The Three-Day Week
Three full-body sessions on a rotating A/B/C pattern, each with a full day off after it. The standard starting week.
- GOAL
- General Fitness
- LEVEL
- Beginner
- LENGTH
- 1 week
- SESSIONS
- 3 per week
Three full-body sessions a week, run on a rotating A/B/C pattern so every major movement — squat, hinge, push, pull, split stance and carry — gets trained across the week. Each training day is followed by a day off or an easy walk, which is what makes three sessions repeatable rather than exhausting. Sessions run around 45 minutes and are built to be done at a moderate effort, not to failure. Run this week as written, then run it again with slightly more load. Nothing here needs to change until you can complete every set at the top of the prescribed rep range with clean technique.
- →New to structured training, or coming back after a long layoff
- →Wants a full-body base before splitting the week up
- →Has three realistic training slots and no more
- →Prefers a fixed template over choosing exercises each session
- →Can walk 30 minutes without needing to stop
- →Can get down to the floor and back up unassisted
- →Has access to a barbell or dumbbells and a bench
Cover every basic movement pattern three times over, at a load light enough that technique holds from the first rep to the last.
- MondayBeginner Full Body A — Squat and PushLeave two to three reps in reserve on every set. Record the load you used.
- TuesdayEasy 30 min walkConversational pace. This is recovery, not a session.
- WednesdayBeginner Full Body B — Hinge and OverheadHinge before overhead work. Stop a set the moment the back rounds.
- ThursdayRest
- FridayBeginner Full Body C — Split Stance and CarryCarries finish the session. Pick a load you can hold for the full distance without setting it down.
- SaturdayEasy 30–40 min walk, or anything outdoors you enjoy
- SundayRest
PROGRESSIONKeep every working set two to three reps short of failure. Log the load and reps for every main lift — that log is what next week is built from.
- →Run this same week again next week. Do not change the exercises until you have completed four consecutive weeks.
- →Add load when you hit the top of the rep range on all working sets of a lift: 2.5 kg on lower-body lifts, 1–2.5 kg on upper-body lifts. If you did not hit the top of the range, repeat the same load.
- →If you miss a session, run it on the next open day and shift the rest of the week back. Do not stack two sessions on consecutive days to catch up.
- →If two weeks in a row stall on the same lift at the same load, drop that lift by 10 percent and build back up.
- →After four weeks of this, take one week at two sessions instead of three, same loads, before starting the next block.
- →Bodyweight goblet squat: reps completed in 60 seconds
- →Push-up (floor or elevated hands): maximum clean reps
- →Farmer carry: distance covered with a fixed load before setting it down
- →30-second sit-to-stand count from a standard chair