Working your whole body is going to mean that you're not prioritizing one muscle group over another and will also mean you're building a well-rounded physique. But it's not just us saying that, there's a body of scientific research that's reached that conclusion too.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that full-body workouts resulted in a superior hypertrophic effect when compared with a traditional bodybuilding split where each muscle is trained once per week. In other words, if you want big muscles, full-body workouts are how you build them.

The Best Full-body Exercises

When it comes to piecing together a workout, or knowing what to look out for in a program, the best full-body workouts will include compound exercises — moves that involve multiple muscle groups.

deadlift exercise

1. Squat down and grasp a barbell with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Keep your chest up, pull your shoulders back and look straight ahead as you lift the bar.
3. Focus on taking the weight back onto your heels and keep the bar as close as possible to your body at all times.
4. Lift to thigh level, pause, then return under control to the start position.

Kettlebell Swings

1. Place a kettlebell a couple of feet in front of you.
2. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and bend your knees to lean forward and grab the handle with both hands.
3. With your back flat, engage your lats to pull the weight between your legs (be careful with how deep you swing) then drive your hips forward and explosively pull the kettlebell up to shoulder height with your arms straight in front of you.
4. Return to the start position and repeat without pauses.

Dumbbell Thrusters

1. Hold two dumbbells by their handles so the back of the weight is resting above the back of your shoulder.
2. Slightly bend your knees and squat down, keeping your legs in line with your shoulders.
3. Drive through your legs and straighten them, extending your arms as you do so to raise the dumbbells above your head.
4. Squat down and repeat.

Burpees

1. From a standing position squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor and place your palms on the floor.
2. From there kick your feet back as far as you can while keeping your arms extended.
3. As soon as your feet land jump them back in towards your hands, then jump up into the air.
4. Land and immediately squat down to go into the next rep.

Renegade Row

1. Get into a press-up position with your hands on the handles of two dumbbells.
2. Keeping your core tensed, row the right dumbbell up to your abs then return to the start position.
3. Repeat with the left dumbbell to complete one rep.

Bear Crawls

1. Assume a press-up position with your knees bent at 90-degree angles and directly underneath your hips. Your knees should be elevated.
2. - Without allowing your lower back to rise or round, brace your abs as if you were about to punched in the gut. Hold this contraction the entire time. This is your starting position.
3. "Walk" your right hand and left foot forward a few inches. Pause, and then return to the starting position.