3-Day Workout Plans for Mass: 3 Muscle Building Routines for Busy People

Question: Can you gain muscle mass working out just 3 times a week? I’m a full-time student and I work full-time.

Answer: Yes, you can but you need to be committed to a strategic plan of action to get results.

It’s a fact that many of us have packed schedules. There’s work, school, family, and some of you are even working 2 jobs.

You love the gym and want to be there more, but in the current season of your life, your time is limited.

That’s okay because I’m going to give you 3 different 3-day workout plans for mass gains that you can start this week.

3-Day Workout Rules

Before we dive into your 3-day workouts for mass let’s go over a few notes so that you can prepare.

This is important because since you’re only training 3 days a week there will be certain things you’ll want to watch closely on your non-training days.

Don’t overeat on your non-training days. You know that eating enough calories is crucial for mass gains. But if you’re not doing any activities at all on your non-training days, eating too much lead to fat gains, not mass gains.

No more than 2 rest days in a row. You don’t want too many days going by with no activity.
*You’ll see some training split examples listed after the workout plans below.

Train hard and intense every workout. With only 3 workout days a week, the last thing you want is to waste one of those workouts by half-assing it.

Make sure you’re focused and energized before every workout. Since you’re only training 3 days, these workouts will be a little longer (give yourself about an hour and 15 minutes each workout). So make sure you’re amped up. You can take a pre-workout like 4 Gauge.

Alright, it’s time for your new 3-day mass building plans…

1 – Push Pull Legs 3-Day Workout Plan

The ‘push-pull-legs’ workout concept has been around forever. And it can be a super-effective way to build muscle mass.

This is also probably the most feasible workout routine for training 3 days a week. It allows you to truly hit every muscle equally.

Day 1 (Push)

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Incline Bench Press	4 x 6-8
Dumbbell Press	4 x 8
Cable Flyes	3 x 10
Seated Dumbbell Press	3 x 10
Lateral Raises	3 x 10
Cable Pressdowns	3 x 10
Dumbbell Kickbacks	3 x 12

Day 2 (Pull)

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Bent-over Rows	4 x 6-8
Dumbbell Rows	4 x 8
Seated Rows	3 x 10
Lat Pulldowns	3 x 10
Bent-over Raises	3 x 10
Barbell Curls	3 x 10
Dumbbell Hammer Curls	3 x 12

Day 3 (Legs)

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Leg Extensions (warm-up)	3 x 12
Squats	4 x 8
Leg Press	4 x 15
Lying Leg Curls	4 x 10
Single-Leg Extensions	4 x 12
Standing Calf Raises	7 x 15

*If you want to learn more about the Push-Pull-Legs concept, I have a full program you can try in this post: Push Pull Legs Workout: 6-Day Routine for Mass Gains

2 – Full Body Split 3-Day Workout Plan

Another great 3-day a week routine is full-body workouts. Now, this is completely different from the typical bodybuilding training splits. But there are some advantages to this schedule.

You’ll focus more on compound exercises which will allow you to incorporate more muscles in fewer exercises. On that note, you won’t see many isolation exercises.

These exercises are proven mass-builders. You’ll get a lot stronger on this routine as well.

*Where you an asterisk (*) below means superset with the following exercise.

Day 1 Full Body

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Bench Press	4 x 8
Barbell Rows	4 x 8
Lateral Raises	3 x 10
*Barbell Curls	3 x 10
Rope Pressdowns	3 x 10
*Leg Extensions	4 x 15
Stiff-leg Deadlifts	4 x 10

Day 2 Full Body

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Squats	4 x 8
Leg Curls	4 x 10
Overhead Barbell Press	3 x 10
*Lat Pulldowns	3 x 10
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 x 10
*Reverse Grip Barbell Rows	3 x 10
Close-grip Bench Press	3 x 10

Day 3 Full Body

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Arnold Dumbbell Press	4 x 8
Dumbbell Rows	4 x 8
Leg Press	4 x 15
*Dumbbell Flyes	4 x 10
Cable Pullovers	4 x 12
*Pull-ups	3 x 10
Dips	3 x 10

*If you want to learn more about the full body workouts and different routines, read my post: Are Full Body Workouts Good for Building Muscle?

