About this workout
If you have been lifting for less than a year, three full body days a week will build more muscle than five days of anything else. Your body is more responsive to frequency than volume right now, and you recover fast enough to hit everything three times a week. This is the program I would put my own family on.
Who This Program Is For
- You are in your first year of lifting, or you are coming back after a long layoff.
- You have three days a week and 45-60 minutes per session.
- You have access to a gym with barbells and machines.
Who this is NOT for: anyone who has been training hard for over a year and is already adding weight to the bar every week; you do not need to restart. And it is not for people looking for a 'shred' program. This builds a base. That is a different and better goal for your first year.
Be honest with yourself here. Most people who call themselves intermediate are beginners who have been inconsistent for three years. If you cannot add weight to your squat month over month, you are a beginner, and that is good news; beginners make the fastest progress in lifting.
What You'll Need
- Barbell, rack, and bench
- Dumbbells
- Lat pulldown or an assisted pull-up machine
- Leg curl machine
- A notebook. Write down every weight and every rep. This is 90% of why this program works.
The Program
Train three non-consecutive days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday works well. Alternate Workout A and Workout B. So week 1 is A-B-A, week 2 is B-A-B, and so on.
| Workout A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Barbell Squat | 3 | 8-10 | 2-3 min |
| Barbell Bench Press | 3 | 8-10 | 2-3 min |
| Seated Cable Rows | 3 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Military Press (Overhead Shoulder Press) | 2 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Lying Leg Curl | 2 | 10-12 | 90 sec |
| Plank | 3 | 30 sec | 60 sec |
| Workout B | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 8-10 | 2-3 min |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Leg Press | 3 | 10-12 | 2 min |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 2 | 12-15 | 60 sec |
| Dumbbell Curls | 2 | 10-12 | 60 sec |
How to Progress
Here is the entire method, and it is simple on purpose:
Every session, try to beat the last one. Same exercise, either one more rep or a little more weight.
The rule. When you hit the top of the rep range on every set of an exercise, add weight next time. Add 5-10 lbs on squats, deadlifts and leg press. Add 5 lbs on presses and rows. Then work back up through the rep range.
Weeks 1-2. Start lighter than you think you should. Learn the movements. Finish every set with two or three reps left in you. This is not wasted time — this is where your technique gets built.
Weeks 3-10. Add weight whenever the rule above says to. Some weeks you will add to every lift. Some weeks you will add to none. Both are normal.
Week 11. Push. Last set of squats, bench and Romanian deadlifts goes to one rep short of failure.
Week 12. Easy week. Same exercises, 60% of your weights, 2 sets each.
If you follow this for 12 weeks, your squat and bench will go up substantially and you will look noticeably different. If you skip the logbook and just 'go hard,' you will not, and you will blame the program.
Warm-Up and Recovery Notes
Five minutes on a bike or rower, then warm up the first two lifts with a light set of 5 at about half your working weight. That's it.
Soreness in the first two weeks is normal and it goes away. Soreness that lasts four days, or joint pain in a specific spot, is not — back the weight off and check your technique.
Three days a week means four rest days. Use them. Walk, play a sport, live your life. You do not need to be in the gym more.
Nutrition and Supplementation
Eat enough protein and eat enough total food. 0.7-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, and enough calories that your weight is slowly trending up if you want size. That is genuinely most of it in year one.
Two supplements are worth your money here: protein powder if you struggle to hit your intake from food, and creatine monohydrate at 5g a day. You do not need a fat burner, a test booster, or a nine-ingredient pre-workout in your first year. Save the money.
FAQ
Can I do this at home? Not as written — it needs a barbell and machines. Run the 4 Week Dumbbell Only Home Workout Plan instead.
Only two sets of some exercises. Is that enough? For a beginner, yes. Adding sets before you have added weight is how people end up doing 25 sets and progressing on none of them.
What if I can't do a full squat? Use a goblet squat or leg press until your mobility improves, and work on it. Do not load a squat you cannot control.
When do I move to a split? When you go a full month without adding weight to any main lift while eating and sleeping properly. For most people, that is somewhere in year two.
Can I add arm work? Add two sets of curls and two of triceps at the end of Workout A if you want. It will not hurt anything.