The best 3-day full-body workout routine for men

Introduction

As its name suggests, a full-body routine has you train your entire body; the workouts usually include everything from compound exercises to exercises targeting specific muscle groups.

Some exercises you can include in a 3-day full-body routine for men are: 

• Squat
• Bench press
• Pull-ups
• Deadlift
• Barbell row
• Biceps curls
• Triceps extensions

Exercise selection will depend on the following factors, which are very important to analyze and take into account: 

• The amount of time you can dedicate to training.
• The muscle groups you want to improve and/or prioritize.
• The availability of machines at your gym. 
• The time you usually train.

This last point is something many people ignore when planning their training, but training in a commercial gym at 7:00 p.m. is not the same as having your own home gym; the availability of machines, the occupancy, or simply the number of people there depending on the time is something you need to take into account for practicality and usefulness. 

As we mentioned earlier, full-body routines are a very good option, especially if: 

• You have little time to train.
• You want to train between 2 and 3 days a week.
• You have little equipment. 
• You want complete and balanced body development. 
• You are a beginner and don’t know how to start training.

Now that you know a little more about full-body routines, the exercises you can use, and the situations in which they are worth using, let’s look at the benefits of these routines. 

Benefit of full-body training

Full-body training has no additional benefits compared with traditional strength training; however, it does have benefits that are very interesting, especially if you are in some of the situations mentioned above. 

Don’t remember them? Then scroll up, reread the previous point, and once you’ve done that, continue reading here. 

Now that you know when it is worthwhile to use full-body routines, let’s look at the benefits they provide: 

• Frequency 2 for all muscle groups.
• Compound exercises that generate high muscle activation. 
• A great stimulus in a short time.
• Greater loss of body fat compared with split routines, even when the total training volume is the same (1). 
• It can improve and benefit brain health and recovery through the immunometabolic response and the release of neurotrophic factors (2).
• In certain special populations, it can improve strength, functionality, and quality of life without increasing the risk of injury (3).

Basic principles before starting

Before starting full-body training, you should know the basic principles that prevent stagnation. Without knowing these basic principles, it is easy to train a lot without making progress, see no results, and therefore become frustrated. To prevent this from happening, we will discuss each of them and how you should apply them. 

Progressive overload

This is the clearest, most basic, and most fundamental principle, which you must follow without fail. Moving a load from point A to point B is relatively “easy”; however, if the load you move does not require increasingly greater effort, muscle gains will be minimal and nonexistent in the long term. 

This is known as progressive overload: gradually increasing the load, session after session, to stimulate muscular and neuromuscular adaptations (4)Thus, every time you have to move a load during a session, it will pose a challenge to your body, leaving it no choice but to adapt and become increasingly stronger. 

Specificity

To gain muscle mass by training full body (or using any other structure), it is not enough simply to move the load; you have to move it coherently. This is where the principle of specificity comes into play (4).

For an exercise to be truly effective, it must train the action performed by the muscle against resistance, that is, against a load (dumbbells, machines, bands, free weights…).

I cannot expect to gain muscle mass in my quadriceps, whose main function is knee extension, by doing calf raises. It is impossible. Now you know what you need to consider when choosing exercises. 

Progression

It is not enough to simply add more weight every week and choose good exercises; you have to keep progressing in them (4). And there are many ways to progress; one of them is

• A greater number of repetitions 
• A greater number of sets
• Greater intensity within the exercise.
• Better technical execution. 

Individualization

All the principles above must be based on the basic principle that is the pillar of full-body training routines: individualization (5). No matter how well structured the training routine is, it must take variables such as: 

• Availability 
• Person’s level
• Goals
• Age
• Personal situation

If this principle is not followed, the chances of that person failing to achieve their goal are higher. 

Does this mean that you will not gain muscle mass with a generic routine? No; in fact, you can gain it, but only in the short term. In the long term, muscle mass gains will plateau or decrease significantly. 

Not to mention the risk of injury, which increases exponentially with preset or generic routines because they do not take the individual variables of the person into account. 

Recovery

The last principle, and no less important for that reason, is recovery. Your full-body workout may comply with all the previous principles; however, if the stimulus (which is still a form of stress) you give your body exceeds its recovery capacity, you will not achieve results with your routine; you will only get injured. 

Imagine a rubber band: if you keep stretching it without ever allowing it to return to its original shape, it will eventually break. The same thing happens with training: if the stimulus you provide to your body is so great that it does not allow it to fully recover, it will eventually break down. 

Now that you know absolutely everything about full-body routines, let’s look at an example.

3-Day Full-Body Routine for Men

Keep in mind that the following is only an example of a routine full body, specifically of a single session. It should be adapted to your goals, needs, available time, potential discomfort or imbalances, as well as the equipment you have in the gym. 

This way, you will significantly reduce the risk of injury and increase your chances of achieving your goals safely and effectively.

Week	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
1	Smith machine squat	2	6-8	2–3 mins
	Barbell bench press	2	6-8	2–3 mins
	Lat pulldown	2	10-12	2 min
	Barbell Romanian deadlift	2	6-8	2 min
	Dumbbell shoulder press	2	8-10	2 min
	Abdominal plank	2	20 sec	45 s
2	Smith machine squat	3	2 x 6–8 1 x 10–12	2–3 mins
	Barbell bench press	3	8-10	2-3 min
	Lat pulldown	3	10-12	2 min
	Barbell Romanian deadlift	2	6-8	2 min
	Dumbbell shoulder press	2	10-12	2 min
	Abdominal plank	2	25 sec	45 s
3	Smith machine squat	3	8-10	2-3
	Barbell bench press	3	8-10	2-3 min
	Barbell row	2	7-10	2 min
	Barbell Romanian deadlift	3	8-12	2 min
	Dumbbell shoulder press	3	10-12	2 min
	Abdominal plank	3	30 sec	45 s
4	Smith machine squat	4	8-10	2-3 min
	Barbell bench press	4	8-10	2-3 min
	Barbell row	3	7-10	2 min
	Barbell Romanian deadlift	3	8-12	2 min
	Dumbbell shoulder press	3	10-12	90s
	Abdominal plank	3	35 sec	45 s

Table 1. Full-body training session with 4-week progression.

Conclusion  

Ultimately, a full-body routine A 3-day routine for men can be your best ally for gaining muscle mass and strength, even if you have little time to train. 

By following principles such as progressive overload and allowing for proper recovery, the results you can achieve are spectacular, without having to spend endless hours in the gym.

Remember: the key is adapting it to you, your goals, and your abilities. If you do this, you will avoid plateaus, minimize the risk of injury, and discover that, with consistency and effort, results arrive much sooner than you imagine and will be much better than you think.