The Ultimate 3-Day Workout Splits Guide In 2023

Some people think that working out every day is necessary in order to lose weight or gain strength, but that is not entirely true. Our bodies need rest days to decrease the chances of overtraining syndrome, which can take weeks or months to recover from. The 3-day workout split has just three days of intense training per week designed for beginner, intermediate, and advanced trainees. 

With a well-curated resistance training program, you can achieve muscle hypertrophy and lose fat without spending all your free time in the gym. We have a few examples of 3-day workout splits that target all major muscle groups and you can begin today. 

What Is The 3-Day Workout Split? 

The 3-day workout split involves three days of weight training per week with at least one day of rest between each training day. This type of routine is best for people who don’t have the time to go to the gym four or five times per week but still want to see muscle growth. Rest days are built in to allow adequate recovery so you’re refreshed by the next time you hit that muscle group.

There are a few ways to implement a 3-day workout routine. The most common ones are the push-pull-legs split, the upper and lower body split, and the full body split. Generally, people will train on every other day of the week such as Monday/Wednesday/Friday with weekends off or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday with Sunday and Monday off, and you have the freedom to choose what works best for you.

For example, if you choose a push-pull-legs split, your week might look like this:

• Sunday: Rest
• Monday: Push
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Pull
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Legs
• Saturday: Rest

3-Day Workout Split: Benefits

There are a few benefits of doing a 3-day workout split. 

1. Maximize Recovery

Lifting weights breaks down muscle fibers^[1] and rest days are when the body builds them up for muscle growth. Simply put, we gain muscle mass on our recovery days. Use these days wisely and make sure you’re eating healthy, hydrating, and getting enough sleep.   

2. Intense Workouts

Optimizing your recovery days leads to better workouts. There will be no shortage of sweat when you are fitting all of your lifts into three workouts per week, so you’ll leave each workout feeling tired but accomplished.

3. Variety

The 3-day split allows for more variety than the 4 or 5-day splits, as there are more ways to categorize your workouts. While you should stick to a specific split for at least four weeks, changing it up every three to four months can challenge your body in new ways. That way you don’t feel like you’re just going through the motions.  

4. Time For Other Workouts

Having four days outside of resistance training allows for other types of training. You could spend your off days outside by walking, running, or riding a bicycle. If the weather isn’t cooperating, you may choose to take a yoga or pilates class.

Samples Of 3 Day Workout Splits

The key to consistency is to have a plan that you can stick to.  

1. How to Structure Your Workout

To promote muscle gain, it’s important to do compound (multi-joint) movements first, then end with isolation (single-joint) movements. Aim to do 3-4 sets of 6-8 repetitions for compound movements and 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps for isolation movements. Pick a weight that is light enough to get to the lower end of the rep range, but heavy enough that it feels difficult to reach the high end of the rep range. Since none of these split workouts specifically include core, a list of core exercises is included at the end for you to work into any day you choose. 

2. Push/Pull/Legs (PPL)

PPL is a classic way of splitting up your body into different muscle groups. Upper body muscles are split into two main movements (push and pull) and the lower body muscles are all targeted in the same workout.

Day one: Push

• Compound lifts
  • Barbell bench press
  • Incline dumbbell bench press
  • Dumbbell overhead press
• Isolation exercises
  • Machine chest fly
  • Cable lateral raise
  • Dumbbell front raise
  • Cable triceps extension
  • Dumbbell overhead triceps extension

Day two: Pull

• Compound lifts
  • Lat pulldown
  • Horizontal cable row
  • Pull ups (can be assisted)
• Isolation exercises
  • Straight arm lat pulldown
  • Dumbbell bicep curls
  • Bent over dumbbell fly
  • Hammer curls
  • Dumbbell shrugs

Day three: Legs

• Compound lifts
  • Barbell squats
  • Barbell deadlifts
  • Dumbbell split squats
• Isolation exercises
  • Leg extension machine
  • Hamstring curl machine
  • Calf raises
  • Hip thrust machine 

3. Upper/Lower 

The upper-lower split is planned out in two-week periods. Week one will have two upper body workout days and one lower body workout day, then week two will have two lower body days and one upper body day. Ideally, you’ll have two routines for each upper and lower, and you cycle through all of them evenly. Then by the end of a four-week period, you will have done each specific workout three times total.

Example:

• Week one: Upper one, lower one, upper two.
• Week two: Lower two, upper one, lower one.
• Week three: Upper two, lower two, upper one.
• Week four: Lower one, upper two, lower two.

Upper One

• Compound
  • Barbell flat bench press
  • Horizontal cable row
  • Decline barbell bench press
  • Lat pulldown
• Isolation
  • Dumbbell bicep curls
  • Cable tricep extensions
  • Dumbbell lateral raise

Lower One

• Compound
  • Barbell squats
  • Step-ups with dumbbells or body weight
  • Dumbbell stiff leg deadlifts
• Isolation
  • Leg extension machine
  • Glute bridges
  • Calf raises

Upper Two

• Compound
  • Barbell overhead press
  • Barbell bent over row
  • Incline dumbbell bench press 
  • Single arm dumbbell row
• Isolation
  • Hammer curls
  • Overhead tricep extensions
  • Dumbbell front raise

Lower Two

• Compound
  • Barbell deadlift
  • Leg press machine
  • Dumbbell split squats
• Isolation
  • Hamstring curl machine
  • Good mornings
  • Calf raises

4. Full-Body 

In a full-body workout split, you are targeting multiple muscle groups each time you go to the gym. Therefore, you have to focus on compound movements to get the most bang for your buck. Even though you are hitting multiple specific muscle groups each session, they should not be trained to fatigue.

Day One

• Barbell squats
• Barbell flat bench press
• Lat pulldown 
• Dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift
• Push-ups
• Cable horizontal row

Day Two

• Walking lunges
• Incline dumbbell bench press
• Pull-ups (can be assisted)
• Barbell deadlift
• Decline barbell bench press
• Barbell bent over row

Day Three

• Leg press machine
• Dumbbell overhead press
• Dumbbell single-arm row
• Step-ups with dumbbells
• Dumbbell flat bench press
• Dumbbell shrugs

5. Core

Your core is a muscle group that is often overlooked or under-trained. It is important to incorporate and doesn’t have to take very long. Try to do 5-10 minutes of core in at least two workout sessions per week. You can pick from any of the following:

• Planks: 3 sets for 30 seconds
• Side planks: 3 sets for 20-30 seconds
• Russian twists: 3 sets of 20
• Dead bugs: 3 sets of 20
• Cable crunches: 3 sets of 15
• Mountain climbers: 3 sets of 20
• Weighted sit-ups: 3 sets of 15
• Hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 15

These workout programs should take about one hour per session totaling only 3-4 hours per week! Whether your goals are weight loss or muscle growth, you should start to see changes in your body in about 6 weeks^[2] if you’re consistent.

Conclusion

There are many ways to achieve your goals with just a few days spent in the gym. Give these split variations a try to see which one works best for you!

Frequently Asked Questions