3 Day Machine Only Workout Plan: Intermediate, Build Muscle
A 3-day program for intermediate lifters, aimed at building muscle.
- 3 days a week
- Full body
- Machines only
- about 40–45 min
- No cardio
- You’ll need: Smith machine, adjustable bench, dumbbells, lat pulldown, cable machine, cable row, 7 weight machines
Each week
Full Body A
- Leg Press — 3 × 8–10
- Chest Press Machine — 3 × 8–10
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip) — 3 × 8–12
- Seated Leg Curl — 3 × 10–12
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise — 3 × 10–15
- Cable Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 10–12
- Incline Dumbbell Curl — 3 × 10–12
Full Body B
- Hack Squat — 3 × 8–10
- Incline Dumbbell Press — 3 × 8–10
- Seated Cable Row — 3 × 8–12
- Dumbbell RDL — 3 × 8–10
- Cable Pull Through — 3 × 10–12
- Overhead Dumbbell Extension — 3 × 10–12
- Hammer Curl — 3 × 10–12
Full Body C
- Dumbbell Bench Press — 3 × 8–10
- Smith Machine Squat — 3 × 8–10
- Close Grip Lat Pulldown — 3 × 8–12
- Lying Leg Curl — 3 × 10–12
- Shoulder Press Machine — 3 × 8–12
- Seated Hip Abductor — 3 × 10–15
- Rope Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 10–12
- Cable Curl — 3 × 10–12
Report card
- Weekly volume — on target. All 8 scored muscle groups sit in the 5–19 sets/week range.
- Movement patterns — on target. Every movement pattern this goal cares about is covered.
- 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 — on target. Push:pull and quad:hinge ratios are balanced.
- Recovery spacing — worth a look. Glutes and Biceps get hard sessions on consecutive days.
- 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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