The Three-Way Workout
by Dr. Jim Stoppani PhD
Three-way Workout is a program I designed that takes advantage of the benefits of bands for building muscle power, free weights for building muscle strength, and cables for the continuous tension they provide that can benefit muscle growth. This way you build power, strength and muscle.
Three-way training also takes advantage of the techniques supersets and tri-sets. With a superset you do two exercises back-to-back with no rest in between. With a triset you simply add a third exercise and do them back-to-back-to-back. This bumps up your training intensity to help you burn more calories and spike growth hormone levels higher, which can further help you burn off fat and build muscle.
Do this program for four weeks and then switch over to one of my other training programs that uses straight sets, such as the Micro Muscle program or many of my other programs. For those with less than one year of consistent weight training experience, start with 2 trisets and as you progress move up to the full 3.
Workout 1: Chest and Triceps
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Bench Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Bench Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Incline Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Incline Bench Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Incline Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Crossover 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Decline Dumbbell Flye 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Crossover 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Pressdown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Kickback 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Pressdown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Overhead Triceps Extension 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Workout #2: Legs and Calves
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Barbell Squat 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Squat 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Reverse Lunge 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band One-Leg Leg Press 3 5-8 -
Superset with
One-Leg Leg Press 3 6-8 -
Band One-Leg Leg Extension 3 5-8 -
superset with
Leg Extension 3 12-15 1-2 min.
Band Romanian Deadlift 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Romanian Deadlift 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Romanian Deadlift 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Leg Curl 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Leg Curl 3 12-15 1-2 min.
Band Standing Calf Raise 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Standing Calf Raise 3 12-15 1 min.
Band Seated Calf Raise 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Seated Calf Raise 3 12-15 1 min.
Workout #3: Shoulders, Traps, Abs
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Shoulder Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Shoulder Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Lateral Raise 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Lateral Raise 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Rear Delt Band Pull 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Lying Cable Rear Delt Flye 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Barbell Band Shrug 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Shrug 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Shrug 3 8-12 1 min.
Band Hanging Leg Raise 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Hanging Leg Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Reverse Crunch 3 12-15 1 min.
Standing Band Crunch 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Weighted Crunch 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Crunch 3 12-15 1 min.
Workout 4: Back and Biceps
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Pulldown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Pull-up 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Pulldown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Standing Band Row 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Bent-over row 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Seated Cable Row 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Straight Arm-Pulldown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Straight-Arm Pullback 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Straight-Arm Pulldown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Curl 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Curl 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Curl 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Behind-the-back Curl 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Behind-the-back Cable Curl 3 8-12 1-2 min.
by Dr. Jim Stoppani PhD
Three-way Workout is a program I designed that takes advantage of the benefits of bands for building muscle power, free weights for building muscle strength, and cables for the continuous tension they provide that can benefit muscle growth. This way you build power, strength and muscle.
Three-way training also takes advantage of the techniques supersets and tri-sets. With a superset you do two exercises back-to-back with no rest in between. With a triset you simply add a third exercise and do them back-to-back-to-back. This bumps up your training intensity to help you burn more calories and spike growth hormone levels higher, which can further help you burn off fat and build muscle.
Do this program for four weeks and then switch over to one of my other training programs that uses straight sets, such as the Micro Muscle program or many of my other programs. For those with less than one year of consistent weight training experience, start with 2 trisets and as you progress move up to the full 3.
Workout 1: Chest and Triceps
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Bench Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Bench Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Incline Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Incline Bench Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Incline Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Crossover 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Decline Dumbbell Flye 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Crossover 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Pressdown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Kickback 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Pressdown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Overhead Triceps Extension 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Workout #2: Legs and Calves
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Barbell Squat 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Squat 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Reverse Lunge 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band One-Leg Leg Press 3 5-8 -
Superset with
One-Leg Leg Press 3 6-8 -
Band One-Leg Leg Extension 3 5-8 -
superset with
Leg Extension 3 12-15 1-2 min.
Band Romanian Deadlift 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Romanian Deadlift 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Romanian Deadlift 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Leg Curl 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Leg Curl 3 12-15 1-2 min.
Band Standing Calf Raise 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Standing Calf Raise 3 12-15 1 min.
Band Seated Calf Raise 3 5-8 -
Superset with
Seated Calf Raise 3 12-15 1 min.
Workout #3: Shoulders, Traps, Abs
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Shoulder Press 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Shoulder Press 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Lateral Raise 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Lateral Raise 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Rear Delt Band Pull 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Lying Cable Rear Delt Flye 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Barbell Band Shrug 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Dumbbell Shrug 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Shrug 3 8-12 1 min.
Band Hanging Leg Raise 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Hanging Leg Raise 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Reverse Crunch 3 12-15 1 min.
Standing Band Crunch 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Weighted Crunch 3 8-10 -
Triset with
Cable Crunch 3 12-15 1 min.
Workout 4: Back and Biceps
Exercise Sets Reps Rest
Band Pulldown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Pull-up 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Pulldown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Standing Band Row 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Bent-over row 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Seated Cable Row 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Straight Arm-Pulldown 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Straight-Arm Pullback 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Straight-Arm Pulldown 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Curl 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Barbell Curl 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Cable Curl 3 8-12 1-2 min.
Band Behind-the-back Curl 3 5-8 -
Triset with
Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 6-8 -
Triset with
Behind-the-back Cable Curl 3 8-12 1-2 min.
