Y3T Workout & Training Program – UPDATED 2022 – A Complete Guide

If you have not heard of the Y3T workout or training plan, you need to. Similar to hell week, the Y3T workout pushes your body to the limits, especially during week 3. So, if you are looking for a workout plan that can produce the results, Yoda 3 training is one of those things.

However, it is a brutally hard workout plan to follow. As Y3T training (Yoda 3 Training) focuses on high repetition exercises. Which provides more intense hypertrophy (increase and growth of muscle cells).

So if you want to learn more about the Y3T workout and Yoda 3 training, keep reading. Because in this article we discuss:

What Is Yoda 3 Training?
Y3T Workout
Y3T Training Program
Y3T Bodybuilding
Y3T Workout Routine

So, let’s get started…

What Is Yoda 3 Training?

Yoda 3 training or commonly known as Y3T, is a 9-week training plan. This training plan focuses on three blocks of three weeks.

The training during these nine weeks focuses on progressing from low-rep workouts to a high weight which is done to complete failure.

The Yoda 3 method was developed by famous bodybuilder Neil Hill. When he first started to get injuries from heavy lifting, he decided to adapt his training style. By doing so, he could work through the pain, however still progressed.

He found that by reducing the weight and increasing the number of reps, he reduced the strain on his joints and connective tissue.

The training plan focuses on a 3-dimensional program. That means in each 3-week block, the focus changes slightly.

After the end of week three, you end up repeating weeks 1,2, and 3. This ends up giving you a total of 9 weeks of training.

After the 9 weeks have finished Neil recommends having between 5-7 days off from training. This allows you to recover fully from the 9 weeks, and allow the muscles to grow and strengthen from the work put in.

This type of training (Y3T) focuses on promoting the growth of lean and dense muscle. This is because it works not only your fast and slow-twitch muscle fibers but also helps to stretch connective tissue fibers, that wrap around the muscles.

The main reason behind the Y3T workout plan is to reduce the chances of injury. It does this by reducing the amount of stress placed on the joints.

However, you will still get the benefit of heavy lifting, as it is incorporated into the workout plan once every 3 weeks, rather than every other day, which ends up wearing down the body.

Y3T Workout – A Complete Guide

If you haven’t noticed yet, the Y3T workout stands for Yoda 3 training. The principle behind this new way to train is to prevent your muscles from adapting to the training you are doing. This is done by rotating the training over a 3-week block, before repeating it (for a total of 3 times).

Below is a breakdown of how the Y3T workout progresses:

Week one

Week one covers heavy, basic compound movements. This is only 2-3 sets of 6-8 repetitions. All the below workouts should be done with a heavyweight.

Back & Biceps
Rack Pulls 2-3 × 6-8 reps
T-bar Rows 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Wide Grip Pull-ups 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Bent-over Barbell Rows 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Hammer Strength Chin-ups 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Standing Barbell Curls 2-3 × 6-8 reps

Chest & Triceps
Flat Barbell Bench Press 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Parallel Bar Dips 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Lying EZ-bar Extensions 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Bench Dips 2-3 × 6-8 reps

Shoulders
Seated Barbell Military Press 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Upright Rows 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Side Dumbbell Lateral Raises 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Seated Dumbbell Press 2-3 × 6-8 reps

Legs
Barbell Squats 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Barbell Walking Lunge 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Front Barbell Squats 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Romanian Deadlifts 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Lying Leg Curls 2-3 × 6-8 reps
Squat Hold Calf Raises 2-3 × 6-8 reps

Week two

Week two moves into isolation movements. It is then when you start to increase the repetition range from 6-8 up to 8-12 reps.

Back & Biceps
Wide Grip T-bar Rows 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Yates Rows 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Rows 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Seated Cable Rows 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Wide Grip Front Lat Pull-downs 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Standing EZ-bar Curls 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls 2-3 × 8-12 reps

Chest & Triceps
Flat Dumbbell Flyes 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Decline Dumbbell Press 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Hammer Grip Flat Dumbbell Press 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Close Grip Push Downs 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Diamond Pus-ups 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Extensions 2-3 × 8-12 reps

Shoulders
Arnold Press 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Front Dumbbell Lateral Raises 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Lying Rear Delt Raises 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Reverse Flyes 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Front Dumbbell Raises 2-3 × 8-12 reps

Legs
Smith Machine Squats 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Leg Press 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Barbell Hack Squats 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Deadlifts 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Standing Leg Curls 2-3 × 8-12 reps
Standing Calf Raises 2-3 × 8-12 reps

All of the workouts above should be done with a moderate weight.

Week 3

Week three is the most intense and biggest workout of the 3-week block. This week is often called the “Total Annihilation Week” because you vary your technique and movements to exhaust the muscles in a shorter amount of time than the other weeks. You also eliminate rest between sets, which makes it even more difficult to complete.

Back & Biceps
Incline Dumbbell Rows 2×20+ reps
Seated Machine Rows 2×20+ reps
Straight Arm Pull-downs 2×20+ reps
Standing Cable Rows 2×20+ reps
Close Reverse Grip Pull-downs 2×20+ reps
Standing Cable Curls 2×20+ reps
Dumbbell Concentrations 2×20+ reps

Chest & Triceps
Pec Dec Flyes 2×20+ reps
Machine Chest Press 2×20+ reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes 2×20+ reps
Single Arm Reverse Grip Push Downs 2×20+ reps
Close Grip Bench Presses 2×20+ reps
Seated Cable Rope Extensions 2×20+ reps

Shoulders
Single Arm Rear Lateral Cable Raises 2×20+ reps
Machine Rear Delt Flye 2×20+ reps
Machine Shoulder Press 2×20+ reps
Dumbbell Shrugs 2×20+ reps
Smith Machine Shrugs 2×20+ reps

Legs
Leg Extensions 2×20+ reps
Hack Squats 2×20+ reps
Leg Press 2×20+ reps
Seated Leg Curls2×20+ reps
Smith Machine Deadlifts 2×20+ reps
Seated Calf Raises 2×20+ reps

After week four you rotate back to week one and this is where you start the 2nd block of three.

Y3T Training Program – What You Should Know?

It is important to know there are some variations of the Y3T training program. One of the variations seen is the increase in repetitions across each block of training as seen below

Week one
Instead of 2-3 sets of 6-8 repetitions, this variation follows a protocol of 6-10 reps.

Week two
Week two moves to 12-16 reps instead of 8-12 repetitions.

Week three
the final week of each block increases rapidly with this variation. Instead of 20-30 repetitions, is rapidly increased to anything you can handle above 30 reps.

It is important across all three weeks exercises are varied. That means even though you should focus on the

Y3T Bodybuilding – Getting Started

The Y3t Bodybuilding method follows the same protocol as what we have explained in the article. Even though there are some variations, they all follow the same 3-week block structure.

It is important to know before getting into the Y3T workout routine, that you have some experience with lifting behind you. Because of the high repetition and variation in exercises, it is not recommended for a beginner.

However, if you are a beginner you can limit the number of exercises you do over the 5 days, to exercises that you know. Then follow the same 3-week structure. Alternatively speak with a personal trainer, as they can help guide you through many of these exercises and variations.