Looking for a real challenge?
Has the fitness regime gone a bit stale?
Want to see how fit you are?
Then boy oh boy do I have a challenge for you.
This 300-rep full-body workout is no joke. It starts with the top four main lifts: the squat, bench press, deadlift, and bent-over row. This initial period is designed to build strength across the whole body. That’s why the rest periods are a little longer so you can focus on getting the most out of each set.
After that, we move on to some of the supersets. These are designed to burn as many calories as possible using more compound movements to hit your entire musculature. These have slightly lower rest times to challenge your cardiovascular system. This gives you a good combination of strength, hypertrophy, and cardio to burn fat and build muscle in a HIIT style.
Why these exercises?
As the start of the workout is strength-based, we want to hit the movements which work the most muscles and carry over to general life. Learning how to squat, deadlift, press, and pull are all key movements for human beings that can prevent us from damaging our bodies and keep us able as we head into older life.
The squat is a movement that we do every single day. Each time we stand up from a chair that’s a squat. The squat teaches us a basic movement pattern and strengthens the muscles in and around the hips and legs. It strengthens our quads, calves, glutes, and lower back whilst teaching us to be strong and stable with a heavy weight on our back. There’s a reason it’s called the king of lower body exercises.
Next up we have the bench press which hits our arms, chest, and shoulders. Pressing is another key movement that strengthens the muscles on the front of the upper body including the largest muscle on the arm: the triceps. The shoulders are an important joint we use every single day for carrying and pushing, so the bench press trains you to properly engage the correct muscles to become more capable in the associated movements.
The deadlift is a movement a lot of us hate doing, but is extremely important for building the body. Predominantly targeting the lower back and hamstrings, the deadlift engages your entire body for the most part. No muscle doesn’t have to be slightly engaged to pull off the movement correctly. The lower back in particular is of great importance as it’s an area many of us struggle with due to slumping over a desk or maintaining bad posture throughout the day. By training the lower back, we can improve our posture to free and prevent us from aches and pains.
Lastly, we have the bent-over row. Again due to hunching and posture, our shoulders can become rounded forward and leave us open to shoulder problems. Not to mention, many of us hit the gym and do a lot of work on the front of the body as that’s what we can see in the mirror but never really do much for the back. An imbalance of pressing to pushing movements can not only leave us at greater risk for injury but also mean that we’re missing out on vital progress for looking better. The bent-over row is included to again hit the lower back as well as the upper back and biceps to even out the volume from the bench press.
When should I do this workout?
Now, because this workout is so intense, you can’t do it that often. The 300 rep full body workout is designed for people who might be only able to hit the gym once or twice a week. This workout is perfect for those who have a busy schedule and so need to get the most out of each workout. It hits every area of your fitness to leave no stone unturned.
Because of its inclusiveness, you can also use this as a measure of your fitness now and again. For instance, if you’re starting a new program and want to know how effective it is, you could do this workout before starting the program and then again after 3 months. If you can use heavier weights, rest for less time, or feel less fatigued by the end of the workout, then you know that the program’s working. If you end up doing less or not being able to keep up with your old numbers, then the program isn’t suited for you.
What is RPE?
RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion and simply refers to the intensity that you think you’re working out. The scale starts at 0 (completely sedentary, not challenging in the slightest, basically asleep) and up to 10 (this is the most intense I can go, if I go any harder I’m going to puke). Each exercise has an RPE described below so you know roughly what weight you should use. If you start with weight and it’s too easy or too hard, then adjust for the remaining sets.
The more you do this workout and the stronger/more capable you become, the RPE will slowly fall. For instance, 4 sets of 10 reps for the squat with 75kg might be an RPE of 8 when you first do the workout, but by the third or fourth time, it might be easier and slip down to an RPE of 7 or 6. This is when you know that your body has adapted to the stimulus and you need to increase the weight. When you find that a given weight’s RPE has slipped, increase the weight by 2.5-5kg based on how easily you found the last weight.
The Workout
Make sure to complete a 5-10-minute warm-up and cool-down on either side of the workout. The warm-up should consist of some light cardio, dynamic stretches, foam rolling (optional), and practice of each of the main movements to prepare your mind and body. The cooldown should consist of some light cardio, static stretches, and foam rolling (optional).
Depending on how long you rest, this entire workout will take around 60-90 minutes (1 – 1 ½ hours).
Strength
Complete 4 sets of 10 reps for each exercise, resting for 120-180 seconds (2-3 minutes) between each set.
Aim for an RPE of 7 for each exercise.
Squats
Bench Press
Deadlifts
Bent Over Rows/Seated Rows
Reps – 160
Total Reps – 160
Time – 30-50 Minutes
Total Time – 30-50 Minutes
Cardio & Stamina
Rest for 60-90 seconds (1-1 ½ minutes) between each superset. Do not rest for any time between the first and second exercises. For instance, in the first superset you would do 10 reps of lunges and then immediately go into 10 reps of push press before entering the rest period and restarting once more. After the second set, you would then rest 60-90 seconds before entering into the second superset.
Aim for an RPE of 8-9 for each exercise.
Superset #1:
Lunges 2 x 10 (One rep equals a lunge on both sides)
Push Press 2 x 10
Reps – 60
Total Reps – 220
Superset #2:
Push-Up 2 x 15
Australian Rows 2 x 15
Burpees 2 x 10
Reps – 80
Total reps – 300
Time – 5-10 minutes
Total Time – 35 – 60 minutes
Total Time including warm up and cool down – 45 – 80 minutes
