Just by changing from a supine position to a leg press posture, there was a PV drop of 10–15% across the three times that this condition was repeated (Craig et al., 2008). When 3 sets × 10 repetitions × 10RM leg presses were performed, PV dropped a further of ∼10% points. In our study, all were seated/standing exercises but all blood samples were taken in a supine position.
It’s so much more than just taking a day off from the gym. What you do on those “off” days can make or break how you perform in your next workout. Figuring out this number can feel like a chore, but it really just comes down to your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
Progressive Overload
You can push your other exercises within 1 rep of failure and take the last set all the way to failure (if it feels safe to do so). You don’t need to take your sets all the way to failure, but you have to get close. You aren’t training very often, so you have plenty of time to recover. If short rest times make you nauseous or if you enjoy marathon workouts, you can extend the rest times.
Pull Day
Some weeks I need to lower the weight I use or reduce my reps in the gym if I’m distracted or my body is tired or sore, and that’s okay. Not every workout is perfect, and some days are harder than others, but progress isn’t about perfection. Sometimes I also still struggle to get enough sleep, maintain proper nutrition, and drink enough water. But this journey is about daily resolve, and a lifestyle that includes showing up, staying consistent, and putting in the work no matter what. Every small effort adds up because consistency creates real, lasting progress. A well-planned full-body or Push/Pull/Legs split makes sure you hit every major muscle group with enough intensity to trigger growth.
Day 3: Upper Body (Pull)
Young, recreationally active males increased BMD at the lumbar spine by 7.7% and femoral neck by 4.2% after 24 weeks of RT (Almstedt et al., 2011). Male college rowers increased 2.9% in BMC and 4.2% in lumbar spine BMD after a 7-month training program of 8 h rowing, 1 h RT and 1 h running per week (Cohen et al., 1995). A reference list for portion size estimates and instructions were provided to participants at the start of the study. Nutritional information of different food/beverage was sourced from various online databases and collated into a common database for use during analyses. The use of a common database helped to reduce inter- and intra-rater discrepancies.
The Standard 3-Day Split
Research suggests a slightly higher frequency of training for building strength training, with a minimum of three days a week required for strength gains but five days being optimal. The upper/lower split splits your activities into the upper and lower body. For this reason, you might only take two days per week for this workout, although you can dedicate another day to abs or even cardio. The push/pull/legs workout (or PPL) is essentially an upper/lower split.
Do your more challenging workouts in the morning
Pull-ups or lat pulldowns are equally essential for building the “width” of the back. The “Pull” day is often the most neglected by those who only focus on what they see in the mirror, but it is the most important day for posture, spinal health, and overall “pulling” power. This day focuses on the posterior chain—the muscles of the back—along with the biceps and rear deltoids. If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.
three day weightlifting program and building strength
“Tracking progress through non-scale victories, like improved strength or better-fitting clothes, offers a more accurate reflection of the changes happening in your body,” Pelc Graca says. One of the biggest reasons to only train three days a week is scheduling. If you have a busy schedule, then three days is more than okay, as it is better than not going at all.
These three factors are key to my strength training success:
From there, you can also add another set when you are feeling ready. Exercising two to three days a week can help you live longer by preventing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week. There’s no doubt that working out everyday requires a certain level of commitment. The ability to stay consistent with your seven-day program may help build resilience and disciple within your training. To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you consume.
Days On, 1 Day Off Powerbuilding Workout
Participants were verbally encouraged to give their best effort. During each 10RM testing and RT session, assistance (“spotting”) was given only when participants reached reviews of unimeal muscular fatigue. DXA (Hologic Discovery W, Marlborough, MA, United States) was used to assess body composition in a rested supine position. Doing light to moderate cardio on your non-lifting days is a great idea and is often referred to as active recovery. Activities like walking, swimming, or cycling can help increase blood flow to your muscles, which aids in recovery and helps manage body fat.
- Now that you have some training experience, you may not get sore after every workout.
- Both strength and endurance will greatly help your muscle building goals.
- Adding cardio will burn more calories during your workout, and will increase your body’s excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.
- A 3-day split is fantastic for beginners because you can often see good results without spending every day in the gym, which keeps the momentum going.
- Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.
- This duration includes warm-up, the actual workout, and cool-down stages.
Nevertheless, you can still get an effective workout in without a barbell and plates. Because you have a limited amount of days and thus total weekly volume, you will need to choose the best possible exercises for your workout plan. For a single weight training cycle (i.e. 4-12 weeks), it is best to focus on increasing reps and increasing the weight load. However, if your range of motion is not optimal, that should actually be first and foremost. Don’t increase anything until your range of motion is good. Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program.
How to Design a 3-Days-a-Week Dumbbell Workout
The flexibility of the womens 3 day split makes it adaptable to various fitness levels, whether you’re working out at home or in a commercial gym setting. To understand why working out three days a week is effective, we have to look at how the body adapts to stress. When you lift weights or perform high-intensity exercise, you are essentially creating microscopic tears in your muscle fibers and stressing your central nervous system (CNS). This is the “stimulus.” However, the “adaptation”—the process where your muscles grow back thicker and your nervous system becomes more efficient—happens during the 24 to 48 hours following that stimulus. The downside to three-day workout routines is that you don’t have that much freedom to use different training splits.
This is preferred to mixing cardio with weight training by having low rest times or doing something like jumping jacks between sets. While that works to burn more calories, you’ll be doing so at the sacrifice of properly hitting the lifts, and thus keeping those muscles full. Building muscle through weight training is also a great weight-loss tool because muscle burns more calories than fat.



