A Simple 3-Day Full-Body Workout Routine for Growth

If you want a simple but highly effective 3-day full-body workout routine designed for muscle hypertrophy, one that doesn’t involve doing weird exercises you’ve never heard of, counting rep tempos, or spending hours in the gym, this page will show you how it’s done.

Before you continue, I do want to point out a few things.

First, building muscle is hard work. It takes ferocious consistency, discipline and sustained effort over a period of several years.

While you can make significant changes to your physique in a matter of months, it will take a lot longer before you get anywhere near the upper limit of muscle mass you’re capable of adding to your frame.

Even if you’re following the greatest muscle-building workout routine ever devised in all of human history, adding muscle to your frame takes persistence, hard work and patience.

Second, I can’t make any promises about how long it’s going to take to build muscle, because I don’t know you. I don’t know how long you’ve been training, what your genetics are like, or how close you are to your maximum muscular potential.

All of these things can have a big impact on the speed at which muscle is built.

Third, this is a 3-day workout plan designed to stimulate muscle growth. It’s not meant to help you prepare for a Spartan race, give you the conditioning of a UFC fighter, or turn you into a serious contender for the title of World’s Strongest Man.

Don’t try to improve multiple physical qualities at the same time. To make progress as fast as your genetics will allow, you’ll need to focus on one major fitness goal to the exclusion of everything else.

Finally, if you want to drop some fat, there’s no reason why you can’t combine this total body workout with a diet geared towards fat loss (which I cover in more detail inside my Gutless nutrition manual).

It is possible, for some people at least, to gain muscle in calorie deficit. However, you won’t gain muscle as fast as you would have done had your diet put you in a calorie surplus, with everything set up for the sole purpose of building muscle.

The 3-Day Full-Body Workout Routine

With all that out of the way, here’s what the 3 day workout plan looks like. It involves hitting the major muscle groups three days per week. I’ll talk more about why it’s set up the way it is in just a moment.

For a few of the movements, I’ve also included video demonstrations, so you can exactly how they’re done.

Full Body Workout 1

• Bench Press 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Squat 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• Leg Curl 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 2 sets x 5-8 reps
• Incline Curl 2 sets x 10-15 reps
• Triceps Pressdown 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Bench Press

Sets 3 Reps 5-8 Rest 2 minutes

The first upper body exercise is the bench press, which is a highly effective way to build size and strength in your chest, shoulders and arms. If all you have is a flat bench and a couple of dumbbells, the dumbbell bench press works fine as an alternative.

Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown

 Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2 minutes

Next up is the reverse grip lat pulldown, which targets your back and biceps. Most people aren’t strong enough to do many chin-ups or pull-ups with their own body weight, which is why I normally recommend lat pulldowns instead. But if you prefer chin-ups, and you’re able to do 3 sets of 5-10 reps using good form, then do chin-ups instead.

Squat

Sets 3 Reps 5-8 Rest 2-4 minutes

Next up is the barbell squat, which hits the quadriceps, glutes and lower back. In terms of squat depth, there’s no need to go all the way down. Somewhere around parallel, even slightly above, is still deep enough to make your quads grow. 

If you can’t do squats for whatever reason, you can take your pick from one of the squat alternatives listed here.

Seated Leg Curl

Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2 minutes

While the squat is a great lower body exercise, it doesn’t hit the hamstrings very hard, which is where the leg curl comes in. Although the seated leg curl has been shown to work better than the lying leg curl for building hamstring size, both are still very effective, so just use whatever machine is available.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Sets 2 Reps 5-8 Rest 2 minutes

The dumbbell shoulder press targets the triceps and shoulders, with most of the work being done by the anterior, or front deltoid. If you prefer using a barbell to dumbbells, the overhead barbell press will do the job just as well.

Incline Dumbbell Curl 

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

Next, we have some isolation work for your biceps. Doing curls on an incline bench, with your elbows behind your back, helps to target the long head of the biceps.

Triceps Pressdown

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

You can do pressdowns with a rope, V bar or straight bar. Although your triceps have done some work earlier in the workout, a couple of sets of direct work will give them a nice boost in growth.

