45-Minute Full Body Workout

Part 1 of a multipart series

In a previous workout post, I gave readers a straightforward introductory 30-minute leg and back routine. If you read it, I postulate such a workout routine will get you, oh I don't know, 75-80% of the way towards a fully well-conditioned body.

In this post I am going to get you the remaining 20-25% by suggesting the addition of a simple exercise that is a go to for beginners all over the globe...the PUSHUP.

Most people associate a pushup as something that primarily conditions your pectoral muscles, or your chest. However, as with most weight training movements, a pushup is technically a compound exercise. Meaning it trains two or more muscle groups. Yes yes, your pecs are going to get the brunt of the load. However, your trapezius muscles will engage for stabilization. And since your shoulders will see some articulation, your deltoids will aid a bit in the lift as well as to stabilize everything once your arms are fully extended halfway through a pushup. Last but not least, your triceps will engage slightly to aid in the lift.

If you see the anatomical diagram below showing where these muscle groups reside in the human body, you should now understand why the addition of some pushups to the 30-minute routine I wrote about will get you a full body workout.

From said 30-minute routine, the jumping rope will hit your legs below the knee. The squats will hit your legs above the knee with the addition of your glutes, a bit of lower back, and core. The pullups (or lat pull-downs) will primarily hit your back, or lat (latissimus dorsi) muscles, some biceps, with mild stabilization from your traps (trapezius). The planks will hit your back and core.

At this point, everything from the floor to roughly your chest area is covered. Including half your arms from your elbow to your shoulder. Once you do a simple pushup, the rest is taken care of. Don't worry about your forearm muscles. If you work out in a gym, handling the weights, or gripping them for a lift will take care of that.

I recommend doing 4-5 sets for at least 15-20 reps. If you are new to these, go from your knees. If you can though, do these from your feet keeping your legs straight and in line with your spine. You shall find that a simple pushup will also get your core going a little bit, which is a nice bonus.

If this is too much beginner stuff for you, and in fact go to a gym, then you can bench press (or dumbbell press). The amount of weight you lift will depend on your strength goals. For beginners, which is really who I write this blog for, I would shoot for 3 sets of 10 repetitions with say 75% of your body weight. Once again, beginners should start out slow and easy working your way up to this goal.

However, if you are just going to do the pushups, you may find you have some extra time on your hands. In which case, you can include some shoulder work in the form of hands stands. I wrote about such subject matter here.

If you insist on a traditional bench (or dumbbell) press, you may find this to take an honest additional 10-15 minutes. Therefore, any other exercise will get you over the 45-minute mark. And I am trying to give you options to get in and out in under this time with a full body deal.

So to cap it off, the suggested routine is from my 30-minute back and booty post + pushups (or bench/chest press). A true, honest to goodness, full body routine. Hit this thing three times a week and thank me later.

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