Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-founder
FACT CHECKED
There are a lot of people out there who are under the impression that the more time spent in the gym the better. This is certainly not always the case. One of the most important aspects of fitness is REST, and that's where a 3-day workout split offers significant advantage over higher frequency routines cluttered with too many exercises or 'junk volume'.
With rest days interspersed between just three workouts per week, you can maximize the intensity each time you hit the weights. This makes it a highly effective approach for building muscle and strength...As the old saying goes "sometimes less is more."
In this guide, we have four complete 3 day workout split routines laid out for you. We will explain the benefits of each plan and how to determine which is best for you to start.
Table of Contents:
- Best 3-day split workout routines (4 options)
- PPL 3 Day Split
- Classic Bodybuilder 3 Day Split
- Upper Lower 3 Day Split
- Full Body 3 Day Routine
- Which plan is right for you?
- Progression, nutrition, and recovery best practices
- How to create your own 3 day workout plan
- Bodyweight 3 day workout routine
- FAQs on building muscle, gaining strength, and losing fat
THE BEST 3-DAY WORKOUT SPLITS
A 3-day split is any routine that divides your training days or muscle groups into three separate workouts per week. This means there are a lot of ways it can be organized. However, there are several 3-day split routines that are tried and true, and you really can't go wrong with any of them.
The best 3 day workout splits are:
- 'Push Pull Legs' 3-Day Split
- 'Classic Bodybuilder' 3-Day Split
- 'Upper Lower' 3 Day Split
- 'Full Body' 3 Day Split
Before we jump into each of these 3-day splits, let's go over a few details that apply to all:
- Rest Days: Ideally you want at least one rest day between sessions, as the rest days will allow you to recover better and thus maximizing effort on training days. However, with only 3 workouts per week, you have plenty of flexibility if you miss a training day or your schedule requires you to have consecutive training days.
- Warm Ups: Warm ups and cool downs are underrated. All it takes is a few minutes to loosen up, and this will greatly improve your performance. Cooling down will help reduce soreness and tightness following the workout.
- Warm Up Sets: Before the first exercise of the day, or any lift needed, perform ramp up warm up sets so that you don’t just jump into your working sets. That’s a recipe for injury. Ideally, you’ll have 2-4 warm up sets before your first big lift.
- Core Exercises: Ab and oblique exercises won't be addressed when looking at the overview of the splits, but they will be included in the routine.
- Cardio: Cardio is not required, but it is recommended for cardiovascular health, increased blood flow to muscles, and definition. Cardio like running, swimming, and cycling is great. If you are really proactive on this front, you can do 2-3 cardio sessions of 30-40 minutes each week, which can be done in the mornings, after your workouts, or on rest days.
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
To help decide which is the right 3-day split to start with, consider the 'best for' and 'emphasis' details provided for each split.
1. Push Pull Leg 3 Day Split:
- Session 1: Push Day
- Session 2: Pull Day
- Session 3: Leg Day
Push days involve upper body pushing or pressing exercises for chest, shoulders, and triceps; Pull days involve upper body pulling exercises for back, biceps, and forearms; Leg days involve lower body exercises for glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves.
Best for: Building Muscle & Strength
Emphasis: Volume and intensity, with a slight favor to lower body and pulling muscles.
The 3-Day Push Pull Leg Routine:
|
Monday: Push |
Wednesday: Pull |
Friday: Legs |
|
Bench Press: |
Pull Ups: 3-4 sets x 8-15 reps |
Back Squats: 4 sets x 5-8 reps |
|
Overhead Press: |
Bent Over Rows: 3-4 sets x 6-10 reps |
Deadlifts: 4 sets x 5-8 reps |
|
Incline DB Bench Press: 3 sets x 6-10 reps |
Kroc Rows: 3 sets x 8-12 reps/side |
Split Squats: 3 sets x 8-12 reps/side |
|
Lateral DB Raise: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Shrugs: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
RDL: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Triceps Extension: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets x 15-20 reps |
Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
|
Triceps Pressdown: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
Biceps Curl: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
Seated Calf Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps |
Notes:
- Alternate the first two exercises for all three days each week...i.e. week 2, overhead press is first, bench press second; bent over rows first, pull ups second; deadlifts first, squats second.
