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This 3-day dumbbell workout plan is a TIME SAVER for those with hectic schedules.

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Intro: 3-day dumbbell workout plan

You don’t need an expensive gym membership with this workout.

And you can skip that long commute you don’t even want to make ¾ of the time too.

All you need are a pair of dumbbells, some floorspace, and a ready-to-work attitude.

Combine your strength training plan with:

Counting calories.  

Consuming enough protein.

Plenty of daily movement.

And now you’re really in business from an “achieve your dream body” perspective.

Here are a few “rules” or workout guidelines to follow:

• Take advantage of progressive overload: Not applying progressive overload during your  workouts would be like trying to run uphill with cinderblocks tied around your ankles. You won’t get very far up that hill and you won’t see results without progressive overload. Progressive overload simply means gradually lifting heavier and heavier weights over time. It’s the stimulus your body needs to build muscle and keep getting you results.

• Challenge yourself during your workouts: Your workout intensity should be high and you should be giving maximum effort. What does maximum effort mean? It means pushing 1-2 reps shy of failure on your sets. I like to think of things like this: You’re standing on one side of a bridge (point A). On the other side is all the progress you want to achieve strength training-wise (point B). The bridge that gets you across from point A to point B is the act of challenging yourself during your workouts.

• Don’t be an ego lifter: Lifting heavy does you no good if your form sucks! Choose a weight you can perform all reps with proper form. You’ll be able to target the muscles you should and avoid injury. Don’t get me wrong, the weight you go with should challenge you. But if it makes you sacrifice your form, it’s too heavy and you need to scale things back a little bit.

• Stay consistent: You won’t feel all motivated and excited to workout out every single day of your life. Nobody does. But if you want to see results, guess what you have to do? Stay the course and remain consistent even when you don’t feel like it. Does that mean you’re going to be 100% perfect? Absolutely not. The cool thing though is that being perfect doesn’t drive results. Being consistent does.

How your workout plan is split up

For this 3-day workout plan you’ll have a lower body day, upper body day, and then a full body day.

So your week could look something like this (You don’t have to choose the same exact days):

• Monday: Lower body workout
• Wednesday: Upper body workout
• Friday: Full body workout

Two things about your workout schedule:

1.) Don’t workout three days in a row.

2.) Have at least one day of rest before doing your total body workout for the week. For example, let’s say your total body workout is on Thursday. You would have to take (at the very least) Wednesday as a rest day. That’s the minimum.

3-day dumbbell workout plan

Your workout plan is as follows:

Lower body workout:

• 1.) 3-second negative front squat: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• 2A.) Reverse lunges: 3 sets x 8-10 reps 
• 2B.) Romanian deadlift (RDLs): 3 sets x 8-10 reps
• 3.) Weighted glute bridge (each leg): 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Upper body workout:

• 1A.) Back row: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
• 2B.) Push-ups: 3 sets x 10-15 reps: If this is too easy, go for 3 sets x AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
• 2.) Kneeling half rep into full shoulder press 3 sets x 8-10 reps
• 3.) Zottman curl: 2 sets x 10-12 reps
• 4.) Overhead tricep extension: 2 sets x 10-12 reps

Full body workout:

• 1A.) Pause goblet squat: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• 1B.) Floor press 3 x 8-10 reps
• 2.) Forward lunges 3 sets x 8-10 reps each leg
• 3.) Singe arm row (each arm) 2 sets x 10-12 reps
• 4.) Kneeling Arnold Press 2 sets x 10-12 reps

Take 2-3 minutes of rest between each set. This is just a general guideline so if you need more rest to attack your next set with a high intensity, please take it! 🙏🏾

*** If you see a number followed by a letter (I.e. 1A and 1B or 2A and 2B) this is what’s called a “superset.” A superset means performing a set of each exercise before taking a rest. For example, in your lower body workout, you would perform a set of reverse lunges and then would immediately go into a set of RDLs. Once you’re done with a set of both exercises, you then rest. ***

Lower body workout

1.) 3-second negative front squat

Rather than just go down up, down up as fast as you can, you’re taking 3-4 seconds to lower yourself down (eccentric part of the lift), then coming back up.

Really fight against gravity on the way down before pressing back up.

This places greater tension on your muscles, which is a good thing.

