Basic Bodybuilding Training Program…
The Classic 3 Day Bodybuilding Split Routine is an awesome routine that allows you to work all the major muscle groups of the body in a complementary fashion to maximize muscle recovery and growth. It’s a good program that can be used by lifters of all levels – from beginners right up to the very advanced – with good results.
We’re going to divide our training over the course of 3 workouts.
Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Workout 2: Back and Biceps
Workout 3: Legs and Abdominals
For beginners I would recommend starting off training 3 days per week. So you would workout every second day and do each of these workouts once a week.
Beginners 3 Day Bodybuilding Split:
Monday – Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Tuesday – Rest Day
Wednesday – Workout 2: Back and Biceps
Thursday – Rest Day
Friday – Workout 3: Legs and Abdominals
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – Rest Day
For more advanced lifters who have a high work capacity and can handle higher volume workouts you can try doing this program as a 6 day per week routine. So you would do 3 workouts in a row, take a day off, then repeat.
Advanced 3 Day Bodybuilding Split:
Monday – Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Tuesday – Workout 2: Back and Biceps
Wednesday – Workout 3: Legs and Abdominals
Thursday – Rest Day
Friday – Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Saturday – Workout 2: Back and Biceps
Sunday – Workout 3: Legs and Abdominals
Monday – Rest Day
Tuesday – Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Wednesday – Workout 2: Back and Biceps
Thursday – Workout 3: Legs and Abdominals
Friday – Rest Day
Etc…
You can move things around to best suit your personal schedule. You don’t have to workout on the exact days of the week that I listed above in the examples. Most workout programs are simply written along the lines of “Monday – Workout 1 – Chest Day” as an easy example to follow. But your muscles don’t know what day of the week it is, so you can move your workouts around to whatever works best for you.
If for some reason you have to skip a workout day because of work, holidays, feeling sick, etc. than just pick up your workouts where you left off on the following day. Again, it doesn’t matter what day of the week you do each workout, just as long as you go through the cycle in the order I’ve outlined above.
Warm Up Sets…
Before lifting heavy in any exercise you need to warm up properly. So for each and every exercise you do I recommend doing pyramid style warm up sets in this fashion:
–>> Warm up set 1 – first warm up set with approx. 50% of your top working weight.
–>> Warm up set 2 – second warm up set with approx. 75% of your top working weight.
–>> Working Set 1 – first working set with 100% of your top working weight.
–>> Working Set 2 – second working set with 100% of your top working weight.
–>> Working Set 3 – third working set with 100% of your top working weight.
Now when I say “Your Top Working Weight” I Do NOT mean your 1 rep max or the most weight you can lift for a single rep. But rather I’m talking about the weight you are going to use for a heavy working set of say 10 reps (or whatever your required rep range is for the workout you’re doing).
So to give you an example using real numbers, let’s say you can bench press 100 pounds for 10 reps.
– First warm up set will be with 50 pounds for 10 reps
– Second warm up set will be with 75 pounds for 10 reps
– Then you can move to your top working weight with 100 pounds for 10 reps.
For some of the smaller isolation type exercises, like side lateral raises, you may only need to do 1 warm up set before going to your top working weight. But for big heavy compound lifts, make sure to do at least 2 progressively heavier warm up sets and don’t be afraid to add in more warm up sets if you feel you need them. It’s always better to error on the side of “warming up too much” then not warming up enough.
Workout 1 – Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.
Incline Bench Press:
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Side Lateral Raises
1 warm up set
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Face Pulls
1 warm up set
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Tricep Push Downs
1 warm up set
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Push Ups
3 sets of as many reps as you can do
Workout 2 – Back and Biceps.
Lat Pull Downs
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Deadlifts
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
1 Arm Dumbbell Row
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Standing Barbell Curl
1 warm up set
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Curl
1 warm up set
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Bodyweight Rows
3 sets of as many reps as you can do
Workout 3 – Legs and Abdominals.
Barbell Squats
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Leg Press
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Leg Press Calve Raise
2 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Leg Extension
1 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Leg Curl
1 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Standing Calve Raise
1 progressively heavier warm up sets
3 heavy working sets of 10 reps
Walking Lunges
3 laps back and forth the gym floor
Decline Bench Sit Ups
3 sets of 15-25 reps
V-Ups
3 sets of 15-25 reps
If you have any questions or comments about the 3 Day Bodybuilding Split Routine,
please post them in the forum and we’ll chat there 🙂