Beginner routine (3 days)

A 3-day-a-week full body beginner routine, mostly on machines with some light free weights. Sets, reps and how to progress in your first months.

Use this routine in GymTracking

This is the recommended routine to start at the gym: three full body sessions a week, about 60 minutes each, for people with no injuries or limitations. It mainly uses machines, which set the path and let you focus on the muscle, and adds some light free weights (goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, dumbbell press) to learn the basic movement patterns.

How it is organized

There are three different days (A, B and C) that rotate in order. Each one covers legs, push, pull and core, with different exercises to vary the stimulus:

• A: leg press, machine chest press, lat pulldown, leg curl, lateral raises and machine crunch.
• B: goblet squat, seated row, machine shoulder press, hip thrust, cable triceps pushdown and plank.
• C: leg extension, incline dumbbell press, assisted pull-ups, Romanian deadlift, biceps curl, dead bug and bike.

Typical week: Monday A, Wednesday B, Friday C. The following week, pick up the order where you left off.

How to progress

1. Weeks 1 and 2: light weights, with 3 or 4 reps in the tank. Technique and learning to adjust each machine come first.
2. From week 3: increase the weight until the last reps feel hard.
3. Once you complete every set at the top of the rep range, move up one weight step. This is double progression, explained in the progressive overload guide.

Rest 1 to 2 minutes between sets and warm up for 5 minutes before starting. More details in the beginner gym routine guide.

After this routine

After 2 or 3 months of consistency, when your weights go up more slowly, you can move on to the 4-day upper / lower routine, which adds barbell basics and more volume.

Day 1: Full body A

Day 2: Full body B

Day 3: Full body C

If you have an injury, pain or a medical condition, check with a professional before doing this exercise.