Written by Sam Coleman | Co-founder
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
A 4-day workout split is one of the best options for building muscle and strength.
It allows for adequate recovery and is flexible in that you can prioritize training frequency vs training volume, or find a happy-medium between the two.
While there are various ways that you can run a 4-day split, and which is best can be both subjective and objective, I'll take you through what I believe to be the best 4-day split for most lifters.
Table of Contents:
- The best 4-day split workout routine
- Details of the workout plan
- Other 4-day splits that are good
- Benefits of 4-day workout splits
- Recovery and nutritional advice for lifting weights 4 days a week
- FAQs
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The Best 4-Day Split Workout Routine
With nearly two decades of experience as a trainer, I can confidently recommend that for most people looking to put on muscle mass and gain strength, the best 4-day split is an Upper Lower Split, with A & B weekly sessions, and a mix of both strength-focused lifts and hypertrophy-focused exercises (in that order).
Session 1 - Upper Body A:
- Bench Press: 3x5
- Chin-Ups (weighted if needed): 4x5
- Bentover Barbell Rows: 4x6
- Incline Dumbbell Chest Press: 3x8
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3x8
- Chest Flyes (Machine or Cable): 2x12
- Dumbbell Curls: 3x15
- Front Plank: 3 x 30-60 seconds
Session 2 - Lower Body A:
- Back Squat: 3x5
- Barbell Split Squats: 4x6
- Leg Press (wide stance): 4x6
- Landmine Deadlifts: 3x8
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts: 3x8
- Barbell Hip Thrusts: 3x8
- Leg Extension: 3x12
Session 3 - Upper Body B:
- Standing Military Press: 3x5
- Landmine Rows: 4x6
- Chest Dips (weighted if needed): 4x6
- Lat Pull-Down: 3x8
- Reverse Fly: 3x12
- Lateral Raise: 2x12
- Overhead Triceps Extensions: 3x15
- Side Plank: 1 x 60 seconds (each side)
Session 4 - Lower Body B:
- Deadlift: 3x5
- Barbell Hip Thrust: 4x5
- Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 4x6
- Front Squat: 3x8
- Dumbbell Lunges: 3x10 steps
- Leg Press (close stance): 3x20
- Leg Curls: 3x12
Key Concepts Of This 4 Day Workout Plan
- Optimal Training Frequency & Volume: This workout plan perfectly balances how often you train with how much you do in each session, allowing for adequate recovery and optimal growth.
- Upper & Lower: The workouts are divided between upper body workouts and lower body workouts. This time-tested routine was specifically designed to be a 4 day routine (even though it can be organized otherwise), allowing you to hit muscle groups twice a week, which seems to be the sweet spot for progression of muscle growth.1
- A & B Sessions: The two different weekly upper and lower sessions have a specific exercise order and selection for pushing and pulling muscles, ensuring balanced strength and hypertrophy training for both the front and back of your body. Stick to the plan.
- Strength First, Hypertrophy Second: Workouts begin with strength movements (each workout has 3 major compound exercises), followed by accessory and isolation exercises. You'll need the energy for the big lifts. (And guess what? Strength movements also build muscle. In fact, it's what a lot of casual bodybuilders are missing in their "mass-building" routines.)
Workout Details
Weight Load & Rest Time:
- Main Lifts: Heavier load (@75-90% 1RM) for lower reps (4-6). 2-3 minutes rest between sets.
- Hypertrophy Exercises: Moderate load (@65-75% 1RM) for moderate to high reps (8-20). 1-1.5 minute rest between sets.
Warm Up & Cool Down:
Warm-ups and cool-downs are recommended for each workout, though you have flexibility in choosing what to do. However, it's strongly advised to perform 2-4 warm-up sets for your first lift of each session (and as needed for the other main lift), gradually increasing to your working weight. This step is crucial for preparing your muscles and preventing injury.
