3 Full Body Workouts For Size

If you're looking to pack on some serious mass, one of the best ways to go about accomplishing this mission is by getting on a full body workout program. Many seeking muscle gain are quick to assume that three days in the gym is not enough to effectively add body mass, however that's not the case at all.

In many cases, especially when an individual is doing a higher amount of volume, the full body workout will be superior to the upper/lower split, or even worse yet, the body part split. 

The primary reason for this is that these set-ups decrease the total time available to recover and if you have a slower recovery system, this will directly impact your total muscle growth.

There are a number of ways you can go about setting up a full body workout that's aimed at gaining size, so have a look at the three different options below in order to choose the one that's best aimed at your own situation. 

1. Alternating Upper And Lower Body Workouts

The first type of full body workout is where you will place more focus on any given workout on either the upper or the lower body. So for example, if it's an upper body focus day, you will do a few sets for legs, but other than that it's directly arm work. Then on the second training session of the week, you might reverse this so the legs get a bit more attention. You continue alternating in this pattern as time progresses, with some weeks having two leg-day focus workouts and others two upper-day focus workouts. The benefit to this type of set-up is that you will be able to add in a couple additional exercises that are specifically targeted towards the upper or lower body. On a classic fully body workout, this is slightly harder to do since you're trying to aim to work each muscle equally. Generally the muscle groups that aren't being focused on can receive 2-3 sets total of a compound movement and be fine for maintenance purposes. Here is a sample of what this would look like using an upper body focus.
• Squats: 2 sets of 5-8 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets of 5-8 reps
• Bent Over Row: 3 sets of 5-8 reps
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Biceps Curls: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Weighted Dips: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Lateral Raises: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
Then you could use this workout to focus on your lower body on alternate days.
• Incline Press: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
• Lateral Pulldowns: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
• Squats: 4 sets of 5 reps
• Deadlifts: 4 sets of 5 reps
• Lunges: 2-3 sets of 8 reps
• Calf Raises: 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps
• Crunches: 2 sets of 10-15 reps
You may want to add your own individual exercise selection to this, but you can get a feel for the overall general trend that the workout pattern follows. As long as you are maintaining the weight on the couple sets you do for the non-focus muscle groups then you should have no problem making good strength and size gains on this approach.   

 2. The Hypertrophy Workout

The second type of full body workout that will help you pack on the muscle mass is a hypertrophy workout. The goal in this workout is size gains more than strength, so you'll be focusing on a bit more volume and the higher rep range. You still can certainly see some strength gains during this workout as well, but it wouldn't be as much as you'd see using lower rep ranges as illustrated in the workout directly below this one. It should also be noted that this type of setup shouldn't be followed for an extended period of time as it is quite demanding on the CNS and could lead to overtraining down the road. You will still follow the typical three-day-a-week setup with this full body workout program, being sure to take at least one day off between workouts. 

Workout 1
• Squats: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Rows: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Leg Extension: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Hamstring Curl: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Biceps Curls: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Side Lateral Raises: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
Workout 2
• Deadlifts: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
• Incline Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Lat Pulldown: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Lunges: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Upright Rows: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Skull Crushers: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Calf Raises: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
• Crunches: 2 sets of 10-12 reps
For these workouts you should aim to keep the rest periods on the slightly shorter side, coming in at thirty to sixty seconds each. 

 

3. The Up-Your-Strength Workout

Finally, the last type of workout you may wish to consider following is a purely strength focused workout. These will utilize a much lower rep range allowing you to lift the heaviest weight possible in aims of gaining strength, while also gaining size along the way.

Keep in mind that in order for size gains to be accomplished with this program - or any of these for that matter, the calorie surplus must be present. You can in some cases get stronger without taking in more calories than maintenance, but you won't get larger without that being present.

For this workout you will also utilize longer rest periods as these will be essential to recover from the heavy lifts that you're doing. The total number of reps and sets will also be lower, which further accommodates the heavier weight.

Here is an example of one of the workouts you could perform following these principles. Often your best bet will be to use a very similar workout over all three days of the week but then change up the exercises that make up that particular workout every 3-4 weeks.

Squats: 4 sets of 5 reps

Bench Press: 4 sets of 5 reps

Rows: 4 sets of 5 reps

Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 8 reps

Triceps Pressdowns: 3 sets of 8 reps

Calf Raises: 2 sets of 10 reps

Crunches: 2 sets of 10 reps

(Source: Bodybuilding.com)