Recovery is strongly individual and depends on your experience level, genetics, nutrition, stress outside the gym, and the amount of training you do in each session. As such, you should determine how much recovery you need by considering post-workout soreness, your daily energy levels, and the quality of your sleep. Someone who is overweight and doesn’t do any exercise will see significant changes in their physique and strength once they start going to the gym.
Push/Pull/Legs 3-Day Split
Another notable difference from the push/pull/legs workout split is that, instead of dividing the upper body into push and pull, all upper-body muscles are worked in the same session. For example, day 1 on such a 3-day split can start with compound lifts like the bench press, barbell row, overhead press, and pull-ups. More advanced trainees can also train three times a week, but each session might need to be longer to do enough exercises and sets for optimal growth. Alternatively, trainees can add a fourth, fifth, or even sixth workout if they don’t feel like a 3-day split challenges them enough. A 3-day split is fantastic if you’re looking to lose fat, as it allows you to get enough training volume to maintain muscle while burning calories without causing recovery issues.
One-legged pushup
We all know that friend with a huge chest and skinny legs because they skip leg day. Full-body workouts help prevent overcompensation in certain muscle groups. Instead of having a single big leg day that feels daunting just to think about, you can do one or two leg exercises in each workout and still get the necessary volume to grow. You don’t build muscle when you’re exercising, you build muscle when you’re resting, so try not to do a strength training routine (of the same muscle groups) two days in a row.
Can I do a bodyweight 3-day split?
Catch up on Day 1 of the challenge to explore a few ideas for morning routines to get you started this winter. Start with our beginner routine, and in just a matter of months, you could be well on your way to mastering the advanced routine. As with all advanced exercises, maintaining a straight spine is key here. Get into a high plank position, then complete a Bird Dog, lifting one arm and the opposite leg simultaneously. Put your feet on an elevated surface, like a bench or a step, and complete an elevated pike pushup.
Exercises for Weight Loss That Burn More Calories
The upper/lower/upper split is similar to the previous option, with the main difference being that you have two upper sessions instead of one. This makes programming easier and eliminates the need to alternate workouts from week to week. Another difference is that you do more volume for your upper body than for your legs. But most plans out there make you choose one or the other, which can leave you stuck cycling between restrictive dieting phases and confusing training blocks. If you’ve ever felt caught in that loop, this guide offers a much simpler—and more empowering—path forward.
Hevy App
This means you do each workout feeling fresher and more motivated, which allows you to push harder and may lead to better long-term progress. Five workouts require more time, are harder to stick to, and increase the recovery demand. If you can’t recover well, you’ll struggle to keep up, and you might lose the motivation to train. Also, whether looking to build muscle or lose fat, monitoring your calorie intake and maintaining the necessary calorie surplus or deficit is essential. The more control you have over variables essential to your training, like diet, consistency, and tracking in your training, the better results you will see in the short and long term.
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Also, consider activities outside the gym when deciding how many calories to eat. Of course, there is a point where someone might do too much and struggle to recover between workouts, so it’s important to gauge your recovery and how you feel outside the gym. If you’re constantly sore, weak, and feeling rundown, you might need to scale back your training and gradually build your capacity. One advantage of full-body workouts is improved muscle symmetry.
Is Bodyweight Training Effective for Weight Loss?

Weight loss is not always about working out or doing a specific routine. The most important factor is creating and sustaining a calorie deficit – in other words, eating fewer calories than you burn. For instance, if you expend 3,000 calories daily but only eat 2,500 calories, that creates a 500-calorie deficit. You can customize these workouts to the fullest extent and ensure you use the gym to your advantage for your goals. As a reminder, you can grab our beginner bodyweight tracking sheet, which includes a brand-new variation perfect for people who need to prioritize low-impact movements to start.

# BODYWEIGHT GOOD MORNINGS
Go to the gym consistently, lift weights to stress your muscles and create micro-tears, and recover well. Gradually increase the difficulty of your training (don’t do the same thing repeatedly), and your muscles will grow. The upper/lower workout split differs slightly from previous approaches. That is because it divides the target muscles into two sessions instead of three.
- It also lets you compare your performance to other app users, see their workouts, and compete on the leaderboards.
- Both movements have a good overloading potential and help develop strength for other upper-body lifts.
- Most people who want to build muscle also generally want to get stronger, which means the training plan they follow must help them achieve both goals.
- Get into a high plank position, then complete a Bird Dog, lifting one arm and the opposite leg simultaneously.
- They isolate the three glute muscles and force them to contract.
- After you’ve completed your workout at home, feel free to cool down and stretch.
Low-Impact Exercises for Women Over 50
Omar Isuf has an excellent video demonstrating how to make your pre-workout. A pre-workout supplement is meant to give you an extra boost during a workout. For example, going to the gym after a long day of work or first thing in the morning can be challenging. Getting extra energy from a supplement can help you push harder, stay more focused, and provide the necessary stimulus to grow and get stronger. If you have trouble eating enough calories to be in a caloric surplus, switching to drinking your calories can always be beneficial. That means adding something like a mass gainer or a protein shake to your meals for extra calories.
They are also useful for warm-ups since you can start with the lightest band that offers the least resistance and gradually work up to the toughest one as your muscles warm up. Similar to adjustable dumbbells, resistance bands are compact, affordable, and highly versatile. You can use them to do alternatives to popular gym exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises, and lat pulldowns. A basic flat bench would be cheaper, but having the option to adjust the angle of the back support gives you more training options. Gaining muscle is a marathon, not a sprint, and you won’t be able to make any gains if you’re injured.
She is constantly researching the latest health best app for weight loss and wellness trends, trying a buzzy new workout class, hiking and snowboarding, or browsing athleisure. Her friends would describe her as the confidant to turn to for fitness and wellness advice, not to mention answers to any weird body questions. Jacqueline is also a former group exercise instructor and is a certified personal trainer via the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Hevy has a rich library with multiple 3-day splits for all levels. To access them, open the app, go to the Workout tab, and tap Explore. Once that’s done, you can do warm-up sets for your first exercise of the workout to further prepare your body for that specific activity.