Four-day sports split. 4 day split for bulking

Despite the popularity of training 3 times a week, using an additional fourth day allows you to optimally load all major muscle groups, breaking them into pairs. The only drawback of this approach to training is the need to find time for the fourth training day and a little more difficulty in planning rest time, since for amateur athletes training is not the main activity in life, but is combined with work/study and weekends.

Principles of effective mass training 4 times a week

• Training each antagonist muscle group on a separate day.

This means dividing all major muscle groups into pairs based on the principle of combining antagonist muscles. For example, chest + back, quadriceps + hamstrings, biceps + triceps, front deltoids, middle deltoids + rear deltoids, trapezius. Antagonists are muscles that perform functions directly opposite to each other - the biceps flexes the arm, the triceps extends; the chest presses, the back pulls; the biceps femoris flexes the leg, the quadriceps extends it; etc. The main feature of these muscles is that no matter how intense they are, they do not interfere with each other and do not negatively affect strength / endurance in specific exercises.

• High intensity exercise.

Basic exercises should be performed in a heavy strength manner to failure, using an average number of repetitions - from 5 to 8. These exercises have the most powerful effect on the growth of muscle mass and strength.

• High volume in exercises.

Isolation exercises do not have such a strong effect on increasing muscle mass, however, they help to “finish off” the working muscle well, while fulfilling the secondary factors of muscle growth (lactate accumulation, micro-tears of muscle tissue, etc.). Isolation movements are performed at the end of the workout, with light weight, as efficiently as possible, with a repetition range of 15 to 20.

Mass program: workout 4 times a week

Day 1– Chest + Back.

* - use the maximum working weight for a given number of repetitions.
** - use the maximum working weight for 8 repetitions. Don't count the repetitions you complete, but do them until you can't complete a single repetition.
*** - use working weight for 12 reps. Perform repetitions slowly. Don't count the repetitions you complete, but do them until you can't complete a single repetition.

Day #2– Quadriceps + Hamstrings.

Day #3– Deltoid muscles, trapezius.

Article last updated: 07/05/2016

Good day to everyone, our dear subscribers and visitors just passing by. In this article we will look at you in detail four day weight split. Not long ago, I published an article that talked about. This same program will be different in that we will add one more day to our training program. This, of course, cannot but please fans of hardcore pumping. And also, I cannot help but note another very significant advantage of this split. This advantage is to increase the quality of working out individual muscle groups, and you can also add a couple more new exercises, it depends entirely on you and your preferences. The 4-day split is intended, like the 3-day split, not for beginner athletes, but for athletes who want to improve the quality of their training.

Four-day weight split: On breast day, you can adjust the day to suit yourself, in principle, like the entire program. For example, usually, ectomorphs have lagging upper pectoral muscles, so it would be advisable to add an incline bench press. That is, 2 warm-up sets are performed on a horizontal bench, after 4-6 sets of 8-10 repetitions on an inclined bench.

On the fourth day, you can add exercises for the front deltoid, such as: Lifting dumbbells in front of you, Arnold press and others.

Here are the training days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On rest days without doing any physical activity, eat well, including sports nutrition in your diet, for a better recovery effect. Another, as you can see, one very positive side that has a good effect on weight gain is reducing the training time. An example is this program. If, for example, in a three-day split, you worked both the chest and triceps on one day, then in a four-day split, we transfer the arms to a separate workout. Thanks to this, you work out your pectoral muscles as efficiently as possible one day, and your back on another, since on the “back and biceps” day we also remove our arms. Also, many people forget to train the rear and middle deltoids, so I decided to post a split specifically with deltoids. It turns out that it turns out to be four days:

1. Chest and middle delta;
2. Back and rear delta;
3. Rest;
4. Legs;
5. Hands.

This is how it came out 4 day split workout for mass. There are many types of training programs and this is one of them. You can swap training days if you wish. Remember that there is no perfect training program and this program is no exception. Everything you see is just a “program layout”. You can create your own program using this layout. Also, for this split you can use the same diet as for a three-day split, only slightly adjusting it to suit you.

The article provides three examples of four-day splits that may help those who have stopped progressing on a three-day split or simply want to add a little variety to their training.

Four-day split.

A four-day split is a natural extension of a three-day training split, where four workouts are carried out during a weekly cycle, working all muscle groups. And now that one more session has been added to the cycle, you can work out various muscle groups more intensively.

There are many variations of creating a four-day split. We all know that there are only five major muscle groups, and there are four workouts per week, so training any small muscle group is added to the training of a large muscle group.

Or some group (for example, shoulders, arms) is divided into components (biceps/triceps or anterior/middle/rear deltoids) and worked on different days after training larger (main) muscle groups.

For example, the biceps muscles (biceps) come after the back, the triceps (triceps) after the pectoral muscles or deltoids. Another option is that the biceps get a load after working the chest, and the triceps after the back muscles. Or three deltoid heads are trained separately, each on its own specific day.

Execution schemes.

