Many of my readers have asked me to create a 3-day workout routine for them. For some people a 5 day routine just doesn’t fit into their schedule.
So, is it possible to build muscle in just 3 days a week instead of 5? Yes, but we have to do a few things differently.
But first, we’ll still be adhering to the following principles:
- Keeping workouts short
- 6-9 sets per body part
- 2 minute breaks between sets
- 8-12 reps per set
Basically, the only differences between this three-day workout routine and my 5-day split workout plan is that:
- There are no single body part workouts
- On one day 3 body parts will be worked
- 6 sets per body part max.
Because each body part will be worked with 6 sets, my advice to:
MAKE EACH REP COUNT!
MAKE EACH SET COUNT!
becomes even more pertinent. Please ensure you put this advice into consistent practice.
3-Day Workout Routine
The 3 days on which you choose to workout are up to you. Just ensure that they are separated by a 48 hour rest period. For the purposes of this article I’ll assume you are working out on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Monday
Body Parts Worked:
- Chest
- Triceps
It makes sense to work these body parts together as chest workouts involve the triceps a lot. After you finish your chest routine you’ll have your triceps prepared (though not fatigued) for a battering 
.
Chest Exercises
- Incline Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press (2 sets)
- Flat Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press (2 sets)
- Dumbbell Flies (2 sets)
Triceps
- Decline Tricep Extensions or French Curls (3 sets)
- Tricep Cable Pull Downs (3 sets)
Wednesday
Body Parts Worked:
- Legs
- Back
Working your back involves using your legs and vice versa. It therefore makes sense to hit these body parts on the same day. As you’ll require more energy for your leg workout, work them first.
Leg Exercises
- Squats (3 Sets)
- Stiff-Leg Deadlifts (3 sets)
Back Exercises
- Bent-Over Barbell Rows (3 sets)
- Deadlifts (3 sets)
Friday
Body Parts Worked:
- Shoulders (including traps)
- Biceps
- Abs
The first body part worked should be the one you want most growth in (between your shoulders and biceps). Work your abs last.
Shoulder Exercises
- Barbell or dumbbell shoulder press (2 sets)
- Dumbbell lateral raise (2 sets)
- Upright Rows (2 sets)
Bicep Exercises
- Dumbbell bicep curls (2 sets)
- EZ bar curls (2 sets)
- Incline dumbbell curls (2 sets)
Abdominal Exercises
- Decline Sit-Ups (2 sets)
- Crunches (2 sets)
- Reverse crunches (2 sets)
(for a complete strategy on how to get six pack abs, please see my book ‘Total Six Pack Abs‘)
Feel free to switch these days around any way you wish. The most important thing to remember is that you work 2 body parts for 2 days and 3 body parts on the third day.
To get more info on how to put this all together, download my free bodybuilding ebook here.
To massive gains!
Mark McManus
Related posts:
- Do Compound Exercises Really Build More Muscle?
- Does Everyone Need A Different Workout Program To Build Muscle?
- Build Huge Biceps With This Unique Exercise!
- How To Get Bigger Forearms With This 1 Exercise
The Muscle Hacker is Mark McManus, a 29 year old Certified Fitness Instructor committed to helping others build the body of their dreams. Mark is a naturally skinny guy who overcame the hardgainer's curse through years of research and personal experience. Whether you want to build new slabs of muscle or drop your body fat percentage to reveal
{ 42 comments }
hi Mark
the 3 day workout plan is definitely very convenient for a lot of people.
Anyways since you’ve talked about the musclehack diet which is supposed to encourage more growth hormone release I was wondering if you have any thoughts on whether it can possibly contribute to a growth spurt (increase in height), probably by an inch or two. There is this site that is promoting a kind of foot reflexology thing to wear in the shoes as well as a live cell softgel capsule thing which can help the bones in the spine increase in thickness and cumulatively increase height.
