the barbell or plate up.

When performing the barbell curls, to make the workout more difficult, you can include 3 variations in 1 set.

The first variation involves bringing the bar up from your waist up to a 90° angle, so approximately around chest level.

The second variation will then involve curling the bar from around elbow level up to your shoulders.

Finally, the third variation is a normal barbell curl, beginning from the waist curling up to shoulder level.

The barbell curls should be performed with a moderate weight as 7 reps of each variation should be performed for 6 sets.

With the plate curls, you can go with a heavier weight. 4 sets of 10 reps should be carried out.

• One Arm Curl

This one arm curl should be performed whilst seated and your elbow should remain next to your knee.

When curling the dumbbell, as you bring it up, hold it for around 2 seconds as you squeeze your bicep, then bring it back down. This will activate the muscle, giving that final pump as you perform the last exercise in the workout.

The instructor suggests performing 2 sets of 20 reps.

Abs

Producing another clear demonstration video, My Bollywood Body shows us 5 essential ab exercises to get the six pack abs you’ve always wanted.

• Hanging Leg Raises

This exercise is extremely effective at targeting the core, particularly the lower abdominal muscles.

When hanging, you are using your core strength to maintain your balance as you raise your legs. The leg raise motion should be slow to ensure muscle contraction in the abdominal area.

8-10 reps of this exercise should be performed.

• Leg Raise with Pelvic Lift 

This exercise is a variation of a leg raise, similarly to the hanging leg raises, it will target the lower abdominal muscles.

However, with the addition of the pelvic lift as you raise your legs further, the tension will reach the higher abdominal muscles.

Thus this is a great exercise for your abs.

8-10 reps should be performed.

• V Sit

The V Sit position should be held for 30 seconds, with your abs remaining under tension the whole time.

This position involves keeping your arms out in front of you stretched forward and also keeping your legs in the air.

30 seconds of this position will cause you to feel tension in your core muscles, giving you the burn that you are after.

• Heel Touches

This exercise specifically targets the obliques, which are the muscles at the sides of your abs.

It is essential that you perform this exercise in slow and controlled movements. This activates the obliques as you bring your arm down your side to touch your heel.

25-30 reps of this exercise should be performed, which would be approximately 15 reps for each side.

• Plank

When performing this exercise, it is necessary to keep the back straight whilst squeezing the abdominals tight.

30 seconds of this exercise is a great ab finisher in this circuit.

Glutes, Quadriceps and Hamstrings

Giving us an insight into some of her favourite leg exercises, the fitness inspiration Sumeet Sahni teams up with Blackstone Labs for this demonstration video.

• Quad Extension

This machine targets the quadriceps muscles.

Sumeet highlights that the key is to bring the legs down slowly. You will be able to feel the quadriceps muscles contract.

When pushing the legs back up, the quadriceps should be flexing hard and the movement should be quick.

• Hamstring Curls 

Keeping the back straight and flat against the bench, this machine is specifically for working on the hamstring muscles.

When bringing up your legs, Sumeet says it is important to squeeze the hamstring muscles as you come up and move slowly as you bring your legs back down.

• Switch Lunge Jumps

Switch lunge jumps are a plyometric exercise. This involves exerting force on your muscles in short intervals of time.

According to Sumeet Sahni:

“It helps with your power, it helps with gaining muscle and it helps with burning fat.”

When performing this exercise, it is crucial to stay low and use explosive movements.

Sumeet points out that you should be using the quad and glute to power up. When in the air, you should switch to come down with the opposite leg at the front.

15 reps of this exercise should be performed.

• Leg Press

The leg press machine is a great machine for working the glute muscles.

When using this machine, it is important to not lock the knee when you push as this puts unwanted pressure on the joint.

You should be bringing the leg back towards your chest before it is stretched out straight, this keeps the motion fluid.

This exercise is great as a leg finisher and reps can be performed until failure.

Designing Your Own Full Body Workout

You may be overwhelmed by the amount of exercises you have just viewed and read about.

However, it is not necessary that you add each and every one to your full body workout.

For an effective full body workout, pick exercises that target both specific and multiple muscle groups.

For example, a compound exercise, such as the dips demonstrated in the Bollywood Body video, is great to add for targeting more than one muscle group.

You can also take a look at some more exercises for your glutes that will work other areas of the body here.

One important thing to remember with regards to results is that although consistent exercise is essential, a healthy diet will quicken the process.

So get yourself to the gym and get that body working!