Unleashing your potential and changing your workouts to a power-based program can really work the body in a new way. Power exercises that cover the full-body can sculpt, build, and induce gains all over. The content ahead looks into 5 explosive compound movements for full-body power and how this type of training can change your body and health.
Power training is a way to train specific muscle fibers types. Most often, power-based exercises include compound movements that work upper and lower parts of the body. This type of training is often how athletes train, but power workouts tend to be more efficient and effective than general strength programs. Let’s look into power workouts and how compound movements can aid in the programming of this type of training. 
What are the Benefits of Compound Exercises?
Compound exercises are highly efficient ways to work the entire body in a single movement. Studies have shown compound exercises to be effective for improving strength throughout the body. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of compound exercises and how they can be great for anyone.
- Burns more calories than standard isolation exercises. The extra calorie burn is due to the increase in muscle usage when compared to isolation exercises.
- Works multiple muscles and groups at a time.
- Great for anyone strapped for time. The efficiency with power exercises is above all else, so if time is lacking, consider this type of training.
- Ideal for building muscle hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is built through training muscle fiber types IIa and IIx.
- Taps into the cardiovascular system.
Introduction to Power Training
Power training sounds incredibly intimidating; as if it’s designed for bodybuilders. However, power training is simply working a certain type of muscle fiber.
- Type II Muscle Fibers. Type II muscle fibers are the muscles that are easily fatigued, but very powerful. The amount of force that muscle fibers IIa and IIx create are necessary for lifting heavy weights, pushing large objects, or showcased in a skills competition.
Power muscle fibers are typically larger in diameter than non-power fibers and this is so they can do more. At the cellular level, these muscle fibers are not as red or pink, since they don’t have as many myoglobin cells as other types of muscle. Lastly, power muscle fibers, since they require fast bursts or energy, contain the most amount of glycogen to fuel this movement. 
The Top 5 Explosive Compound Movements for Full-Body Power
Now that you have some background on power training and how compound movements can set up an entire workout, now is the time to look into the top 5 explosive compound movements for full-body power.
- Power Cleans. This is one of many standard Olympic lifts that targets the upper and lower parts of the body for a complete workout. Specifically, power cleans target the quads, hamstrings, glutes, traps, Lats, and forearms for a full-body power workout all in one lift.
- Pro tip: stay under the barbell after the initial high pull, as the fast descent in the squat to get under the weight can truly help the pressing portion.
- Snatch. This power exercise works the body from head to toes with strong emphasis on the shoulders and thighs. Look to perform the snatch for the quads, hamstrings, glutes, traps, and deltoids as a full-body favorite.
- Pro tip: be mindful of the upward phase of the snatch, as the shoulder rotation involved has caused injuries even among the strongest athletes.
- Barbell Back Squat. The barbell back squat is an all-time favorite for compound exercises as it targets the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and back. With stabilizers added into the mix, barbell back squats make truly one of the best power movements around.
- Pro tip: maintain body weight in the heels by lifting the toes in the lowering phase. Maintaining weight in the heels can help to redirect the center of gravity to the glutes while taking some of the pressure off the anterior muscles and knees.
- Deadlifts. Perhaps the poster child of powerlifting are deadlifts. A perfectly executed deadlift allows for controlled, quick movements in the concentric upwards phase and a slow eccentric portion. When your body weight is in the heels with heavy plates on the barbell, the deadlift targets the gastrocs, quads, hamstrings, glutes, low back, Lats, anterior core, and forearms.
- Pro tip: similar to the back squats, maintain your body weight far back in the heels to work the glutes and take pressure off the knees. Also, with every rep, finish off with a slight hip thrust for extra work on the glutes.
- Overhead Wall Ball Throws. Wall ball throws are not the typical type of power movements, but this activity offers compound actions that hit every part of the body. The overhead wall ball throw involves a deep squat while holding a weighted ball, the concentric phase while standing, and pressing the ball about 10 feet at a target, catching it, and repeating. This activity hits athleticism all over, but also works almost every joint in the body.
- Pro tip: start the squat process as the ball is dropping to get more resistance to the thighs. Otherwise, catch the ball and then lower as you develop comfort in this lift.
How to Program Exercises for Full-Body Power
The programming power movements can be tricky. On one hand, these exercises are designed to build bigger muscles and generate functional capabilities. On the other hand, the power movements above can stand on their own.
Going lighter with the weight with more reps, these power exercises can still hit the type II muscles. If you want hypertrophy, consider loading the barbell and struggling with each set to push yourself.
Conclusion
The top 5 explosive compound movements for full-body power listed above are some of the best options to target type II muscle fibers. With each activity, you can stack on the weight, but going light with more reps can be quite effective. Consider the full-body movements above to help guide you through your fitness journey.
