3-day full body workout for beginners
If you are new to the gym, a full body routine three days a week is one of the most effective options there is. You train your whole body every session, repeat the basic lifts several times a week, and learn proper technique much faster than with a split routine.
This guide gives you a complete, ready-to-use routine and explains how to progress with it.
Why full body when you are a beginner
- More frequency per muscle. Each muscle group is trained 3 times a week instead of once. For someone just starting out, that frequency is one of the things that pays off the most.
- You learn technique faster. Repeating the squat, press and row several times a week is practice. The basic lifts are learned by doing them often.
- It is flexible. If you miss a day, you do not go a whole week without training legs: the next session covers everything.
- It fits in little time. Three one-hour sessions a week are enough.
How it is organized
You train 3 non-consecutive days, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so there is a rest day between sessions. The routine has two workouts, A and B, which you alternate:
| Week | Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | B | A |
| 2 | B | A | B |
That way, every two weeks you do each workout three times.
Workout A
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell back squat | 3 | 6 to 8 | 2 to 3 min |
| Bench press | 3 | 6 to 8 | 2 to 3 min |
| Barbell or dumbbell row | 3 | 8 to 10 | 2 min |
| Romanian deadlift | 2 | 8 to 10 | 2 min |
| Plank | 3 | 30 to 45 s | 1 min |
Workout B
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 3 | 5 | 3 min |
| Overhead press | 3 | 6 to 8 | 2 to 3 min |
| Lat pulldown or assisted pull-ups | 3 | 8 to 10 | 2 min |
| Lunges | 2 | 10 per leg | 1 to 2 min |
| Biceps curl + triceps extension | 2 | 10 to 12 | 1 min |
The arm work goes last and is optional: the big lifts already train your arms quite a bit. If you are short on time, cut it first.
How much weight to use
Pick a weight that lets you complete every set with one to three reps in reserve: at the end of each set, you feel you could have done a couple more with good form. At first the priority is moving well, not lifting heavy.
Use the first two weeks to find your weights. Start light and work up gradually until you reach a load that is genuinely hard on the last reps without breaking your form.
How to progress
This routine uses double progression, the simplest way to apply progressive overload:
- Each exercise has a rep range (for example, 6 to 8).
- You start with a weight that gets you to the bottom of the range on every set.
- Session by session, you try to add reps with the same weight.
- Once you complete every set at the top of the range, you increase the weight by the smallest possible step and start again from the bottom.
As a reference, upper body lifts usually go up by 1 to 2.5 kg at a time, and lower body lifts by 2.5 to 5 kg. As a beginner you will be able to add weight almost every week for quite a while.
Warm-up
Before each session, do 5 to 10 minutes of easy activity (bike, rower or a walk on the treadmill), then 2 or 3 ramp-up sets of the first exercise: with the empty bar or a light weight, working up to your working weight.
How long to run it
You can stay on this routine for as long as you keep progressing, which for most beginners means several months. When you start stalling on several lifts at once despite sleeping and eating well, it is a sign to move on to a program with more volume or to a split routine.
Common mistakes
- Adding weight too fast. If your form gets worse, the weight is too heavy.
- Skipping the warm-up. Ramp-up sets are technique practice too.
- Changing the routine every week. Progress shows when you repeat the same exercises long enough.
- Not writing anything down. If you do not log weights and reps, you cannot tell whether you are progressing.
If you have an injury or a medical condition, check with a professional before starting.
Build this routine in Athlo.fit
In Athlo.fit you can set up workouts A and B with the routine builder, lay them out on the weekly calendar and log every session as you train. That way you know exactly what weight to use next time and can see your progress week by week.
Once you have a few weeks of training behind you, estimate your 1RM on the main lifts to pick your weights more precisely.