This beginner 3 day full body workout routine is for two groups of people. The first is for beginners to get started on a 3 day full body workout routine and the second is for the advanced people to take a week or two of active rest before starting my full program.
A lot of the old school bodybuilders (Boyer Coe Shown Below) used full body workouts 3 days a week to gain their base. So don’t think this is just for beginners. Full body workouts are hard and productive for everyone, but still the place to start as well.
I don’t want to start training you on this program, in a condition that will not allow results to happen. So if you have been training hard and consistent for a long while, I want you to do this for a week or two and then move on.
Please also remember that pictures and exercise descriptions are linked to video if you need a visual to know how to do a certain exercise properly. Also, I wrote dumbbell versions because most people who do this at home will have dumbbells. I personally have a squat rack in my basement and do the barbell version of these which you will see in the demo videos.
Beginner Full Body Workout Routine For Muscular Adaptation/Recovery
3 day a week, full body routine
Weeks 1-4
Squats 1-3×15
Bench Press 1-3×15
Dumbbell Shoulder Presses 1-3×15
Dumbbell Rows 1-3×15
Barbell Curls 1-3×15
Push Downs 1-3×15
Calf raises (standing) 1-3×15
Abdominal Crunches 1-3×15
Now, you can stay on this 3 day full body workout routine for beginners or any routine for that matter for more than four weeks if it keeps on producing results. If things start to get stagnant however, even though you are giving all the details your every ounce of effort, then its time to take a look at your next routine.
Keep in mind however that if this routine kept producing the desired result, I would stay on it for years. I love it.
Home Workout Version Of The 3 Day Full Body Workout Routine For Beginners
This workout below is for the “Working Out At Home Without Equipment Or Extreme Weight Loss For The Advanced Conditioning Group”
The 3×30 or dirty 30 is what I call it.
You may want some light dumbbells or you can even use a couple of cans of soup!
It is not expected that you are able to do all the reps or even finish this workout. Do what you can and know that it is working as long as you did all you could. I put the full hardest version here so that you would be able to work on it for many months without finding it easy.
Do this whole beginner full body workout routine circuit three times nonstop.
Start off with one minute of:
Jumping Jacks
Bodyweight Squats
Sit-ups
Pushups
OR do this preworkout mobility warm up If you are very stiff and can’t jump right into it.
If you feel absolutely broken and it hurts to move, you may need to start here:
Do A Quick Stretch Routine
Then do:
Chinups to failure
Pushups
Jump Squats
Sit-ups
Do 3 sets of 30 reps (except chins), no rest.
Grab Some Water For 1 Minute Then Do:
Lateral raises
Squatting position Dumbbell curls
Bench Dips
3 sets of 30 reps with one minute of jumping jacks in-between circuits, not the exercises themselves.
Grab Some Water For 1 Minute
Hip rolls on bench x 30
Twisting crunches x 30
Bridge or plank 1:00
Hop up on bench squat jumps (or regular squats with bodyweight) x 30
Single leg step up (you can use the stairs) – 30 per leg
3 sets nonstop
Burpees on bench (you can use the stairs) 3 x 20
Boot strappers 3 x 20
Jumping knees for 1:00 for a rest.
If you need more, move onto calves.
3 sets of 30 reps calf raises off the stairs supersetted with mountain climbers for 30 seconds.
Basic Cardio For The Beginner 3 Day Full Body Workout Routine
For the cardio part of this routine, I would start out at 60% of max heart rate, and go for at least 20 minutes. Try to get that to 30 minutes though as soon as possible.
Don’t go any higher than 70% at first if your goal is fat loss, but take it to your limit if you’re after cardiovascular fitness. As with any method, you will run into a theory here and a theory there that says it is the more effective one to use. I chose long ago to see what worked for the majority and to stop wasting time jumping from one “new idea” to another. Kind of a mean average of techniques if you will. Besides, if you run into some stuff on interval training you probably can’t handle it right now anyway. Remember; stick to this at least a month before going more intense. There will be a time to use the interval stuff later.
The Advanced Folks Cardio For Phase One
Give me a hard 30 minutes 4 days a week and keep your heart rate at 75% of your max heart rate for the duration of your cardio. How you achieve this, indoors or outdoors or choice of machine does not matter. You will find that the above workout is quite aerobic itself!
Now those are the basic questions that everyone seems to ask when first starting out. You should now know what you are doing when you go to the gym as far as the workout and exercise selection.
Tips For Beginners At Commercial Gyms
But, a word about, actually make that a few words about how to act in the gym. This is purely my opinion, but all the other highly motivated members that share your gym will probably agree. This stuff may seem humorous, but it happens. Here is a list of things that could point you out as a newbie.
Don’t talk to people in the middle of their set. “ Excuse me! Yes you with 400 pounds on your back, do you have many sets left?”
If you can do an exercise in a space that doesn’t require any gear, do it. Don’t do curls in the squat rack, and don’t sit and talk on a bench when someone might need it.
Like the above, don’t stand two inches from the dumbbell rack to do your curls, people need to get in and out of there to get at the weights.
Don’t use half of the cable crossover to do one arm triceps pushdowns and the like. The crossover machine is for chest and requires both halves. Use an independent pulley somewhere else.
If a book or shirt is on a bench, someone is trying to save it because they are doing exercises back to back. It is awkward to be sitting there when Bubba comes back to use it. It’s such an easy thing to wait a second to find out or ask someone if they are done on the equipment.
Wipe your sweat off of the gear; no more needs to be said.
It is right and proper to ask someone for a spot (when someone stands by you to make sure you don’t drop the bar on yourself) on an exercise so you don’t hurt yourself. The only thing to keep in mind is that your requests don’t interfere with someone else’s training pace or that you become a hindrance because you are always using a weight that is too heavy for you.
That’s it for today.
Raymond Burton
If you have any questions about this 3 day full body workout routine for beginners, ask in the comments below or sign up for the newsletter below and fire me an email.