Full Body Workout 2

• Incline Dumbbell Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Seated Cable Row 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Leg Press 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Romanian Deadlift 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Lateral Raise 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• Dumbbell Hammer Curl 2 sets x 10-15 reps
• Overhead Triceps Extension 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Incline Dumbbell Press 

Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2 minutes

The first upper body exercise is the incline dumbbell press, with the bench set at an angle of around 30 degrees. Changing the angle of the bench doesn’t change the muscles being worked — you’re still training the same muscles as the bench press — but the upper region of the chest is working harder compared to the same exercise done on a flat bench.

Seated Cable Row 

Sets 3 Reps 8-12 Rest 2 minutes

Next is the seated cable row. Use a regular V handle, keep the elbows close to the body, and pull your hands towards the lower part of the stomach, near the belly button. Doing it this way helps to emphasize the lats. If you don’t have access to a cable machine, the single-arm row, barbell row or one of these seated cable row alternatives will serve as an effective substitute.

Leg Press

Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2-3 minutes

Like the squat, the leg press targets the thighs and hips, but with less involvement from the core muscles, the spinal erectors in particular. If you’re training at home without a leg press machine, go with one of these leg press alternatives.

Romanian Deadlift

Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2-3 minutes

Normally, you do Romanian deadlifts with a barbell, but you can also use dumbbells. Both variations work the hamstrings, glutes and lower back. More advice on how to do the Romanian deadlift is here.

Lateral Raise 

Sets 2 Reps 15-20 Rest 90 seconds

Next is the lateral raise, which targets the lateral deltoid. Use a relatively light dumbbell, light enough that you can pause briefly at the top of the exercise.

Dumbbell Hammer Curl 

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

The dumbbell hammer curl is done with your thumbs up and palms facing each other like you’re holding a hammer. Doing the exercise this way, rather than with your palms facing up, still hits the biceps, but brings the brachialis, another muscle in your upper arm, into play.

Single Arm Overhead Triceps Extension 

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

Finally, it’s the overhead triceps extension. While there are lots of different ways to do this exercise, this video shows you how I like to do them.

Full Body Workout 3

• Cable Crossover 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• Wide Grip Front Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• Leg Extension 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• Seated Leg Curl 3 sets x 10-15 reps
• Cable Face Pulls 2 sets x 10-15 reps
• Preacher Curl 2 sets x 10-15 reps
• Lying EZ Bar Extension 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Cable Crossover 

Sets 3 Reps 15-20 Rest 90 seconds

One of the functions of the pecs is to draw the arms across the body in a hugging-type movement, which is exactly what you get with the cable crossover. If you don’t have access to a cable machine, you can use a pec deck machine or do dumbbell flyes.

Wide Grip Front Lat Pulldown 

Sets 3 Reps 8-12 Rest 2 minutes

The wide grip front lat pulldown hits the back and biceps. If you prefer pull-ups (which are done with your palms facing forwards, unlike chin-ups where your palms face you) and you’re able to do 3 sets of 5-10 pull-ups using good form, do pull-ups instead.

Leg Extension 

Sets 3 Reps 15-20 Rest 2 minutes

The leg extension is a very effective way to isolate your quads, rectus femoris (the muscle that runs down the middle of your thigh) in particular, and works well as a supplement to the squat and leg press.

Seated Leg Curl 

Sets 3 Reps 10-15 Rest 2 minutes

Exercise number four is the seated leg curl, which is a knee flexion exercise for the hamstrings. If you don’t have access to a leg curl machine, one of these leg curl alternatives will do a similar job.

Cable Face Pulls

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

The face pull targets both the side and rear delts, along with various muscles in the upper back. While there are plenty of different ways to do cable face pulls, depending on the muscles you’re trying to work, this is the way I prefer to do them.

Dumbbell Preacher Curl

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

Unlike the incline curl, which emphasises the long head of the biceps, the preacher curl works better for recruiting the short head of the muscle. If you don’t have a preacher curl bench, concentration curls do a similar job.