The reason I asked is your explanation on the link between growth hormones, insulin, IGF etc. seems to be quite similar to the mechanism on their site. Anyway the site is called http://www.grow…….
Could following your diet along with the workout plan actually have a side effect of increasing height as well or does that also involve a more specific set of exercises (and possibly avoiding some types of exercise)?
Hi,
Great article, but what about lats, traps, neck, and forearms? How would you incorporate workouts for these into this 3 day workout routine? I’m putting together a workout routine and don’t know how to add the mentioned body parts to this 3 days routine. What day should each of these be done?
Appreciate your help.
Hey is there an alternative to decline sit ups that are just as effective?
Also is it ok if these workout days are friday, saturday, and sunday? because if so that would be great for my school year. Also I want to incorperate forearms into these workouts. Which workout days should I include it in for maximum results?
can i do workout every day???….
@ Suren. If you are still at the growing age, the MANS diet could help you reach your maximum height. The product you mention is total garbage in my opinion, don’t waste your money.
@ John. I don’t work forearms and neck separately. Lats get a good workout on Back day. Traps also get hit by barbell rows and on shoulder day. If you want to work them on their own, through in 2 sets of upright rows instead of front raises at the end of your shoulder routine.
@ Kenny Do flat sit-ups with a weight on your chest – remember to use a slow, smooth form. Switching days is fine.
@ Rain. You’ll most likely be overtraining by working out every day. Stick to the above program as prescribed.
Mark
Lol cool thanks Mark, also which day should I include a forearms workout?
Kenny, add some wrist curls on to any of the 2 body part days
Mark
Mark you rock lol thanks!
@ Suren. Like Mark said, you have to still be in the growing phase of development. A layer of cartiledge called the epiphyseal plate is found towards the ends of your long bones and is the place of bone growth that causes you to get taller as a child (interstitial growth). When you enter puberty, testosterone or estrogen, depending on your gender, initially causes a massive growth spurt, but later causes the epiphyseal plate to ossify (turn to bone) and interstitial growth stops. This happen around age 20. The only bone growth possible after that point is in the form of bone density (appositional growth). Increases in bone density are very slow after age 30 and having good bone density is the best way to ward off osteoporosis and “becoming shorter” as you become elderly. And the best way to to increase bone density? Lift weights, calcium, and vitamin D.
That’s my little anatomy and physiology lesson for the day!
Hey Mark, so like for the crunches do I use weights also?
Also in addition, many experts say that you should work out the abs about 3 times the week, would once a week really be just as effective?
Lol Mike last question, thanks so much btw, is it ok if i only use my bodybuilding supplements like glutamine, creatine, ZMA, and whey protein, only on workout days as opposed to non-workout days?
ok..then now my muscle are so unbalanced…all parts of my muscle is quite big except my chest…so how am i gonna plan for my workout?….
Nice workout program
@rain – One thing you could try is instead of doing chest first and triceps second – do triceps first and then chest. It could be that your triceps/shoulders are doing most of the work in your chest workout. By doing triceps first, you could fatigue your triceps and make your chest muscles pick up the slack.
My workout routine is:
Mon :
Triceps / Chest
Weds:
Back / Biceps
Fri:
Legs / Shoulders
I have always heard that abs you could do everyday, which i do. Is that not the case Mark?
I have a pretty close variant to this that I adhere to and I gotta tell you all, it works like a charm. Perfect balance between under and over training. Ive made massive natural gains using this method along with a good solid diet. Anyone having trouble with natural gains should seriously think about this method.
Hi Joe,
I don’t believe you should work your abs every day. I do believe they can be hit up to 2 or 3 times a week though – this is part of the ‘Total Six Pack Abs’ program. However, if you’re not aggressively cutting, work them once a week and up the frequency when your goal is to get super lean.
Cheers,
Mark
What is an alternative to decline tricep extensions? I have the olympic tricep bar, is it ok if i just do it on a flat bench and lower it against my forehead in an arch movement and then back up?
