Back in the day, when I lost over 70 pounds on a ketogenic diet, I was doing a 5-day split and loving it! 10 years and Fathering 3 kids later, I'm back at square one. I know the best thing I can do for my body (other than diet) is a 3x full body workout, at least for now as I get back into shape and lose the weight again. So, I'd like a second opinion or any positive criticism that could help me get started on the right foot.

Here is the plan I've drawn up as a basic full body workout. I've tried to cover all the major muscle groups and get in some good exercises for each, but I'm open to suggestions. I do 3 sets of 12 for each, aiming for exhaustion on each working set. (2 working sets, warm up at 80%)

1. Chest: Flat Bench Press (I thought of alting inc/dec/flat)
2. Back: Bent Over Row
3. Shoulders: Shoulder Press
4. Quadriceps: Laying Leg Extensions
5. Hamstrings: Leg Curls
6. Biceps: EZ-Bar Curls (or DB iso)
7. Triceps: EZ-Bar Skull Crushers
8. Abs: Crunches & Leg-Ups

I feel I could get great use out of some squats, but I'm afraid to over tax my legs, that was always a difficult one for me. Leg days would leave me utterly exhausted, but it still felt great and I never had any pain or discomfort.

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions, I'm already having a blast getting back into shape!

NOTE: I do everything at home. I have an olympic weight bench with leg attachment. I also have a large collection of bars and DBs, plus tons of cardio stuff, but that's not the focus of this post.

Why not take out the leg extensions and leg curls, and put in deadlifts and squats?

Unless you like the muscle isolation approach. Whole-body exercises like squats and deadlifts it's easier to go short and hard which is a good thing if you're doing rest days in between.

Hi Typod
First - good luck - definitely looks like you are on the right track!

Personally - and watching my husband (who is trying to build some weight / muscle) - body resistance moves (squats / push ups) are really useful to incorporate.

I understand your concern though - at 5'6" and +220 I was worried about joint issues...my advice though would be to try and do a few, using perfect form - for as I am sure you know, squats work the largest muscle groups in the body.

Thanks guys!

To Seejay: I'm not so much wanting to isolate just yet, but there are a few areas I think I would benefit (and not overtax the other major groups) Legs being one. What I may do is sub dead lifts and squats for my leg iso one day of the week, or alternate weeks. In my experience, when I do deadlifts, I run out of energy to finish my smaller muscle groups like biceps and shoulders. Lol, I fully support compound exercises, I just don't like doing them.

To Hysteria: Thanks! I know quite a bit, but I'm always learning and willing to change my opinion when the right evidence is presented. I agree with your husbands choice of compound exercises and body weight (pushups, deadlifts, squats, etc) I'm just not sure on how to incorporate them appropriately. All compound will give a good, quick workout, but it can over work some muscles, and leave others virtually unused. But, this beginner stuff is a whole new world to me again. And the things I seem to be avoiding are most suggested for beginners. My mind is still firmly wrapped around isolation and targeting muscle groups in a specific order, it's hard to work backwards (even though, I'm actually having to start forward, from the beginning.)

LOL fair enough. Oh how I know the feeling. Of course you could do your upper body with compound ones too.
(Free Obnoxious tip from me )

you might like Mark Sisson's Essential 5 to wrap your head around compound exercises without uneven training.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-fi...caveman-did-it/

I do some daily apple. Not a fan of his overall fan-base, but he personally has some really good info. Actually, I have the blueprint sitting on the table right next to me. lol

Leg extensions are hell on your knees. The knee is designed to be rotated with weight on it and by putting it through a rotation without weight, damage occurs. Given that you are 358 (or less!) you probably don't need more strength in the legs and all you need to do is 3x15 maintenance squat sets. No need to stress it. Just maintain. Don't forget the calf muscles and shin bone muscles (Tibialis Anterior?).

For abs, I've always liked the roman chair extensions and hyper extended sit ups with weights. Crunches don't allow you to really tax those muscles or work them through their functional range, IMO.

Last, I'd strongly recommend getting Tudor Bompa's Serious Strength Training book. Sometimes you want to do 3x10, sometimes 3x15 and sometimes 3x12 with less than 90 seconds of rest between sets. It depends.

Exactly. I assume that your purpose is just to get the major muscles ready to go, get into the gym and build some muscle. You aren't a competitive golfer (yet) or sprinter (yet). Isolate the majors, work them, go home. That's why i really like the roman chair. It generally works a specific set of muscles in the lower back and butt (for instance the multifidus muscle) providing good functional strength for a lot of things later on, like squats.

~Inflammabl: YES! Spot on, mate. I'll check out that book, but I agree with everything you said there. Being so large (350 when I restarted a little over a week ago. I need to update my stats.) My legs get a workout every time I get off the couch. I actually JUST finished this workout before reading your comments, and I removed the extensions and leg curls and did squats instead. Though, it was the toughest exercise I did. Only body weight too. :/

On the topic of the Roman Chair.... that is the ONLY piece of equipment that I don't already own that I consider a necessity. I'd like to have a cable rack also, but I'm not that rich. lol. I feel so lost without my back extensions. Being so tall, it's great to be able to stretch out that lower back! Without a doubt, it's the next thing I add to my home gym.