Every serious lifter eventually gets curious about full-body training. Splits are efficient and logical, but there’s something about walking out of the gym having hit every major muscle group in one session that’s uniquely satisfying. Phase 5 was my two-month experiment with exactly that — and the data tells an interesting story.
Starting in July 2025, I abandoned splits entirely and ran two full-body routines — FULL BODY A and FULL BODY B — on a Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri schedule. Both routines were performed 16 times each during this phase, making them the most-repeated individual workouts in my entire two-year training log. That’s frequency.
The Structure
- FULL BODY A (Mon & Thurs): Squat pattern + chest push + horizontal pull + shoulder isolation + curl + tricep extension. One compound per major pattern, then isolation finishers.
- FULL BODY B (Tues & Fri): Hip hinge + glute focus + chest fly + vertical pull + curl + tricep. Completely different exercise selection hitting the same muscle groups from a different angle.
The key to making full-body training work is not trying to do everything in one session. You pick one compound per movement pattern and one or two isolation exercises, then rotate the selection across sessions so every muscle gets both frequency and variety across the week.
Muscle Focus by Workout
FULL BODY A — Mon & Thurs
Session A opened with the Hack Squat Machine — a quad-dominant compound that’s kinder on the lower back than a barbell squat, making it ideal as a high-frequency movement. Incline Chest Press Machine handled the push pattern, and Iso-Lateral Low Row covered horizontal pulling. Lateral Raise (Cable) added medial delt isolation, and the session closed with Seated Incline Curls and Triceps Extensions. Hack squats are one of the most underrated quad builders in the gym — highly recommend them if you haven’t tried them.
FULL BODY B — Tues & Fri
Session B switched the hip hinge movement to Romanian Deadlifts and added Hip Thrust Machine for glute-dominant work. The push pattern shifted to Seated Chest Flys (Cable) — a pure isolation movement rather than a compound press, which made sense given that Session A already had a heavy compound push. Lat Pulldown covered vertical pulling. Preacher Curls and Triceps Kickbacks handled the arm isolation, and the Dip Machine rounded out tricep volume. The hip thrust was a staple by this point — it’s been consistently the best movement for glute development in my log.
Between the two sessions, here’s what got hit 4x per week:
- Quads: Hack Squat (A) + full-body carry-over (B)
- Hamstrings & Glutes: Romanian Deadlift + Hip Thrust (B)
- Chest: Incline Press (A) + Cable Fly (B)
- Back: Iso-Lateral Row (A) + Lat Pulldown (B)
- Shoulders: Lateral Raise Cable (A)
- Biceps: Seated Incline Curl (A) + Preacher Curl (B)
- Triceps: Cable Extension (A) + Kickback + Dip Machine (B)
Phase 5 Weight Update
| Workouts | Total Sets | Total Reps | Total Volume Lifted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 574 | 6,628 | 640,431 lbs |
Here’s where the numbers were at by the end of Phase 5 (September 2025):
FULL BODY A
- Hack Squat (Machine): 200–230 lbs × 8 reps
- Squat (Barbell): 225 lbs × 8 reps
- Incline Chest Press (Machine): 140 lbs × 6–10 reps
- Iso-Lateral Low Row: 100–120 lbs × 12 reps
- Lateral Raise (Cable): 11 lbs × 12 reps
- Seated Incline Curl (Dumbbell): 17.5–20 lbs × 12 reps
- Triceps Extension (Cable): 44 lbs × 12 reps
- Seated Cable Row: 120 lbs × 12 reps
FULL BODY B
- Romanian Deadlift (Barbell): 135 lbs × 12 reps
- Hip Thrust (Machine): 185–230 lbs × 12 reps
- Seated Chest Flys (Cable): 17.6 lbs × 15 reps
- Lat Pulldown (Cable): 110 lbs × 12 reps
- Preacher Curl (Machine): 40–45 lbs × 12 reps
- Triceps Kickback (Cable): 11 lbs × 12 reps
- Dip Machine (Seated): 160 lbs × 15 reps
Full-body training at 4x per week is intense, and you can see some weights are lower than Phase 4 — that’s intentional. Running a movement 4x per week means you manage fatigue carefully and don’t push limit lifts every session. The frequency itself is the stimulus.