Kenny, flat bench is fine. Lowering behind your head – (off the bench) is much better though.
Mark
hmm but it doesn’t feel so natural because i end up bumping the bar against my head on the way up, any advice?
Your head needs to be slightly hanging off the edge of the bench Kenny.
oh ok thnx
I only do my abs twice a week. I’ve found that daily stretching (like the Torso Stretch) keeps my wasteline relatively lean.
interesting stuff, i will try this since i work out 3 days a week too.
Mark,
I’m not seeing the difference between the stiff-leg deadlift and the deadlift. Could you clarify?
Aaron, the SLDL is performed in a ‘bend over and touch your toes’ fashion holding a barbell. My free book has execution instructions.
Hi Mark.
Can I add 2 sets of leg extensions and 2 sets of leg curls before the squat? The intention is to warm the legs and also get them exausted before the back (I feel that my back gets exausted before the legs when doing the squat and the deadlifts).
Mómex
im a 13 yr. old hard gainer, n i wanna know a good meal n workout plan that will help me reach my goal. Im currently 5’1” 75 lbs and wanna get to 95 lbs. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!
Dylan,
The best advice I can give you is to get my free book and read everything in it. Then start living it.
Mark
thanks Mark, but were can i get your free book?
By the way, is the Vince DelMonte program a scam?
Mark, just touching on something Kenny asked. I;m looking at cutting training down to 3 days instead of 5 and I was wondering if I follow the the same diet…do I still take my protein shake at the same time as I would even though I didnt train that particular day?
hey mark, I was wondering how creatine works, ive been on micronized creatine monohydrate and its really helped me in the gym, ive been bumping up in weights and getting more reps. I was wondering what happens if I get off creatine. Will i loose size and not be able to lift as much?
would it make sense to do HIIT on Tuesday , Thurs and Saturday for cardio ? Cause ive been doing something similar
@Pawel. If you’re talking about TSPA and how to implement a 3day workout plan on it, yes, that’s a good idea.
Just don’t go doing 3 x cardio sessions a week from the beginning of the program, it’s not necessary.
Mark
yo mr marky mark… lot of the video links in this post are broken… i found them by searching the blog but i think some other people may not know to do this!
can i do these workout in a superset manner? e.g i did a set of triceps rest 1 minute and do a set of bicep and rest 1 minute and repeat it again for a total of 6 to 9 sets as you recommended??
@Sky – I wouldn’t recommend it. Although you would be hitting a different body part, there is still a general fatigue that the body is experiencing. This may prevent you from reaching positive failure on the second set of the superset. Optimum rest is at least 2 minutes, so if you want the best results, I suggest you take this couple of minutes to rest and get your breath back.
Hey Mark thanks for formulating this 3 day routine..between school and rugby training I would never be able to work out 5 times a week and this just what i was looking for ..
Hey mark this is irvin i am 15 years old and i love to weight lift i have been doing my 5 days a week routine but now i dont have that much time so i am trying your 3 day a week routine, i go to the gym and i see people switch over bodyparts every sdet in this routine do u want me to do a bodypart and then switch to the second one or you want me to swtch over each set like do a set of cruls and then switch over and do a set of something for shoulders and back
Hello Mark! I been ‘trying’ to get back into shape after a long haitus. I work nights – 12 hours shift and it has totally screwed me up. 7p-7a Sometimes (and I try not to do this anymore) I stay up for more than 36 hours… I am trying to start with your 3 day work out because on my days off my priority is sleep unfortunately. A couple questions: When is the best time to work out if its a work day. When should I eat? I am naturally thin, have a good metabolism. My diet is awful now, I’ve lost 14 lb the past 2 months…skinny flabby and untoned muscles are starting to really show! Also, not a huge meat eater – do you know if there are negative health impact from using protein suppliments – drinking a shake is sometimes so much easier with the busy schedule. Any recommendations for the health conscious women- sugar, fat, artificial sweetners all seem to rule mainstream protein supps…
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