3-day split workout
The best 3-day split workout is one that will work all the muscle groups in your body and give them enough time to rest and grow. This workout is best if you have limited time like most people, and have a desire to gain mass and strength in a few short weeks. The most important thing to remember is to not give up and to keep working out, do not miss a day because this will mess up your whole schedule. It is vital that you do your 3 days a week or you will not have enough rest and you will not grow.
The Workout will be split into 3 different body groups, each designed to allow for adequate amount of rest and also made to be completed in a short amount of time. Workout should take no longer than 1 hour, but should be a mimimum of 45 minutes. If you have a partner, rest when your partner is doing their set and vice versa.
Day 1- Chest, Triceps, Delts
2 x 10 Bench press
2 x 10 Close grip bench press
2 x 10 Incline bench press
2 x 8 Dumbbell flies
2 x 8 Skull crushers
2 x 10 Tricep extensions
2 x 15 Front dumbbell raise
2 x 15 Side dumbbell raise
Your triceps should be fully pumped; delts and chest should be solid as a rock after this workout.
Day 2- Rest
You deserve this day off, make sure to eat right and rest. If you’re sore from the day before, massage and stretch those sore muscles. If you’re not sore, then think about using heavier weight next time.
Day 3- Biceps, Back, Traps, Forearms
3 x 10 Barbell curls (try wide and close grips too)
2 x 10 Concentration curls
2 sets of pull-ups to failure (if you can do them)
2 x 10 Lat pulls
2 x 10 Bent over Rows
3 x 10 Wrist curls
2 x 10 Barbell shrugs
2 x 10 Calf raise machine shrugs
Day 4- Rest
If you did everything right this week, you should be sore from yesterday’s workout. If not, you know what to do – lift heavier! Be safe when lifting though, you don’t want to get injured.
Day 5- Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings and Calves
3 x 10 Squats
2 x 10 Barbell deadlifts
3 x 10 Leg press
2 x 10 Leg extensions
3 x 10 Calf raises
2 x 10 Barbell lunges
2 sets Farmer’s walk
This should be your favorite day because this is when you pack on mass from those squats that work those large leg muscles and release growth hormone throughout your body. Your base also gets stronger and you will be able to lift more next week! Have a cheat meal the next day as a reward for going through this punishing and painful week.
Day 6- Rest
Day 7- Rest
When doing a 3-day split, should any muscle groups be trained only once per week? Any twice per week? Why?
Because the legs are a big muscle group, you should only work them out once a week. Compared to other the muscle groups, they take the longest to recover because they contain the most muscle fibers and can result in higher levels of soreness. Some muscles that can be trained more than once a week would include the forearms, traps and delts. This is because these muscles are small and are used to being used frequently, therefore they have high endurance. The only way to get them to grow when they have high endurance is to work them constantly and with heavy reps. Working them more than 3 times a week is pushing it though, so do not over train and keep working them out about 1-2 times a week.
Who would be interested in doing a 3 day split and how would it help them if they did?
A 3 day split body workout can be beneficial to anyone, from the beginner to the more advanced bodybuilder. If you are a beginner it can help by getting the body ready to take the overload of future lifting by working the whole body with heavy weights. Also, remember that the beginner does not know much about the anatomy of the body and what muscles to specifically workout each day because it is known that certain muscles are used in conjunction with others in some exercises, such as bench press which utilizes the pectoral and triceps muscles, consequently making the chest and triceps one big muscle group. The beginner may not know this, so this workout will make sure that they work muscles by group and not by location or preference. A person new to weight lifting may also not have the time to have a workout every day, so this 3 day a week workout is great for those short on time. Finally and most importantly, it will teach the beginner to be consistent with their workout and have strict discipline, something that will help them greatly in their weight lifting life.
For the advance bodybuilder, it is important to change workouts every couple of weeks. This is because after a while, the human body adapts to change, such as 5 day workout, and this workout is the perfect way to keep the body from getting used to a certain workout and plateauing. Sometimes bodybuilders tend to workout for size or strength; this workout will help both and not just one. This can prove to be advantageous to the advanced bodybuilder as it can help gain mass or strength by taking more time off to rest.
Are there any pros that do a three day split?
Not many pros out there use the 3 day split for one reason. That’s because they do longer split workouts 5-6 days long, instead of 3. They are able to do this because this is their job and they have all the supplements to help them recover faster, letting them workout longer than the average Joe. There are a couple of amateur bodybuilders out there that use the 3 day split workout routine such as Russ Hosmer. Russ Hosmer uses a combination of 3 and 4 day splits, and depending on his needs he changes it around a bit.
Are 3-day splits better for bulking, cutting, maintaining? Why?
3 day splits are better for bulking because it can quickly add mass with a strict workout and a proper diet. One reason why it would not be good for cutting is because in cutting you are shedding fat, normally by doing cardiovascular exercises. As you will be working out your legs heavily, you will not be able to do most cardio exercises such as running, treadmill or jump rope without refusing your legs of their much-needed rest. 3 days splits are too heavy to be used to maintain muscle, or tone, because they overload the muscle and instead of toning or increasing endurance, they will add size and strength. Higher reps and sets are what increases endurance, so this workout will not significantly increase endurance, making maintenance hard with this workout.
Bonus: How does a 3-day split match up to a 4-day or 5-day split? Better or worse? Why?
As mentioned earlier, professional bodybuilders use more days in their split workouts because it allows them to do more in less time. They have supplements that help them recover their bodies much faster, therefore they can come back and work a muscle group more than once a week without overtraining. But, we are not all pro bodybuilders, so we have to use shorter days to achieve our goals. One way to do that is to use the 3 day split workout which will workout the whole body in the least amount of time. 4 or 5 day splits will only increase the risk of overtraining and injury. If you want to grow quickly but safely, use the 3 day split as it will give you enough rest. The key is consistency because you do not want to miss a day that will impair your ability to recover and grow.
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