Masheen

Planning a week

Full body workout

Also called full body, full-body routine, full body split, total body workout

A full body workout trains every major muscle group in one session: at the least the legs, a push and a pull.

Full bodyMonTueFull bodyWedThuFull bodyFriSatSun
Sunday: rest. 3 training days so far. Monday, Wednesday, Friday: the same kind of session each time, with a squat, a bench press and a row. Every muscle trained three times.

In plain words

One full body session covers the lot: legs, a pushing lift and a pulling lift at the least. A full body routine repeats such sessions through the week, usually three times with a day off between. Because every session covers everything, each muscle is trained as many times a week as you have sessions: three sessions means a frequency of three. The week leans on compound lifts, since one squat, one press and one row already reach most of the body. A 2024 systematic review with meta-analysis of 14 studies and 392 people found full-body and split routines gave similar strength and muscle gains when volume was equal.

An example

Train Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each of those sessions is the same kind of workout: a squat, a bench press and a row. Three sessions, and every muscle is trained three times that week. The ACSM's 2009 position stand recommends 2–3 training days a week for novices, which is the shape of a full body week.

Often confused with

Split A split spreads the body over different days; a full body workout does it all each day.
Split A split is the way a training week is divided up: which muscles or movements you train on which day.
Upper lower split An upper lower split divides training into two kinds of day: upper-body days and lower-body days, taking turns through the week.
Push pull legs Push pull legs is a split with three kinds of day: one for the muscles that push, one for the ones that pull, and one for the legs.
Frequency Frequency is how often you train in a week: either how many sessions you do, or how many times each muscle gets trained.
Compound lift A compound lift is an exercise that bends and straightens more than one joint at once, so several muscles share the work.

Go deeper

Your first four weeks in the gym A gym workout plan for beginners. Twelve sessions over four weeks, three days a week, with the sets, the reps and a weight rule for every session. Updated

Sources

  1. Ramos-Campo et al. 2024. Efficacy of split versus full-body resistance training on strength and muscle growth. J Strength Cond Res 38(7):1330–1340 Read
  2. ACSM 2009. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41(3):687–708 Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.