Total-Body Conditioning Exercises With Bars & Weights

Bars and weights, collectively called free weights, might seem a bit old school compared to high-tech resistance machines, but despite being nothing more than lumps of metal they still deliver a great workout. You can use barbells and weights to target individual muscle groups, but in the real world your muscles work together. Total-body exercises allow you to get a lot of work done in a short time and train your muscles in a very functional way.

  1. Overview

    • Total-body conditioning exercises use your arms and legs simultaneously. This not only provides your muscles with a good workout but also challenges your heart and lungs. Sometimes called complexes, these exercises often involve the combination of two or more regular exercises rolled into one effective maneuver. There are body-weight total-body conditioning exercises -- the burpee for example -- but exercises using bars and weights are more versatile because you can increase or decrease the difficulty of the exercise very easily. With body-weight exercises, your main variable is the number of repetitions you perform.

    Sets, Reps and Weights

    • When trying a new exercise for the first time, always start light and increase the weight gradually. Only use heavier weights when you feel you have mastered the technique of the new exercise and your muscles are ready. Perform two to four sets of 12 to 20 repetitions of your chosen exercise. The last couple of repetitions should be challenging, but still completed in good form.

    Thrusters

    • Thrusters combine a barbell front squat with an overhead press to leave virtually every muscle in your body thoroughly worked. This combination will also drive your heart and breathing rate up to deliver a powerful cardio workout. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a bar held across the front of your shoulders. Bend your knees and descend into a squat. Stand up and use this momentum to help you press the weight overhead. Lower the bar back to your shoulders and repeat. For variation, this exercise can also be performed using two dumbbells.

    Sumo Deadlift High Pulls

    • Working your legs, butt, back, arms and shoulders, the sumo deadlift high pull is the epitome of a total-body conditioning exercise. Performed with heavy weights for low reps, its a great muscle and strength builder. Low weights and high reps, however, will leave you puffing like an old steam train. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart with the weights on the floor in front of you. Squat down and grasp the bar using a narrow, overhand grip. Lift your chest and drop your hips. Stand up rapidly and pull the weight up and under your chin. Lower the weight to your hips, place the weight on the floor and repeat. Do not allow your lower back to round as this can lead to injury.

    Barbell Burpee Clean and Press

    • This exercise leaves no muscle untrained and is a great way to get a full-body workout in just a few short minutes. Place the barbell on the floor and stand with your feet below the middle of the bar. Squat down and place your hands on the bar. Jump your feet back and do a single pushup. Then jump your feet in and up to the bar. Stand up and pull the bar up the front of your body -- catch it across the front of your shoulders. Push the barbell up and overhead. Lower the bar back to your shoulders and then to the floor and repeat. This exercise is for advanced practitioners.