What Is a 3-Day Split Workout Routine?

A 3-day split workout divides your routine into three sessions, with each day focusing on different muscle groups. While the 3-day split is one of the most popular routines, some fitness enthusiasts choose 4- or 5-day splits to intensify their workouts.

The main goal of a split workout is to allow you to target specific muscle groups, giving them ample time to recover while other muscle groups are worked. This method helps you maximize muscle growth and strength, whether you’re at home with dumbbells or in the gym using more advanced equipment.

A 3-Day Split Workout vs. a Full-Body Workout

In contrast to a 3-day split workout, a full-body workout targets all muscle groups in a single session. Examples include bodyweight exercises (like push-ups, squats, or dips), HIIT routines, and weightlifting exercises such as deadlifts and bench presses.

While full-body workouts can be completed in a shorter time, 3-day split workouts offer more focus and a longer recovery period between muscle groups. These workouts are effective for shredding fat, increasing muscle tone, and building strength. Your choice depends on your fitness goals and how much time you have to dedicate.

Both workouts have advantages and disadvantages.You can choose based on your preference and the amount of time you can spend.

How to Create a 3-Day Split Workout

Now that you know what a 3-day split workout is, let’s talk about how to create your 3-day split workout. A 3-day split workout is divided into three steps:

1. Cardio
2. Dividing workouts
3. Applying the 3-day split workouts

1. Do Cardio First

efore diving into weight training, always begin with some cardio. Some people believe that cardio interferes with muscle growth, but a controlled amount of cardio can actually support your fitness goals. It aids in fat loss and boosts heart health, while preparing your body for more intense strength training.

Cardio is a staple part of any workout because it helps strengthen your heart, a critical part of being both fit and healthy.

Aside from that, cardio has a variety of benefits. For one, cardio can burn fat. By incorporating cardio into your 3-day split workout, you speed up the rate your body burns fat.

Aside from helping you burn fat, studies have shown cardio can help improve mental health (better mood, improved cognitive performance), increase sleep quality (you need proper rest to allow your muscles to recover), and increase lung capacity.

The bottom line is, don’t skip cardio. As a general rule, do at least 15 minutes of cardio as a warm-up exercise before getting into your 3-day split workouts.

2. Divide Your Workouts

This is essentially what a 3-day split workout is all about – dividing your workouts so you focus on certain muscle groups each workout.

You can divide your workout however you want it to, but if you are just starting, here is a routine that you can follow:

• Day 1: Work out your shoulders, chest, and triceps
• Day 2: Leg and lower body workout
• Day 3: Back and biceps workout

Note: You can work out your core on any given day. Some prefer to do this on their leg day, while others prefer to work out their abs on their back and biceps day.

3 Types of 3-Day Split Workout

There are three main ways to split your workouts:

• Push/pull/legs workout
• 3-Day body-building splits
• The upper/lower split

Each of these splits has its pros and cons. Follow what would best serve your goal and situation.

1. Push/Pull/Legs Workout

The push/pull/legs workout (or PPL) is essentially an upper/lower split. However, it focuses on the pushing and pulling muscles and allows you to stack opposing muscles. One example of a push/pull workout is the lat pull-down. When doing a lat pull-down, you are training both back and biceps by using your lats and your biceps.  

Push workouts target our chest, triceps, and shoulders. Pull workouts focus on your biceps, back, and rear delts. Finally, leg workouts train the glutes, hamstrings, calves, and quads.

In push/pull workouts, it’s important not to forget about abs. Again, as with other types of 3-day split workouts, you can incorporate abs or core training on any day. 

2. 3-Day Body Builder Splits

A 3-day bodybuilder split is typically the schedule of bodybuilding workouts. The example we gave above is a type of bodybuilder split. Let’s lay it out again here:

• Day 1: Workout for your shoulders, chest, and triceps
• Day 2: Leg and lower body workout
• Day 3: Back and biceps workout

Once again, you can incorporate abs training to any day in this workout schedule.

3. The Upper/Lower Full Body Split

The upper/lower split splits your activities into the upper and lower body. For this reason, you might only take two days per week for this workout, although you can dedicate another day to abs or even cardio.

Here’s how a typical upper/lower split would look like:

Upper Body

• Chest
• Back
• Biceps
• Triceps
• Shoulders

Lower Body

• Hamstrings
• Quads
• Calves
• Glutes

Push/Pull/Legs Sample Workout Plan

This sample 3-day split workout plan is divided into push exercises, pull exercises, and leg exercises:

Day 1 (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders) 

• Bench press (3 x 10)
• Dumbbell shoulder press (3 x 10)
• Lateral raises (3 x 10)
• Tricep dips (3 x 10)
• Tricep pushdown (3 x 10)
• Incline dumbbell chest press (3 x 10)

Day 2 (Rest)

Day 3 (Back, Biceps) 

• Bench press (3 x 10)
• Barbell Curls (3 x 10) 
• Dumbbell shoulder press (3 x 10)
• Triceps dips (3 x 10)
• Tricep pushdown (3 x 10)
• Hammer curls (3 x 10)

Day 4 (Rest)

​Day 5 (Legs, Abs) 

• Hamstring curls (3 x 10)
• Leg curl (3 x 10)
• Leg press (3 x 10)
• Leg extensions (3 x 10)
• Standing calf raises (3 x 10)
• 15-second plank (3 x 10)
• Russian Twist (3 x 10)

Day 6 (Rest) 

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions, we’re here for you. Here are the answers to the most common questions about using a 3 day split workout regime:

1. If My Goal Is Building Muscle, How Much Rest Do I Need?

When scheduling rest days, it's important to know your body. Some of us need more rest than others, but the bottom line is that everyone benefits from rest and everyone needs it. When it comes to a 3-day split workout, the schedule typically gives a rest day between each session. 

When you work out, your muscle fibers tear, and they need repair and regrow. Rest days not only give your muscles time to rest, but they also help prevent injury. 

2. How Should You Stretch Before a 3-Day Split Workout?

Stretching before a 3-day split workout is pretty similar to what you would do for most strength workouts. Make sure that you give yourself enough time before your training split workout to fully stretch your body. While each day looks different and targets different muscles, you use your entire body for these workouts. 

We suggest doing warm-up sets for 10-15 minutes or until your body feels loose. You can start on the floor by doing some floor stretches and then slowly move into standing stretches. Stretching will relax and prepare your body before moving into the compound movements with this workout plan.

3. Can I Do Cardio on a 3-Day Split Regime?

3-day split workouts do not include cardio. Instead, they focus on strength training. If you enjoy cardio or want to increase your caloric burn, adding it to your training program can boost your fat loss. You can do cardio on rest days or use it as a warm-up. 

4. Can I Do Other Forms of Movement on My Rest Days?

Yes! While we suggest using rest days to let your muscles relax, you can still do other types of movement on rest days. We love walking, yoga, or even light jogging to keep our bodies going on these off days.

Build Muscle With a Killer 3-Day Workout Split

Ready to give a 3-day workout split a try? 

These workouts can be intense, so make sure to fuel post-workout. It's time to hit the gym.

See you there, babe!