3-Day Gym Muscle Building Plan for Beginners

A week for a beginner in the gym who wants to build muscle: 3 workouts of 60 minutes (Mon full body, Wed full body, Fri full body).

Goal: Muscle gain
Days per week: 3 days
Minutes per workout: 60 minutes
Split: Full body
Level: Beginner
Where: Gym

Monday — full body

≈ 58 min

Warm-up 4 exercises

Seated Pelvic Tilt (Anterior / Posterior)
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Arm Circles
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Kneeling Thoracic Rotation
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Rock
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

Main work

Front Squat
3 × 8 rest 2.5 min RPE 7
Push-Up Wide
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Hammer Strength High Row
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Push Up
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Row
2 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Barbell Rear Delt Row
4 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Dumbbell Single Arm Neutral Overhead Press
3 × 12 rest 60 s

Cool-down 4 exercises

Kneeling Hip-Flexor Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Seated Wrist Flexor Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Overhead Lat Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

Wednesday — full body

≈ 63 min

Warm-up 4 exercises

90/90 Hip Switches
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Seated Pelvic Tilt (Anterior / Posterior)
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Arm Circles
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Standing Wall Shoulder Opening Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

Main work

Barbell Power Snatch
6 × 8 rest 2.5 min RPE 7
Arnold Press
5 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Single-Arm Lat Pulldown
2 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Cable Standing Single Arm Chest Press
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Chest-Supported T-Bar Row
2 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Reverse Pec Deck
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5

Cool-down 4 exercises

Pigeon Glute Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Doorway Chest Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Kneeling Hip-Flexor Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Rock
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

Friday — full body

≈ 60 min

Warm-up 4 exercises

Hip Circles
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Seated Pelvic Tilt (Anterior / Posterior)
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
90/90 Hip Switches
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Rock
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

Main work

Barbell Lunge
3 × 8 rest 2.5 min RPE 7
Machine Chest Press
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Machine Underhand Row
6 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Incline Push-Up Close-Grip
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5
Hang Power Clean
3 × 10 rest 90 s RPE 7.5

Cool-down 4 exercises

Kneeling Hip-Flexor Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Seated Wrist Flexor Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Pigeon Glute Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s
Overhead Lat Stretch
2 × 15 s rest 15 s

RPE is how hard a set feels on a 1–10 scale: at RPE 7 you have about three more reps left.

This is a sample week the Workoutify generator built for this questionnaire. For your own days, time and equipment it will build yours. Built on October 25, 2026

Why it is built this way

Every workout trains the whole body: on 2–3 days a week each muscle gets worked more often than with a body-part split.
Reps: 5–20. The day's main lift sits near the bottom of the range, compounds at 8–12, isolation up to 20. Muscle grows from tension and sets taken close to failure.
Rest on the day's main lift is at least 2.5 min, so the next set goes with the same weight. Accessory exercises get shorter rest.
Effort is set on the RPE scale from 1 to 10. RPE 7–7.5 means roughly 2–3 reps left in reserve: you choose the weight by that feel, not by a percentage of your max.
For beginners the weeks follow a linear scheme: sets, reps and effort stay the same week to week. Technique and the habit come first.