A four-day split is most often performed according to the 2/1/2/2 scheme, i.e. at the beginning of the cycle, two training days are carried out in a row (for example, Monday/Tuesday), followed by a rest day (Wednesday), then two more training days (Thursday/Friday) ) and the week ends with two days of rest (Saturday and Sunday). After which the split starts all over again.

There are also other schemes of four-day splits, for example, 1/x/1/x/1/x/1, where training takes place with one day of rest between them and only between training - 1 and training - 7 there is no rest day.

In addition, there are schemes of four-day splits with a different number of days in the cycle, for example, a six-day cycle - 2/1/2/1 (two training days with one day of rest, or an eight-day cycle - 2+2+2+2 (two training days with two days of rest, i.e. Monday, Tuesday - training/Wednesday, Thursday - rest, Friday, Saturday - training, Sunday, Monday - rest and start of a new cycle) for a four-day split.

Below are examples of several four-day splits, in addition to which you can create many others based on your needs and preferences.

Three schemes for four-day splits.

Scheme No. 1

• Monday: back, rear delta
• Tuesday: chest, middle delta
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: legs
• Friday: hands
• Saturday Sunday: rest

Scheme No. 2

• Monday: back, hamstrings
• Tuesday: chest, legs
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: quadriceps, deltoids
• Friday: hands
• Saturday Sunday: rest

Scheme No. 3

• Monday: back, triceps
• Tuesday: legs
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: chest, biceps
• Friday: deltas
• Saturday Sunday: rest

Split training program No. 3

Monday: back, triceps

1. or – 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions

2. either – 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

3. – 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

4. - 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

5. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

6. – 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

7. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

Tuesday: legs

1. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

2. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

3. - 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

5. or – 3 sets of 8 repetitions.

6. either – 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Thursday: chest, biceps

1. - 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

2. - 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

3. (emphasis on the pectoral muscles) – 3.4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

4. – 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

5. - 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

6. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

7. – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions with each hand.

Friday: shoulders

1. - 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

2. either – 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions

3. – 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

4. – 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

5. - 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

Brief explanations of the program.

This four-day split allows you to work all muscle groups once a week. But small muscle groups, such as triceps, biceps, some bundles of deltoid muscles, in addition to their main load, also act as synergistic muscles, receiving additional load once a week.

On Monday, the day of back muscle training, the biceps muscles (biceps) are additionally worked. On Thursday, the day of chest training, the triceps muscles receive indirect load.

Dorsal delta bundles - on Monday, the day of back training. Front beams - both on Thursday and Friday, on bench press days. This load is quite enough for them at this stage of training.

Before each exercise, you need to perform a couple of warm-up approaches with a gradual increase in weight by 10-12 repetitions, and also do a general warm-up on any cardio machine before starting the workout. At the end of each workout - cool down (stretching the muscles being trained)

For a year and a half I trained on a 3-day split:

1. Chest + Triceps
2. Back + Biceps
3. Legs + Shoulders

Strength increased, but after some time, upon reaching normal weights, the following concerns arose:
If you arrange the training days in exactly this order (rest 1 day), then on day No. 2 you do a good workout of the back and arms, and on day No. 3 you often fail to give it your all, namely: the squat will go worse if it was 2 days ago heavy deadlift. It only gets worse: after working on your legs and shoulders on day 3, you come to day 1 with a penguin gait (your butt and quadriceps hurt) and sore shoulders. Then everything repeats itself again and again. No matter how hard you hurt your back and legs, in a 3-day split according to this scheme, something will always be killed and will interfere with your training.

I tried to slightly change the scheme:

1. Chest + Back
2. Arms + Shoulders

Since the Back and Legs are again adjacent, I had to apply the rule: in one week either squat or deadlift, but never together. It became a little better, but after the Chest + Back workout, at the next workout the Arms and Shoulders are sometimes killed so that it’s impossible to work out effectively, but in any case, between the hard days 1 and 3, the easier day 2 made it possible to progress again, but after a year The weight grew and again the understanding came that somehow it wasn’t very good...

After 2.5 years of training, I came to a 4-day split:

1. Chest + 1 triceps exercise
2. Back + Shoulders

Between workouts I rest for 1 day, every week I kill myself, if my legs or ass hurt, I rest for another day.

And then everything became just awesome! On day 1 we kill the Chest and Triceps, on day 2 you can do a squat and even combine it with straight-legged deadlifts, without fear that you will soon do bent over barbell rows and your back will be killed, then on day 3 you can work out your already rested arms well. Then comes the back workout, if the biceps still hurt, then it’s not scary, it’s better to work the lats. Yes, after the Shoulders the chest will come, but the deltoids always recover quickly enough and you can afford such a sequence. In addition, I stopped doing deadlifts on Back day; I do them on Legs day, alternating with squats.