- Choose one core exercise to do after each workout session (do 3-4 challenging sets).
2. Classic Bodybuilder 3 Day Split:
- Session 1: Chest, Triceps
- Session 2: Back, Biceps
- Session 3: Legs, Shoulders
This is a pure bodybuilding plan that places your three largest muscle groups on their own days, with the smaller muscle groups supplementing them. Generally speaking, for a 3 day plan, the above is the best way to split up the major muscle groups. However, if you have specific muscles that are lagging and need more attention, it can be adjusted. For example, if your chest is good but your shoulder development needs a lot of work, you could swap chest in session 1 with shoulders in session 3.
Best for: Building Muscle
Emphasis: Training volume, somewhat favoring upper body development.
The 3-Day Classic Bodybuilding Routine:
|
Monday: Chest & Triceps |
Wednesday: Back & Biceps |
Friday: Legs & Shoulders |
|
Bench Press: 3-4 sets x 6-10 reps |
Pull Ups or Chin Ups: |
Deadlift: 3 sets x 5-8 reps |
|
Flat Bench Fly: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Bent Over Row: |
Back Squat: 3 sets x 6-10 reps |
|
Incline Bench Press: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Seated Close Grip Row: |
DB Lunge x DB RDL: 3 sets x 10 reps (superset) |
|
Chest Dips: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Face Pulls: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Seated OHP: 3-4 sets x 8-15 reps |
|
Triceps Overhead Ext.: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Shrugs: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 12-15 reps |
|
Skull Crusher: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Bicep Curl x Hammer Curl: 3 sets x 10 reps (superset) |
DB Front Raise x Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets x 10 reps (superset) |
Notes:
- Alternate Deadlifts and Back Squats position & reps each week. So, week 2 will have back squats first for 5-8 reps and deadlifts second for 6-10 reps.
- Choose one core exercise to do after each workout session for 3-4 sets.
- Add weight to Pull Ups and Dips if needed. The given rep range should be challenging.
3. Upper Lower 3 Day Split:
- Session 1: Upper
- Session 2: Lower
- Session 3: Upper
An upper lower split divides training into upper body workouts and lower body workouts. Upper body days include all of your upper body muscles: chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps; Lower body days include all of your lower body muscles: glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
With 3 days being an odd number, you'll need to rotate the sessions each week - i.e., Week 1: Upper, Lower, Upper; Week 2: Lower, Upper, Lower; repeat.
Best for: Gaining Strength & Muscle
Emphasis: Good mix of training frequency (hitting muscle groups more than once per week) and volume. Somewhat favoring lower body training given the comparison of how many muscles need addressing in an upper body session.
The 3-Day Upper Lower Routine:
Note: To avoid doing the same workout twice in a week and to maximize exercise selection, we have A & B workouts for both upper and lower body days. Remember to rotate through these weekly (i.e. A, A, B -> B, A, A -> B, B, A). This also means your training cycle for this plan should ideally last 4, 8 or 12 weeks, as everything comes back full circle every 4 weeks.
