The #1 Full Body Routine to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

If you want to build every major muscle with just six exercises, full body workouts are the way to go. They not only boost growth, but new research suggests they might also enhance fat loss by activating more total muscle per workout. Five years ago I shared a full body workout plan, but since then, new research and hands on experience have shown me how to make it even better. Today I'm bringing you the upgraded version, a full week of training packed into one video. The plan includes three workouts per week with six key exercises in each session. I'll walk you through all three workouts, breaking down each exercise with sides, back, tips and the best part. You can try this entire routine for free on my brand new app, but more on that later. Let's dive into workout one so to kick off workout one, we'll target the upper chest with the Incline Dumbbell Press for 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps. Why start here? Most people's upper chest is underdeveloped compared to other areas, yet it plays a major role in creating a fuller, more balanced chest. And the incline Dumbbell press doesn't just hit the upper chest, it's one of the best all around chest builders. In fact, a 2020 study found that incline pressing led to similar mid chest growth as flat benching, but was significantly better for the upper chest. But before jumping in, do a quick warmup to activate your muscles and protect your joints. Start with one light set for 8 to 10 reps, then increase the weight for 3 to 5 reps, and then do this one more time with a heavy weight for one to two reps. This helps you ease into the movement without draining your energy, but you also want to make sure that you get the bench angle right. This can make or break the exercise, and it depends on your chest structure. Lay on a flat bench and place your phone between your pecs. If your phone angles down, you've got a steep sternum. In this case, a flat bench acts more like a decline press, so you'll need a steeper incline to hit your upper chest properly. But if your phone stays relatively flat, you've got a flat sternum like me. In this case, a flat bench works as intended, and a slight incline just one or two notches up is all you need. Anything past that and you'll likely just feel it more in your shoulders. And finally, to optimize your form, tuck your elbows into an arrow shape on the way down and press the dumbbells up and back towards your collarbone. This lines up the tension perfectly with your upper chest fibers. Next up, we're moving to the lower body with squats for three sets of six to eight reps. Follow the same warmup protocol we use for the incline dumbbell press to now get your leg muscles ready. Now, the barbell squat has been getting some hate online recently, with people claiming that it's not optimal. But in a full body workout, you want exercises that give you the most bang for your buck. And squats do just that. Research shows they not only grow your glutes as effectively as glute focused exercises like hip thrust, they also strengthen and grow the quads, adductors and and even your lower back. It's essentially four exercises in one, which is why it clearly deserves a spot in this routine. That said, not everyone's body is built to squat the same way. Take Alex here. He has short femurs and great ankle mobility, making him a natural born squatter. He can stay almost perfectly upright and squat deep without losing balance. Now compare that to Max, who has longer femurs and less ankle mobility. To stay balanced, Max has to push his hips back and lean forward more heavy and he can't get quite as deep without rounding his lower back. Both squat forms are correct, but they will emphasize slightly different muscles. So if you're like Max and you struggle to squat deep, try elevating your heels onto plates. This simple adjustment will allow you to stay more upright, shifting more of the focus to your quads, which is perfect since we'll be hitting the glutes harder later on in the week. Next, we're focusing on the mid and upper back muscles with a dumbbell chest supported row for three sets of 8 to 12 reps. This time you'll only need one to two quick warm up sets since your upper body should already be fairly warmed up. To set this exercise up, adjust an incline bench to 45 degrees and lay chest down on it with your legs slightly bent and feet firmly planted on the floor. Now, the key to targeting your mid and upper back is to keep your elbows angled out in an arrow shape as you pull. At the top of each rep, squeeze your shoulder blades together as hard as you can, then let them fully open up at the bottom to stretch your back muscles. But be careful, your biceps might try to take over the movement, especially if your back is weaker or you're just using too much weight from the side. If your forearms bend upwards, then your biceps are taking over, so instead keep your forearms straight up and down and focus on lifting the weight by squeezing your back muscles together. Lastly, here's a bonus Technique to squeeze out extra growth. Most back exercises, including this one, are hardest at the top. That means when you can't do any more full