Should You Be Doing Total Body Workouts or Targeting Specific Areas?

We’ve all heard it: gym buffs bragging and boasting about all the #gains they got during “Leg Day,” or how they’re really “feeling it” after an intense day of arms. But is targeting specific muscle groups really the best way to plan out your workout routine? In general, completing full-body workouts are more beneficial to your routine for more than one reason. Total body workouts can:

1. Prevent plateau
   If you feel like you’re giving it your all during every gym sesh, but you’re just not seeing the results you want, plateauing could be the cause. Constantly working out the same muscles in the same ways causes your body to adapt to the moves. By doing a total body workout, it becomes much easier to switch up your movements to ensure your body doesn’t get bored.
   
2. Save time
   You could go to the gym every day… You could also go every other day and get just as much done. When practicing a full body routine, you don’t need to hit the gym every day of the week. When you’re working out all your muscle groups, as opposed to segmenting, there’s no need to go hard every single day. Instead, put all that energy and focus into 3 or 4 days a week, and see results in half the time.
   
3. Increase recovery time
   Whether you want to hear it or not, your body needs rest just as much as it needs activity. If you’re going to the gym daily, you aren’t giving your body the recovery time it needs between sweat sessions. Muscle repair is necessary for growth and helps prevent injury. Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of more rest days?
   
4. Improve muscular symmetry
   If you’ve ever seen someone next to you at the gym with disproportionately huge arms, their fitness routine is probably pretty obvious. Committing to a total body workout ensures that your muscles remain balanced. This will make working out (and everyday life) much easier, as your muscles work best when they work together.
   
5. Aid in fat loss
   Looking to lose weight? Targeting your core alone won’t do as much as you may hope. When you complete high-intensity full body workouts your entire body is activated, meaning you’ll burn more calories and lose more fat than if you’re just targeting one area alone. A total body focus combined with compound movements (those engaging two or more joints) fully stimulates entire muscle groups, which means your body burns more calories. Don’t believe us? Try it for yourself.