3-Day Full Body Workout Split for Muscle Growth and Gaining Strength

[myraan]

Hey guys,

I started working out after a quite long pause in October and I consider myself an amateur with some knowledge. My current goal is to gain strength and increase muscle volume. After doing some research I stumbled upon full body workout to be more effective for beginners, so I have been trying to keep to this routine I created with help of a book. My current workout routine consists of a three day (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) full body workout with the following exercises:

Day A

• Clean Deadlift (5x5)
• Bench Press (5x5)
• Squats (5x5)
• Hammer Curls (3x10)
• Triceps Pushdown with rope (3x10)
• Pull-ups (4x8)

Day B

• Clean Deadlift (5x5)
• Bench Press (5x5)
• Squats (5x5)
• Stand-Up Biceps E-Z Curls (3x10)
• Triceps Dips (4x8)
• Lat Pulldown (4x10)

Week X is ABA and Week Y is BAB.

Currently I am trying to "up my game" a little bit. I think I will stick to a full body split for at least a year (until October) and maybe change to PPL or Upper/Lower split.

What are your thoughts on this routine? What are your suggestions for improvement?

P.S. Please, be nice!

 

[cowboy88]

@myraan short, concise and filled with compound lifts. I would suggest having a shoulder exercise on both days- like side lateral for day A and something for rear delts for DAY B.

Just a fellow lifter's opinion. May not work for you but I am gonna try that.

LETS GET EM GAINS BOYS

 

[myraan]

@cowboy88 Hey, thanks for your advise. I actually do add a shoulder and core exercise to each workout which I did not mention in my initial post. So i.e. my Day A also has:

• Core: Decline Bench Situps/Crunches
• Shoulders: Lateral shoulder raises

And my Day B adds:

• Core: Hanging leg raises
• Shoulders: Shoulder Press

It really helped me with gaining more body tension in general which reduced the number of my injuries or discomfort when executing the compound exercises.

I wish you the best for your gains!

 

[matt87]

@myraan I run a Full Body split x3 a week since I do 12 hour shifts at my job. Your routine is solid but I personally think you need more volume/exercises in order to compensate for going x3 a week.

Take a look at my routine, it takes around 2.5-3 hours but if that is too long than there’s a way to tweak it which I’ll list at the end.

The full routine:
* Hack Squat: 5 sets x 8 reps
* Barbell Bench: 5 sets x 8 reps
* Incline Chest Machine: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Prone Hamstring Curls: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Seated Leg Extensions: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Lat Pulldown superset w Cable Rows: 5 sets x 10 reps
* Overhead Press Machine: 4 sets x 10 reps
* Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Tricep Extensions: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Bicep Curls: 3 sets x 10 reps
* Weighted Abdominal Crunches: 5 sets x 10 reps

As time goes on, I will attempt to add 2.5lbs-5lbs to every working set when I can properly execute the exercise. If I do encounter resistance, then I keep the same weight until the plateau is broken.

The is lifting very LIGHT to compensate for the volume as well as to prevent compromising proper form. (The last set should feel like an RPE6 - 7)

Bench press example:
* 1st set warm up: Bar x 8 reps
* 2nd set: 95lbs x 8 reps
* 3rd set: 135lbs x 8 reps
* 4th set: 155lbs x 8 reps
* 5th set: 185lbs x 8 reps
* 6th set 205lbs x 8 reps @ RPE6.5

For a shortened version you can either superset, take 1-2 sets out or simply not do these exercises:
* Incline Chest Machine
* Lateral Raises
* Tricep Extensions
* Bicep Curls

Good luck and lmk how you progress

 

[myraan]

@matt87 Hey, first of all thank you very much for you effort writing this down and giving such awesome advice. Really appreciated!

I normally try to start with 60% of my maximum weight and would say my last set is a solid RPE6-7.

About the example for bench pressing my current weights are:

• 1st set: 60kg (132lbs) x 10 reps
• 2nd set: 70kg (154lbs) x 5 reps
• 3rd set: 80kg (176lbs) x 5 reps
• 4th set: 90kg (198lbs) x 5 reps
• 5th set: 80kg (176lbs) x 5 reps

My current workout routine takes 60-90mins and additionally implements one shoulder and one core/abdominal exercise which I did not mention in my initial post. I try to hit each muscle group three times the week. But back to your advice: I will try to integrate your recommended volume/exercises and may look into supersets, which I have never really done before. Is there anything I have to keep in mind here?

I will keep you updated with my progress. Currently I am adapting to a new "diet" to gain some weight in a healthy way. Hopefully I will reach new heights by the end of spring. Wish me luck!