| Upper A: | Lower A: |
| 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps | 3-4 sets x 5-8 reps |
| 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps | 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
| 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps | 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
| 3 sets x 12-20 reps | 3 sets x 8-12 reps/side |
| 3 sets x 10-15 reps | 3 sets x 10-15 reps each |
| 3 sets x 12-15 reps | 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
|
Plank:
3 sets x 30-60 sec |
| Upper B: | Lower B: |
|
Pull Ups or Chin Ups: 3 sets x max reps |
Back Squat: 3-4 sets x 5-8 reps |
|
Military Press: 3-4 sets x 6-10 reps |
RDL: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Incline Bench Press: 3-4 sets x 8-12 reps |
Split Squat: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Kroc Rows: 3 sets x 8-12 reps each side |
Hip Thrusts: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Cable Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
Single-Leg Leg Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps each side |
|
Chest Dips: 3 sets x max reps |
Seated Calf Raise: 3 sets x 12-20 reps |
|
Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets x 8-15 reps |
Woodchoppers: |
4. Full Body 3 Day Workout Routine:
- Session 1: Full Body
- Session 2: Full Body
- Session 3: Full Body
As the name suggest, a full body workout split involves full body workouts for each of the three sessions. However, this doesn't necessarily mean you'll be training each muscle group equally each session. Rather, it'll be strategically designed with different compound lifts and isolation exercises each workout, allowing you to have more efficient workouts while still hitting your muscles equally over the course of the week.
Best for: This is the most versatile option for a 3 day split. It's great for strength, muscle development, and changing things up from a higher volume plan. It's like the perfect balance and we recommend running this once or twice a year for 4-12 weeks. It can work well for fat loss and muscle maintenance if combined with appropriate cardio and/or HIIT. It's also ideal for strength-specific training too, with weight load and volume (reps x sets) adjusted accordingly.
Emphasis: Training frequency (hitting muscle groups more frequently). Well-rounded.
The 3-Day Full Body Routine:
The full body routine involves you doing full body workouts 3 times a week. However, you'll notice that you only have 2 big lifts each workout, and the rest are assistance/accessory exercises. That doesn't mean they are easy, but they are less taxing than the major big lifts.
| Monday: | Wednesday: | Friday: |
|
Back Squat: |
Military Press: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Deadlift: 3 sets x 5-8 reps |
|
Bench Press: |
Bent Over Row: 3 sets x 6-10 reps |
Incline DB Bench: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Pull Ups: 3 sets x max reps |
Leg Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps |
Arnold Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
|
Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 15-20 reps |
Chest Dips: 3 sets x max reps |
RDL: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
|
Bicep Curl x Tricep Dips: 3 sets x 10-12 reps/each |
Hammer Curl x Tricep Extension: 3 sets x 12-15 reps/each |
Diamond Push Ups x Inverted Rows: 3 sets x 10 reps/each |
|
Plank: 3 sets x 30-60 sec |
Hanging Leg Raise: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Single Arm Farmer's Walk: 3 sets x 20-50 meters each side |
Want a more guided, progressive workout program? The SFS Strength Program, developed by Garett Reid (NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S), the head trainer at SET FOR SET, offers an excellent opportunity for individuals looking to build muscle and strength. It features options for 3, 4, and 5-day splits.
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
APPLYING PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
If you want to see real results, you need to use progressive overload.
Progressive overload ensures that you are adequately stressing your muscle enough each week for them to be forced to continue adapting (grow and get stronger).
There are many ways to progressive overload:
- Increase weight load
- Increasing reps
- Increasing sets
- Decreasing rest
- Increasing Intensity (i.e. slower tempo or greater range of motion)
- Progression exercises
For a single weight training cycle (i.e. 4-12 weeks), it is best to focus on increasing reps and increasing the weight load. However, if your range of motion is not optimal, that should actually be first and foremost. Don't increase anything until your range of motion is good.
Assuming your range of motion is good, first increase reps, then increase weight load.
For example, if the program calls for 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps, then you can work up to 10 reps using the same weight load, and once you reach 10 reps for all sets, increase the weight load a little. From there, you can also add another set when you are feeling ready.
After a training cycle, you will take a week break or a deload period. Once you start the next training plan, you can employ other forms of progressive overload depending on your goals. You may want to increase the volume, decrease rest, and try newer, harder exercises.
SLEEP, NUTRITION, HYDRATION
It’s vital that you put as much emphasis on your recovery as you do your workouts.
