This 8-Move Workout May Be the Perfect Full-Body Routine

It can de daunting to craft a well-balanced workout plan – especially when life (or the gym) gets too busy. That’s why it’s so helpful to have in your back pocket some straightforward, full-body workout routines that you know will deliver a solid endorphin rush and require minimal equipment. This full-body gym workout is the perfect place to start.

This full-body workout for the gym (which you can also do at home, with the right equipment) consists of just eight moves but truly works your whole body. You’ll be targeting your shoulders, biceps, back, glutes, quads, and core with these moves, and the whole thing shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes, which is about how long you might spend wandering around the gym looking for open equipment.

All you need to get this full-body gym workout done are some dumbbells and/or resistance bands, a workout bench or step, and a stability ball. But just in case you don’t have those last two items (or people are hogging them in the weight room), we’ll offer easy swaps. Check out the full gym workout below for a much more efficient routine, and get ready to work.

45-Minute Full-Body Gym Workout

Equipment needed: Two sets of dumbbells and/or resistance bands; one set should be medium/heavy and the second set should be light. (Here’s more on how to choose the right weight.) You’ll also need a stability ball and a workout bench or step.

Directions: Make sure you warm up beforehand, for example with these (warmup exercises). To help you save time, this workout should be performed in supersets, meaning you’ll alternate two exercises, taking little to no rest in between each move. For example, you’ll do a set of the split squat to overhead press and immediately transition to bicep curls. Then, you’ll go repeat these two moves until you’ve completed the listed number of sets. There are three total supersets, and you’ll do the last two exercises separately, not as supersets. Afterward, don’t forget to do a cooldown stretch.

• Superset 1, exercise 1: split squat to overhead press: four sets of 10 reps (each leg)
• Superset 1, exercise 2: bicep curl: four sets of 12 reps (each arm)
• Superset 2, exercise 1: single-leg bridge: four sets of 12 reps (each leg)
• Superset 2, exercise 2: single-arm row: four sets of 12 reps (each arm)
• Superset 3, exercise 1: step up: four sets of 10 reps (each leg)
• Superset 3, exercise 2: front and lateral raise: four sets of 10 reps
• Body saw: two sets of 10 reps
• Bird dog: two sets of 10 reps on each side

– Additional reporting by Lauren Mazzo and Mirel Zaman