The "3-2-1" Method Will Shake Up Your Workout Routine In The Best Way

Whether you go to a gym or open an app at home, it’s surprisingly difficult to come up with a week’s worth of workouts. It’s why you feel like you’re stuck in a rut or always bored two minutes into walking on a treadmill. In moments like this, numbered workouts, like the 3-2-1 method, come to the rescue.

In a viral TikTok, creator @jennaevelynnn explained the 3-2-1 workout by saying it’s three days of strength training, two days of Pilates, and one day of cardio, plus a rest day. For Jenna, that looks like full-body dumbbell workouts, YouTube Pilates videos in her bedroom, and one sweaty interval sesh to get her heart rate up.

This setup provides a handy structure for a full week of exercise, but it’s also beloved for the way it doesn’t burn you out. It reminds you to strength train while simultaneously flipping the script on cardio. If you don’t like running or doing HIIT every day, that’s OK! The 3-2-1 workout is about mixing things up.

Creator @sapphifeels said this approach turned out to be the perfect routine for her goals, while @greer.townsend said she literally swears by it. Under the 3-2-1 workout posts on TikTok, the comments sections always fill up fast with questions, like “What’s your routine?” and “Wait, but what do you actually do?” Here’s what to know.

What Is The “3-2-1” Workout?

According to Heather Andersen, a certified Pilates instructor and founder at New York Pilates, the 3-2-1 trend is an easy way to keep your workouts simple and balanced. Three days of strength, two of Pilates, and one of cardio create a rhythm that helps you get stronger, she tells Bustle, but it also prevents you from doing too much of one thing.

By folding three strength workouts into your week, you’ll build muscle, improve your bone density, and boost your mental health. Add in one day that focuses on cardio, and just like that, you’re improving your endurance and heart health, too.

According to Andersen, the real secret sauce comes from those two Pilates days. “That’s what ties everything together,” she says. “Pilates teaches anatomy, breath, alignment, and core. It’s the foundation that makes every other workout work more effectively.”

Whether you’re doing a Pilates video at home or sliding on a reformer in a studio, this modality also offers greater flexibility, core stability, improved posture, and maximizes your other fitness routines. When you follow it up with a rest day, you’re really doing things right.

“All things need to rest, even you, and especially your body,” Andersen says. “Think of it like baking bread. The bread needs time to rise before it becomes something amazing. Rest is your body’s rise time. It’s when all that hard work starts to cook."

Is This Workout For Everyone?

If you feel drawn to the 3-2-1 method, absolutely give it a try. It isn’t the only way to exercise, but it’s a structure that often feels just right when you’re looking for something well-rounded and easy to remember.

How you exercise is all dependent on your goals. Would this routine be perfect if you were training for a marathon? No. You’d 100% need more cardio. But it’s a nice mix of strength, mobility, and cardio training for others, hence why it’s so viral.

“What matters most is finding something you actually enjoy and can stick with,” Andersen says. “Consistency is key. That’s what really makes the difference!”

What The “3-2-1 Workout” Can Look Like

According to Jill Drummond, VP of fitness at BODYBAR Pilates, you can structure these six workouts however you’d like, but it often helps to alternate the Pilates and strength training days. A sample week might look like:

• Monday — strength training: legs, back, chest
• Tuesday — Pilates
• Wednesday — strength training: shoulders, biceps, triceps
• Wednesday — Pilates
• Friday — strength training: legs, back, glutes
• Saturday — cardio: running, interval walks, swimming, HIIT, rowing
• Sunday — rest: gentle walking, relaxing, stretching

“It is important to consider that not everyone can work out six days a week,” Drummon tells Bustle. If you need to tweak this schedule, take a break, or insert another rest day, that’s 100% OK. You can also play around with the lengths of your workouts.

Maybe you do a 10-minute dumbbell routine in the morning before work. That’s your strength day. Next, you do a 30-minute Pilates video on your lunch break. It doesn’t have to be intense. Meanwhile, others might want to do a hard legs day at the gym, and that’s great, too. The goal is to switch things up — and feel excited about your workouts again.

Sources:

Heather Andersen, certified Pilates instructor, founder at New York Pilates

Jill Drummond, VP of fitness at BODYBAR Pilates