Bodybuilding program 4 days a week

Many bodybuilding practitioners train 4 days a week. Indeed, it is a good compromise for building muscle, while benefiting from sufficient rest. Thanks to our advice and our examples of 4-day bodybuilding programs, you will be able to benefit from benchmarks in order to quickly achieve your goal.

4 weight training sessions: is this ideal?

For people who are passionate about bodybuilding, we would all like to train 7 days a week. However, apart from being counterproductive, we do not always have such flexible planning. In fact, most of the time, athletes train 3 to 5 times a week. Planning 4 weight training sessions lasting 1 hour 15 minutes on average is therefore an excellent compromise.

Spread over 4 days will allow you to work all muscle groups. Thanks to a well-constructed bodybuilding program, you will be able to aim for an agonist/antagonist balance and thus identify the first results on your figure. Adding an additional session is interesting, for example, in order to emphasize a weak point by re-activating this or that muscle group.

A lifestyle adapted to your ambitions 

 Certainly, the frequency of training is of capital importance in achieving your goal. However, in bodybuilding, a healthy lifestyle is just as important. 

Read also: 3 Day Bodybuilding Workout Plan

 1. Nutrition & Hydration 

A healthy and balanced diet allows you to put all the chances on your side. Consequently, regular junk food, in addition to having a deleterious effect on one's health, is not compatible with a goal of “gaining lean mass”. According to the various data available to us, it is recommended, for a bodybuilding practitioner, to consume 2g of protein per day per kg/body weight, all sources combined. On the lipid side, the ratio is 1g per kg/body weight. Finally, carbohydrates will serve as caloric adjustments with regard to your objective (mass gain, muscle gain, leanness, maintenance). Hydration, at an average of 1.5 liters of water per day, should not be neglected in order to make your body and your cells function at full capacity.

2. Recovery 

Recovery takes into account a multitude of parameters. Here we focus on your sleep as well as rest between training sessions. In terms of sleep, the recommendations are between 7 and 9 hours per night. However, in reality, the French sleep seems less with 6h 42 on average (1). Ideally, also be sure to space out your training sessions, leaving at least 24 hours of rest for the muscle group used.

3. Food supplements

Faced with our needs, food supplements provide valuable help.

In terms of food,  whey protein  is one of the most consumed supplements, allowing you to quickly and easily meet your protein needs.

In terms of recovery, there are effective substitutes to boost your glycogen reserves  or relax you for  restful sleep .

Train according to your own goal 

As you will have understood, a 4-day training program constitutes an excellent compromise for the majority of athletes. However, the content of the program must be adapted to your objective. For example, if you practice a combat sport, it is not recommended to train with the aim of muscular hypertrophy. Ideally, you should not neglect your explosiveness, isometric work or even your muscular endurance.

In short, be clear about the objective to achieve in order to find and then build a coherent training program. Not all bodybuilding programs are suitable for all goals. In the vast majority of cases, bodybuilding sessions made available on the internet allow you to aim for muscle mass gain.

Bodybuilding program 4 weekly sessions 

Before starting your session, you should not neglect the warm-up phase . Lasting at least 15 minutes, you will perform low-intensity exercises, joint mobilization as well as a gradual increase in loads.

The same remark applies to the execution technique which must be of quality. In addition to the risk of injury, a poorly controlled movement can harm your progress.

With the goal of muscle hypertrophy, you can perform 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions. The inter-set rest time is approximately 1min30.

Session 1 – Pectorals & Triceps 

Bench	4 x 8 to 15
Inclined Spread	4 x 12 to 15
Dips	4 x 8 to 15
Bar on the forehead	4 x 12 to 15
High pulley triceps	4 x 12 to 15
Gainage	6 series

Session 2 – Back & Biceps 

Traction	4 x 8 to 15
Horizontal draw	4 x 8 to 15
Rowing	4 x 8 to 15
EZ Bar Bicep Curl	4 x 10 to 15
Hammer curl	4 x 10 to 15
High Pulley Crunch	6 x 20

Session 3 – Legs 

Squat	4 x 10 to 15
Leg press	4 x 15 to 20
Hip Thrust	4 x 10 to 15
Straight Leg Deadlift	4 x 10 to 15
Leg extension	4 x 15 to 20
Vacuum	6 series

Session 4 – Shoulders & Trapezius 

Military press	4 x 8 to 15
Lateral elevations	4 x 10 to 15
Bird	4 x 12 to 15
Face-Pull to High Pulley	4 x 12 to 15
Shrug	4 x 12 to 15
Abdominal wheel	6 series

 

Adapt your bodybuilding program 

Ideally, be sure to adapt your strength training program. To do this, you should take into account your equipment, your level and your body type.

For example, a person with a pronounced elbow valgus will more easily move towards strengthening the biceps with dumbbells rather than with the straight bar.

Intermediate level practitioners will be able to gradually implement intensification techniques. Among the most popular are:

• The super-set consisting of chaining two exercises for two antagonistic muscles. For example, during a chest/back session, you can do bench press then row, without rest time.

• Pre-fatigue helps improve sensations and muscle recruitment. To do this, you will perform an isolation exercise (pectoral spreads) then a basic exercise (bench press).
• The step-down consists of pushing your muscle to its limits. For example, during lateral shoulder raises, once you are close to muscular failure, you reduce the load to perform new repetitions. 

All these techniques are effective but difficult from a muscular and nervous point of view. It is therefore advisable to use them sparingly and to allow yourself sufficient rest after your training.

In this article, we offered you a 4-day split routine type workout. In this case, we use one to two muscle groups per week. However, you are free to opt for a half body workout over 4 days or a “Push, Pull, Legs” type workout.

In summary, a 4-day bodybuilding program is a good choice for rapid progress. Thanks to 3 days of rest spread out over the week, combined with a healthy lifestyle, you allow your body to be in the best position to gain muscle.

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