A Simple Workout Plan You Can Follow Every Week

You want to start training, or start again, and you want a plan you can follow without studying it. Here's the simple workout plan I start people on. It fits a busy week, works at home or in a gym, and keeps working when a week goes sideways.

The simple workout plan: three days, three movements

Every day covers the same three jobs: your legs, a push, a pull. Pick the version of each movement that fits your space and your equipment. A chair, a table and a pair of dumbbells are enough.

Those three jobs are the movements of a normal day: standing up from a chair, pushing a heavy door, pulling a bag off the floor. Train them three times a week, and you're training for the life you live.

Three movements, three sets each. You're done in under an hour, often in thirty minutes. Put a day off between sessions, and keep the order: A, B, C, then A again.

How the plan grows

Progress here follows one rule you can apply on any day:

1. Start each movement at a weight or version where you can do 10 good reps.
2. Each session, try to add a rep to each set.
3. When all three sets reach 15, add a little weight, or move to the next version (from push-ups against a table to push-ups on the floor). Drop back to 10 reps and build again.
4. On a day you can't add a rep, repeat last session's numbers. That counts.

That's the whole system. Over the weeks, the numbers in your log climb. That climb is the strength you're building.

When the week goes sideways

Miss a session? Do the next one on the list when you can. There's no restarting and no making up for it. A missed workout is part of the plan.

Traveling with no dumbbells? Use the bodyweight versions. Thirty minutes turns into fifteen? Do two sets of each. The plan bends to the week, so it keeps going.

What to track

Two things: did you do the session, and did you add a rep or some weight. Those two answers tell us what to change next. Keep tracking that simple, and you'll keep doing it.

After a few months on this plan, it'll be time to update it. Here's how I decide when and what to change.

Common questions

How long should each session take?

Thirty to forty-five minutes covers three movements at three sets each, with rest between sets.

How long should I rest between sets?

About a minute, or until your breathing settles and you can do the next set with good form.

Which days should I train?

Any three with a day off between them. Monday, Wednesday, Friday works. So does Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.

Can I add cardio?

Yes. Walk, ride or swim on the days between sessions. Day C is there for that too. Pick the one you enjoy, and it becomes part of the week.

What if a movement hurts?

Stop that movement and see a doctor or a physical therapist about it. Tell me what you've been cleared to do, and I swap it for one that fits.

What to do this week

1. Pick your three days and put them in your calendar.
2. Choose your version of each movement for Day A and Day B.
3. Do Day A, and write down the reps for every set.

Two days on, do Day B. You've started.