- Sleep: Get plenty of sleep. Ideally 8 hours per night. If you are having troubles getting 8 hours of sleep, you need to take this seriously. Sleep will help keep your immune system strong and it’s the time when your muscle rebuild. Follow the best practices for getting good sleep, such as avoiding blue light before bed, making your room dark, calming your mind, avoiding caffeine late in the day, etc.
- Nutrition: You will need a healthy balanced diet. You can see our guide to bulking vs cutting as that goes more into the macros based on the goal, but generally speaking, you want to eat about .75-1 gram of protein per lb of your bodyweight, 2-3.5 grams of carbs per lb of bodyweight, and .3-.5 grams of healthy fat per lb of bodyweight. Note: If you are cutting, then you will need to alter the macros, by lowering the carbs and upping the protein.
- Hydration: Drink plenty of water. You will need more than if you were not working out. You need to be drinking about half your bodyweight in ounces of water at a minimum. So, if you weight 150lbs, you’d need 75 ounces (2.2 liters). This is, again, a bare minimum.
SUPPLEMENTS
There are really on a few supplements we recommend. These are supplements that are proven to work.
- Protein Powder: Protein powder is simple. It’s an easy way to supplement your daily protein requirements. If you aren’t getting enough by actual food, you can have a quick protein shake to ensure you meet the daily level.
- Creatine: Creatine is one of the most researched and proven supplements. Studies show that it is one of the only supplements (besides protein) that actually supports sports performance. Creatine will help you improve strength, recovery, and lean mass.
- Caffeine: Everyone knows caffeine works. If you need a little boost before your workout, you can drink coffee or have a pre-workout mix. It’s perfectly fine.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN 3 DAY WORKOUT ROUTINE
If you want to create your own 3 day workout routine rather than following ours above, be sure to consider the information below...
BEST EXERCISES FOR A 3 DAY SPLIT
Because you have a limited amount of days and thus total weekly volume, you will need to choose the best possible exercises for your workout plan.
Here are the must-have exercises no matter what 3 day split you choose...
Main Lifts:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Bench Press
- Overhead Press
- Rows
- Pull Ups/Chin Ups
- Hip Thrusts
Now, you may not have access to a barbell or you may not be ready to use a barbell for some of these exercises. However, you can still do the above exercises with dumbbells or kettlebells. You could even do them with resistance bands.
Of course, barbells are the most ideal as they allow you to use the heaviest load, which is a very important aspect of building muscle and strength. Nevertheless, you can still get an effective workout in without a barbell and plates.
Assuming you will have access to a gym, then beginners should use dumbbells until ready for barbell lifts (i.e. goblet squats rather than barbell back squats).
If you are comfortable with barbell exercises, then the ideal compounds are:
- Barbell Back Squat
- Barbell Deadlifts
- Barbell (or DB) Bench Press
- Barbell (or DB) Standing Military Press
- Barbell Bent Over Rows
- Pull Ups & Chin Ups
- Barbell Hip Thrust
Then, you will have accessory exercises that you will do after your main lifts.
Assistance Compound Lifts:
- Romanian Deadlifts
- Barbell Hip Thrusts
- Good Mornings
- Lunges
- Split Squats
- Barbarian Split Squats
- Leg Press
- Parallel Dips
- Close Grip Bench Press
- Incline Bench Press
- Variations of Rows
- Upright Rows
- Rack Pulls
- Lat Pull Downs
- Machine High Rows
While these aren’t all there are to choose from, and you won't choose all of these for your workout plan, they represent some of the best options for secondary exercises to hone in on specific muscles.
Feel free to switch up the exercises in our 3 day workout plans above with any of these exercises.
As for isolation exercises, here are some of the best ones...
