Muscle and Strength 3
Description
The 12-week Muscle and Strength 3 weight training program is designed to:
- Train all of your major muscle groups
- Build muscle in the 9–11 and 6–8 rep ranges, and build strength in the 3–5 rep range
- Strengthen your core and primal movement patterns
- Increase training intensity and volume (the number of exercises and sets that you perform) while reducing the amount of time that you spend in the gym
The program consists of four workouts (A, B, C, and D). Workouts A and C will train your upper body and core; workouts B and D will train your lower body and core.
The exercises in all of the workouts have been arranged into supersets, which makes the workouts both shorter and more intense than the workouts of preceding programs.
In weeks 1, 4, 7, and 10, you will train in the 9–11 rep range (muscle); in weeks 2, 5, 8, and 11, you will train in the 6–8 rep range (muscle); and in weeks 3, 6, 9, and 12, you will train in the 3–5 rep range (strength).
Please read the Overview of men’s weight training programs before you start this program.
Note: This program is also available in my ebook.
Suitability
- Individuals who have completed the Muscle and Strength 2 program
- Anyone who has at least 12 months of consistent weight training experience
Instructions
- Complete the workouts (A, B, C, and D) in the order presented
- The recommend workout schedule is ABXCDXX (where ‘X’ is a rest day). Try not to work out for four days in a row and rest for three days
- The exercises are arranged into pairs as supersets. After you complete one set of the first exercise, perform a set of the second exercise without resting
- During muscle weeks, rest for 1 to 2 minutes before repeating the superset and before moving on to the next superset
- During strength weeks, rest for 2 to 5 minutes before repeating the superset and before moving on to the next superset
- Always use a weight that is heavy enough to make the reps challenging
- Whenever you have to increase the weight, add a maximum of 5 lb (or 2.5 kg) to upper-body exercises or 10 lb (or 5 kg) to lower-body exercises
- Try to master the proper form of each exercise, including proper breathing technique. Also, try to develop a mental connection with your muscles and with the movement patterns
- If you get bored of an exercise, see the Overview of men’s weight training programs for alternatives
- If training at home in the absence of cable machines and other specialized equipment, see below the exercise tables for exercise alternatives
- Don’t forget to warm up before, and stretch after, each workout
- Once you have completed Muscle and Strength 3, you must take a deload week. Only then can you repeat the program or one of the other programs
| Workout A (Upper body and core) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | ||
| Muscle weeks | Strength weeks | ||
| Weeks 1, 4, 7, 10 | Weeks 2, 5, 8, 11 | Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12 | |
| Bent-over barbell row Barbell bench press | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Weighted inverted row with underhand grip Weighted push-up or dumbbell bench press | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Medium-grip lat pull-down Dumbbell one-arm shoulder press | 3 x 9–11 3 x 9–11 | 3 x 6–8 3 x 6–8 | 3 x 3–5 3 x 3–5 |
| Dumbbell curl Overhead barbell triceps extension | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| One-leg front plank | 2 x 60–90 s | 2 x 60–90 s | 2 x 90–120 s |
| s = seconds | |||
| Workout B (Lower body and core) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | ||
| Muscle weeks | Strength weeks | ||
| Weeks 1, 4, 7, 10 | Weeks 2, 5, 8, 11 | Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12 | |
| Barbell squat Dumbbell Romanian deadlift (YT) | 3 x 9–11 3 x 9–11 | 3 x 6–8 3 x 6–8 | 3 x 3–5 3 x 3–5 |
| Dumbbell lunge Bicycle crunch | 2 x 9–11 2 x 20–25 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 25–30 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 30–35 |
| Barbell hip thrust Weighted captain’s chair leg and hip raise | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 6–8 |
| Machine standing calf raise Wheel rollout | 3 x 20–25 3 x 10–15 | 3 x 15–20 3 x 15–20 | 3 x 10–15 3 x 15–20 |
| Workout C (Upper body) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | ||
| Muscle weeks | Strength weeks | ||
| Weeks 1, 4, 7, 10 | Weeks 2, 5, 8, 11 | Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12 | |
| Seated cable row Triceps dip with dumbbell between feet | 3 x 9–11 3 x 9–11 | 3 x 6–8 3 x 6–8 | 3 x 3–5 3 x 3–5 |
| Standing twisting cable row One-arm standing twisting cable chest press (YT) | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Reverse dumbbell fly Dumbbell fly | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Barbell reverse curl Triceps rope push-down | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Cable face pull | 3 x 9–11 | 3 x 6–8 | 3 x 6–8 |
| Workout D (Lower body and core) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | ||
| Muscle weeks | Strength weeks | ||
| Weeks 1, 4, 7, 10 | Weeks 2, 5, 8, 11 | Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12 | |
| Barbell deadlift Decline twisting sit-up | 3 x 9–11 3 x 20–25 | 3 x 6–8 3 x 25–30 | 3 x 3–5 3 x 30–35 |
| Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat Single straight-leg dumbbell deadlift (YT) | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 3–5 2 x 3–5 |
| Leg extension Seated or lying leg curl | 2 x 9–11 2 x 9–11 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 6–8 | 2 x 6–8 2 x 3–5 |
| Machine seated calf raise Hanging straight leg and hip raise | 3 x 20–25 3 x 9–11 | 3 x 15–20 3 x 12–14 | 3 x 10–15 3 x 15–18 |
Alternatives for the cable/machine exercises
- Weighted inverted row — Bent-over barbell row or seated band row (YT)
- Medium-grip lat pull-down — Medium-grip band lat pull-down (YT) or medium-grip pull-up
- Weighted captain’s chair leg and hip raise — Hanging leg and hip raise with dumbbell between feet or lying band leg and hip raise (YT)
- Machine standing calf raise — Standing dumbbell one-leg calf raise or band standing calf raise (YT)
- Wheel rollout — Standing ab walkout (YT) or inch worm (YT)
- Seated cable row — Bent-over dumbbell row, bent-over barbell row, or seated band row (YT)
- Triceps dip — Weighted bench dip (YT)
- Standing twisting cable row — Standing twisting band row (YT) or dumbbell twisting row (YT)
- One-arm standing twisting cable chest press — One-arm standing twisting band chest press (YT) or one-arm hammer-grip dumbbell bench press
- Triceps rope push-down — Triceps band push-down (YT) or barbell skull crusher
- Cable face pull — Band face pull (YT) or dumbbell face pull (YT)
- Leg extension — Weighted sissy squat
- Seated or lying leg curl — Inverse leg curl, one-leg stability ball leg curl (YT), or band leg curl (YT)
- Machine seated calf raise — Barbell seated calf raise (YT)
