The Best Exercises For Your Whole Body, According to Personal Trainers

When you’re strength training, the goal is typically to work out your whole body. And while people tend to think of whole-body exercises as those that work the upper body, lower body, and core, there’s more to it than just that. When I program exercises for a client and I’m looking to target the full body, I look for exercises that combine different movement patterns (i.e. squat, hinge, push, pull, and rotation) and work through multiple planes of motion (transverse, sagittal, and frontal). The goal is to functionally train the whole body.

Gil Ortiz, a NASM-certified Fitness Development Manager at Chuze Fitness Fullerton, is also a fan of choosing functional exercises, which “mimic everyday motions or athletic activities, enhancing your strength and mobility in real-world situations,” he says.

Also smart: prioritizing compound exercises, which engage multiple major muscle groups at once. “When searching for a solid full-body workout, you’re likely looking for exercises that challenge multiple muscle groups simultaneously,” Ortiz says. “Look for movements that engage your upper body, lower body, and core in a single motion.” Compound exercises for the whole body are a more efficient way to build strength, compared to moves that target very specific muscles.

Experts Featured in This Article

Gil Ortiz, is a NASM-certified Fitness Development Manager at Chuze Fitness Fullerton.
Brynley Joyner is an expert trainer at FORM.

8 Best Whole-Body Exercises

The eight movements here are some of the best whole-body exercises you’ll find. Each one incorporates various movement patterns and planes of motion to ensure you’re functionally training your entire body, and they all target multiple major muscle groups.

While these movements don’t have to be done together, for a complete workout, perform three to four sets of each of these eight whole-body exercises one after the other, resting for 30 to 60 seconds after each set. Just beware: you’ll feel it tomorrow, from head to toe.