Accessory Isolation Exercises:
- Variations of Chest Flys
- Lateral Raises
- Rear Delt Flys
- Hyperextensions
- Leg Extensions
- Leg Curls
- Calf Raises
- Variations of Curls
- Variations of Tricep Extensions and Pressdowns
Your plan can include a few isolation exercises. But, remember, you will get far better results with a 3 day split if you focus more on compound movements. Compound movements just give you a better bang for your buck.
The isolation exercises should be saved for the end of your workouts just to exhaust the smaller muscle groups that didn’t get enough work from the compound exercises.
For example, on leg day, you can end with calf raises if your calves are lagging because the calves definitely won’t have been worked sufficiently enough to grow from the compound leg exercises. The same applies to many muscles like the lateral delts, biceps, triceps, etc.
Core Exercises:
Core exercises will be placed into the isolation category. You won’t need to place too much emphasis on core because your core is trained with all your big compound movements.
Nevertheless, you should do one or two core focused exercise at the end of each workout.
The best core exercises are:
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Plank & Side Plank (and variations of planks)
- Rotational & Anti-Rotational Exercises
- Side Bends
The above will strength your core through all planes of motion.
HIERARCHY OF EXERCISES
Your workouts should be done in this order:
- Main Compound Lifts
- Assistance Compound Lift (smaller compound exercises)
- Isolation Exercises (aka accessory exercises)
You will need more energy for the compound lifts, so that’s why they come first.
You can see this by looking back to our sample routines in the beginning of this guide.
Pay attention to how we structured our 3 day workout routine samples. You can see how each 3 day split had a different amount of main lifts and isolation exercises. This is because splits like the PPL and Classic Bodybuilder only have one or two main muscle groups per session, where splits like the upper lower and full body have multiple big muscle groups per session. This means those session will have fewer isolation exercises as the compound lifts will allow the entire body (or upper and lower body) to be worked without spending hours in the gym like it would take with smaller more targeted movements.
Main Compound Lifts:
- Your big lifts will come at the beginning of the workout. You will need the most energy and strength levels for these lifts.
- Focus on 4-5 sets of 6-10 reps using loads of 80-90% of your 1RM.
- Keep rest time to around 90-120 seconds.
- Every workout will include at least 1 or 2 of these exercises (as you can see from our sample routines at the beginning of this guide).
Assistance Compound Movements:
- Your “smaller” assistance compound lifts will come after the big lifts.
- For these exercises, perform 2-4 sets of 8-15 reps using 65-80% of your 1RM.
- Keep rest time to around 60-90 seconds.
Accessory Isolation Exercises:
- For your isolation exercises, you can work in a 8-20 rep range. Ideally, you want to use a weight load that brings you to near failure on each set. 2-3 sets for isolation exercises should suffice.
- Keep rest time to around 60 seconds.
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
REP RANGES, WEIGHT LOAD, REST TIME
If your main goal is to build muscle, it’s important that you work through a wide range of reps to build strength, size and endurance. Both strength and endurance will greatly help your muscle building goals.
Generally speaking, for a 3 day workout split, you should be working in the 6-20 rep range, depending on the exercise.
You will get a good crossover of strength and hypertrophy gains in the 6-15 rep range and a good crossover of hypertrophy and endurance in the 12-20 rep range. So, you can really train for all three (size, strength, endurance) in a single workout. Moreover, it will allow you to target both slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch respond best to heavy loads with lower reps and slow twitch to higher reps.
All in all, 6-20 reps is perfect if your main goal is hypertrophy, as you will be working towards size no matter what. Killing three birds with one stone kind of deal.
Related: How Long You Should Rest Between Sets (Backed By Studies)
By following the above advice, you should have enough weekly volume to see good improvements in strength, size and endurance.
Workout Length
Workouts for a 3 day split may be a little longer than they would be for 4 day, 5 day, or 6 day splits because you need to stuff a little more volume into your workouts. That said, this doesn’t mean you should be in the gym for 2 hours.
