This is a balanced, 3-day a week full body workout routine. Each session is about 45 minutes. It's a beginner to intermediate level workout that assumes you know the basics of dumbbell and barbell strength training.
The table below shows the breakdown of the workout between the days. It gives the exercises, the sets and reps. Push and pull are indicated, as well as upper or lower, to show how the routine is fairly well balanced. On the far right is shown which areas of the body are worked, with totals for the week at the bottom. While the totals for shoulders, biceps and triceps seem much larger, they are being worked as secondary muscle groups in most cases. At some point I'd like to figure out a more "weighted" way to represent how the muscles are worked to give a more true coverage picture. But suffice it to say that the overall 3 day workout is well balanced between push, pull, upper and lower, with every major muscle group getting coverage. I won't go into detail on how much time to rest between sets, you know the drill and what works best for your body. And of course if Monday, Wednesday and Friday aren't the best days for you, feel free to change it up. But give yourself a day between workouts for recovery. The exercises marked "A" or "B" can be supersetted together if desired. Good luck and let me know how this works for you. Also let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement. Click on the link below for a downloadable copy of the workout. If you find the workout useful, please click on one of the ads you see. That helps generate a little income to support this site, thanks! See my other workouts by clicking here. ![]()
40 Comments
3/2/2017 12:19:41 pm
I was just browsing through the internet looking for some information and came across your blog. I am impressed by the information that you have on this blog. It shows how well you understand this subject. Bookmarked this page, will come back for more.
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3/24/2017 10:33:59 am
Thanks, I appreciate that! I created a new page just for workouts, check it out!
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Elson
4/5/2017 04:51:07 pm
I am a fan of full body workout and I do it at least 4x a week. But been doing my own workout fpr ages now so will try this for change.. Thanks 6/6/2017 10:54:31 am
Awesome! You even laid out the program. This is going to be very useful. And 45mins workout? You literally shrinked the 1 and half an hour workout I was doing. Thanks a lot!
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Mandrew
6/7/2017 03:23:22 pm
Started this routine, love it. Cant wait for fridays workout!!
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7/25/2017 05:10:44 pm
Loving these workouts by the way,
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Jose
8/10/2017 03:31:44 pm
Have you seen results after a few weeks ?
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8/20/2017 02:38:12 am
I want you to thank for your time of this wonderful read!!! I definitely enjoy every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff of your blog a must read blog
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8/20/2017 03:09:31 am
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8/20/2017 03:21:56 am
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8/22/2017 01:21:32 am
Always so interesting to visit your site.What a great info, thank you for sharing. this will help me so much in my learning
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8/22/2017 01:38:24 am
I have read your article, it is very informative and helpful for me.I admire the valuable information you offer in your articles. Thanks for posting it..
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Bernard
9/27/2017 11:00:48 pm
Hi and thanks for the article. I am very new to working out although I have been a cyclist fit the last eight years. My goal is strength without bulking up. I am a little confused about what is an "A" and "B" workout.
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9/29/2017 01:49:43 pm
Hi Bernard,
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11/6/2017 12:30:41 am
Your site is good Actually, i have seen your post and That was very informative and very entertaining for me. Thanks for posting Really Such Things. I should recommend your site to my friends.
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Brian C.
11/11/2017 05:53:47 pm
Any thoughts on running on the off workout days?
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11/11/2017 10:35:58 pm
Definitely! Cardio on the off days is a great idea. I enjoy spinning.
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Ed
1/1/2018 04:42:31 am
I like your 3 day full body workout sheet, but is it possible to have a cell for the amount of weight used?
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1/1/2018 11:10:57 am
Hi Ed, glad you like the workout! Great idea, I just updated the PDF download to include an extra column to not the weight. Hope that helps!
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Matt Moir
1/3/2018 04:01:38 am
How long should I be holding the plank for?
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1/3/2018 08:48:27 am
Good question. The answer will be different for each person, just as the amount of weight for the resistance exercises. You should feel challenged, but not overexerted. If 30 seconds is too easy, try 45 seconds or a minute. Hope that helps!
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Matt
1/8/2018 09:38:45 am
Hi, just did my first Monday workout and really enjoyed it, however my workout only lasted 35 minutes. Not sure if i’m doing the exercises too fast or whether my rest between sets is too short? Any advice?
