14 Exercises That Work Out Multiple Muscles at the Same Time

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when working out is focusing on a few areas. Some men exercise the upper body and forget about the lower parts. Some women will focus on their lower body and forget about the upper areas.

Even though there’s nothing wrong with wanting to get a bigger chest or butt, it’s wiser to focus on all sections so that your muscles grow proportionately.

Exercises That Can Help You Work on Your Entire Body

1. Planks

Plank exercises are simple to do because you don’t need any equipment to do them. It basically involves you lying on your front with your elbows and toes supporting you. The exercise is meant to tighten your stomach muscles.

Planks also help to strengthen and stretch the collarbone, shoulder blades, and shoulders. It also works on your hamstrings and toes. Regularly mixing planks with other exercise routines can help you tone down your tummy and achieve good core strength.

2. Lunges

Lunges are simple to perform and are primarily meant to enhance your body balance. Moreover, they are a great way of building up strength in your legs and glutes and shaping your lower back.

It’s mostly recommended that do 10 reps for at least 3 sets in order to achieve the best results.

3. Squats

Squats are meant to boost the lower body and core strength.

To properly do squats, you have to stand up straight with your legs slightly more apart than your shoulders. Put your arms to the sides. Then, keep your chin and chest straight. Push your hips back as if you are taking a sit. Go down until your thighs are parallel to the ground and hold the position for 2 seconds.

Doing squats boosts the production of testosterone and HGH or human growth hormone. The release of these hormones helps your body to build muscle.

4. Pushups

In the past, people often associated pushups with the military. Others called it a soldier’s exercise. However, the exercise has grown in popularity as people realize its benefits. This is a very basic, but effective exercise.

The exercise engages the shoulders, triceps, and biceps. It also helps strengthen your core muscles. As a tip, make sure that you properly breathe in and out as you perform the pushup.

5. Dumbbell Rows

Dumbbell rows basically involve standing in a bent position while holding a dumbbell on both hands. Your back needs to be at a 45-degree angle to the ground so that you don’t strain yourself. Your core will only be engaged if your neck stays in line with your back.

This exercise is a good way to strengthen your arm and back muscles. It generally gives you that v-shape torso and makes you more attractive. Since you are holding dumbbells on both sides, this exercise can help you get rid of muscle imbalances.

6. Standing Overhead Dumbbell Presses

This exercise engages multiple muscles and joints simultaneously. Here is how you do it: stand up straight with your feet staggered or shoulder width apart. Pick up some weights with both hands. With your stomach tucked in, lift the dumbbells overhead until your arms are fully extended. Hold that position for about 2 seconds and bring your arms back down.

You can do 3 sets of 12 repetitions. This exercise is not only good for your shoulders, but also advantageous for your upper back and core muscles.

7. Burpees

Most people hate doing burpees because they can be quite hard and demanding. To start the exercise, stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your arms to your sides. Get into the squat position. Then, as your arms approach the ground, pop your legs into the push up position. Do one push up and then get back to the standing position.

Repeat the exercise 10 times, rest, and then proceed to do another set. Since this exercise involves so much movement, it works your entire body and helps you to build up your endurance. It’s also a good exercise for your heart.

8. Sit-ups

Sit-ups have been growing less popular over the years, but they are still a good exercise for building abdominal muscles. Even though they may not be as effective as planks, they still engage about 45% of the abdomen. Furthermore, they’re very easy to perform and only require your shoulders and upper back in order to lift yourself off the ground.

9. One Leg Dead Lift

This is a great exercise for improving your balance. Basically, you hold two dumbbells with both hands. Bend your knees slightly and push one leg behind you. As you do so, lower the dumbbells up to a point that you’re almost reaching the ground. When you reach a point of resistance, return to the starting position.

This exercise helps to strengthen your back and legs.

10. Glute Bridge

Glute bridge is primarily meant to strengthen the glutes and the posterior chain. To do this exercise effectively, lay on the floor facing upwards with your knees slightly bent. Make sure that your feet are flat on the ground and your palms are on your sides facing downwards. Raise your hips while squeezing your butt. As you do so, make sure that your shoulders and upper back remain on the ground.

Other than the glutes, this exercise also engages your lower back muscles as well as the hamstrings.

11. Clean and Jerk

This is an exercise that’s mostly done by professional weight lifters and athletes. However, that shouldn’t stop you from doing it.

Place your feet at hip width slightly facing outwards. Keep your hips below the shoulder and above the knees. Grab the barbell and slowly lift it up to the chest area. As you do this, you remain in the squat position. Then, using your arms jerk the barbells upwards above your head as you stand up. Hold that position for at least 2 seconds. Then, return it back down. Since you are a beginner, you can do another repetition and rest.

This exercise is great because it works your core, legs, and upper body at the same time. If you are a runner, the exercise can help improve your sprinting by making you faster and more explosive on the track.

12. Deadlift

This is another great bodybuilding exercise that you can also try. It basically involves lifting a heavy barbell from the ground while keeping your back straight. The main objective is to raise the barbell and let it touch your thighs as you stand up straight. Hold that position for a few seconds and return the barbell back down. You can 2 to 3 repetitions as a beginner.

As a precaution, make sure that you don’t bend your back as you lift the barbell. Furthermore, use your entire body to lift the barbell from the ground. This is a great general body exercise because it helps to make your back strong and build your forearms, core, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and quads.

13. Handstand

Whenever some people hear about handstands, they imagine someone using their hands to support their entire body. It just seems like a hard thing for anyone to do.

That’s why most people don’t include it in their exercise routine. However, these people don’t know that you can do a handstand while supporting yourself on a wall.

This exercise helps you to strengthen your core and upper body muscles. It also helps you to improve your stamina and balance.

14. Step ups

To do this exercise properly, you have to find a raised surface. Stand in front of the raised surface. Then, lift one leg onto the surface. As you pull yourself up, keep your abs tight and shoulders back. Once one leg is flat on the raised surface, bring the other leg up. Both legs should be flat on the surface. Then, go back to the starting position. Do at least 10 repetitions before taking a rest.

This is a great workout for strengthening your core and leg muscles. It also helps to maintain your cardiovascular health and build endurance.

Are You Getting the Full Benefits From Your Exercise?

It’s important that you find exercises that will work out your entire body. The above exercises will do the trick.

However, your body is bound to get used to these exercises with time. This happens when the exercises no longer feel challenging. When that happens, you need to increase the number of reps and sets. You can also improvise and include weights in the hands-free exercises.