3 Day Dumbbell Only Workout Plan: Beginner, Build Muscle
A 3-day program for beginners, aimed at building muscle.
- 3 days a week
- Full body
- Dumbbells only
- Works at Planet Fitness
- about 40 min
- No cardio
- You’ll need: dumbbells
- TRY Fitness is not affiliated with Planet Fitness.
Each week
Full Body Day A
- Goblet Squat — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell RDL — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Floor Press — 3 × 8–12
- One Arm Dumbbell Row — 3 × 8–12
- Standing Dumbbell Press — 2 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Curl — 2 × 10–12
- Overhead Dumbbell Extension — 2 × 10–12
- Plank — 2 sets
Full Body Day B
- Dumbbell Split Squat — 3 × 8–12
- Glute Bridge — 3 × 10–15
- Dumbbell Floor Press — 3 × 8–12
- One Arm Dumbbell Row — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise — 2 × 12–15
- Dumbbell Curl — 2 × 10–12
- Overhead Dumbbell Extension — 2 × 10–15
- Dead Bugs — 2 × 8–12
Full Body Day C
- Dumbbell Reverse Lunge — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell RDL — 3 × 8–12
- Pushups — 3 × 8–12
- One Arm Dumbbell Row — 3 × 8–12
- Standing Dumbbell Press — 2 × 8–12
- Dumbbell Curl — 2 × 10–15
- Overhead Dumbbell Extension — 2 × 10–15
- Lying Leg Raise — 2 × 10–15
Report card
- Weekly volume — on target. All 8 scored muscle groups sit in the 4–19 sets/week range.
- Movement patterns — worth a look. vertical pull is under-trained for this goal.
- Training frequency — on target. Every high-volume muscle is trained 2x/week or more.
- Rep ranges — on target. The intensity mix fits this goal.
- Structural balance — worth a look. pressing outweighs pulling.
- Recovery spacing — on target. Hard sessions for each muscle are spaced at least a day apart.
- Session workload — on target. No session is overloaded — the weekly work is sensibly distributed.
- Rest & session time — not assessed. Estimated session times — rest periods aren't stated, so pacing wasn't judged.
- Conditioning — on target. No conditioning — fine for this goal, though 1–2 easy sessions a week would cost nothing and buy health.
- Progression plan — not assessed. A written program doesn't show how loads should move week to week — progression gets assessed once the program is being tracked.
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