reps and you still got gas in the tank for partial reps at the bottom, which research suggests is actually the more important part for growth because the back muscles are stretched. So once you've hit failure on your last set, try to get at least three to five more half reps in that bottom position. We'll apply the strategy to the last set of all back exercises in this routine. Next, we're heading back to the lower body to target the hamstrings, which are actually a group of four muscles. But here's the interesting part. One of these muscles only crosses the knee, so its primary role is to flex your knee like in a leg curl. But the three other muscles cross both the knee and the hips, meaning they also help extend your hips like during deadlifts. So to fully develop your hamstrings, you need both a leg curl movement and a deadlift type movement in your workout plan. Today we're going to focus on the leg curl. Now, if your gym gives you the option between seated and lion leg curls, here's what you should know. A well executed study by Mayo and colleagues found that seated leg curls led to significantly greater hamstring growth compared to lion leg curls. And this is likely because the seated position stretches the hamstrings more than the lion version, a stretch that research suggests is a powerful driver of muscle growth. So if I had to pick one, I'd go with seated leg curls. But if you only have access to a lion leg curl like me, or you simply prefer it, then it's still a fantastic option for building your hamstrings. But whichever version you do, here's a critical form tip. Many people feel their calves working more than their hamstrings during leg curls. And this happens because the first 15 degrees of a leg curl actually heavily involve the calves. So to fix this, avoid fully straightening your legs. At the start of each rep, stop slightly short so your knees remain slightly bent before starting the next rep. Alright, so we're down to the final two exercises of the workout. So far, we focused mostly on compound movements that target multiple muscle groups at once. But to fully round out your development, we need to address two key areas that compound lifts often neglect. The biceps and triceps, for example. While rows do involve the biceps to some extent, back exercises biomechanically favor the other arm muscles, like the brachialis and brachioradialis. In fact, A study comparing dumbbell rows to bicep curls found that curls led to double the biceps growth. As for the triceps, while chest presses are excellent for building the triceps, the research show they primarily grow the lateral head of the muscle, whereas the long head, the biggest part of the triceps, barely grows at all because it's placed in a mechanically disadvantaged position. It's instead been shown to grow the most from tricep exercises where the arm is placed overhead. So to finish off this full body workout, you have two options. If you're using dumbbells, perform a superset of lying inclined dumbbell curls for the biceps, then go right into dumbbell overhead extensions shortly after. Repeat that for a total of three times. If you're using cables, you can do behind the body cable curls superset with overhead rope extensions. Both supersets use exercises that provide a deep stretch, which, as you learned earlier, may be a powerful driver of growth. Now, you could just stick to the six exercises in workout A and do that three times a week. But adding variety throughout the week has some big advantages. Research shows that using different exercises to target the same muscle often leads to more balanced growth. It's also easier on your joints, reducing the risk of overuse injury from repeating the same movements. And perhaps most importantly, exercise variety has been shown to keep you more motivated and consistent with your routine. And that is why we're switching things up for your second workout of the week, Workout B. The new exercises will build on what we started in workout A, while still keeping the program simple and effective. First up, we're hitting the chest again, but this time focusing on the mid and lower chest with the barbell bench press for three sets of four to six reps. Now, we used to think that lower reps were only for building strength. Six to 12 reps were ideal for growth, and higher reps were best for endurance. But research has now shown that all of these rep ranges can lead to similar muscle growth as long as you're pushing hard. So why go with lower reps here? Well, heavier weight in the lower rep range not only builds muscle, but also comes with the added bonus of boosting strength. And for the bench press, going heavy can be a lot of fun, especially if you have a spotter to keep things safe. That said, if heavy benching bothers your shoulders, no worries. You can lighten the load and aim for higher reps. Or just swap it out for the flat dumbbell press, which tends to be easier on the joints. Next up, we're working the hamstrings with Romanian deadlifts for three sets of six to eight reps. So, back in workout A, we focused on one function of the hamstrings, knee flexion, which has also been shown to activate the lower part of the hamstrings more. Romanian deadlifts, however, focus on the