Five-minute dumbbell exercise routine, crafted by a personal trainer, promotes muscle growth across the body
Full-Body Workout with Compound Exercises: A Comprehensive Approach to Weight Loss and Muscle Building
Embrace a fitness regimen that delivers significant benefits for both weight loss and muscle building with full-body workouts that incorporate compound exercises. This 20-minute workout targets major muscle groups, making it an efficient choice for those with limited time.
The workout consists of five compound exercises, each requiring a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing the body. Here's a breakdown of the exercises:
- Front to side raise: Begin with feet hip-width apart, holding the dumbbells at thigh level. Raise the dumbbells to shoulder height and then open them out to the sides into a T-shape. Perform 3 sets with 10 reps each.
- Plank jack and cross mountain climber: Start in a high plank position. Jump the feet out to the sides and then back to the starting position, performing 3 sets with 10 reps. Alternate bringing the knees to the elbows for the mountain climber part.
- Weighted dumbbell march: With the dumbbells held at the sides, lift one foot off the ground and march, performing 3 sets with 10 reps on each side.
- Weighted tap jack: Similar to the plank jack, but with a tap of the dumbbells touching the ground at the end of each jump. Perform 3 sets with 10 reps.
- Reverse lunge and biceps curl: Perform a reverse lunge, followed by a biceps curl, then return to the starting position. Repeat for 3 sets with 10 reps each leg.
Remember to warm up and cool down, each taking 5 to 10 minutes. This is crucial for preventing injuries and optimising performance.
Full-body workouts offer numerous advantages. They burn more energy than focusing on a single body part, making them highly efficient for fat loss. Moreover, they promote muscle growth by stimulating muscle protein synthesis frequently, leading to muscle hypertrophy and strength gains effectively.
These workouts also enhance functional strength and injury prevention, as compound exercises mimic everyday movements, improving joint stability and reducing injury risk. Balanced muscle development is another benefit, with compound lifts promoting coordination across multiple muscle groups, supporting posture and overall fitness.
Moreover, resistance training with compound movements helps counter age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia), boosting metabolism and aiding fat loss even in older adults.
In summary, combining full-body workouts with compound exercises maximises calorie burn and muscle activation efficiently, leading to better fat loss and muscle building outcomes compared to isolated or split routines. So, get ready to reap the benefits of a full-body workout with compound exercises!
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[3] Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Ogborn, D., Krieger, J. W., Delavier, F., Zourdos, M. C., ... & Wilborn, C. D. (2017). Differences between the muscle and strength-building responses to heavy resistance training loaded with traditional versus explosive lifting techniques. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(1), 16-28.
[5] Phillips, S. M., Van Loon, L. J. C., Aarsland, P. E., Bosy-Westphal, A., Casajus, M., Cheung, A. K. M., ... & Wolfe, R. R. (2018). Sarcopenia: Position statement of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Clinical nutrition, 37(6), 1038-1052.
Engaging in full-body workouts that incorporate compound exercises can significantly contribute to both weight loss and muscle building, as these workouts are highly efficient for fat loss due to their energy-burning nature. Furthermore, the regular stimulation of muscle protein synthesis promoted by compound exercises leads to muscle hypertrophy and strength gains, further aiding in fitness-and-exercise goals. Science supports these benefits, with various studies highlighting the advantages of compound exercises for health-and-wellness, such as improved functional strength, reduced injury risk, and countering age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia).
