How to Reach Your Goals Training 3 Days a Week

Let’s start out by saying that you can absolutely reach your goals by training 3 days a week - in fact, the majority of my clients train 3 days a week and see fantastic progress.

But the big question is: if you only have time to train 3 days a week, HOW do I make sure to get the best “band for your buck”?

Training 3 days a week is actually one of the best ways to create strength and make progress because you're able to train FULL BODY - which means you can hit body parts multiple times in a week.

The benefit of this is that you’re able to then challenge your muscles to adapt more than if you trained each body part only once per week.

So let’s get to the goods…

What does a 3x a week training program look like?

Well you want to make sure that you’re incorporating your foundational movement patterns: 

→ squat

→ hinge

→ Pull

→ Push

→ Single leg

→ Core

From here, you want to focus on incorporating exercises that are classified as ‘compound movements.’

Compound movements are multi-joint exercises and require movement in more than one joint. Squats, deadlifts, bench press, and pull ups are examples of compound exercises.

They target several muscle groups at once, are more time-efficient, and help you master movement patterns. 

Whereas ‘Isolation Movements’ are single-joint exercises, involve movement in only one joint, with one muscle group acting as the main mover. Leg extensions, leg curls, bicep curls, triceps extensions, dumbbell flys are examples. 

It’s also important to include bi-lateral movements in your program. Exercises that focus on single-arm or single-leg.

You want to start by picking an exercise for each movement pattern. For example:

→ Squat: Goblet squat, front squat, split squat

→ Hinge: DB Romanian deadlift, hip thrust, single leg glute bridge

→Pull (vertical & horizontal): Single arm DB row, lat pulldown, prone rows

→ Push (vertical and horizontal): Incline push-ups, DB chest press, DB shoulder press

→ Core: Plank, suitcase carry, slow mountain climber, palloff press, deadbug

As you advance in your fitness journey you may add core rotation, etc but remember it’s always more important to develop control in your foundational movements.

Here’s an example of what each training session might include based on the exercises options from the list above:

Day 1:

A1: Goblet Squat

A2: Lat Pulldown

B1: Single leg glute bridge

B2: DB Chest Press

C1: Plank

C2: Suitcase Carry

Day 2:

A1: DB RDL

A2: Incline push-up

B1: DB Split Squat

B2: Single arm DB row

C1: Pallof Press

C2: Slow Mountain climber

Day 3:

A1: DB Front squat

A2: DB Prone rows

B1: DB Hip Thrust

B2: DB Shoulder Press

C1: Deadbug

C2: Side Plank

Now depending on your goal(s) rep ranges and sets will vary. 

Training goal:                Rep Ranges:                     Sets:

Strength                               <6                                  2-6

Hypertrophy                       6-12                                3-6

Muscular-                             >13                                 2-3

Endurance

When training full body 3x a week, you want to make sure you have enough recovery time, so a good rule of thumb is to have at least one day of rest between sessions.

Why is it important to have rest days between?

Because your muscles don’t get built in the gym.

They are actually getting broken down in the gym, and then rebuild to get stronger while you’re resting.

Rest and recovery time is where you are able to get stronger and reduce risk of injury.

I love Monday-Wednesday-Friday as a 3x a week routine but you can totally do Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, or Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday.

Whatever you choose, make sure you choose whatever you can stay consistent with.