other main function, hip extension. This shift also seems to activate the upper hamstrings more, making it the perfect combo for overall development. But with this exercise, proper technique is key. To avoid just overworking your lower back, start with a shoulder width stance and grip the bar just outside your knees. Brace your core and then imagine a band around your hips pulling you back. This will naturally bend your torso towards the floor. Keep your knees relatively straight and let the bar slide along your thighs as you continue pushing your hips back. But once your hips can push back any further, stop going any lower, just rounds your lower back. But this end point is going to vary for everyone. If you have longer arms, you're going to be able to get closer to the floor, but with shorter arms, you might stog just past your knees. Both are perfectly fine, so don't force it. And on the way up, drive your hips forward, then repeat for the next rep. Next up, lat pull downs for three sets of 8 to 12 reps. Despite the name, lat pull downs don't actually work your lats very well. The wider bar forces your elbows to flare out, engaging more of your upper and outer back muscles, which is perfectly fine. So don't be worried if you can't feel your lats that much, as we'll be focusing on them more in workout C. But for here, use a fairly wide grip, lean back slightly and pull the bar towards your upper chest. And lastly, don't forget about the technique from workout A. On your last set, do as many full reps as you can and then drop to at least three to five half reps in that stretch position. Next up, we're back to the lower body to target the glutes with three sets of walking lunges, aiming for about six to ten reps per leg. Now, the secret to making this exercise glute focus is all on the setup. Take a wide step forward, keep your knee directly over your foot and lean your torso forward slightly while keeping your back straight. This creates a deeper stretch in your glutes. Switch legs with each step and focus on controlling the descent. Your back knee should hover just above the ground at the bottom of each rep. Finish up workout B. We've got another isolation exercise superset. This time with the side delts and abs. So for the side delts, I'd recommend behind the body cable lateral raises. With the cable set up three to four notches up from the bottom, this not only gives your side delts a deep stretch, but it challenges them a bit more in that stretch position. After you're done, we'll immediately go into an ab exercise and reverse crunches. Now, while your abs help stabilize your body in many of your compound exercises, training them directly can help build them up just like any other muscle, which visibly can make them pop more. Reverse crunches are a great choice here because they challenge your abs a little bit more when they're stretched. Lay on a bench or on a mat and bend your legs to 90 degrees. Then raise your hips by moving your knees towards your chest, focusing on curling your pelvis, even if it's just lifting your tailbone. Go up as far as you can and and then slowly control the way down and repeat this superset for a total of three times. Okay, so that wraps that workout beat. But if you're wondering how to track all the exercises or remember the form for each move, let me show you something that I've been personally using to make things way easier. This is built with Science plus, my new app, and it's designed to do all the heavy lifting for you, except the actual weights, of course. It's super simple, guys. Just click on the exercise and you've got the porn video right there. And you can even swap exercises if you're missing equipment or have an injury. And the app will make sure you're still working the right muscles. Plus, it tracks your sets and even starts coaching you after the first week. It's just like having me with you at the gym. And you can try two weeks of it completely free@built with science.com, but I'll talk more about that at the end of the video. For now, let's move on to the final workout of the week. Workout C First up, we have the seated dumbbell shoulder press for three sets of eight to 12 reps, which will mainly target the front part of your shoulders. I personally prefer dumbbells over barbells for this because they're easier on the joints. Plus, by setting the bench one to two notches down from fully upright, you'll reduce the demand on your shoulder mobility while still getting the most of the exercise. Lastly, as you press to maximize shoulder activation, let your elbows flare out to the sides. But as you lower the dumbbells, tuck them slightly in front of your body. Okay, so Far, we've emphasized almost every area of the back in the previous workouts we're going to, but there's one major part left. The lats. This is where the dumbbell row comes in. With three sets of 8 to 12 reps, start by placing your same side, hand and knee on a bench for support while planting your other leg far out for stability. Next, the key to activating your lats is to keep your elbow tight to your side as you row and focus on driving your elbow back towards your hips in a sweeping, arcing motion, almost like you're sweeping the floor with the weight. But to prevent your