Infinite gym and workout sessions may not be a cup of tea for everyone. In fact, most of us are better off working out than going to gym all 7 days a week. Often people follow lifestyle of pro-bodybuilders and fitness models because it makes sense that to achieve that body you have to work super hard. However, it is not true, and does not apply to all. Most of people do not belong to fitness models or bodybuilder group. They are just normal human being who are professionally involved in some other activities. If you are among them, ask yourself why do you need to follow a 5 or 6 days workout routine that a pro bodybuilder does? It makes no sense to follow such routines if you are a regular guy with a regular job, or a guy who has such a tight schedule that he barely thinks about working out.
What usually happens in this situation is that you ruin your life. It may seems good for first few weeks, but you will soon be overwhelmed by this routine. Now, you are taking days off from the gym at irregular intervals and messing up with your workout routine. This happens to most people and it is a common thing. Often people ignore this because of following reasons they think can work.
- "Irregular gym routine can be fixed from next week." A classic procrastinate example. Trust me, this week never comes. Once you attain the habit of messing up with your routine, it stays.
- "It doesn't have to be regular. I can workout this week so hard that I can take days off for next few weeks." This is the stupidest thing to do. It's not like you go gym once a month and do all the exercises that you could, and then stay at home for the whole month. Like really?
- "Let's focus on Chest and biceps, rest is not gonna see anyway." The most common thing that gym goers do. They have chest day and biceps days. That's all they think they need. Don't be like them.
- "Leg days can be skipped, and back day too. I did that last week so it's ok to not do it." This is a common problem with people using single body part per day split; aka 'Bro Split'. The problem with this type of workout is that you are more likely to concentrate on one body part and neglect other, which is usually legs.
- "Higher workout days, greater gains." This may be true for an advance lifter as he/she may need more days to work on the weak parts or just to keep up the strength, but for most of us it is not required. Working out 5 or 6 times a week puts more burden on already busy life.
How to solve this problem?
First, you need to understand that gym and workout is not your life. You have plenty of other things to do which are more important and you cannot just leave them because of gym. So, what you do is make gym part of your life. This way, there will be a balance. You will achieve a great physique and be happy without making things too hard for yourself.
Why does 3 Days a week routine works?
The main reason that this routine works for most of busy people is because they can stick to the routine. "Adherence", is the key factor in any kind of routine. It means how well you can follow that particular routine. If you cannot follow it, chances are you will never get to your ultimate goal. When the routine is consuming too much of your time, you are most likely to break it or follow it improperly. This is what happened to me as well. Now, I plan things which fit in my overall life instead of making my life fit into them.
So, you need to understand that using a 3 day routine, your chances of adhering to this are more. Also, you will get more rest, which is necessary for muscle growth. Some people might say that what about if they are trying to lose fat. They have to work everyday to get rid of it. Well, it is not the truth. Fat loss occurs mostly through diet, and second your daily activities. If you are active throughout the day even on your off days, you are good to go, but most important is to be in a 'caloric deficit' to achieve fat loss.
Why does 3 Days a week routine works?
The main reason that this routine works for most of busy people is because they can stick to the routine. "Adherence", is the key factor in any kind of routine. It means how well you can follow that particular routine. If you cannot follow it, chances are you will never get to your ultimate goal. When the routine is consuming too much of your time, you are most likely to break it or follow it improperly. This is what happened to me as well. Now, I plan things which fit in my overall life instead of making my life fit into them.
So, you need to understand that using a 3 day routine, your chances of adhering to this are more. Also, you will get more rest, which is necessary for muscle growth. Some people might say that what about if they are trying to lose fat. They have to work everyday to get rid of it. Well, it is not the truth. Fat loss occurs mostly through diet, and second your daily activities. If you are active throughout the day even on your off days, you are good to go, but most important is to be in a 'caloric deficit' to achieve fat loss.
Workout 3 Days a week
"Kinobody" is the main inspiration that led me to follow 3-Day workout routine. I used to follow bro split for a long time, which really messed my life. I had work to do, projects to complete, things to take care of, and build a physique. What I finally ended up doing was just getting fat and throwing 2 years of my gym membership to trash. I was irregular because of all the other works I had to do. I realized this when I found that all I was accumulating was fat because of this routine.
3-Days a week workout is kind of strange to people who are already doing a bro split or similar routine. It seems that they are doing too little work per body part per day. As, most of the 3-Day workout routine include full-body training.
There are many benefits of doing this type of training especially for fat-loss. As, you will be doing full body training with compound lifts, the main focus will be gaining strength, and it is proven that strength training is the best way to reduce fat and gain lean muscle.
Constructing 3-Day Workout routine
Now, it is also important to understand how you construct your routine. There are number of options and variations that you can use to create the workout plan. You should choose the exercises that are most effective such as Deadlift, Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press and Pull-ups. You can also add other isolation exercises as well, but the main focus should be on these big lifts. The overall muscle and strength development is the key for this routine.
Sample Hypertrophy Workout Routine
Here's a sample full body workout routine that you can start with.
Day 1
Squats 5 sets of 5 reps
Overhead Press 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Machine Chest Press 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Lat Pulldown 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Biceps hammer curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Reverse flys 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Day 2
Bench Press 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Rows 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Lying Leg curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Side Lateral Raises 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Calf Raises 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Triceps rope extensions 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Day 3
Deadlift 5 sets of 5 reps
Inclined Press 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Leg Extensions 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Pullups 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Barbell Curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
DB Triceps Extension 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
You can vary exercises and create your own routine as per your preference, but remember to include big lifts first. This is more a hypertrophy routine then strength, but still the main focus is to have more frequency and do the bigger lifts first and then do the accessory work. Notice, that bigger lifts are given importance here, and they are being performed in a lower rep range. This means you have to use heavier weight here, heavy enough that you can perform 5 reps without hurting yourself. The 5th rep should feel like you cannot do more or you can just perform one more rep. If you are feeling like you can perform more reps, you are lifting too light.
Cheers!!
Constructing 3-Day Workout routine
Now, it is also important to understand how you construct your routine. There are number of options and variations that you can use to create the workout plan. You should choose the exercises that are most effective such as Deadlift, Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press and Pull-ups. You can also add other isolation exercises as well, but the main focus should be on these big lifts. The overall muscle and strength development is the key for this routine.
Sample Hypertrophy Workout Routine
Here's a sample full body workout routine that you can start with.
Day 1
Squats 5 sets of 5 reps
Overhead Press 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Machine Chest Press 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Lat Pulldown 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Biceps hammer curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Reverse flys 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Day 2
Bench Press 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Rows 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Lying Leg curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Side Lateral Raises 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Calf Raises 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Triceps rope extensions 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Day 3
Deadlift 5 sets of 5 reps
Inclined Press 3-4 sets of 6 - 8 reps
Leg Extensions 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Pullups 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
Barbell Curls 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
DB Triceps Extension 2-3 sets of 8 - 12 reps
You can vary exercises and create your own routine as per your preference, but remember to include big lifts first. This is more a hypertrophy routine then strength, but still the main focus is to have more frequency and do the bigger lifts first and then do the accessory work. Notice, that bigger lifts are given importance here, and they are being performed in a lower rep range. This means you have to use heavier weight here, heavy enough that you can perform 5 reps without hurting yourself. The 5th rep should feel like you cannot do more or you can just perform one more rep. If you are feeling like you can perform more reps, you are lifting too light.
Cheers!!