What is the best 3 day split for building muscle?
- Thread starter sammyclifnote
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gramtheman48
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gramtheman48
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especially as I would be running t/th/sat
@sammyclifnote I’m not a fan of full body splits, they aren’t as enjoyable to me so I’d probably do an ULU then LUL next week etc. or just ULU every week if legs were less of a priority.
1x a week frequency just isn’t my favorite way to train, I recover in 2-3 days at most from most muscle groups. But you could still gain muscle doing a PPL
1x a week frequency just isn’t my favorite way to train, I recover in 2-3 days at most from most muscle groups. But you could still gain muscle doing a PPL
faithandholyspiritarethek
New member
@deesweetz i also dont like 1x frequency. It sucks mentally for me to wait 1 week to hit that muscle group again, even if there is no benefit for a higher frequency
@faithandholyspiritarethek Same. If I don’t do some type of squat motion 2x a week then it just feels off every workout. Pressing seems to be the same way. It’s like I lose a little neural adaptations or stability if I go like 7+ days without doing a movement pattern
@sammyclifnote If you want optimal results, Full Body 3x/week is your only option. The literature seems to point at 2x per week frequency being better than 1x per week.
@sammyclifnote Doggcrapp got a lot of people good results on 3x per week. Jordan Peters methodology of full body progressive overload works well for this too and Scott Stevenson fortitude training has a 3 day option which I really enjoyed and I’ll probably transition back to for more longer term training.
faithandholyspiritarethek
New member
@faithandholyspiritarethek I’m sure you can find it floating around online somewhere. Scribd has it if you do a free month there. If not, it’s only 20$, even if you don’t end up following the program, it’s a great read with a lot of good info and principles you can adapt to whatever training you do- and Scott’s a great guy who’ll answer any questions you have on his forum. Not trying to sound like an ad lol
Basics of it (3 day version)
day 1: upper body focused on progressing load/lower body focused on getting a pump,
day 2: reverse upper/lower from day 1,
day 3: muscle rounds (essentially cluster 6 sets of 4 with approx your 5RM) that you try and progress
He adds different types of stretching with the different types of sets and has volume tiers which you can progress through. Very well thought out program and very flexible - you can always find ways to progress
Basics of it (3 day version)
day 1: upper body focused on progressing load/lower body focused on getting a pump,
day 2: reverse upper/lower from day 1,
day 3: muscle rounds (essentially cluster 6 sets of 4 with approx your 5RM) that you try and progress
He adds different types of stretching with the different types of sets and has volume tiers which you can progress through. Very well thought out program and very flexible - you can always find ways to progress
@sammyclifnote Push/Pull
Day 1 = Push (including quads/squats)
Day 2 = Pull (including hamstrings/deadlifts)
Alternate the two days each time you train.
Day 1 = Push (including quads/squats)
Day 2 = Pull (including hamstrings/deadlifts)
Alternate the two days each time you train.
magorast77
New member
@sammyclifnote I started with 3x a week also since im working all time.
One of the best splits is john meadows baby groot .
You can buy or google it for pdf file.
When program runs like this:
Mon( Full body , upper body focus)
Tue OFG
Wed ( Full body, lower body focus )
Thur OFG
Fri ( Full B, Upper Focus )
Weeked OFF
I believe if you do this for 8-12 weeks and change it to some other slpits you would see a big improvement.
One of the best splits is john meadows baby groot .
You can buy or google it for pdf file.
When program runs like this:
Mon( Full body , upper body focus)
Tue OFG
Wed ( Full body, lower body focus )
Thur OFG
Fri ( Full B, Upper Focus )
Weeked OFF
I believe if you do this for 8-12 weeks and change it to some other slpits you would see a big improvement.
sammyclifnote
New member
@magorast77 Thank you!
waitingformyjesus
New member
@sammyclifnote There are many different 3 day split routines that can be effective for building muscle, but one popular option is the following:
Day 1:
Chest and triceps
Exercise 1: Barbell bench press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Incline dumbbell press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Tricep dips (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Cable tricep extensions (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Day 2:
Back and biceps
Exercise 1: Deadlifts (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Pull-ups (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Barbell rows (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Dumbbell bicep curls (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Day 3:
Legs and shoulders
Exercise 1: Squats (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Lunges (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Standing military press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Lateral raises (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
It is important to note that it is important to have a good diet, and make sure you are eating enough protein to support muscle growth, and also make sure you are progressive overload your self by increasing weight and reps over time, also make sure you have enough rest and recovery time.
