Transform Your Physique with Total Body Training
With this total body eight-week training program your body will make a drastic transformation while leaving you an ample amount of free time to recover.
Remember to consult your doctor before starting any diet and exercise plan.
Up until now you've probably been training for size and strength gains as most trainers do during the cold season. It's time for your training program to do a 180 and get back to an old school method of training that has been proven to produce results – Total Body Training.
To get the most out of total body training you're going to have to work. The workouts may be short, the sets and reps will be limited and you'll have a long time to recover between training sessions, but this is no “walk in the park” training program. Compound and single-joint exercises are the name of the game. Here's the list:
Compound Movements
| Quads | Barbell back squat, barbell front squat, leg press or hack squat |
| Shoulders | Dumbell military press or standing barbell push press to the front |
| Chest | Barbell flat, incline, decline bench press, dumbell flat bench press or wide grip dips |
| Lower Back & Hips | Deadlift from floor, standing good mornings, power cleans or power snatches |
| Back | Barbell/dumbell Rows, T-bar rows, chin-ups or pull-ups |
Single-Joint Movements
| Hamstrings | Leg curls or glute-ham raises |
| Biceps | Standing barbell/dumbell curls, hammer curls or preacher curls |
| Triceps | Lying tricep extensions, cable press downs or dumbell overhead extensions |
| Shoulders | Dumbell side and front raises, reverse pec-deck or barbell upright rows |
| Calves | Standing or seated calf raises |
Ground Rules
- Each week you will train three days and rest four days with a minimum of 48 hours to recover between workouts
- Every major muscle group must be trained three times each week
- Intensity level must be high to keep the training session as short as possible
- Increase the load every week
- No two workouts should ever be the same
- Each workout must consist of four compound movements and two single-joint movements
How It's Done
Each training session will consist of four compound movements and two single-joint movements that you will choose from the list. Make sure to change up the exercises from workout to workout so that no two days are ever exactly the same. This program is designed to contain three training sessions within a seven-day time frame. Each workout has a designated number of sets and reps per exercise to be performed each time:
| Workout #1 | 3 sets x 5 reps |
| Workout #2 | 4 sets x 8 reps |
| Workout #3 | 2 sets x 15 reps |
The exact same sets and reps scheme will be repeated each week for eight weeks, and each week you should be increasing the load being lifted by 1-2 percent. Rest times between sets should not exceed 90 seconds. Below is an example of how the workouts are structured.
Workout #1 – Sets: 3 – Reps: 5
| Compound | Barbell back squat |
| Dumbell military press | |
| Barbell flat bench press | |
| T-bar rows | |
| Single-Joint | Hammer curls |
| Seated calf raises |
There it is – the total body eight-week training program. When performed according to the parameters outlined above, your body will make a drastic transformation while leaving you an ample amount of free time to recover.

