Full body 3x a week enough to gain?

Well I'll answer here so I can be more robust with my information.

The short answer is yes. At least, speaking for myself, yes.

I started with a four day split routine and realized it was too much. I wasn't getting proper rest and recovery. I switched to three days and sometimes even two days and saw much more progress that way. I have definitely added mass and strength and that's with what is basically a three day, three hours per week routine.

However I personally think that you have to figure out what your mind and body responds to. If you weren't motivated to do it, you won't do it. If it isn't something you enjoy doing, you won't do it. I experiment quite a bit with different things because I'm trying to figure out what is optimal for me.

I think it's quite possible that it's less important what your actual workout routine is, and whether or not you're getting adequate rest and nutrition. As long as the lifting routine is done with smart effort, and you keep doing it with some consistency and you enjoy it then it's probably a good workout. Gains will be made.

So I've personally responded better to 3 days of compounds than anything else. Mass and strength both heading in the right direction. Definitely put me down in the yes column. But if you like a 4-5 day isolation split and that works for you I think there are plenty of people out there who prove they have done well with that.

Three times a week full body will probably get you better results than a bro split.
In a typical bro split you are only really hitting each muscle group hard once per week, which means for the other six days it's not really getting much encouragement to grow. Full body three times a week, on the other hand, means that as soon as a muscle is recovered you are hitting it again (if your workout is good).
If you aren't gaining muscle it is probably down to your calories. Your body may burn off around 2200 calories per day without exercise, but if you are working out 5 times per week then you'll be burning off a few hundred more than that per day, and then you'll need 200-300 more on top of that to build muscle.
Weigh yourself regularly, and if you're gaining about 0.5lbs every couple of weeks then you are all good. If not, increase your caloric intake by 100, and keep doing so every week or two until you start to see the weight increase that you want.

Well I'll answer here so I can be more robust with my information.

The short answer is yes. At least, speaking for myself, yes.

I started with a four day split routine and realized it was too much. I wasn't getting proper rest and recovery. I switched to three days and sometimes even two days and saw much more progress that way. I have definitely added mass and strength and that's with what is basically a three day, three hours per week routine.

However I personally think that you have to figure out what your mind and body responds to. If you weren't motivated to do it, you won't do it. If it isn't something you enjoy doing, you won't do it. I experiment quite a bit with different things because I'm trying to figure out what is optimal for me.

I think it's quite possible that it's less important what your actual workout routine is, and whether or not you're getting adequate rest and nutrition. As long as the lifting routine is done with smart effort, and you keep doing it with some consistency and you enjoy it then it's probably a good workout. Gains will be made.

So I've personally responded better to 3 days of compounds than anything else. Mass and strength both heading in the right direction. Definitely put me down in the yes column. But if you like a 4-5 day isolation split and that works for you I think there are plenty of people out there who prove they have done well with that.

I agree with the above, if you can lift heavier weights overtime and eat a little more then you should gain muscle.

Weight lifting is a very personal thing as what suits one person will not work for another.

I doubt the cardio will hinder muscle growth, I know a few body builders and they all do cardio and have

very good physiques, personally I do interval training for cardio and I know that does not hinder muscle

growth for myself.

Well I don't really speak out of my own experience. But my ex-boyfriend had a pretty good system.
Never take more then 2 days of in a row because you actually will lose the gained mussle already. (which means you can take the weekend of if you worked out on a friday and start Monday again but not more)
And he always took after every workout some extra protein. I mean you can actually buy 100 % whey protein powder or you can just eat a lot of chicken and milk etc.... Because protein helps repair and build mussle.
Anyhow I am sure you probably already knew all of this.... but just in case.
Good luck and don't go to extreme's :-D

Bumpity bump.

It's what works for you, no one else can REALLY say no it's not enough or yes it is.. Stick with it for a few weeks (6-8) and then measure progress from there..

ETA:

What are your stats? Weight, age, height, and (bodyfat if you know it accurately).