My program:

Day 1: Chest + 1 triceps exercise
Odd week:

• Dumbbell bench press 10,8,6,6
• Bench press on an incline bench/in a Smith machine 12,10,8,6 (taking care of the shoulders)
• Wide grip dips on parallel bars with extra. weighing 10.8.6.6
• French incline press 12,12,10,8

Even week:

• Bench press 8,8,6,6
• Incline dumbbell press 10,8,8,6
• Reverse Incline Bench Press 10,10,8,8,6
• Arm extension on a block machine, drop set to failure, 6 sets

Day 2: Legs
Odd week:

• Squat 8,8,6,6,4-5
• Deadlift on straight legs 8,8,6,4
• Extending the legs in the simulator as many approaches as you can do

Even week:

• Deadlift 5,5,4,4
• Leg press 12,12,10,10,8
• Leg bending in the simulator as many approaches as you can do

Day 3: Hands
Odd week:

• Close grip bench press 8,8,7,6
• Push-ups on uneven bars with extra. weight with a narrow position of the arms 12,10,8,8,6 and finishing with your weight, as long as you have enough strength
• PSHNB straight bar, 10,8,8,6
• Alternating dumbbell lifts with a neutral grip 12,10,10,8,6
• Seated French press 14,12,10,8,6

Even week:

• Close grip bench press 10,10,8,8,6
• Heavy weight dips 5,4,4,3
• PSHNB EZ fingerboard 12,10,8,8
• Bending arms in the simulator 10,10,8,8,6
• Superset arm extension in a block simulator + alternating dumbbell biceps curls with a neutral grip

Day 4: Back + Shoulders
Odd week:

• Wide grip pull-ups with extra. weighing 10.8.8.6.4
• Upper block thrust 75-80% of its own weight 10,8,8,6
• Lateral raises with dumbbells, heavy weight, with cheating 10,8,8,6,4
• Smith machine overhead press 12,10,10,8,6
• Bent-over barbell row with reverse grip 10,10,8,8
• Horizontal block row 70% of the previous weight before killing the back
• Lateral raises for rear delts - drop set of 6 sets

Even week:

• Pull-ups with a medium grip with a neutral position of the hands with additional weighing 12,10,10,8,8
• Reverse grip pull-ups for as long as you have strength left without additional effort. weight
• Seated dumbbell press 8,8,6,6
• Alternately lifting dumbbells in front of you 12,10,10,8,6
• Bent-over barbell row with regular grip 10,10,8,8
• Bent-over dumbbell row 12,10,10,8,6

I fully admit that there are distortions in the program, I also admit that somewhere something was not worked out, and somewhere it was overworked, but at the moment I have been working out according to this scheme for almost a year, occasionally changing exercises to similar ones, but with more or less isolation, changing the position of the legs in a squat, pressing with a different grip, etc. I hope the program will be useful to someone, I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels uncomfortable doing a 3-day split.
Obviously, such a program is not suitable for beginners; in addition, the number of repetitions is also highly individual. Personally, I never work to complete failure, with the exception of heavy benches and finishing exercises.

Since there are five main muscle groups (chest, back, legs, arms, deltoids) or six if you divide your arms into biceps and triceps muscle groups, and there are only four training days, you need to prioritize individual muscle groups. You need to understand which muscles should be given more attention and set aside a separate day for training them.

Some muscle groups will need to be combined in one workout.

An example of a simple four-day split

In this split, a separate day is allocated for each large muscle group, and small ones are combined into one workout. At the same time, biceps and triceps are trained twice per split. Once they receive a load during training of large muscle groups (back, chest), and once they train on a separate day.

The downside of this split is that the third day of training (arms, deltoids) may turn out to be too voluminous. Three muscle groups in one day, of which at least two exercises are for biceps and triceps. Since the deltoids consist of three heads (front, middle and back), at least one exercise must be performed for each of them. If you train traps on delt day, that's plus one more exercise.

As a result, the training may turn out to be unnecessarily prolonged.

To avoid this, delt training can be postponed to another day. For example, if you don't train your legs with a lot of exercises, you can add delt training to them:

If you need a separate day to train your legs, you can train your deltoids on the day of your back training:

It all depends on which muscle groups you need a separate training day for, that is, for which muscles you do.

You can create a more complex split in which some muscle groups will be trained twice during one split. One of these workouts will be hard and the other will be easy.

With this split option, large muscle groups are trained once per split, since they need more time to recover, and small muscle groups are trained twice per split, with heavy basic training and light pumping.

The split deliberately does not include the trapezius muscles. Although this small muscle group belongs to the back muscles, many people train it together with the deltoids, which is also correct. Therefore, on what day to train it is up to you.

The four-day split doesn't have to be done four days in a row. It all depends on your recovery capabilities. You can perform this split every other day, that is, a training day, then a rest day. At the end of the split, two full days of rest.

Another option:

1 day training

Day 2 training

3 day rest

Day 4 training

Day 5 training

6 day rest

7th day rest

As you can see, this split fits perfectly within the time frame of the week.

A four-day split is a great way to give your muscles a much greater challenge and increase the intensity and impact of your workouts. This is the next step after.