Workout time:
The routine might seem like a lot, and it is, but after your main lifts, you'll move pretty quickly through the rest of the movements. The main lifts will take around 30-40 minutes (including warm up sets) and then the remainder should take around 25-30 minutes. So, you are looking at around 60-70 minutes per workout, not including warm up and cool down.
Schedule & Rest Days:
Since you have 4 training days a week, there are several ways to go about breaking up your weekly routine. The only recommendation is that you do not have more than 2 consecutive training days, as that would defeat the purpose of "optimal balance of frequency & volume".
That said, if you need to make up for a workout any given week, exceptions can be made.
You can also decide to start with the lower body session instead. This would have you cycle through the sessions as such: Lower Body A, Upper Body A, Lower Body B, Upper Body B.
Progression:
Progressing in this 4-day workout plan involves using progressive overload, mainly by increasing weights weekly.
- For strength lifts, aim to add a little weight each week. If you can't increase weight in all sets, focus on the first working set, then gradually progress.
- For accessory and hypertrophy lifts, base weight increases on how you feel. Supporting your main lifts is key, even if accessory weights remain constant. Feel free to experiment with these sets by adding reps or drop sets, but avoid overdoing it
Program Length:
I recommend running this program for 8-12 weeks. However, you can run it as long as you'd like. Many people will run an upper lower split indefinitely, until they see diminishing returns.
Other Good 4-Day Workout Splits
While the upper lower routine is arguably the most suitable option for a 4-day split, there are other options to consider.
Let's go over some other potential variations of 4 day workout splits and who they'd be good for.
1. 4-Day PPL Split
A PPL split split stands for Push, Pull, Legs, which is exactly what the workouts are divided into.
- Pushing: Upper body pushing exercises (chest, shoulders, triceps).
- Pulling: Upper body pulling exercises (back, biceps). Often includes deadlifts on this day.
- Legs: Lower body exercises.
While the PPL is based on a 3 day split, that doesn’t constrain it to only being used 3 days a week. To work this into a 4-day workout program, you simply just cycle through the sessions. This will result in your sessions changing order every week. i.e., week 1: push, pull, legs, push; week 2: pull, legs, push, pull; and so on.
Benefits of using a PPL split include:
- Changes the weekly sessions which may be more enjoyable for some people.
- Because the first session of the week alternates, you could easily differentiate the loads used and have your first session be a heavy session for the week. This is an easy way to periodize your program.
- PPL is another time-tested routine.
- You also can use the 4th day for other specific movements such as arms, core, mobility, etc. rather than cycling/rotating each week. For example, Push, Pull, Legs, Core.
2. 4-Day "Body Part" Split
Some may still prefer to use a very bodybuilding specific program and hit every muscle hard once a week. To do this, bodybuilders will usually train maybe 5 days or even 6 days a week.
However, you can get this done in 4 days if you don’t have the time to make it to the gym more. The easiest way to do this would be as follow:
- Day 1: Chest and Core
- Day 2: Legs and Arms
- Day 3: Back
- Day 4: Shoulders, Arms, and Core
The benefits of training like this are mainly geared towards the bodybuilder. Using a split like this allows to you to cause maximal damage to a muscle in the belief that it will grow more.
3. 4-Day Full Body Split
Although a full body workout plan is most ideal for a 3 day split if your goal is strength2, they can also be effective when expanded to a 4-day weekly schedule. In fact, this is one of my favorite workout splits for women.
In fact, there are a few reasons why a 4 day full body workout plan might appeal to you over other 4-day splits:
- It may be more interesting as you can have a good variety of compound exercises, and it can be mentally easier as you will only need to perform one big moment a day for each main group of muscles.
- You don't need to work your entire body each session. While you'll be working various upper and lower body muscles each workout, you won't be doing the same exercises or emphasizing the same muscle group each session.
- You can superset movements to make your stay in the gym shorter. An example is to pair lower body with upper body movements and free weight movements with body weight movements i.e squat/pushups or lunges/barbell rows.