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1/8/2018 10:21:02 am
Good question. I won't nitpick rest times. As long as you feel like you're doing enough weight to challenge yourself and around 90 seconds max between sets you're doing great. In terms of speed, I don't specify that either, but a good speed is 2 counts up and 2 counts down (about 2 seconds up and 2 seconds down). Faster than that you're adding a cardio element. If you still are finished in less than 45 minutes, you have two options - finish the workout early and move on to other daily tasks, or include a 10 minutes HIIT component. I won't go into depth on that, other to say it's 10 minutes of interspersing high intensity and low intensity cardio. What I do sometimes is take laps around the indoor track at my gym, for 3/4 of the lap I walk briskly, the other 1/4 I sprint. Or do any other cardio activity where you go all out for about 20-30 seconds, then recover for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, and repeat until you hit 10 minutes (or however much time you have left over). It doesn't diminish your gains, and keeps your heart in great condition.
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CT Wade
2/1/2018 08:12:40 pm
Would you recommend this plan or 5x5? I am 5'9 and my goal is to go from 175lbs to 160lbs in 3-5 months not bulking up but gaining strength and leaning out.
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2/2/2018 08:38:38 am
Hi CT, I love the 5x5 program, I don't think you could go wrong with either that one or this workout. Although I don't say it in the workout notes, the goal with this, and pretty much any program, is to couple it with progressive overload - adding a bit of weight each week to each exercise - to improve overall strength. If you're planning for the next 3-5 months, perhaps you could do this one for a month, then head into the 5x5 for 2-3 months. Leaning out is all about calories in vs. calories out. If you are at a deficit, then you'll lose no matter which workout you're doing.
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Steve
2/10/2018 02:38:50 am
Whats a cable pull through is it a seated cable row?
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2/12/2018 10:43:24 am
Oh, good question. Here's a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oZ_0_bQcOg
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atul
2/12/2018 10:33:28 am
Hi,
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2/12/2018 10:39:30 am
Great question! What I like to do is, when I'm at the gym and am unfamiliar with a specific exercise, I do a search on the exercise name in YouTube. Usually the first results will give you a basic overview of how to do the exercise properly. For example, type "Dumbbell Row" and you'll see some good tutorials. Hope that helps!
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Graeme
9/6/2018 07:35:09 am
Thanks for this. I enjoyed the workout however I also finished in about 30 minutes. However, as I am new to this I am probably getting the definition of sets wrong. For example for the Monday session non your chart I did all the exercises one after the other - no break - and at the end I thought that was one set. So I rested for 60 seconds and then did them again with no break, and so on. However on re-reading it seems like I should take a break between each exercise? So for example 8 Chest Presses is a set? Bit thick - sorry, but want to get it right.
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9/6/2018 08:57:55 am
Hi Graeme,
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3/20/2019 08:55:37 pm
That' so nice blog, and healthy diet and excersiers regime. You're doing well to get the healthy and perfect body. Thanks for your post, I learned a lot from that.
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Abhi
5/7/2019 12:53:44 pm
Hi, Thanks for this work out. I have been doing it for about 2 weeks with about 10-15 minutes of cardio after. How many calories do you think I would be loosing with this? I am 5'4" & 200 lbs. Lots of fat here.....
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5/7/2019 01:31:28 pm
Hi ABHI,
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Eugene
11/20/2019 11:15:39 pm
Hi, I really enjoy your blog and especially this workout that I am trying to fit into my lunch hour. I see you're tried to explain supersets, but I can't say I understand. Based on this workout, could you give me an example of step-by-step Monday workout.
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Howard Robinson
1/30/2020 04:53:36 pm
This is just what I was looking for. Years ago when I first started lifting I did the push/pull/legs workout. In the late 80's when I really got into the monsters I turn to bro splits. At 57 that is not for me anymore. I haven't worked out in the past 10 years ( health issues ) I'm must better these days and have Dr. Ok to get back to it. I'm a lot wiser these days lol. Understand the many benefits of full body and push/pull and also recovery. I have an idea for your next ( new ) tab for you. How about a page where your follower can place before+afters of themselves following your workouts. And maybe have it so they can let everyone know which plan they followed. This could be motivation for some. Go from one plan to another when the time comes to change it up. OK this is already gotten too long, so again THANKS ...
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