Training plans provide a clear structure and help you set concrete goals for your training. With a clear program, you can easily track your progress and adjust intensity to ensure continuous improvement. If you’ve ever felt lost at the gym or unsure how to make the most of your time, a 4-day workout split might be the game-changer you need. A 4-day split divides your week into focused sessions targeting specific muscle groups. This article provides an informative guide to structuring a 4-day workout split for effective weight loss.
Understanding Workout Splits
A "workout split" is a term used to describe splitting your workouts up each week. A workout split is a way of organizing your strength training into an effective, time-efficient program. Not only does it ensure no muscle goes untouched, but it also gives you structure to track your progress week-on-week to implement progressive overload (i.e. increasing the load each week). Oh, and you know that feeling when you’re attempting to do a lift but your muscles feel so tired and sore that you struggle? With programmed rest days and structure that sees different muscle groups trained on different days, a workout split allows adequate time for recovery to prevent overtraining and reduce the risk of injury.
Benefits of a 4-Day Workout Split
A 4-day workout routine is an effective and manageable way to reach your fitness goals. It allows for a balance of strength training, cardiovascular exercise, and flexibility work while providing adequate rest and recovery time.
Balanced Training: One of the main advantages of a 4-day workout routine is its ability to provide balanced training for all muscle groups. With four days dedicated to working out, you have the opportunity to target different muscle groups each day, ensuring no area is neglected.
Adequate Rest and Recovery: Rest and recovery are crucial for progress in any workout routine. With a 4-day split, you have three dedicated rest days each week, which allows your muscles to repair and grow stronger.
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Frequency for Progress: A 4-day workout routine offers enough frequency to see progress without being too overwhelming for beginners.
Consistency: With only four days of workouts per week, this type of schedule is manageable for beginners and increases the likelihood of sticking to the routine in the long term.
Time Management: A 4-day workout routine for men and women also allows for efficient time management. With four dedicated workout days, you can plan your schedule accordingly and still have time for other commitments or activities.
How to Create a 4-Day Workout Routine
First and foremost, determine your fitness goals and current fitness level. If your main goal is weight loss and toning, focus on incorporating a mix of strength training and cardio into your routine. The length of your workouts will also be influenced by your fitness level. Beginners should aim for 30 to 45 minutes per workout session. However, this is highly variable depending on the intensity of your session.
Workout Splits
Popular 4-day splits include Push/Pull Splits, Upper/Lower Splits and the classic Bro Split, each tailored to different fitness goals. Here are a few popular options:
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Upper/Lower Split: The upper-lower workout split follows one day where you train the upper body muscles (i.e. chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps) and the next lower body muscles (i.e. glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves). This gives plenty of time in each session to focus on heavy compound exercises combined with lighter accessory work.
- Monday: Upper body
- Tuesday: Lower body
- Wednesday: Rest / Cardio / Accessory work
- Thursday: Upper body
- Friday: Lower body
- Saturday: Rest / Cardio / Accessory work
- Sunday: Rest / Cardio / Accessory work
Push/Pull Split: The Push/Pull Split is ideal for anyone looking to balance muscle engagement and recovery. By alternating between pushing (chest, shoulders, triceps) and pulling (back, biceps) movements, you give opposing muscle groups time to recover while targeting them efficiently.
Bro Split: The Bro Split dedicates each workout day to a single muscle group, making it perfect for those focusing on hypertrophy. This classic bodybuilding routine allows for high-volume training, giving each muscle group the time and attention it needs to grow and recover.
Exercise Selection
Choose exercises that target all the major muscle groups, including legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, and core. It’s also essential to incorporate a mix of compound and isolation movements to ensure balanced training.
- Compound Movements: These are exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once, such as squats, deadlifts, and push-ups.
- Isolation Movements: These exercises target specific muscles, such as bicep curls or tricep extensions.
- Bodyweight vs. Weights: As a beginner, it’s important to start with bodyweight exercises and gradually progress to using weights.
- Equipment: You can choose between using free weights (dumbbells and barbells) or machines for your strength training exercises.
Workout Progression
You should incorporate progressive overload into your routine by gradually increasing weights or reps to continue challenging your muscles and seeing progress. After 3 months or so, it’s recommended that you reassess your routine and make adjustments as required.
