Four days a week is where most serious lifters land. It is enough to train every muscle twice with plenty of volume, it leaves three days to recover, and it fits a normal working week: two on, one off, two on, two off.
There are three good ways to use four days: upper/lower, a push/pull rotation where legs are shared out between the two days, or a four-day body part split. Upper/lower is the default for good reason, but the others are worth knowing.
Who it’s for
Lifters past the beginner stage who want more volume than three full-body days allow, and anyone who wants to train every muscle twice without giving up most of their evenings. It suits strength and size goals equally well.
If you are new, three full-body days will progress faster per hour spent in the gym. If you want to train five or six days, look at PPLUL or push pull legs.
The week
| Option | Mon | Tue | Thu | Fri | Each muscle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper / lower | Upper A | Lower A | Upper B | Lower B | 2× a week |
| Push / pull | Push + quads | Pull + hams | Push + quads | Pull + hams | 2× a week |
| Body part | Chest & tris | Back & bis | Legs | Shoulders & arms | 1–2× a week |
A sample day
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 × 5–6 | 3 min |
| Barbell bench press | 4 × 5–6 | 3 min |
| Leg press | 3 × 10–12 | 2 min |
| Seated dumbbell shoulder press | 3 × 8–10 | 2 min |
| Leg extension | 2 × 12–15 | 60 s |
| Triceps pushdown | 3 × 10–12 | 60 s |
Push/pull treats the squat as a push and the hinge as a pull, so Tuesday is deadlift or Romanian deadlift, rows, pulldowns, leg curls and biceps. It is upper/lower turned sideways. The sessions are more balanced in length, because legs are spread across all four days.
For the upper/lower version, with full sample days, see the upper lower split guide.
How to progress
Run the main lift of each day heavy, in the 4–6 rep range, and add weight whenever you complete all your sets. Running each pattern twice a week, once heavier and once lighter, gives you two chances a week to progress without burning out on either.
Use double progression for everything else. Four days gives you room for 12–18 sets per muscle per week. Start near the bottom of that range and add sets only when progress stalls.
Plan a lighter week every six to eight weeks. On a four-day schedule that usually means the same sessions with a third fewer sets.
Mistakes that stall it
Training four days in a row
Then three days off. It works, but the fourth session is always the weakest. Two on, one off, two on is better.
Putting heavy squats and heavy deadlifts on consecutive days
On push/pull especially, lighten one of them or put the rest day between.
A four-day bro split with nothing twice
If you choose the body-part option, add a few sets for lagging muscles to a second day so they get two hits.
Mismatched session lengths
If one day takes 40 minutes and another takes 100, move exercises around until they are close.
Forgetting about rear delts and hamstrings
They are the two muscles four-day splits most often undertrain. Count their sets.
Running it in Splyt
Four templates in Splyt, run in order. Each carries forward your weights from last time, so the heavy days show what you need to beat. The split generator can build a four-day week from your time and equipment, and the AI coach can put it on your calendar.
Check Splyt’s per-muscle volume after the first week to see whether hamstrings, rear delts and calves are getting their share.
Questions
What is the best 4 day workout split?
Upper/lower for most people. It trains everything twice, keeps sessions to about an hour and is easy to progress. Push/pull is a close second and balances session length better.
Is a 4 day split enough to build muscle?
Yes. Four sessions comfortably hold 12 to 18 hard sets per muscle per week, which is enough for most lifters at any level.
Which days should I train on a 4 day split?
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday is the classic layout. Any arrangement that avoids four consecutive days works.
Can I do a 4 day split as a beginner?
Yes, especially upper/lower, but three full-body days often progress faster for the first six months, because you practise each lift more often.
Can I add cardio to a 4 day split?
Yes. Put hard cardio on rest days or after upper sessions. Easy cardio like walking can go anywhere.
Other splits
- Upper lower split — 4 days
- 3 day workout split — 3 days
- 5 day workout split — 5 days
- Bro split — 5 days
- Every workout split, compared
Exercises by muscle
How to do every lift above, and the alternatives when a machine is taken: Chest · Shoulders · Triceps · Lats · Upper back · Biceps · Quads · Hamstrings · Glutes · Calves · Abs · The full exercise library
Ready-made workouts for each day
Sessions with sets, reps and rest you can drop into this split: Push day · Pull day · Leg day · Upper body · Lower body · Full body · At home · All workouts
Free tools for this split
- Workout split generator — Days, time and goal in; a week of training out.
- Training volume calculator — Hard sets per muscle against the ranges that build it.
- One-rep max calculator — Your best set in, a max and every percentage out.
- Strength standards calculator — Where your bench, squat, deadlift and press sit for your size.
Splyt is a workout tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch with templates that remember what you lifted. Get Splyt free on the App Store · How templates work