full body workouts to increase strength?

[unshift]

i'm trying to cut out some fat and increase my strength (not build mass!) simultaneously. i'm not really concerned with isolation exercises so i'm focusing on lots of compound movements. after my last thread with PowermanDL i figured that full body workouts would be great for losing fat, but will it actually help out my strength?

right now here's my routine that i started today:

3x lat pulldowns (8, 6, 4)
4x bench (8, 6, 2, 6 with DBs) ** REALLY WEAK! (2x was 185lbs, and i struggled!)
3x military press (6, 6, 6)
`-> added in rotary cuff isolation to prevent injury
4x squat (8, 6, 4, 2)
1x walking lunge
4x deadlift (8, 6, 4, 2)

and for my "cardio"
4x triples of hang clean / push press
4x triples of power clean / split jerk

it took about an hour and 15 mins or so, i was sweating like hell and out of breath the entire time. i assume its going to be fine for losing weight, but is it going to help me increase strength?

and i know it will increase strength if i diet properly... but what if i'm trying to lose fat? my diet is pretty decent (i can post it if required) but with my previous routine i really wasn't getting anywhere in terms of weight loss. i'm thinking of upping calories a tad (i think it was too low before) and focusing on the big lifts for now

(and to the mods, please don't move this post -- i dont want it to go to BB/fitness because i dont think it belongs there... this is a power lifting related routine with loosely similar goals and i dont want people telling me to do curls and dumbbell kickbacks)

[unshift]

another question -- is this kind of a routine a recipe for overtraining?

[Paul Stagg]

Your strength can go up doing that, sure. Just have to work hard at it.

Your routine isn't really going to make that much of a difference WRT losing fat, IMO.

This does belong in the other forum.

[benchmonster]

If you really want a full body workout, then use your whole body for an exercise, such as deadlifts, overhead squats, snatches, cleans, that sort of thing. You can do 4 sets or so of any of the above exercises and work your whole body much quicker and more efficiently than by doing a jillion reps of a bunch of different exercises to work the whole body piecemeal.

B.

[unshift]

i'm currently doing DLs, and cleans, and unweighted overhead squats (just the bar). i'm not sure of the technique of a snatch so i'm kind of reluctant to try them but yeah i suppose they would fit right in

[Manveet]

Full body workouts burn a lot of calories, especially if you start working in the higher rep ranges. So it can be an efficient fat loss method, granted that your diet is in check.

Some people have noticed benefits in strength while using full body type routines like HST, including myself. However, I was eating over maintenance. So I do not know the effects of eating under maintenance while doing a full body routine.

[the doc]

Originally posted by benchmonster
If you really want a full body workout, then use your whole body for an exercise, such as deadlifts, overhead squats, snatches, cleans, that sort of thing. You can do 4 sets or so of any of the above exercises and work your whole body much quicker and more efficiently than by doing a jillion reps of a bunch of different exercises to work the whole body piecemeal.

B.

benchmonster makes a good point here. In my experience, 5 sets of powercleans will have your whole body praying for mercy!