Hope that helps mate!
Day 1:
Chest and triceps
Exercise 1: Barbell bench press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Incline dumbbell press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Tricep dips (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Cable tricep extensions (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Day 2:
Back and biceps
Exercise 1: Deadlifts (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Pull-ups (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Barbell rows (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Dumbbell bicep curls (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Day 3:
Legs and shoulders
Exercise 1: Squats (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 2: Lunges (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 3: Standing military press (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Exercise 4: Lateral raises (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
It is important to note that it is important to have a good diet, and make sure you are eating enough protein to support muscle growth, and also make sure you are progressive overload your self by increasing weight and reps over time, also make sure you have enough rest and recovery time.
Hope that helps mate!
@waitingformyjesus Bro did ChatGPT write this 
I asked it to write me a program the other day and it wrote in the exact same format
I asked it to write me a program the other day and it wrote in the exact same formatrichards33
New member
@sammyclifnote I'm all for full body and I'll outline my situation and why I think it's great:
I started with upper/lower split as a complete newbie, doing 4-5 days per week.
Now I'm doing full body 3 days a week and I feel like the cadence is helping me realize mo gains, progressive overload and just getting better at the exercises, while minimizing injury. I'm 40, so I prioritize recovery and injury prevention more than I may have when I was younger.
I generally need 50-60 min for full body and it could prob go a lot longer if I added a some more isolation exercises. You could also do 2 day split and 1 day full body -- maybe not hitting muscles with as much frequency, but still effective.
I'll vary the exercises by trying to choose 3 main exercises per category (Push, Pull, Press, Row, Squat, Hinge ) -- I also incorporate Curls sometimes and always do some shoulder isolation work (since they're weak as fuck), but I'm mainly focusing on compound movements, since I'd consider myself a novice still.
Squats, for example I'll do Lunges one day, Squats one day, and Bulgarian Split Squats, on the final day. Sometimes I double up only do two of those and sometimes I just do an exercise for one category for the week if I want to focus on that. There are some exercises that I always do like DB bench press, although sometimes I replace that with dips. Overall, I try to stay flexible on the exercises, but have some old standbys I always come back to. Sometimes I'll add in something exotic like the DB Pullover....
I don't know if that helps at all, but I'd definitely recommend the 3 day full body workout as pretty optimal for anyone who wants to build a solid base before advancing to more complex and hyper-focused workouts that intermediate lifters require for progression.
I started with upper/lower split as a complete newbie, doing 4-5 days per week.
Now I'm doing full body 3 days a week and I feel like the cadence is helping me realize mo gains, progressive overload and just getting better at the exercises, while minimizing injury. I'm 40, so I prioritize recovery and injury prevention more than I may have when I was younger.
I generally need 50-60 min for full body and it could prob go a lot longer if I added a some more isolation exercises. You could also do 2 day split and 1 day full body -- maybe not hitting muscles with as much frequency, but still effective.
I'll vary the exercises by trying to choose 3 main exercises per category (Push, Pull, Press, Row, Squat, Hinge ) -- I also incorporate Curls sometimes and always do some shoulder isolation work (since they're weak as fuck), but I'm mainly focusing on compound movements, since I'd consider myself a novice still.
Squats, for example I'll do Lunges one day, Squats one day, and Bulgarian Split Squats, on the final day. Sometimes I double up only do two of those and sometimes I just do an exercise for one category for the week if I want to focus on that. There are some exercises that I always do like DB bench press, although sometimes I replace that with dips. Overall, I try to stay flexible on the exercises, but have some old standbys I always come back to. Sometimes I'll add in something exotic like the DB Pullover....
I don't know if that helps at all, but I'd definitely recommend the 3 day full body workout as pretty optimal for anyone who wants to build a solid base before advancing to more complex and hyper-focused workouts that intermediate lifters require for progression.
sammyclifnote
New member
@richards33 Thank you this is very helpful 
@sammyclifnote Upper lower with only one lower workout.
@sammyclifnote I like Jeff Nippard’s 3 day split from “Fundamentals of Hypertrophy”. Check it out.