People love full-body workouts – very rightly so. They can burn a ton of calories, help move all your limbs, and make you feel pleasantly exhausted. And this feeling isn't exclusive to the best full-body workout; as long as most of your muscles are at work, you'll be able to reap the benefits of resistance training, such as improved body composition – a.k.a. gains – and even enhanced cardiorespiratory fitness.
Better still, this is a bodyweight workout, so you won't need any home gym equipment apart from some workout shoes, maybe, but even those are optional. Despite the minimal gear, bodyweight workouts have several benefits, including scalability (you can make them as hard/long/complicated as you want), effectiveness (for example, push-ups have been proven to be as effective in building chest muscles as bench pressing) and the fact that it builds 'functional' strength (as opposed to bulk).
In the above video, trainer, physical therapist and ripped six-pack abs owner Jaeho walks us through an 8-minute full-body workout for beginners inspired by Tabata exercises. There are two rounds, each consisting of six exercises. Each of the six moves is performed for 30 seconds, with a 10-second rest in between. Have at least 30-60 seconds rest between rounds. Jaeho recommends three to four rounds, but feel free to do as many as you feel comfortable with. The exercises featured in this workout are:
- Slow squats
- Oblique crunch
- Knee push-up
- Hip bridge (also known as glute bridge)
- Plank
- Prone Y exercise (similar to Superman)
- Rest (30-60 seconds)
- Split squats
- Slow mountain climber
- Plank up and down
- Bent-knee glute kickback
- Leg stretch
- Prone T exercise
That's it! Jaeho does the whole workout on the floor, but if you prefer not to have your bare chest exposed to the cold stone of your living room, we recommend using an exercise mat (you'll find plenty of suitable options on our best yoga mat guide). If you like quick workouts, you must try this 3-exercise ab workout, which lasts only 10 minutes, or this T3-exclusive 15-minute bodyweight strength workout. Alternatively, check out this 20-minute knee-friendly leg workout to build muscles in a joint-friendly way.