Hey guys,

Is a 4 day split a good idea? I have a friend at work who does it and he said it's working well for him and also what I've read online they seem popular . I'm just wondering if a 4 day split is the best workout to gain lean muscle?

At at the moment this is my current workout plan:

Monday: REST

Tuesday: Back

Wednesday: Shoulders, triceps and abs

Thursday: Legs and abs

Friday: Biceps and chest

Saturday:REST (most of the time end up working out on this day also)

Sunday: Lacking day and a mixture of exercises

I do a 5 minute warm up on the rowing machine and jog/run for 20 minutes on the treadmill after every workout day to get some cardio in. Is this good?

I try to do 4-5 exercises per muscle group, 3-4 sets per exercise and 8-12 reps per set.

I sort of do a 4 day split at the moment but the one I mean is do the 4 day split then rest and then repeat.

My gym partner came up with the above workout plan and I was wondering if it's actually good for the long term, and also if those muscle groups go well together?

if you have a different 4 day split, which is better (or just different) it would be great if you could post it so I can have a look and decide what to follow.

Thanks a lot guys!

Ash.

If you are set on a 4 day split here is my suggestion:

Session 1: Legs

Session 2: Chest and triceps

Session 3: Back and biceps

Session 4: Shoulders and abs

Just another point as well, that the way you have got your current split you are not taking advantage of rest days. If that's the only way you can work your split that's fine but try and break up your training days with rest days, especially breaking up upper body training days.

The thing to remember with a 4 day split, if you are taking 3 days off you are limiting training frequency. If you notice a bodypart is lagging a push/pull/legs would be more effective.

just to throw in some variation i do 4 days on 1 day off using 3 main exercises, squats deadlifts and dumbell press... my split is

chest and traps, obliques

legs, rectus

back and deltoids, obliques

arms, rectus

rest with deep stretching

this seems to work for me and i imagine it could work for a few others, the idea behind this is 1 heavy exercise per muscle followed by 1 exercise for every head of that muscle, these being the hypertrophy muscles, i believe this works due to your body being very reluctant to wanting to put on muscle mass, it would much rather adapt neurologically to suit the demands put on it, in order to pass this barrier you have to first break down the muscle, completely "shock" the muscle, i first drain it neurologically so its a deep numb pump then i make it burn with hypertrophy movements and rep ranges, so although my first lot of barbell curls may be 60kg+ my isolation curls and hammer curls sometimes go as low as 10kg's... same with dumbell press... although i can do 5x5 of 50's and 3x8 of 60's my flys will only be 20kgs and i will only end up doing 10 press ups a set or 10 dips... when if i miss out that first exercise id have to do 30-40 before i began to slow down, this works for me, give it a try and stick with it for a while, be safe though, provide your muscles with enough rest and nutrients and you should be fine, dont forget to get a spotter and warm up first, save all the stretching for after the first or last exercise and avoid trying to run after legs ;)

anyway if you are truly strugling to make progress stick to doing a 3 day split before a 4 and revolve around the main COMPOUND lifts and dont waste time and energy on an arm day if your body is stressed and not growing it will be counter productive and you should stick to minimal work till any physical trauma has subsided. best of luck.

I agree with Daniel as to I would pair chest and tris together as well as back and biceps. I also think your frequency and volume will work fine but if you really want to get them better cut your volume in half and hit each muscle group twice a week. I always make sure I get 1-2 rest days and 2 days between working the same muscle groups. I also agree compound exercises are your friend and be sure to use the main ones like chest presses, pull-ups, rows, overhead presses and deadlifts.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Is what I meant by the 4 day split is to workout for 4 days, then take one rest day, then repeat the 4 day split again so I would be training each muscle group 1.5x a week? (I think).

I'm not set on a 4 day split but I don't know what else to do to be honest.

Also, I';m trying to explain why Chest and tri's/Back and bi's is best but I don't know exactly why it's better than what we're doing at the moment. could anyone explain please?

I agree with @Daniel_Meyer as well. That should be a good split for you and when you do chest, your triceps are the secondary muscle being worked out so once you're finished with chest, your triceps will be pumped and ready to go! That's the main reason why people love to group it like that. Same concept with the back and biceps.

good luck with your training man, keep us updated!

#HTH

One day a week rest is not enough! You need a minimum of 2. I always try and aim for wednesday and sunday rest days just to split my sessions up. If you are looking to increase your training frequency would you consider a push/pull/legs?

The reason as to why I suggested the split, as Joey correctly said, is that the arm muscles targeted on the chest and back day are secondary movers to the majority of movements you will hit during your session. Its just easier this way as you are already warmed up when you move onto your triceps or biceps movements.

Thanks @joey_lopez and @Daniel_Meyer

@Daniel_Meyer Could you please give me an example of a push/pull/legs routine?

I'm a bit confused as to what is it to be perfectly honest.

I'm open minded about all exercise routines. I'm only doing the one I'm doing now because me and my friend came up with it.

I'd like to move onto something a little "better".

I just want something which is effective and what will help me put on lean muscle. I don't know whether what I'm doing at the moment is good enough for that or what. There's SO many different routines and ways to workout it's unbelievable!

Also, if anyone knows.... is training each muscle twice a week a good idea?

If so, does anybody know any good routines?

Thanks,

Ash.

@daniel_meyer

I've found this P/P/L split workout from BodyBuilding.com, what do you make of it mate?

Push (Chest/Triceps/Shoulders):

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3x5
Seated (or Standing) Barbell Shoulder/Overhead Press: 3x5
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3x5
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise: 3x10-12
Rope Pushdowns (circuit machine): 3x10-12
Overhead Dumbbell Extension or similar triceps exercise: 3x10-12
Shrugs(circuit machine or dumbbells): 3x10-12

Pull (Back/Biceps):

Barbell Rows: 3x5
Lat Pulldowns with (Long Bar or V-bar) (circuit machine): 3x8-10
Seated Rows (circuit machine) - optional if already doing barbell rows: 3x8-10
Face-pulls: 3x-10-12
Barbell Bicep Curls (Alternate between close and normal grip): 4x-10-12
Choice of one other bicep exercise (typically Hammer Curls): 3x10-12

Legs (Quad/Ham/Calves):

Barbell Squats: 4x5-6
Leg Press (optional if already doing above squats): 3x8-10
Leg Extensions (circuit machine): 3x10-12
Hamstring Curls (circuit machine): 3x10-12
Standing Calf Raises (circuit machine): 5x10-12

So then I would rest one day then repeat this.

Cheers,

Ash.

Ash, there will be a great push/pull/leg split soon coming on SHF that I designed. It gives specific exercises, rest periods etc along with a guide on when to do each day to get the most benefit from the programme. I'll let you know when it goes live!

Here is the push/pull/legs split I designed Beginners Hypertrophy Programme. Try this for a while and let me know how you get on

You're very welcome @Ashbuckle ! A lot of great info here, make sure you take some good notes and it'll take you're training to a whole new level!

#HTH