3-day split

In a 3-day split workout, you’ll divide the muscle groups you want to train across three separate days. The aim is to increase your training volume, further stimulating muscle growth. This approach is perfect for those who’ve moved on from full-body training to a 2-day split and are ready to level up.

Even advanced athletes often use a 3-day split, and the Push-Pull-Legs split has been a popular choice for years.

How you divide the three split days is up to you, but a common schedule includes one rest day between each completed 3-day split:

1st week
- Monday: Day-A exercises
- Tuesday: Day-B exercises
- Wednesday: Day-C exercises
- Thursday: Rest day
- Friday: Rest day
- Saturday: Day-A exercises
- Sunday: Day-B exercises
2nd week
- Monday: Day-C exercises
- Tuesday: Rest day
- Wednesday: Day-A exercises
- Thursday: Day-B exercises
- Friday: Day-C exercises
- Saturday: Rest day
- Sunday: Rest day

Example 3-Day Split Plan

Below, you’ll find the muscle groups distributed across the three days of the 3-day split. In the following section, we’ll provide some alternative exercises, so you can switch things up and add variety to your workouts.

Day A

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Repetitions
Bench press	Chest	3	10 / 8 / 6
Fly	Chest	3	12 / 10 / 8
Dips	Chest	3	10 / 8 / 6
Lateral raise	Shoulders	2	12 / 10
Front raise	Shoulders	2	12 / 10
Sit-ups	Abs	5	20

Day B

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Repetitions
Chin-ups	Upper back	3	10 / 8 / 6
Barbell row	Upper back	3	10 / 8 / 6
Deadlift	Lower back	3	10 / 8 / 6
Cable triceps extension	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Kickback	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8

Day C

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Repetitions
Squats	Thighs	3	10 / 8 / 6
Leg extensions	Thighs	3	10 / 8 / 6
Standing calf raises with a barbell	Calves	3	15
Biceps curls	Biceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Machine preacher curls	Biceps	3	12 / 10 / 8

3-day split alternative exercises

You can perform the following exercises as alternatives to 3-day split.

Filter the exercises below by muscle group and difficulty.

Exercise	Main muscle group	Difficulty	Type of training
Arnold Press	Shoulder training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Back Extension	Lower back	Medium	Isolation exercise
Barbell Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Front Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Row	Shoulder training	Hard	Compound exercise
Barbell Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Squats	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Behind-The-Neck Overhead Press	Shoulder training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Bench Press	Triceps training	Medium	Compound exercise
Biceps Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Cable Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Cable Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Cable Lat Pulldown	Upper back	Easy	Compound exercise
Chest Press	Middle chest	Easy	Isolation exercise
Close-Grip Bench Press	Triceps training	Medium	Compound exercise
Concentration Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Crunches	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Decline Bench Press	Lower chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Dips	Upper chest	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Bench Press	Chest training	Medium	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Dumbbell Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Flys	Middle chest	Medium	Isolation exercise
Front Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Front Squats	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Hammer Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Incline Barbell Press	Upper chest	Easy	Compound exercise
Incline Bench Preacher Curls	Biceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Incline Chest Press	Upper chest	Easy	Isolation exercise
Incline Dumbbell Biceps Curls	Biceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Incline Dumbbell Press	Upper chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Incline Dumbell Row	Neck training	Easy	Compound exercise
Inverted Row	Shoulder training	Easy	Compound exercise
Kickbacks	Triceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Lateral Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Leg Extensions	Thigh training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Overhead Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Preacher Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Pull-Ups	Upper back	Medium	Compound exercise
Resistance Band Row	Shoulder training	Easy	Compound exercise
Reversed Incline Bench Barbell Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Romanian Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Seated Back Extension	Lower back	Easy	Isolation exercise
Seated Leg Press	Thigh training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Single Arm Dumbbell Row	Neck training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Sit Ups	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Squats	Thigh training	Medium	Compound exercise
Sumo Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Upright Barbell Row	Shoulder training	Hard	Compound exercise
Zercher Squat	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise

Example 3-Day Split Plan

Day A

Day B

Day C

3-day split alternative exercises

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