8 Full Body Exercises for Beginners

When it comes to gaining muscle and building up strength, even for beginners, it’s not as complicated a process as one might think.

There are many misconceptions surrounding strength training and with all the information available to us, it can become very complicated very quickly. What really matters is staying consistent in your routine, applying fundamentals, and not giving up even when you don’t see results when you think you should.

Why Should Beginners Strength Train?

Building strength isn’t just beneficial for your gains in the gym. It’s also incredibly important in our daily lives and it becomes even more vital as we age. According to research, increased muscle mass has been shown to improve the immune system allowing the body to fight off infection and illness more effectively. It may even help those with cancer improve their prognosis as well as withstand the side effects associated with some cancer treatments.

Whether you choose to utilize only body weight or employ external weights, strength training is one of the most important things you can do for yourself in order to stay healthy and retain your mobility and independence as you age. Increasing the strength of your muscles can reduce the struggle of everyday movements. Things like carrying a week’s worth of groceries, bending/squatting down to put away clean pots and pans, and even getting up off the floor don’t have to feel impossible.

Best Method to Get Stronger

So how does one make this goal a reality? First, you need to understand that balancing your strength is incredibly important. What that means is that you shouldn’t just work on the upper half of your body such as arms, chest, and upper back. The lower half of your body should also be addressed when creating a workout regimen. Instead, focus on compound exercises. One of the most helpful tools for many beginners is the muscle booster app.

This incredible fitness technology utilizes an advanced AI algorithm that creates a fully customizable workout plan specific to your personal goals. These workouts can also be done in the gym or at home and take the guesswork out of creating a fitness routine that will bring you success. If a personal trainer or a gym membership is not an option for you for whatever reason, Muscle Booster is the best option as a pocket trainer that can go anywhere with you.

Reps and Sets for Beginners

For beginners, you should focus on a range of 6 to 10 reps. This means that the weight you choose should not be so heavy that you are unable to complete at least 6 to 10 reps. At the same time, if you can complete more than 10 reps then you need to be using a heavier weight. A weight that is too heavy for you could cause your form to suffer during the exercise as well as increase the risk of injury.

Beginners should also stay between 1 to 3 sets for each exercise in the workout routine. As you become more familiar with the exercises and become stronger, you can increase the number of sets to 4 or 5. Be sure to also provide yourself with adequate rest days in your fitness routine. It’s common to wait at least 48 hours before working on that same muscle group again. Doing so is not going to build muscle faster. In fact, it could result in the opposite, and no one wants that.

The Exercises

Here is a list of 8 of the best full-body exercises that you should include in your fitness routine as a beginner:

Glute Bridge

The glute bridge or hip bridge is a pretty straightforward movement. It does exactly what its namesake suggests, which is to target the glutes. On top of this, it helps to stabilize the core and builds strength in the legs as well. It’s best to start off with just body weight until you become more comfortable with the movement. You’ll find that this exercise is quite effective even without additional weight.

Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the most effective exercises to train the glutes and hamstrings. It is also one of the most versatile exercises as it has many variations including:

■ The Romanian deadlift,

■ The sumo deadlift,

■ And of course the traditional deadlift.

Because this movement provides a stable base as the foundation, you will find that increasing the weight will not throw off your balance and progressive overload is easier to achieve compared to other exercises.

Reverse Lunge

This is known as a unilateral exercise because it involves bearing weight during the movement on only one limb at a time. In all honesty, any other single-leg exercise will help you with balance and improve your strength. This will in turn help you during any bilateral exercises such as squats.

Squats

This exercise is easily one of the best to determine your strength. This movement includes almost all of the muscles in your legs and core and doesn’t require the use of weights. Though, if you want to make it more challenging weights such as dumbbells, a weighted vest, or a barbell can be added.

Pullups

This exercise is one of the best to work essentially every muscle in the entire back. It can be done with body weight alone or weights can be added to the waist or ankles. There are many variations of this exercise and if it is too difficult for you at first, you can use a resistance band or an assisted pullup machine until your strength increases.

Pushups

This exercise is a classic that is still utilized for training purposes by the military to this day. One of the best indicators of true strength is showcased by those who are able to lift their own body weight. If a traditional pushup is too difficult at first, it can be modified by lowering your knees to the floor and pushing up from that position. You can modify the movement even further by putting your hands on a table or even a wall and pushing off from there until you get stronger.

Dips

This exercise is one of the most effective ways to strengthen your triceps. Beginners may want to start by doing chair/bench dips. This will help you ease into the exercise until you are able to utilize the dip bars which involve the whole body.

Bench Press

This power exercise primarily works the chest muscles. As with many other exercises, it has quite a few variations. Using a flat bench versus an inclined bench will allow you to target the upper, middle, or lower pectorals and it can be done with a barbell or dumbbells.

Conclusion

To recap, building strength is not just aesthetically motivating. It can also help ease the burden of everyday life by allowing you to retain your mobility and increase your immune system. The best way to get stronger is to utilize compound exercises, stay consistent, and not give up even when it’s difficult. Beginners should also be hitting anywhere from 6 to 10 reps and 1 to 3 sets during their workouts.

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