On average, you workouts should take you about 60 minutes, plus whatever time it takes to warm up and cool down. This doesn’t include cardio
Program Length
Ideally, you should stick with a workout plan for 8-12 weeks, but you can go longer. Once you start to see diminishing returns, you know it's time to reassess.
8-12 weeks is a good minimum, as that should be enough time to see results and if the plan is worth being a staple in your rotation, and/or if you'll continue to run it for 4-12 weeks more.
It's also a time people should consider a deload week. Think of it as an active recovery week so that you can continue to progress on the next 8-12 weeks cycle.
With a 5-day or 6-day split, we recommend taking a week off to catch up on recovery every 2-4 months, or at least a deload week every 2-3 months, but with 3-day splits promoting recovery so well, you may not need a week off or a deload that soon or so often. Take a deload or week rest when you feel you need it.
During your deload week, you can do full body workouts or your current routine at considerably less intensity (half the weight load, maybe less sets). You may also want to just do bodyweight workouts (see good option just below).
This deload period is important for avoiding plateaus. You can’t constantly train on an upward trajectory. Progression will never be perfectly linear, even if you didn’t take a deload period. So, we highly recommend that you employ this tactic between each training cycle.
After your deload period, you'll go back in with more focus. Your next plan can be the same (i.e. if you are doing a PPL now, you can do a PPL again), but consider switching up some training variables, like the order of your exercises, try new accessory movements, alter the rest time, increasing volume, etc. It depends on your goals. But once you adjust, try to stick with it for a given time to measure results.
Want a muscle-building specific program? Check out the SFS Hypertrophy Program.
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
BODYWEIGHT 3 DAY SPLIT
A 3-day split also works great for bodyweight training, and you can employ all the same workout routines we mentioned above. You just need to select bodyweight exercises, and your progressive overload will focus around decreasing rest, increasing volume, and increasing intensity - harder exercises, slower tempo, explosiveness, range of motion.
What's more, just because you are doing bodyweight exercises doesn’t mean you will be doing more total exercises per workout, but you may need to do more volume (reps and sets). Keep your workouts to 5-8 exercises and up the intensity so each exercise and set is challenging enough to build muscle and strength.
While you can (and should) format the workouts in the same way you do a weight lifting split, you can also use interesting protocols like circuit workouts and AMRAPs.
While you can choose any of the same 3 day splits we discussed in this guide, we will provide a sample 3 day bodyweight routine using the Push Pull Legs split.
| Day 1 - Push: | Day 2 - Pull: | Day 3 - Legs: |
|
Standard Push Ups: 3 sets x 20-25 reps |
Pull Ups: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Squats: 3 sets x 25 reps |
|
Pike Push Ups: 3 sets x 8-15 reps |
Chin Ups: 3 sets x 6-12 reps |
Jumping Lunges: 3 sets x 20 reps |
|
Wide Grip Push Ups: 3 sets x 20 reps |
Close Grip Underhand Inverted Row: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Curtsy Lunges: 3 sets x 15 reps/each leg |
|
Close Grip Push Ups: 3 sets x 10-15 reps |
Wide Grip Overhand Inverted Rows: 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
Side Lunges: 3 sets x 10 reps/each side |
|
Parallel Dips: 3 sets x 8-20 reps |
Neutral Grip Pull Ups: 2 sets x max reps |
Nordic Ham Curls: 3 sets x 3-5 reps |
|
Triceps Bench Dips: 3 sets x 15-20 reps |
Superman Back Extensions: 3 sets x 10 reps |
Glute Bridge Walkouts: 3 sets x 10 reps |
Here are more bodyweight exercises to use for your workouts:
- 21 Bodyweight Chest Exercises
- 7 Bodyweight Back Exercises
- 9 Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises
- 13 Best Bodyweight Bicep Exercises
- 15 Best Bodyweight Tricep Exercises
- 26 Bodyweight Leg Exercises
- 30 Bodyweight Core Exercises
PRO TIPS:
- Who says you need equipment to add weight load? A backpack full of books, a rock from outside, water jugs, etc., can all be used to take your exercises up a notch.