biceps from taking over, make sure your forearm stays vertical rather than curling the weight as you pull. And lastly, as you row, avoid rotating your torso to make the movement easier. Keep your back flat, pull until your elbow reaches your torso, and then control the weight back down. Of course, don't forget, on your last set, push past failure by doing as many half reps as you can in that bottom position. Next up, our first lower body exercise. Three sets of 10 to 15 reps of hip thrusts. Now, hip thrusts have been shown to grow the glutes just as much as squats, and in one study, even led to almost double the glute growth when it was added to an existing leg workout. So, if you're somebody who sits most of the day, then this exercise is a must to prevent the dreaded flat butt syndrome. Ew. But you got to do it right. And one big mistake is arching your back, which puts pressure on your lower back instead of the glutes. To fix this, brace your core as if someone's about to punch your stomach, then squeeze your glutes hard. Think about holding a hundred dollar bill between your cheeks. Don't let me steal it at the top, your back should be flat and your glutes should be burning. But if I'm being honest, guys, sometimes I just don't feel like going through all the effort to set up the hip thrust. So an effective swap are dumbbell step ups on a bench or platform. But just like we did with walking lunges and workout B, lean forward slightly to target the glutes more and alternate your legs each step. So, to finish off the quads for the week, we're doing three sets of 10 to 15 reps of leg extensions. Now, while pressing movements like squats are great for overall quad growth, research suggests they only really grow just three of the four quad muscles. The fourth muscle, the rectus femoris, because of its unique anatomy, is instead better Grown with leg extensions, and hence why I've added them to this routine. But if you want even more growth from this exercise than if your machine lets you lean back as you perform it, this stretches the rectus femoris and it's been shown to significantly boost growth compared to the normal version. Next up, we're working the chest with three sets of 10 to 15 reps of flies to complement the pressing we've done earlier in the week. Now, my preferred setup here is a seated cable fly with a pad or foam roller between my back and the bench to create a deeper stretch in the chest. Another option here is the pec deck. But the downside is it tends to be much harder in the squeeze. So to make up for it, just like we did with the back exercises throughout the week, at the end of your very last set, do as many half reps as you can in that all important stretch position. All right, to finish off the week, we've got our final isolation superset, starting with calf raises. So your calves are made up of two muscles. And we used to think seated calf raises target one better while standing hits the other. But when researchers actually tested this, they found something surprising. Seated calf raises do grow that one muscle well, but standing calf raises grow it just as much while also growing the other calf muscles significantly more. So to get more bang for your buck, standing calf raises are the way to go. And you can do these on the leg press machine, Smith machine or single leg with a dumbbell on any platform. Anything where your legs stay straight. But here's the key, guys. Pause at the bottom of each rep for a deep stretch. For calves, this stretch is one of the most important drivers of growth. Once you're done, move straight into reverse cable flies to target the rear delts, a part of the shoulder that often gets overlooked. Set the cable slightly above shoulder height. Grab the left cable with your right hand and the right cable with your left hand and sweep your arms outward and let your arms cross. Cross over at the start for a deeper stretch in the rear delts. Repeat this superset for a total of three sets to wrap up your week of training. Alright, so here's the full plan and if you're a member of my new app built with Science plus, just open up the camera on your phone and scan this QR code to get this workout program for free. Our app members not only get access to new workouts every single time I release them, but with it you can easily track your progress instantly. Pull up form videos for each each exercise and even swap exercises for alternatives that target the same muscle. And the best part? After your first week, the app starts coaching you every workout, making sure you're progressing without overdoing it. Plus, it also includes a full nutrition plan with easy food tracking. Because, let's be real, that's where most of your results come from. It's just like having me as a coach in your pocket. So if you haven't joined yet, you can try two weeks of it for free. No strings attached. Just head to built with science.com or click the link in the description box down below to get started. But now that you've got your workout plan and a way to stay on track with the app, give this video watch next to learn how to properly use protein to maximize your muscle and fat loss results. Thanks so much for watching guys. Hope you enjoyed this one and see you next time.