Nevertheless, for a 4 day full body plan to be effective and sustainable, careful attention must be paid to recovery and managing intensity.
For more advanced trainees, we'd recommend structuring it with two strength-focused days and two hypertrophy-focused days each week, using strategic exercise selection and less total volume per workout.
For those who are simply looking to maintain or lose fat, a 4 day full body plan can work just fine, as long as you don't push yourself too hard. Essentially, you'd focus more on moderate intensity and efficient workouts.
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Benefits Of 4-Day Splits:
Choosing a 4-day split for your workout program will offer a variety of benefits. Here are the top reasons you should train using a 4-day workout routine.
1. 4-Day Workout Routines Offer Sufficient Amount Of Rest
Perhaps the most significant benefit of this workout is that it gives trainees plenty of recovery time throughout the week. One of the greatest determinants of a program’s success is whether it provides a trainee with adequate rest between sessions. In fact, this is one of the main areas that trainees get wrong, especially beginners.
2. Training 4 Days A Week Keeps You Focused
One area that trainees tend to like about a 4-day split gym routine is that it can keep you focused for your workout. 4 days is plenty of time to get an excellent workout in and hit all the lifts you need. At the same time, it requires you to go in with a purpose and train like every rep counts. There are no frivolous movements in a 4-day split, nor is there leftover time to do them anyways. With a 4-day workout routine, you go in and perform the best of the best movements and then get out
3. A 4-Day Split Workout Routine Allows You To Train Hard
Connected to allowing you adequate rest, using a 4-day split is designed in such a manner so that you can come in and work out hard every session. Being that you know you have plenty of rest days, you’re more likely to leave it all out on the gym floor. That and you will just have more energy
4. Allows Multiple Variations Of Splits
Since there are 4 days to train, you have an ample amount of days to divide your body parts or movements. This means you can program a 4-day split specific to strength, hypertrophy, strength & hypertrophy, or fat loss.
Best Recovery Methods for a 4-Day Lifting Routine
Many trainees confuse “Rest Days” to mean “Do Nothing”. This is a horrible idea that will significantly hinder your progress. What you do outside of the gym can greatly influence your performance inside the gym. Here are the 4 practices that you can do to use this time wisely.
1. Engage in some light aerobic activity OR active recovery:
This is one of the best things you can do. Failing to move the body will result in more tightness in the muscles and even increase DOMS chance3. The main mechanism is thought to be that the activity will increase the heart rate slightly and pump fresh blood with more oxygen and nutrients to the body. It will also keep the muscles and joints loose. Active recovery is one of the best things you can do.
2. Engage in some mobility exercises:
Everybody needs to improve mobility. Everybody. Rest days are a great time to do this because you don’t need any special equipment and can find anything you may need around the house. Here are three movements you can do:
- Dead bugs: Dead bugs are one of the best mobility exercises to increase your core strength and improve your shoulder mobility.
- Bird Dogs: Bird dogs are dead bugs but inverted. This means you’ll basically do the same exercise but on your hands and knees. This places the activation onto posterior muscle groups and targets your back and glutes. Still, it also improves your shoulder mobility and overall body extension.
- Overhead Squats (with towel): If you have a broom or dowel of any sort, you can easily use that. If not, a towel works just fine. These are hard, so you need to work into it slowly, but once you can get into a full squat with shoulders fully extended overhead with good form, you can call yourself a master.
3. Perform your core work:
As you probably noticed, this plan doesn’t have a lot of specific core work. You can do this on your rest days with your mobility work or after some aerobic activity. Specific core work is very important, but sometimes it can overshadow other areas. Further, many people completely overdo it.
4. Get some sleep!:
This is easily the most effective and simple thing you can do to improve your performance. Don’t buy into the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mentality. Getting adequate sleep is not an option; at least if you want to perform at your best. Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep, as this will lead to better strength gains (and thus muscle gains too).4
Nutrition Tips For 4-Day Workout Routines:
Your nutrition will play a big role in determining if you succeed with this program; however, you don’t need to overcomplicate it. Here are the basic numbers for your macros.