- Get yourself some home equipment to enhance your bodyweight workouts. Resistance bands and kettlebells are the most effective and economical options.
FAQS (Muscle, Strength, & Fat Loss):
Here are answers to questions we often get asked at SET FOR SET in regards to 3-day workout plans.
Is 3-days enough to build muscle?
Yes. Generally speaking, 3 days of weight lifting per week is the minimum amount of days where results for building muscle are still great. You don’t need to spend every day in the gym to get big.
When you train 6-7 days per week, especially as a beginner or intermediate lifter, your progress with stagnate quickly because you aren't allowing enough time for recovery.
A 3 day split is very effective for building muscle because it allows you to maximize both the intensity of your workouts and your recovery, which is key for muscle growth. If you train hard and recover well, results will be stellar.
What is the Best 3 Day Workout Split For Building Muscle?
This depends on your fitness level. For intermediate to advanced lifters, the PPL or classic bodybuilder split will be best for muscle gain. These routines allow more volume (exercises & sets) to the muscle groups in a given workout, which is likely needed to adequately break down and stimulate the muscles of a seasoned lifter.
However, for most beginners, the full body or upper lower split will be best for building muscle, as you won’t need as much volume to grow. Higher frequency of hitting the muscles will actually produce better results. That said, beginners will see incredible muscle gains with any of these splits.
What is the Best 3 Day Workout Split for Gaining Strength?
All of the splits can be good for building strength. If your goal is to get stronger at certain lifts, focus those big lifts in the 3-8 rep range @70-90% 1RM. The big compound lifts come first so everything after doesn't change.
It should also be noted that strength is built in hypertrophy rep ranges (i.e. 8-12) and vice versa.
If your major focus is on gaining strength, you might want to consider the 5x5 workout program (intermediate to advanced) or the 531 program for beginners.
Is a 3 day split good for fat loss?
To cut weight and lose fat, you need to eat at a calorie deficit. It's that simple, except for the fact that maintaining muscle is crucial too during fat loss. You don't want to lose fat and muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn while resting. Maintaining muscle while losing fat will lead to a healthy, strong metabolism, turning your body into a fat burning machine.
To achieve this, you need some extra(-fat-loss-)curricular activities, in addition to a weight training routine. The 3-day split itself won't change much if your primary focus is getting shredded. Choose the one you will enjoy the most and do at least two cardio or HIIT workouts on top, either on rest days, as two-a-days, or after your workout. 20-40 minutes is all you need. Less if the HIIT workouts are hard.
With HIIT workouts, you will get some good endurance-based muscle fiber recruitment, and even more importantly, the afterburn affect (EPOC), which will have you burning a higher amount of calories long after your workouts are over.
This is preferred to mixing cardio with weight training by having low rest times or doing something like jumping jacks between sets. While that works to burn more calories, you'll be doing so at the sacrifice of properly hitting the lifts, and thus keeping those muscles full. It's also very taxing.
What is the overall best 3 day workout split?
It really depends on what your goals are but overall the best 3 day split is the push pull leg split. It’s one of the most efficient and effective workout splits because all the related muscle groups are trained together in the same workout, which means there will be minimum overlap between workouts. This facilities recovery of your muscle groups much better than many other splits.
If you have some experience in weightlifting, and you want to do a 3 day split, we recommend to start with the PPL split.
If you are a complete beginner, start with the full body split for 4-12 weeks.
Who is a 3-day split good for?
A 3 day split can be great for anyone and everyone, men and women alike.
However, there are certain groups that it makes the most sense for:
- Beginners will see great results with just 3 days a week. Even intermediate lifters who've been on a volume-focused split for a long time will.
