In general, it’s best to prioritise compound movements and supplement with isolation exercises. This means starting with exercises that work more than one muscle group (like a deadlift) and then finishing up with isolation exercises that focus on more specific muscles (such as bicep curls).

According to a 2016 research review, strength training at least 2 days a week is ideal to grow your muscles. So start with 2 or 3 days of full-body weight training, 2 days of cardio, and 2 days of rest. As you get stronger, you can add a fourth weight day and try splitting the days between upper- and lower-body workouts.

A good rule of thumb is to perform 3 sets of 3–5 compound movements, followed by 3 sets of 1–2 isolation movements per workout. Generally, you do your heaviest sets using compound movements and perform higher repetition ranges on your isolation movements.

We’ll want a routine with compound exercises that train multiple muscle groups at once. They’re efficient and they can create solid growth and stimulation. To create our full-body routine, each workout will make sure it has a big compound leg exercise, push exercise, pull exercise, and a core exercise: