Astounding Three Day Workout For Mass!

**Gethuge** · 02-06-2003, 02:08 PM

Okay I'll have my 2 cents in here.

I've preached very similar routines for a long time. THEY WORK! However there are some problems with the routine as presented:

- no one that i've met who trains naturally can train the whole body three times per week. Such a routine should only be done about twice a week for most people and even less for a lot of people.

- in order for this to work the sets have to be all out, pump till you puke sets! There is no room for below failure lifts. If you can still force againsts the weight and hold it in position your not finished your set yet!

- yes normally only 1-2 sets is done per exercise. In the case of the routine presented which has some supplementary exercises in it I would recommend only 1 set of each. (But it has to be to total failure!)

- the routine is basically a reprint of the one Arthur Jones printed in "Bulletin 1"

**musmar** · 02-09-2003, 06:16 AM

Very good workout

**Sam1983** · 02-10-2003, 01:44 AM

I was on this workout for 2 weeks until I strained my right forearm. It works well enough(I had already noticed an increase in my strength gains), but it's very dangerous. I think three times a week is just too much for this sort of workout - I eat well, pay attention to my form when lifting, supplement w/ protein shakes and multivitamins, and still got hurt - although not too seriously. Also, my partner hurt his tricep using this workout. If you want to try it, try it, but be very careful.

**Rocky2003** · 02-24-2003, 02:01 PM

One thing I do like about this workout is that it allows you to hit the body parts more frequently.

There was a similar style workout for athletes on cyberpump's website. It was the Michigan State Basketball workout.

I don't know if you can still get it because they are charging now. I will look to see if I saved it.

I have an idea for modifying the workout. I think I will try this for 1 week and alternate it with my more moderate workout which involves working each body part one time a week in a 5X5 set.

I do enjoy HIT for the time benefits it provides.

So I will let you guys know how it works.

My 5x5 workout is set up as follows

Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, Back, (5 sets of 5 on each exercise and 2 exercises per body part

Workout 2: Legs (5x5)

Workout 3: Arms (5x5)

By the way this isn't my normal set up. Normally I'd do Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Back and Biceps as a split and legs with their own day. But the reason I'm giving Arms their own day is that I'm focusing on them. So in reality my arms get work in Workout 1 and Workout 3.

Then I think I'll alternate this with the fullbody workouts on alternating weeks.

I had excellent progress in the summer with strength when using 1 full body workout a week. The other days of the week I was doing sports (karate and tennis). My strenght really increased well.

I too wonder about my recovery if I try to do 3 fullbody workouts a week. If I have trouble with it, I'll drop it down to 2.

As far as the time involved, I'm pretty sure I can get these workouts done in 45 minutes. I had done so in the past, so why not now! In general the full body workouts have been alot quicker than my 5X5 with less body parts, but simple math will prove that.

Good luck all. I'll get back to you in a couple of months on this thread with my comments.

**Soon2BHuge** · 03-06-2003, 11:41 PM

nice! -exactly the topic I was looking for! I started training about 5 months ago, and have managed to gain about 20 lbs. putting me at 170 lbs., and genetics are definitely not a freind of mine(about 10% of it is fat unfortunately from just overeating and not paying too much attention to what I was eating, plus taking weight gainer). I was doing the same workout 3 times/week, all upper body. -no legs because I have chicken legs, and it's always dissapointing. -dumb excuse, I know. Anyway, I had reached a plateau, so I did some reading on bodybuilding, and I read in a few different articles that by making the big 3 (squats, bench, deadlift) your most important exercises you'll basically really get your growth going and there will be spillover into the other muscles. So, for the last month I've been doing the Mon. Legs, Wed.Chest/Arms, Fri.Back. routine, and voila! I'm getting sore again, and I've been knocking the wieght up steadily for 4 weeks! But, the 20 lbs. I gained doing the same workout 3X/week can't be denied. So, it seems to me, at least at this point, that changing the workout drastically every so often, almost regardless of the workout, is the real key...any thoughts??? -oh yeah, and thx for all of the input.

Unregisted · 03-24-2003, 06:34 AM

These types of workouts do work, I have gained 25 pounds in the last 4 months on a similar workout plan.
If any body knows anything about the pre steroid era oldtimers like, reg park, john grimek, george eiferman and steve reeves then you would know that 3 x a week fullbody routines work.
They used to do more total sets but I think they rarley trained to absolute faliure, so I believe that 1 set to faliure can make up for the reduced workload. If you have never seen pics of any of the guys mentioned type thier names into a search engine and you will be very suprised at thier level of development.
Yes the workout mentioned is very similar to that of auther jones workouts but he suggested lay off's.
On any intense training program you should train consistantly for about 8 weeks and then take around 1 week totally off to fully recover.
I have not found injury a problem either, if you lift with good form and make small weight progressions then you should be safe.
Also if you do find this 3 x a week workout difficult then cut it down to 2 x weekly and try that.
Beyond all this follow a wholesome calorie rich diet, get enough sleep and grow.

Heelo · 04-06-2003, 10:55 AM

I was wondering if it wouldn't be safer to maybe cut this down to two times a week, bump the sets up to 2, and do upper- and lower-body splits like:

Mon: upper
Tues: lower
Wed: rest
Thurs: upper
Friday: lower

Any thoughts?

**Ricky** · 04-06-2003, 11:39 AM

Heelo that actually sounds like a pretty good plan.

But I think you could even drop it down to 3 days of training (to aid recovery), alternating it as follows

Day 1: Upper
Day 4: Lower
Day 7: Upper
Day 10: Lower
Day 13: Upper
Day 16: Lower

Advantages of HIT that are critical to me are that the lower number of sets gets you in and out of the gym quicker (thus I can't make the excuse of not having time to train, especially since the gym is on my way to and from work!)

silvercar · 07-28-2003, 02:25 PM

look to be a realy nice program. I will start it this week.

**TWIsM** · 08-06-2003, 10:40 PM

What do you guys think about doing cardio for 45 min on the off days , and only about 20 min on the on days? Would that allow for bulking and cutting at the same time? Or would that be too much cardio to bulk it up?

**Fudog1138** · 08-10-2003, 03:06 PM

Originally posted by TWIsM
What do you guys think about doing cardio for 45 min on the off days , and only about 20 min on the on days? Would that allow for bulking and cutting at the same time? Or would that be too much cardio to bulk it up?

That's allot of cardio and if you think about it you can't bulk and cut at the same time. Best way to plan it out is to set your goal and then choose either cut or bulk.
The workout listed above is very intense, so in a sense, there's your cardio. On your days off from muscle training, I wouldn't do more than a slow jog or brisk walk for around twenty minutes or so.

An alternative to that plan would be a 4 day a week split that would look something like this:
Monday-Upper body heavy
Tuesday-Lower body heavy
Wednesday-off
Thursday-Upper body light
Friday-Lower body light
Saturday-off
Sunday-off
Heavy being 4-6 reps
Light being 12-15
Cardio would be low impact unless your cutting.

raider69 · 08-22-2003, 09:22 AM

i have been using the 3 day a week workout for a month and a half, i never saw strength gained so fast. i have been training for a few years now. my bench press is up 50 pounds from the day i started it. my question is, will my ever get used to this workout, do i need to change it aound sometime? for those who use this workout, do u evr take a week off?

**boysangur** · 09-02-2003, 06:26 PM

I tried it, used it for 2 months and here is what I think
I used to split body parts and I gained about 23 pounds in 4 or 5 months. You may not think it is much but I am a hard gainer. Well in 5 months I stopped growing at all, not a single pound. So, I switched to this 3day workout and at first I didnt like it cause it was hard as hell. Every set was like the last set of my usual split workout. I never gotten tired or sweated like that so I knew it was working on my body and it had to do something.
See, on split workouts, only your last set is the failure set really and when you work biceps and chest, you only lift heavy weights (the kind of heavy weights that make your whole body flex) when you do chest. When you do biceps, not many other muscles work. However, when you do that 3day workout, you do that kind of weight for back, shoulders, legs, and chest. So you get tired as hell (if you do it right). Every three or four days I was gaining half a pound to a pound.
One thing i realized, when I almost passed out at the gym, was that I needed to modify the workout. Instead of doing one exercise and one set for each muscle, I did one set of about 3 exercises for each muscle. Then, instead of doing all the muscles every workout, I started skipping one muscle each work out. For example, I'd skip triceps on monday, then biceps on wed, then chest on fri. That way, i kept thinking that my workout was short and I had the desire not to cheat and to do every set to real failure and also I wouldnt overtrain. When I started doing 3 or 4 exercises per muscle and skipping one muscle per workout, I started gaining about a pound every 2 days. It is hard but it does work. It looks like 4 exercises is too much for each body parts if you do it to failulre and work every other day but it really is not if you skip one muscle, you will be done in about an hour. And lets face it, you never do at least one exercise to full failure. So other exercises make up for it. If you pick the right exercises, you train your one muscle differently with each set so you will be able to do all the 3 exercises even after a failure set of another exercise. I never liked the idea that in split training you have to wait a week to work one muscle again. By the time I work my biceps again it already felt like I never worked them. This 3day workout takes care of that. I will keep using it until i stop gaining, then I will probably go back to split for some time but I will get back to this workout again.
Anyway, if you are gaining from whatever you are doing right now, keep it up. If you are not gaining or gaining very little, try this workout.

**markallen** · 09-10-2003, 09:23 AM

Hey all,

When I began lifting about 9 months ago, I went looking through this site for a good, well-rounded workout that wouldn't require hours & hours of time committment, wasn't overly complicated, and would give me a base to start from.

I took the basic premise of the 3-day-mass program, and though I didn't end up lifting to failure in the first couple of months (started off pretty low-weight), I found it to be a great overall lifting program - I trained every 3rd day, and always lifted heavier. By the time I got to the weight where I was hitting muscle failure, I had built some good foundation muscles that really showed!

I get lazy in the summertime, but now that September's around, I'm back in the gym & lifting - loving every minute of it!

**Plop** · 09-10-2003, 11:15 PM

It says you should do about 8 reps to falure.

It goes beyond popular belief that 2-3 reps are the way to go in terms of increasing muscle mass.

Anyone comment on that ?

**thickjerk** · 09-18-2003, 05:27 PM

your not going to get steroid like results without steroids.

period

**boysangur** · 09-22-2003, 01:06 AM

2-3 reps? never heard of that. Do you mean 2 or 3 sets? i have always done about 8 reps, only I used to do 2 or 3 sets but now I do only one to failure.

**Fudog1138** · 09-26-2003, 09:38 AM

Originally posted by boysangur
2-3 reps? never heard of that. Do you mean 2 or 3 sets? i have always done about 8 reps, only I used to do 2 or 3 sets but now I do only one to failure.

I think that he was refereing to power lifting strategies of 2 reps or so every third week of training.
If that's what you were thinking then it's quite a different path.
This workout is a strength builder but is also very aerobic. I doubt that a competitive power lifter would do this program. If they did it would most likely be to shed some unwanted fat.

StillLearning · 09-26-2003, 01:59 PM

I'm 17, 6'3", 181 lbs, and a relative newcomer to the body building world. I started seriously working out in Nov. 2002 with an Altus Door Gym (bungee cords). I noticed a decent amount of gain from that workout routine and was pleased with it until I hit a plateau. But I continued to use that until August of this year, when I bought an easy curl bar and a set of weights. I decided I wanted to try building some mass, now that I had a foundation from which to work. In order to do this I realized I must modify my diet completely, and also change my whole attitude towards "working out." I have been using the "Three Day Workout for Mass" since 8/9/03. All I take is a multi-vitamin and a lot of water. Lately, I've tried some protien bars before work outs, and I'm going to start taking whey protien next week.
Since I don't go to a gym, I work out in my house; therefore, there are some exercises I can't do. But I can do most of them and I have noticed a very significant gain in the past two months! My legs have benefited the most from this intense workout. I have gained about 5 lbs - not a lot, but that's from not having a proper diet I'm sure. I've also gained a bout 1/2" on my arms (14"). I still have a long ways to go, but this workout is definitely putting me on my way.
Any tips from more experienced body builders? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

**Fudog1138** · 09-27-2003, 09:20 AM

Originally posted by StillLearning
I'm 17, 6'3", 181 lbs, and a relative newcomer to the body building world....

Thanks,
Dave

Hey Dave, if you have a basement with any exposed joists, then you have the means to mount a pulley. Attatch one end to some weight and the other to a bar. Brace the weight so it doesn't fly around. As for the rest of your weights, I would invest in a pair of dumbell handles that fit your existing weights (standard or Olympic). Learn how to superset excercises and even tri-set excercises. Your not going to build monumental mass without a good bench, deadlift bar (and weight) and squat rack, but you can darn sure build a good physique.
As for diet. Drop the frequent use of bars and invest in a 10 pound bag of whey protein. Use the protein bars in between classes or times where you can't eat. Learn how to cook a good burger, chicken breast and baked potato. Drink lots of milk. Your results will be based on your dietary efforts more than weights. Multiply your lean mass times 10-12 to loose weight, 15-17 to gain it. Some people eat much more, but there's books and books worth of learning to do before resulting to extreme hyper-caloric eating. Just stick with the 10-12 and 15-17 for the next year or so until you can feed your mind.

Best of luck,

StillLearning · 09-27-2003, 04:14 PM

Originally posted by Fudog1138
As for the rest of your weights, I would invest in a pair of dumbell handles that fit your existing weights (standard or Olympic). Learn how to superset excercises and even tri-set excercises....
....Multiply your lean mass times 10-12 to loose weight, 15-17 to gain it. Some people eat much more, but there's books and books worth of learning to do before resulting to extreme hyper-caloric eating. Just stick with the 10-12 and 15-17 for the next year or so until you can feed your mind.

Best of luck,

I forgot to mention...I also bought a 40 lb. dumbbell set earlier this year. And along with my EZ curl bar, I bought two 25 lb plates. I'm planning on buying some more plates in the near future.
Now, what exactly are superset exercises and tri-set exercises?
Also, you kinda lost me in the lean mass times 10-12, etc. Like I said, I'm a newcomer, and haven't learned a whole lot yet.

Thanks again,
Dave

**Smeagol** · 09-30-2003, 10:53 PM

Bump

I'm going to try this for 6 weeks and see if it works well.

**Ortango** · 10-26-2003, 12:06 PM

Im a 5'7 165 pounder with low bodyfat but wanting better (not too much bigger). Just tried this out for the first time yesterday and my initial impression is very good! The attraction for me was that it seemed like a pretty good "get back in the gym workout" after a couple months' hiatus, even if it was designed for mass. That gets me to the point of the recovery time that has a lot of folks concerned. Sure I was working myself to failure on each set, but recovering from ONE set (even to failure) does not take a horribly long time compared to high intensity or multi-exercises for one body part.
That being said, I believe this is worth trying for anyone that has only tried splits, even if they will be going back to it after trying this workout for a while. Most people respond well to using not only a variety of exercises (which work different stabilizers and create better stimuli) but also different workout schemes. So I gave it a go as I have almost always used a four day split before.
I did one warm up set each and two for the exercises more prone to injury (ie squats). Well, there is only so much I can say from one shot but I do intend to use some alternative exercises every so often, but to keep them compound movements to stay in the spirit of the workout. Some alternatives I'll probably use, although still going to failure:

Squats: Smith Machine or Wide Stance
Leg Curls: Romanian Deadlift
Barbell Shoulder Press: Dumbells
Seated Rows: Barbell Bent Rows
Bench Press: Incline or Smith Machine
Pullups: Chinups

Here some of my foreseen pros and cons of this workout:

Pros:
- The variety was great! Had me pumped, jumping around never had me looking at the clock.
- Definately challenging, had me breathing hard after 20 minutes, which normally never happens to me with split systems as I have strong cardio.
- I finished in 50 minutes, and I couldnt believe I could leave the gym feeling like I had really finished my workout. Quick but effective.
- Being forced to work every body part ensures I wont be skipping "leg day" or "abs" or anything else because its all covered.

Cons:
- I'll have to see if recovery will be an issue or not. I have no doubt my abs and bi's will recover from one hard set and a couple assistive exercises in 48 hours. But I wonder if my hams or lats will.
- I went early Saturday morning where there weren't many people but I know that having to wait for stations and weights will be a BIG issue in my small gym especially jumping every 5 mins.
- Some people claim they ONLY respond to high intensity for body parts.. (Arnold and Lee Priest come to mind) but I guess I'll have to wait and see with my own body! Besides, comparing myself to those guys is a waste of time

Looking forward to results, will try to keep y'all posted

**Smeagol** · 10-27-2003, 01:10 PM

I gained 7lbs of LEAN BODY MASS in three weeks. Cant beat that

**Atavis** · 10-27-2003, 01:21 PM

So many see these OLD workouts and then go all loopy thinking they are new.

Full body workouts have been around for YEARS and yes they work. So does the 1x per week program. So does HiT (when modified). So does Volume. So does Abreviated.

The trick is knowing what to do and WHEN.

HINT: If what you are doing has stopped yeilding acceptable gains....then CHANGE.

Cycle high intensity with low, high volume with low, high reps with low...... it's not rocket science.

**Smeagol** · 10-28-2003, 03:12 PM

my strength gains have gone threw the ****in roof!!!!!!! my arms are up .7 inches in three weeks!!!! Quads grew 1.5 Inches!!!

unfortunately I've taken a week off cause of a flu

**amusclehead** · 10-28-2003, 03:31 PM

seems like a beginner full body split.

also looks like a 12yr. wrote the article

"Do not stop at the bottom or top of your movements. Wuss!" WTF is up with that comment.

"....exercises are compound movements. We are NOT doing any isolation exercises" yes, we all know that leg extensions, calf raises, extensions, bb curls, etc.... are compound movements, lol

i give the article itself a 3.5/10. writer needs to have a more professional writing style and to actually get information straight.

as for the workout itself, no real comments. I think, like i said, it's a fairly basic full body with all the flaws of a basic one (e.g., static exercises; no talking about of rotating them, amoung other things)

**amusclehead** · 10-28-2003, 03:32 PM

oh yea, plus numerous errors plauging the article

e.g.,

"If you live 100 pounds for 10 reps "

Please try to re-read what you write and have somebody else go over it if it's being published.

**egoatdoor** · 12-05-2003, 05:17 PM

This article is hogwash. One warm up set of 4-6 reps and then do a max set? You can not possibly get the muscle warmed up..its totally inadequate.

Unregistered · 12-25-2003, 11:48 PM

i just started this workout, well a variation of it, on monday. Friday will be day 2. Missed a day because of holiday.

here are the exercises i did
Leg press (no squats because of lower back injury)
Leg extensions
Leg curls
Wide grip pulldowns
bench press
behind neck press(seated)
tricep pushdowns
barbell curls
Dips

Results of first workout.

to warm up legs i sat the the exercise bike for a few minutes, then did a light set (15 reps) of leg presses. Went into main set (12plates) and pushed out 13 hard reps. The feeling i had in my legs told me that this was gonna be a great workout.

I did each exercise the same, light warm up (10-15 reps) followed by main set. My legs felt as if i did 15 sets after i finished them. By the time the workout was over, my whole body felt "pumped". This workout was super intense. I pushed to absolute failure, to the point where i felt i was gonna pass out after each exercise.

So far so good...looking forward to day two.

I will keep you all posted, probably at the end of each week.

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