29 Jan What should my 3-day workout split look like?
Question: What should my workouts look like if I’m trying to start with three days a week?
I’m a beginner and I don’t have much experience with exercise but I would like to make it a regular part of my life in order to get fit and tone up.
Good question. Here are my recommendations for a 3-day per week workout split.
If you’re a beginner: 3 Full Body Workouts
At this stage, your job is to wake up your joints/muscles and reintroduce your body to physical movement. Don’t start off by hitting a few muscles super hard like a bodybuilder. Rather, your goal should be to incorporate as many muscles as possible.
Treat each exercise as a skill. Don’t worry about how strong you are just yet. Rather, simply work on becoming more proficient with your form and technique. Once you’ve mastered the movements, strength will come.
Also, if you’re just starting out, then your real goal should be to establish the habit. Therefore, I recommend choosing one simple — but effective — full body workout and performing that workout on all three days. Once workout time arrives, your mind should have nothing to think about. Just keep practicing that habit.
I created The P.A.U.L. Method, for exactly this reason.
If you’re an intermediate: 1 Full Body Workout, 1 Upper Body Workout, 1 Lower Body Workout
If you have some fitness experience under your belt, then you’re ready to step up your workout split.
Workout #1 should be a full body workout, like you would in the beginner stage.
Workout #2 should be exclusively focused on upper body.
Workout #3 should be exclusively focused on lower body.
This split will allow you to tax your muscles harder on the focused upper and lower body days with more volume (i.e. sets/reps) per muscle group.
If you’re an expert: Push/Pull/Legs
If you have extensive experience in strength training and are looking to get that extra edge from your workout plan, then it’s time to specialize in one muscle group per workout.
Here’s how a Push/Pull/Legs split looks:
Workout #1: Push
This workout is focused on upper body pushing muscles. These include the chest, shoulders and triceps.
Workout #2: Pull
This workout is focused on upper body pulling muscles. These include the upper/mid back and biceps.
Workout #3: Legs
This workout should be exclusively focused on legs. Prioritize the “big lifts” like squats and deadlifts to get the biggest bang for your buck. Add in accessory exercises like leg extensions and leg curls if you have time.
Stay busy. Stay fit.
-Coach Dani
P.S. Want to start your own personal training program, but hate the gym? Our nationally certified trainers come to YOU!
Schedule your call with me here so we can discuss your fitness goals and make a plan — together.
