3 day workout - Which muscles to work on each day?

[BritNoob]

I have been lifting weights 2 days a week for 6 months or so now and can now add a third day. I have been doing full body work outs before but now I can split them up.

I can go to the gym Monday Thursday and Friday so I was thinking of doing maybe shoulders, chest and arms on mon and thursday and back and legs on Friday?

I have previously included no back exercises at all....occasionally lat pull downs.

I am trying to gain mass so I have started doing 4 sets starting with 15 reps, then 8-10 then 6-8 then 12 (varying the weight obviously to match the reps). Could I use this system with back exercises or should I take it easy to begin with?

[Liam_K]

Hey,

I also practise martial arts and enjoy weight lifting, I go to TKD classes twice a week and the gym three times, so it sounds as though we are doing something pretty similar. A four day split would be ideal, however, time is always a factor so three will have to do!

I have been doing the following split for a couple of months now and have seen great results; I have got stronger and bigger.

CS = Cluster Set (first of all find out your 5 rep max) perform 2 reps-wait ten seconds-perform 2 reps etc... until you have done the required number of reps)

SSWB = Super Set with below (complete one set of the first exercise-wait one minute-perfom one set of the second exercise-wait one minute-perform 2nd set of the first exercise-etc...)

SS=Straight sets, perform as normal with the maximum weight that allows you to complete all of the reps)

Day 1

Snatch-grip Deadlift 4 x 10 CS SSWB

Standing Single Leg Calf Raise 5 x 8 SS

BB Good Mornings 4 x 10 SS

DB Lunge 3 x 8 SS

Uneven BB Side Bends 2 x 10 SS

Plank Hold

BB Roll Out

Day 2

Incline Dumb-Bell Press 5 x 8 SS SSWB

Bent-Over Row 5 x 8 SS

Seated Dumb-Bell Cleans 3 x 10 SS SSWB

Decline Close-Grip Bench Press 3 x 10 SS

Standing Reverse Curls (Holds) 3 x 12 SS

Single Leg Back Extension 3 x 12 (each leg)

Weighted Sit-ups 3 x 12

Day 3

BB Shoulder Push Press 4 x 10 CS SSWB

Weighted Chins 4 x 10 CS

Dum-Bell Cuban Press 3 x 10 SS SSWB

Weighted Dips 3 x 10 SS

Dumb-Bell Pullover Press 2 x 12 SS SSWB

Bent-Over Lower-Trap Raises 2 x 12 SS

Weighted Sit-ups 3 x 12

I hope this makes sense! obviously I'm not saying this is what you SHOULD do, just that it works for me and I believe it is a balanced work out.

You said you will be working out Thursday and Friday, it's a really good idea to get at least 48 hours rest between workouts, especially if you're working the same muscle group. You will need to choose which exercises you do on what days carefully to avoid over-training.

Good luck!

Liam.

[BritNoob]

Those exercises are a tad advanced for me (ie I have no idea what they all mean LOL) but all I really wanted was specific muscle groups.

Do you think its ok to work on the back muscles the day fter working the chest shoulders and arms, is that ok?

[tufrthanu]

Well honestly Brit if you are only gonna work out 2-3 days a week you should probably hit everything each time. I mean if you do three different routines that means you are only going to hit the same group once a week which isnt nearly enough to build muscle. Basically if you just want to do a general weightliftin program you only need several exercises. One for the lats, pecs, abdominals, quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps and forearms. Bench press can work both the pecs and the triceps.and you might be able to hit the traps and delts with standing dumbbell raises to the side. But basically if you are only weight training 2-3 times a week you need to do a whole routine.

[Liam_K]

Hey,

It's a bad idea to work your back the day after you work your arms, your biceps will be totally exhausted after working your back. I only do one set of reverse curls, apart from that I don't do any direct arm work! When performing compound exercises like bech pressing and chins, you use your secondary muscles to the full i.e. your biceps and triceps.

I don't entirely disagree with tufrthanu, however, three days IS enough to complete a balanced wokout every week. If I only had two days I would use a full body workout.

I'd also like to point out that many muscles are being worked twice a week with the split I suggested. For example:

Lower back - day 1 & 2

Biceps - day 2 & 3

And there are more!

Like I said, this is only a suggestion! Weigh up all of the advice and go to the gym and find out what works best for you!

Liam.

[BritNoob]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions so far.

One of the problems I have is that my local gym has only limited equipment.

I have access to dumbells and a bench, but no barbells. There are mainly machines (which I have been sticking to until recently when I realised i was getting no growth ) and a dual adjustable pulley machine which can be used to do lots of stuff.

With that in mind, what would be the most benficial exercises available to me?

I have started to do seated shoulder press with dumbells (in place of the old machine i was using for it) and lateral raises for the shoulders.

For the forearms I do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls

For the biceps I do dumbell curls.

Now apart from that I am a little stuck now. I have been wasting my time on the machines I think so now I need to learn the free weight equivilents. I found doing the shoulder press with dumbells FAR harder than using the machine and with a lower weight...which shows its working better I guess.

I'd be happy to work out a decent 2 day full body workout... as like you said working t out two days in a row isn't going to work for me.

[InsaneTigerCrane]

if your lifting three days a week. try compound sets. by that i mean target a specific group of muscles and make sure you get a full pump that day. an example of a compound set would be working out your triceps and biceps at the same time. that way you can can a full pump for that full region and not work them out on opposing days.

so just keep it simple. do your legs on day 1. your biceps triceps and shoulders on day 2. and on day three do your back chest and traps. another reason for that is you might not want to work out your arms and your chest on the same day because you have to use your arms in order to work out your chest. if you do it this way you can focus on your chest a lot more without stressing your arms. your abs should be done at least every other day regardless if your working that day or not. there easy to do and you can quickly do some sit ups anywhere.

[Mr Pockets]

If you are looking to really bulk up, do each group you do once a week. You definitely want to do back exercises, by the way. Anyway, I'd suggest Chest, Back, and Legs. If you want to hit arms do tris with chest and bis with back. I'd suggest a fourth day for shoulders, or tack it on with chest.

[tufrthanu]

Well brit you have to work every group at least twice a week. If Liams routine has some of that you could use that. Remember almost every exercise you can do with a barbell you can do with a dumbbell. I would bet the reason the seated military press is much harder is because your arms are having to work individually with the dumbbells instead of complementing each other like they did on the machine. Free weights also utilize alot of stablizer muscles that arent required on a machine which can make them harder. Here are some exercises you can try that work with dumbbells:

Back...Bentover Rows

Pecs...Dumbbell Press or Butterfly Press

Legs...Squats, this is about the only exercise you can do with dumbbells and you will be limited with how much you can get from the floor onto your back...if you have a machine for leg press or leg lifts and leg curls use that instead.

Calves...Calf Raises...same deal as the squat except that calves can take a ton of weight relatively speaking.

Triceps...French Curls but pully and weights with a Tricep extension works too. You can also do Dumbbell kick outs.

Biceps...Preacher curls work the best but are much harder than regular curls.

[Mr Pockets]

Well brit you have to work every group at least twice a week.

Biceps...Preacher curls work the best but are much harder than regular curls.

No, you don't. More often than not twice a week holds you back from growing

Don't do preacher curls if you want to bulk up- they limit what you can lift. LIFT HEAVY!!! You'll get a lot more weight up doing regular two handed curls or hammer curls.