- Protein: To optimize muscle growth (or maintain muscle mass), you want to eat 1.6-2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day 5. Even more is shown to be effective if your goal is to lose fat and maintain muscle.6
- Carbs: This will range from person to person, but it will be somewhere in the range of 5-8g/kg per day, which will depend on your daily activity levels.7
- Fat: Fill up the rest of your calories with fat. This number should be at least 20% of your total calories.
Related: Bulking vs Cutting
Top 3 Supplements To Use:
There are a ton of supplements on the market, but most of them are worthless. Here the best ones to use that will almost definitely improve your progress:
- Protein Powder: Protein powder is nothing but real protein that has been processed into a powder. It’s a very efficient and economical way to get in your protein when consuming higher amounts. The best time to use protein powder is post-workout for muscle protein synthesis, but it can also be used for a healthy snack any time of day.
- Creatine: Creatine is the most researched supplement there are and is one of the very few supplements to have overwhelming evidence to support it’s use to improve sports performance.
- Caffeine: Caffeine is similar to creatine in that it has an overwhelming amount of studies to support its use. This is why it is usually the primary ingredient in many pre-workouts, as it gives you increased energy and can help you train hard throughout a session.
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
Prepare to maximize your strength with our exclusive 13-week strength training program. 3, 4, and 5 day per week programming options.
4-Day Split FAQs:
Which 4-Day Split Workout Is Best?
At SET FOR SET, we strongly believe an upper lower workout program is best for a 4 day split. It allows you to hit muscle groups twice a week, which is shown to be highly effective for muscle growth and strength gains among beginner to intermediate lifters, it allows you to separate big lifts like squats and deadlifts or bench press and overhead press, and it's easy to organize and manage - 2 upper + 2 lower = 4 days.
Are 4 Day Workout Splits Effective?
Absolutely! A 4-day split workout routine is actually ideal for most trainees, especially those who may have extra family and work pressure. Even still, many of the best weight lifters in the world choose to work out 4 days a week regardless of having the time to go more often. One of the best things about a 4-day split is its versatility to prioritize training frequency or training volume, or a balance of both. Most other routines are one or the other.
Is Working Out 4 Days a Week Enough to Build Muscle?
Absolutely. In fact, for beginners and intermediate lifters, 4 workout days per week is actually the most ideal for building muscle and strength. It allows you to keep the intensity of your workouts high and get adequate recovery in-between sessions, which is the perfect recipe. People who train too frequently end up getting burned out and they don't even realize it. 4 days of workouts per week is typically the sweet spot when it comes to fitness.
More Workout Splits:
- The Ultimate 3 Day Workout Split
- The Ultimate 5 Day Workout Split
- The Ultimate 6 Day Workout Split
- The Ultimate 7 Day Workout Split
References:
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2016;46(11):1689-1697. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8
- Bartolomei S, Nigro F, Malagoli Lanzoni I, Masina F, Di Michele R, Hoffman JR. A Comparison Between Total Body and Split Routine Resistance Training Programs in Trained Men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2020;35(6):1. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000003573
- Tufano JJ, Brown LE, Coburn JW, Tsang KKW, Cazas VL, LaPorta JW. Effect of Aerobic Recovery Intensity on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and Strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2012;26(10):2777-2782. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e3182651c06
- Chen Y, Cui Y, Chen S, Wu Z. Relationship between sleep and muscle strength among Chinese university students: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Musculoskeletal & Neuronal Interactions. 2017;17(4):327-333. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/
- Nunes EA, Colenso‐Semple L, McKellar SR, et al. Systematic review and meta‐analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function in healthy adults. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. 2022;13(2):795-810. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12922
- Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2017;14(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8
- Burke LM, Cox GR, Cummings NK, Desbrow B. Guidelines for Daily Carbohydrate Intake. Sports Medicine. 2001;31(4):267-299. doi:https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200131040-00003
Sam Coleman
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