Build Muscle
Full-Body Foundations
Three full-body sessions a week, built for somebody in their first year of lifting.
- Days a week
- 3
- A session
- 62 min
- Sessions in it
- 3
- Split
- Full Body (3×/Week), Linear Progression
How it runs
Each day rotates the tool rather than the body part — Day A is barbell-led, Day B is machine-led, Day C is dumbbell-led — so every major muscle is trained three times a week and you get three different ways of practising the same patterns.
What you actually train
3 sessions, in order. Every movement links to how to do it.
Full Body A (Barbell)
8 movements
- Barbell Back Squat4 sets of 7 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Barbell Bench Press4 sets of 8 reps
- Seated Cable Row4 sets of 10 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Romanian Deadlift4 sets of 10 reps
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press3 sets of 10 reps
Circuit — straight through, then rest
- Standing Calf Raise4 sets of 12 reps
- Barbell Curl3 sets of 10 reps
- Plank3 rounds of 45 seconds
Full Body B (Machine)
8 movements
- Leg Press4 sets of 12 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Lat Pulldown (Wide Grip)4 sets of 10 reps
- Machine Chest Press4 sets of 10 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Lying Leg Curl (Machine)4 sets of 12 reps
- Face Pull4 sets of 16 reps
Circuit — straight through, then rest
- Seated Calf Raise4 sets of 13 reps
- Triceps Rope Pushdown3 sets of 12 reps
- Captain's Chair Knee Raise3 sets of 12 reps
Full Body C (Dumbbell)
8 movements
- Goblet Squat4 sets of 11 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- One-Arm Dumbbell Row4 sets of 20 reps
- Dumbbell Bench Press4 sets of 10 reps
Superset — no rest between these
- Dumbbell Hip Thrust4 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise3 sets of 14 reps
Circuit — straight through, then rest
- Single-Leg Calf Raise3 sets of 24 reps
- Hammer Curl3 sets of 12 reps
- Dead Bug4 sets of 16 reps
Why it works
- Three exposures a week is the fastest way to learn a lift, and learning the lifts is what the first year is actually for.
- Ten to twelve hard sets per muscle — the lower end of the useful range, which is the right end while the technique is still new.
- Load goes up before reps do: add the smallest increment every session for as long as you can still hit the bottom of the range. A beginner adds weight faster than they run out of reps.
- Three different tools mean a missing machine or a busy rack never costs you the session.
- Every set carries an effort target of two to three reps in reserve, so nothing here asks you to train to failure while you are still learning.
Warm up with two or three ramping sets of the first lift rather than anything separate. The four days you are not training are part of the programme: easy cardio and walking sit alongside this well, a second lifting programme does not.
What to expect
Expect the first month to feel like learning the lifts rather than chasing numbers, and expect the session to take about an hour once the rest periods are honoured.
Before you start
Before you start, please read this part. Lifting is among the safest and most useful things most people can do, and there is a short list of exceptions worth checking yourself against first.
If you have a heart or lung condition, chest pain or pressure at rest or on effort, dizziness or blackouts, blood pressure or diabetes that is not currently controlled, a hernia, low bone density or osteoporosis, a joint or back problem that is flaring, or you are pregnant or within a year of giving birth, speak to your GP or a physiotherapist before starting and follow their instruction over anything written here.
Stop the set and get advice for chest pain or tightness, breathlessness out of proportion to the effort, dizziness, or a sudden sharp pain in a joint or the back.
Stop it as well for pain, numbness, pins and needles or weakness that travels down an arm or a leg, and get that seen before you load the pattern again.
Spend the first fortnight at the bottom of every rep range with a load that feels easy, and learn each movement before you load it.
If you are benching or squatting alone, use a rack with the safety pins set — or on Day A swap the barbell bench press for the machine chest press and the barbell back squat for the leg press, which are the same two patterns you already do on Day B, until you have somebody to spot you.
Nothing here is medical advice.
What you need
- Barbell
- Dumbbell
- Machine
- Cable Machine
- Bench