Olympic barbell · Weight plates

Barbell-Only Full Body Workout

A barbell and a stack of plates is still the most efficient strength equipment ever made. Everything loads the same bar, the weight goes up in small honest increments, and the movements are the ones every strength programme has been built around for a century.

The session · 6 exercises
  1. 1

    Conventional Deadlift

    4 × 3–6

    Back · also Glutes, Hamstrings, Traps, Forearms

    • Bar over mid-foot, shins almost touching. Hips higher than the knees, chest proud.
    • Take the slack out of the bar before you pull — you should hear it click into place.
    • Push the floor away and keep the bar dragging up the legs.
    • Lock out by squeezing the glutes. Do not lean back at the top.
  2. 2

    Standing Overhead Press

    4 × 5–8

    Shoulders · also Triceps, Core

    • Bar on the front delts, hands just outside the shoulders, elbows slightly in front.
    • Squeeze the glutes and brace hard so the lower back does not arch.
    • Press up, moving the head back out of the way, then bring it through once the bar passes.
    • Finish with the bar over the mid-foot and the arms locked.
  3. 3

    Romanian Deadlift

    4 × 8–12

    Hamstrings · also Glutes, Back

    • Start standing with the bar at the hips, knees softly bent.
    • Push the hips straight back and let the bar slide down the thighs.
    • Stop when the hamstrings are fully stretched, usually just below the knee.
    • Drive the hips forward to stand. The back stays flat the entire time.
  4. 4

    Barbell Row

    4 × 6–10

    Back · also Biceps, Lats, Traps

    • Hinge to roughly 45°, knees soft, back flat and braced.
    • Pull the bar to the lower ribs, leading with the elbows.
    • Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top, then lower fully to a stretch.
    • If the torso is rising with every rep, the weight is too heavy.
  5. 5

    Plate Svend Press

    3 × 12–20

    Chest

    • Press two plates together at chest height and keep squeezing hard the whole set.
    • Extend the arms straight out in front of you.
    • Draw them back to the chest while maintaining the inward squeeze.
  6. 6

    Push Press

    4 × 3–6

    Shoulders · also Triceps, Quads, Core

    • Start like an overhead press with the bar on the front delts.
    • Dip a few inches at the knees, then explode up and drive the bar overhead.
    • Lock out with the bar over the mid-foot and reset before the next rep.

Getting the most out of it

Without a rack you are limited to what you can clean to your shoulders, which caps pressing and squatting well below what your legs could handle. If you own one thing next, make it a rack — it raises the ceiling on this session more than any amount of extra plates.

Keep track of it

Solviro logs every set, remembers what you lifted last time, and builds your plan around the equipment you actually own. Free, and you don't need an account to look around.

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Other equipment, other sessions

All 25 workouts

General fitness information, not medical advice. If something hurts in a way that feels wrong, stop.