After you provide this info for me I can help you more in depth..

Age: 39
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165 lbs
Body fat: 17% (info gathered using a tape measure)

Thanks for the above replies, folks. To be honest, I LOVE full body workouts. I find bro-splits a bit boring along with only hitting the muscle once a week.

You'll be able to eat anywhere between 2500 and 2650 calories.. The split of carbs/protein/fats is up to you.. I'd personally keep carbs at around 300g, protein 170-190g and fats 70-75g... This all is dependant on what works best for you, what your body needs and what gives you the most benefit..

These amounts are put into consideration that you're training 5 days a week (3 full body workouts and 2 days cardio/running)

If you need anymore info or anything just ask ... I can't think of anything off hand that i may have missed out..

Full body routines are fine. I was on a bro split and got bored of it. Couldn't hit each muscle group as often as I wanted.

I second the motion - what ever works for you!
Give it a shot - assess results over a couple of months and change if need be.

I would personally loose weight with a full x 3+ cardio x 2 but then again... that's me.

Calories wise 2500 for your stats and workouts is @ maintenance.
Depends on your goals and your perception of fat... increase a bit to help in your gains but manage your expectations - you might gain fat too!

Thanks. I'm fully prepared for fat gain along with muscle, though I want to gain steadily in order to minimise the fat.

You say that at my stats 2500 is maintenance? MFP has me down at 2260 a day with the aim of gaining 0.5lbs a week!

I personally don't use mfp for calculations. I have the formulas - keyed in your stats and got a result of approx 2500 calories per day.
Anyway - start where ever you are and add gradually to it on a weekly / bi-weekly basis.
Track weight and bf% to ensure you are not going overboard with the calories. When you stabilize on growth and fat increase it means you have hit your target. It is a trial and error - might take you a bit but you will get there eventually!

I second the motion - what ever works for you!
Give it a shot - assess results over a couple of months and change if need be.

I would personally loose weight with a full x 3+ cardio x 2 but then again... that's me.

Calories wise 2500 for your stats and workouts is @ maintenance.
Depends on your goals and your perception of fat... increase a bit to help in your gains but manage your expectations - you might gain fat too!

Thanks. I'm fully prepared for fat gain along with muscle, though I want to gain steadily in order to minimise the fat.

You say that at my stats 2500 is maintenance? MFP has me down at 2260 a day with the aim of gaining 0.5lbs a week!

Any calculator or estimator is only ever going to give you just that - an estimate. The only way to know for sure what intake is appropriate is to try on different intake levels and monitor your performance/gain, and adjust up or down as needed. Most intake estimators underestimate my intake needs by about 200-400 calories/day. And FWIW, I've been bulking on a 3 day/week full-body routine and have been pretty happy with the results.

As long as you are making sure you are eating enough and your routine includes some sort of progressive overload then you will probably be fine. You may respond better to something else, but that is a separate question.

Allpro's beginner routine is a 3x a week full-body workout and many people have had great experiences with it.

Is TDEE better than MFP for calculating daily cals?

According to Scooby TDEE, with Macros of 35p/45c/20f with 3-5 hours a week of exercise, my daily cals should be 2654.

At 170 lbs, my TDEE is around 2,500 and I gain 1 lbs. per week at 3,000 cals. Once I hit 180 lbs., I have to go to 3,200-3,300 to continue gaining at a reasonable pace.

I find using TDEE is much easier because your calories do not vary daily. It's much easier to plan your eating that way.

Yep, you eat the same every day. If your workouts are really inconsistent week to week then maybe TDEE isn't the best approach for you. But if you're pretty consistent it can work well. Like others, I like having the exact same intake goal no matter what, even on rest days. It's easier.

If you log your exercise on MFP and are doing the TDEE method, manually enter "1" in "calories burned": your exercise is already factored into the TDEE intake value and you don't want to muck around with that number (MFP won't let you put "0", "1" is the lowest entry you can do).