Lying EZ Bar Extension

Sets 2 Reps 10-15 Rest 90 seconds

Finally, it’s the lying EZ bar extension, which is a little easier on the elbows compared to a straight bar. In the start position, your arms should be at a slight angle. This way, when you lower the bar, it comes down behind your head rather than to the forehead. The video below shows you how it’s done.

The number of sets listed are the actual work sets only, and don’t include warm-up sets.

It’s always a good idea, especially if you’re using heavy weights, to do several progressively heavier warm-up sets. This will prepare the joints, the muscles and the nervous system that controls those muscles for the heavy work to come.

In most cases, somewhere between 1-3 warm-up sets will do the job. However, the exact number of warm-up sets you do will vary depending on the temperature of the gym you’re training in, how your joints feel, the amount of weight you’re lifting, the exercise itself, and where that exercise is placed in the workout.

There have been times when I’ve been training in a cold gym, it’s early in the morning and my joints are feeling a bit stiff, where I’ve ended up doing 7-8 warm-up sets before getting into the heavy stuff.

On the flip side, with some of the exercises that come later in the workout, the muscles being worked are already warm, so you won’t need many, if any, warm-up sets.

The 3-Day Full-Body Workout Routine: Weekly Schedule

This is the default version of the 3-day full-body workout split. You do three workouts per week, training your entire body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

• Monday: Full Body Workout 1
• Tuesday: Off
• Wednesday: Full Body Workout 2
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: Full Body Workout 3
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Off

However, the days of the week that you train aren’t set in stone. If you can’t make it to the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you could always train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

And if you miss a workout, you can just push things back a day. For example, let’s say that you miss your Wednesday workout. Here’s how your week might look:

• Monday: Full Body Workout 1
• Tuesday: Off
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Full Body Workout 2
• Friday: Off
• Saturday: Full Body Workout 3
• Sunday: Off

In an ideal world, you’ll have a day of rest between each workout. That is, if you train on Monday, you’ll have Tuesday off, then train again on Wednesday. That gives you a total of four rest days per week.

Total Body Workout: Key Points

1. No matter how your training week is set up, it’s important to train hard and focus on improving your workout performance over time.

Do the same exercises, for the same number of sets and reps, while lifting the same amount of weight, for the next five years. Nothing much is going to happen.

That’s because the training you’re doing is a challenge your body has already adapted to. As a result, no new muscle will be gained.

I’m not saying you’ll make progress in every single workout. To do so indefinitely would be impossible, and there’ll be times when you end up lifting the same amount of weight, for the same number of sets and reps you did before.

However, your focus should always be on pushing yourself to increase the amount of work your muscles are doing, whether that’s lifting heavier weights, doing more reps with the same weight, or doing more sets.

You need to give your muscles a reason to get bigger, or you’ll remain stuck at the same size you are right now.

So make sure to keep a training diary, write down your numbers, and always try to beat your previous workout in some way.

2. Take 2-3 minutes rest between sets. If in doubt, err on the side of giving yourself too much rest rather than not enough.

As a rule, I’d suggest resting for longer between sets of compound exercises that work a large amount of muscle mass, such as squats, rows, deadlifts, leg presses and so on. You won’t need as much rest between single-joint exercises, such as dumbbell curls, lateral raises and pressdowns.

3. Don’t try to save time by cutting your rest periods short and racing from one exercise to the next. This isn’t so-called metabolic resistance training. The hypertrophy stimulus generated by a given workout will be that much greater if you get a decent amount of rest between each set before tackling the next one.

A better way to save time is to use paired sets, which involve exercises that target opposing muscle groups performed back-to-back.

Example:

Bench Press
Rest for 45-60 seconds
Lat Pulldown
Rest for 45-60 seconds
Bench Press
Rest for 45-60 seconds
Lat Pulldown
Rest for 45-60 seconds
Bench Press
Rest for 45-60 seconds
Lat Pulldown

This way, you’re making better use of your inter-set rest periods by doing another exercise.

As well as saving time, paired sets may even make you stronger. In one study, a group of trained men was able to do significantly more reps on the leg extension when they did the leg curl beforehand [2].