3 – 5×5 Hypertrophy 3-Day Workout Plan

One of the most renown strength gaining workouts programs is the 5 x 5 routine. It caters to getting stronger on compound lifts.

But you can also use the 5 x 5 method for hypertrophy, and that’s what you’ll do below.

If you’re familiar with 5 x 5 you will notice that this routine is much different. Again, our goal here is attaining that massive bodybuilder look (hypertrophy) over strength gains, though you should also get stronger. And you’ll get a natural boost in testosterone.

One major difference you’ll notice is you’re often going back and forth between different muscles. For example, in the first workout, you’ll do your 5 sets of squats then go to your main shoulder exercise. And you’ll continue to alternate muscles from there.

This is so that you have enough power and energy at the beginning for the 5 x 5 lifts. If you did all legs then started with shoulders, you wouldn’t be as strong on that first 5 x 5 shoulder exercise. This also adds a little needed spice to your workouts by changing it up from the norm.

Day 1 Legs and Shoulders

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Squats	5 x 5
Standing Overhead Press	5 x 5
Leg Extensions	3 x 10
Arnold Press	3 x 10
Seated Leg Curls	3 x 10
Lateral Raises	3 x 10
Seated Calf Raises	5 x 15

Day 2 Back and Chest

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Barbell Rows	5 x 5
Bench Press	5 x 5
Seated Rows	3 x 10
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 x 10
Lat Pulldowns	3 x 10
Dumbbell Flyes	3 x 10

Day 3 Legs and Arms

Exercise	Sets x Reps
Deadlifts	5 x 5
EZ Bar Curls	3 x 10
Leg Press (close-stance)	3 x 10
Reverse Overhead Rope Extensions	3 x 10
Single-Leg Extensions	3 x 10
Standing Calf Raises	5 x 15

*If you want to learn more about 5×5 training with both basic and advanced 5×5 workouts, read my post: Advanced 5 x 5 Workouts for Muscle and Strength Gains

Training Splits

You may be wondering what’s the best way to fit these 3-days a week mass-building routines into your schedule.

The key is you don’t want to train more than 2 days in a row with these types of workouts. But you also don’t want to go more than 2 rows of rest between workouts.

This actually makes training splits easy to create. And I give you 2 examples below. One is a Mon-Wed-Fri split. Another caters to those who prefer to train on weekends.

Training Split 1

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Workout 1
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout 2
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Workout 3
Saturday: Rest

Training Split 2

Sunday: Workout 1
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout 2
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday: Workout 3

How Many Times a Week Should Your Workout to Gain Muscle?

This is an extremely subjective question. You have many different philosophies here.

One camp says you need more rest between workouts. Another says there’s no so much thing as overtraining, just undereating (and not getting enough rest).

I personally prefer to train more often. However, the real answer comes down to the current season of your life. And that’s what you will have to base your workout schedule on.

Look, I’ve been there before…working multiple jobs and taking classes all while supporting a household. That’s tough. But almost anyone can prioritize an hour or so 3 days a week.

So I encourage you to make that happen, no matter what. It’s best to get in there and bust your rear 3 times a week than to sit around and pout about how you don’t have time to go to the gym, and not go at all.

I truly hope these 3-day workout plans for mass helps you. You can choose one plan and stay with it for several weeks then start another. Or you may decide to mix them up more frequently, and that’s okay too. As long you’re consistent in hitting the gym and committed to training hard, that’s what counts.

And when your time frees up and you’re ready to commit to training 4-5 days a week, start my Hardcore Muscle Building Program.

Excuses Don’t Build Muscle,

Jason