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Building strength isn’t just about showing up-it’s about continuously challenging your muscles and keeping your routine fresh.
- Weeks 1-2: Start with moderate weights, focusing on perfecting your form. Stick to 3 sets of 10 reps to lay a solid foundation for strength and avoid injury.
- Weeks 3-4: Increase the weight by 5-10% to test your limits, and add a fourth set to push for more volume.
- Weeks 5-6: Time to ramp things up!
- Weeks 7-8: Take it to the next level with advanced techniques like supersets (pairing two exercises back-to-back), pause reps (pausing mid-rep for added tension) or pyramid sets (gradually increasing, then decreasing weight).
Sample 4-Day Workout Routine
Join our gym training program - designed with a 4 day workout split. Here we go!
General Guidelines:
- Start each session by warming up with a few minutes of cardio on the crosstrainer or treadmill.
- Rest about one minute between each set.
Day 1: Upper Body (Chest and Back)
- Bench press - 4 sets x 8-10 repetitions
- Chins (or Lat pulldowns) - 3 sets x 10-12 repetitions
- Dumbbell row - 3 sets x 10-12 repetitions
- Dumbbell press - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
- Face Pulls - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
Day 2: Lower Body (Legs and Core)
- Squats - 4 sets x 8-10 repetitions
- Deadlift - 4 sets x 8-10 repetitions
- Lunges - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions per leg
- Lying leg press on machine - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
- Russian Twists - 3 sets x 15-20 repetitions
Day 3: Rest day or light activity## Day 4: Full body
- Clean and Press with barbell or dumbbells - 4 sets x 8-10 repetitions
- Pull-ups - 3 sets x max reps (or Assisted pull-ups)
- Dips - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
- Front Squats - 3 sets x 10-12 repetitions
- Plank - 3 sets x 30-60 seconds
Day 5: Arms and shoulders
- Bicep Curls - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
- Tricep Bench Dips - 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Lateral lift with dumbbells - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
- Arnold Press - 3 sets x 10-12 repetitions
- Hammer Curls - 3 sets x 12-15 repetitions
Days 6 and 7: Rest days or light activity
Components of a Beginner 4-Day Workout Routine
Warm-up and Cool-down: Before you jump into any workout, it’s essential that you properly warm up your muscles to prevent injury. A warm-up can consist of light cardio or dynamic stretches.
Resistance Training: Resistance training is a crucial component of any workout routine, particularly for beginners who are looking to lose weight and tone their muscles.
Cardiovascular Exercise: In addition to resistance training, incorporating cardiovascular exercise into your routine is essential for weight loss and overall health.
Flexibility and Mobility: Flexibility and mobility exercises are often overlooked in workout routines, but they’re essential for injury prevention and improving range of motion.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Setting Unrealistic Goals: Aiming to lose 10 pounds in a week can lead to disappointment.
- Lack of Variety: Repeating the same exercises can lead to plateaus and boredom.
- Not Tracking Progress: It’s hard to see improvements without monitoring your workouts and adjustments.
- Neglecting Overall Health: Focusing on exercise while ignoring nutrition, sleep, and stress management can hinder results.
Nutrition for Weight Loss
Nobody loses fat and maintains muscle mass without a strong nutrition plan. If you want to get leaner, you'll need to eat slightly less than your body demands. Although there's no one-size-fits-all diet, the basics are often the same:
- Create a small calorie deficit (daily 250-500 kcal less than maintenance)
- Aim to consume about 1.6 grams of protein per kilo of body weight daily. This provides a feeling of fullness and your muscles will thank you.
- Focus on natural food sources rich in vitamins, minerals, and fibers.
- Eat as few calorie-dense ultra-processed foods as possible. Think candy, cookies, savory snacks, chips, pizza, chocolate, pastries, sweet dairy variants, soda, and sweetened breakfast cereals.
- Drink plenty of water, black and green tea, and, to a lesser extent, coffee.
- Ensure you can stick to your diet.
The Importance of Rest Days
In a 4-day workout schedule, rest days are crucial. They are essential for muscle recovery and minimizing the risk of injury. Moreover, by spreading out your workout days, you stay in a positive spiral longer and lose more fat mass.