In fact, the men were able to crank out, on average, three additional reps on the leg extension machine when they did leg curls immediately, 30 seconds or 60 seconds earlier.

4. If you’re pushed for time, just do the first 4-5 exercises in each workout. Your shoulders and arms will get some stimulation from the other exercises.

5. While the exercises listed work well, there’s no reason why you can’t replace them with something else that does a similar job. Don’t have access to a leg press machine? Do Bulgarian split squats or reverse lunges instead. Prefer pull-ups to pulldowns? Then do pull-ups, or any of these effective pull-up alternatives. You can also throw in some exercises for your abs and calves at the end of each workout, whenever time allows.

6. If you’re trying to build muscle, is there a best time of day to work out?

If you could train at whatever time of day was optimal for muscle growth, it would be in the late afternoon or early evening. On average, you’ll gain size and strength more quickly if you train later in the day.

However, most people aren’t in that position, and will need to find a training time that fits their schedule. While training time matters, it matters less than simply getting to the gym in the first place.

7. As far as cardio is concerned, you can do some on your rest days. But I’d suggest limiting the amount of moderate- to high-intensity cardio you do to a couple of hours a week maximum.

Focus mainly on low-impact cardio, such as cycling, rowing or even incline treadmill walking, rather than running.

Low-impact cardio doesn’t tend to cause as much muscle damage as running, meaning it’s less likely to interfere with post-training repair and recovery.

8. On the diet side of things, maximizing your rate of muscle growth requires eating more calories than you need to maintain your weight, as well as a sufficient amount of protein.

In practical terms, that means consuming between 250-500 extra calories per day over and above your maintenance requirements. The exact number will vary from person to person, but it’s going to be within that range for most people.

Aim for around 0.7 grams of protein per pound, or 1.6 grams per kilogram, of bodyweight each day.

The 3-Day Full-Body Workout Routine: The Science

Let me talk a bit more about the science behind this full body workout plan, and explain why the program is set up the way it is.

First up, we have training frequency, which refers to the number of times you train a muscle group each week.

Training each muscle once a week can and will make that muscle bigger. However, for most people at least, it’s probably the least effective way to train.

In most cases, working a muscle group 2-3 times per week will produce a faster rate of hypertrophy than training it once a week.

Full-body workouts can be done 5-6 days a week, but you’ll need a training program designed specifically for that purpose, which this one isn’t. If you want to train 5-6 times a week, you’ll be better off with a split routine.

You also vary your reps from workout to workout. While this isn’t essential, it has been shown (in some studies at least) to have a small but beneficial effect on muscle growth [3].

That is, alternating between low, medium and high reps will build muscle faster than sticking to the same number of reps all the time.

Doing some of your training with higher reps and lighter weights is also a good way to give your joints a break from the constant pounding they get if you’re always lifting heavy.

The program also involves different exercises for each muscle group, which has a number of benefits.

The first is a reduction in the risk of “repetitive stress” injuries. Doing the same exercises week after week, especially if you’re pushing heavy weights, can take a big toll on your joints.

Second, maximizing the development of a given muscle group requires the use of several exercises, and not just one.

The quadriceps, for example, is made up of four different muscles. And if all you’re doing for your legs are squats, those muscles won’t all grow to the same extent.

In one study, a training program that included several exercises for the quads – the leg press, squat and lunge – led to muscle hypertrophy in all heads of the quadriceps, while a squat-only program did not [4].

While the squat leads to high levels of muscle activation in vastus lateralis and vastus medialis, the leg extension preferentially recruits rectus femoris – the large muscle that runs down the middle of the front of your thigh [5, 6, 7].

While the potential shape and size of each muscle is determined by the genetic blueprint you were handed at birth, you can make the most of that potential by using different exercises to emphasize different regions of a muscle group.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a highly effective 3-day workout split that you can use to gain muscle (or even just retain muscle while you drop fat), this one ticks all the right boxes.

It works your muscles often enough to make them grow. It can be used by beginner and intermediate lifters alike. It’s also flexible, and can be set up in various different ways depending on which days of the week you’re able to train.