2A.) Reverse lunges

Here are a few things to know about reverse lunges:

• A further step back = hitting more glutes.
• A lot of people struggle with their balance when performing lunges. Here’s what I want you to do: Don’t think, “I should be stepping straight back.” Think…“Step back and out a little to the side.” This will give you a wider base to make balancing a lot easier. 
• It’s okay to have a slight lean forward, just make sure you’re keeping your spine neutral (not rounding your back).  

2B.) Romanian deadlift (RDLs)

Here are some RDL cues to follow:

• Keep your spine neutral and make sure you’re not rounding your back.
• Rather than drop the weights straight down, I want you to pretend you’re trying to shut a door behind you with your butt.
• Don’t have the weight so far out in front of you away from your body. Tilt out at around a 30-degree angle and guide it down your legs.
• You don’t have to go down anywhere near close to the ground. Once you feel a little stretch in your hammies/glutes, return to the starting position. 
• The straighter you keep your legs, the more hamstrings you’ll work. And while these shouldn’t end up being a squat, having more bend in your knees will target your glutes more.

3.) Weighted glute bridge

Focus on really squeezing those glutes at the top of the movement while making sure not to overextend your back.

At the top of the movement, you should be able to draw a straight line from your shoulders all the way up to your knees.

Upper body workout

1A.) Back row

Hinge at the hips, keep your spine neutral (don’t round your back), and pull with your elbows as you bring the weight up. 

To help you pull with your elbows, think of your hands as just hooks for the weight. 

1B.) Push-ups

Here are some cues to follow when performing push-ups:

• Make sure you’re not sticking your butt up in the air (I.e. keep your spine neutral)
• Brace your core by pretending someone’s about to punch you in the gut. Also, pretend you’re trying to hold a piece of paper between your butt cheeks. 
• Hand placement: Roughly shoulder width apart or just a little outside that. 
• Your wrists should be directly below your shoulders.

If you’re unable to perform traditional push-ups from the ground right now, no need to worry. 

I have have two things that will help you build up to that:

1.) Download this guide:

2.) Here are some alternate variations you can do that will help you build up the strength to do traditional push-ups from floor:

Wall push-ups

2.) Kneeling half rep into full shoulder press

The half rep added in there results in greater muscle tension, which, again, helps you target your muscles more effectively. 

Make sure your core is tight.

A tight core will help prevent you from arching your back, which is something we don’t want.

3.) Zottman curl

You’re going to curl the weight up like a traditional bicep curl, reverse the weight so that your palms are facing away from you, and then slowly lower the weight down.

To prevent swinging and using any momentum (plus, to make your biceps work more), consider doing these up against the wall.

4.) Overhead tricep extension

Do not arch your back!

Keeping a tight core will help with this.

Also, don’t just come halfway down when performing the exercise.

Reeeeally get that stretch at the bottom of the movement.

Full body workout

1A.) Pause goblet squat

Once you get to the bottom of the movement pause for a second then come back up.

That pause at the bottom makes the exercise more challenging and demands more out of your muscles, which will help them grow.

1B.) Floor press

Make sure not to flare your elbows straight out to your sides at a 90-degree angle. They should be at roughly a 30 to 45 degree angle.

As you press up I want you to pretend you’re trying to touch your elbows at the top of the movement (This will help you achieve a better muscle contraction).

2.) Forward lunges

Here are a few things of note about forward lunges

• Instead of stepping straight forward, step forward and a little out to the side.  
• Smaller lunge steps = hitting more quads.
• Larger lunge steps = hitting more glutes.

3.) Single-arm row

Place your hand without the dumbbell on your leg. 

Lean forward (making sure not to round your back) and as your pull the weight up, think of your hands as just hooks.

You should be pulling with your elbows.

4.) Kneeling Arnold press

Normally, shoulder press hits mainly the front of your shoulders.

But with Arnold press, because of the movement of your wrists and arms, you activate all three parts of your shoulder: Front, lateral, and rear.  

I know I’m probably a broken record at this point but make sure to brace your core.

Because, again, it’ll help eliminate that low back arch.

If you find yourself still arching your back, that’s an indication you need a lighter weight.

12-week dumbbell workout program

Eventually, you’ll outgrow this 3-day plan. So if you want more workouts similar to the ones in this article go ahead and snag yourself a copy of my free 12-week dumbbell workout program.