How to build your first training plan: three sessions a week

A ready-made plan for your first three months, with exact exercises, sets and one clear rule for when to add weight. No apps, no paid programs.

The best plan for a beginner is not the most complicated one — it is the one you will still be doing in three months. Here is that plan: three sessions a week, full body, 45 minutes.

Why full body instead of "chest day"

Splitting training by muscle group (chest–back–legs–arms) makes sense when you train five times a week and already know the movements. A beginner needs every exercise to come up often, because technique is learned through repetition. Squatting three times a week instead of once gives you three times the practice in the same month.

Workout A / Workout B

Alternate two workouts: A – B – A one week, then B – A – B the next. Leave at least one rest day between sessions (for example Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Workout A

Squat (machine, barbell or dumbbell goblet) — 3 × 8
Bench press or chest press machine — 3 × 8
Cable row or machine row — 3 × 10
Calf raise — 2 × 12
Plank — 3 × 25 seconds

Workout B

Dumbbell Romanian deadlift — 3 × 8
Overhead press (dumbbells or machine) — 3 × 8
Assisted pull-up or lat pulldown — 3 × 10
Leg press — 2 × 12
Leg raises or dead bug — 3 × 10

Warm-up: 5 easy minutes of cardio plus one light set of the first exercise. Rest: 90 seconds.

The rule for adding weight

This is the part of the plan that actually creates progress, so remember it:

When you hit the top rep number on all three sets and the last set does not feel hard, add the smallest possible increment next session (2.5 kg on the bar, one notch on a machine). If you cannot, stay at the same weight.

Progress does not mean lifting more every single session. Progress means lifting considerably more in three months than you do today — and that comes from many small steps and from not skipping sessions.

How many reps and sets

For the first three months, 8–12 reps is the safest zone: heavy enough to make the muscle work, light enough to keep your technique clean. A total of 10–14 sets per session is plenty. More sets does not mean faster progress, it means longer recovery.

What if you miss a week

Nothing collapses. Go back to the weight you used before the break, do one rep less per set, and within two weeks you are back where you were. People rarely lose progress because of one break — they lose it because after the break they quit, thinking they have ruined everything.

When to change the plan

When you cannot add a single rep or a single kilo for three weeks in a row — that is when you change something. Until then, leave the plan alone. The most common beginner mistake is switching programs every other week, so the body never gets the chance to adapt to anything.

The short version

Three sessions a week, alternating A and B.
Five exercises per session, 8–12 reps.
Add weight when the last set was not hard.
Write down every set — without that you cannot tell whether you are progressing.
Do not change the plan before 12 weeks.