- Older lifters usually need more time to recover, and that should be priority. It’s just the nature of getting older and by old we don’t even mean like an old man, although we mean that too. You may find when you hit your 30s or 40s that its a lot easier to get worn out than it was in your 20s. So, a 3 day split is great for those who find they need more time for recovery. And speaking of older, one day a week is equally effective as twice or three times weekly in terms of strength for older adults (study).
- People with busy schedules can maintain the split with high intensity while having plenty of time for other things going on in their life.
- Many strength programs are 3 days because it works well for intensity. For strength training, the intensity is in the form of higher loads and lower reps. Usually one or two lifts a day will be focused to strength, then several assistance and accessory lifts done in a moderate range.
The only people we really don’t recommend a 3 day split for are advanced bodybuilders who need more volume and training days. 3 days may simply not be enough to get the results an advance lifter needs. Moreover, advanced trainees are well experienced in structuring effective workouts and diets that allow them to recover enough between sessions. They are extremely diligent with recovery.
Note: Just because you are big doesn’t mean you need to train more often. In fact, bigger muscles take longer to recover. A lot of big guys see better results with a 3 or 4 day split. The workouts just need to be tough.
If you are still unsure which split to do OR if a 3 day split is right for you, consider the following points:
- Training experience
- Goals
- Your availability
- Your rest and recovery needs
- Your weaknesses
- Your preference
BENEFITS OF A 3 DAY WORKOUT SPLIT ROUTINE:
Here are the benefits when looking at 3 day weightlifting splits:
- Maximizes Recovery: The effect of recovery is much greater with a 3 day split than a 4 day, 5 day or 6 day split, which outweighs some of the benefits of the other high frequency splits. Remember, gains happen during recovery, not workout.
- Maximizes Intensity: The greater recovery effect translates to more intense workouts. If you are only lifting 3 days per week, you will feel like you are on beast mode for those 3 days. Training at a higher frequency often leads to feeling burnt out and you’ll get workouts here and there that feel like you are just going through the motions. With 3 days per week, you should get consistently great workouts in, week in and week out.
- Easily Manageable: Not everyone has time to go to the gym 5 or 6 days per week. That’s a serious commitment that doesn’t jive with most people’s work-life schedule. But really anyone can make time for just 3 days of training per week. If you can’t, then you really need to take a look at what’s making you “too busy”.
- Variety: This benefit is twofold. First of all, you have plenty of variety in how you can structure a 3 day split, as you’ve seen above. So, you can continue with a 3 day split year round while still changing your routine up. Secondly, 3 days per week is just enough days to still get a good variety of exercises done, allowing you to hit each muscle group from various angles and training variables.
- Other Activities: For some lifters, working out is their main (or even only) physical hobby, but this is not the case for all. You may play sports or have other activities that you like to do each week. With a 3 day split, you can manage all your activities and hobbies. You could lift three days a week, and still have the energy to play a sport once or twice a week, or run, swim, cycle or whatever you like on your non-lifting days.
Disadvantages of a 3 Day Split:
As with any split, there are some drawbacks. For example...
- Training Muscle Groups Once Per Week: With a 3 day split, you are typically going to be hitting your muscle groups just once per week. A lot of studies are showing that training your muscle groups twice a week is best for hypertrophy. So, where you get a great effect of recovery and intensity, you sacrifice the effect of higher frequency. That said, you could do an upper lower 3 day split and have a frequency of hitting each muscle group about 1.5 times per week. You could also do a full body split and hit each muscle group three times per week, but you won’t have much volume each workout to really breakdown the muscle if you are a more advanced lifter. So, really, these two 3 day splits that allow for more frequency yet less volume would really only be ideal for beginners to early-intermediate lifters.
- Not Great For Weight Management: If you lift three times per week and you don’t do any additional form of cardio or sport, your calorie expenditure may not be high enough to control your weight loss goals. This really depends on your diet and your goals, but it’s something to consider.
Other Training Splits For You To Consider:
Have questions about 3 day splits? Leave a comment below!
Garett Reid
Author