Lower-Back-Friendly Full Body (3 day)

Strength without a bar on your back or heavy pulls from the floor: belt squats, leg presses, hip thrusts, chest-supported rows and machine presses. Trunk work every session. Not treatment: back pain that lingers needs a professional.

  • Beginner
  • 3 days a week
  • About 40 min
  • Full gym
  • Get fit and healthy

All programs

Free in Platesmith. Start this program in the app and it fills in your weights, times your rests and moves the weight up for you. No subscription needed for any program.

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How it progresses

Each exercise has a rep range. Stay at the same weight and add reps until every set reaches the top of the range, then add a little weight and work back up.

The workouts

Every exercise can be swapped in the app for one that works the same muscles, so missing equipment never stops you.

Day A

ExerciseSets × reps
Leg Press3 × 10-12
Plate-Loaded Chest Press3 × 8-12
Chest-Supported Row3 × 10-12
Machine Hip Thrust3 × 10-12
Dead Bug3 × 6-10

Day B

ExerciseSets × reps
Belt Squat3 × 8-12
Lat Pulldown3 × 10-12
Machine Shoulder Press3 × 8-12
Seated Leg Curl3 × 10-12
Bird Dog3 × 8-10

Day C

ExerciseSets × reps
Hack Squat3 × 8-12
Incline Machine Chest Press3 × 8-12
Machine Row3 × 10-12
45-Degree Back Extension2 × 12-15
Pallof Press3 × 10-12
Standing Calf Raise3 × 12-15

Similar programs

General guidance, not medical advice. Start lighter than you think, and check with a doctor first if you have a health condition or injury.