Apr. 19, 2012
The Best Bodybuilding Program in the World? – Part 2
You’ve heard me speak of my preference to follow a 3-day bodybuilding training program, but I’d be wrong to neglect other training splits.
If a 3-day option is my “#1”, then a 4-day bodybuilding program is my “1B”.
Remember you can make everything work, but nothing will work forever.
Training 4 days over a 7-day period still allows for plenty of time to plan to plan every workout accordingly during the week.
With a 4-day program you’ll notice you can ramp up your intensity of training, add a bit more volume and fit in more specific isolation type exercises to better target weak point muscles within each workout. Not much unlike the 3-day training program, the 4-day approach allows for many of the same advantages and disadvantages.
I’m a big fan of using a superset format on 4-day programs as it allows for greater intensity and gets the blood to the muscles early on in a workout. I’ll also incorporate more post exhaustion sets and eccentric dominant exercises during most of my 4-day structured bodybuilding training programs.
To give you a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to a bodybuilding program I’ve outlined them below.
The Advantages of the 4-Day Bodybuilding Training Split
Advantages
- Greater Volume
- Greater Overall “Pump”
- More Muscle Specialization
- More Isolation Exercises
- Greater Structure for Hypertrophy
- Favorite of Endomorphs and Mesomorph Body Types
Vince Gironda was a Bodybuilder who utilized variety
The Disadvantages of the 4-Day Bodybuilding Training Split
Disadvantages
- Average Strength Gains
- Less Recovery
- More Central Nervous System Fatigue
- Not preferred method for Ectomorphs
- Higher Volume
- Greater Chance of Overtraining
Below you will see a sample 4-day bodybuilding training program targeting the chest, back, traps and abs on Workout A, quadriceps and calves on Workout B, shoulders and triceps on Workout C and Hamstrings, Back, and Biceps on Workout D.
The Sample 4-Day Bodybuilding Training Split
Workout A – Chest, Back, Traps and Abs
Chest Exercise Superset
A1) Barbell Bench Press – 4 x 6
A2) DB Incline Chest Fly – 4 x 15
Back Exercise Superset
B1) Barbell Supine Row – 4 x 8
B2) Eccentric Pull-up – 4 x 10 (3 sec eccentric)
Chest Exercise
C1) DB Bench Press – 3 x 10
Back / Traps Exercise Superset
D1) SA DB Row – 3 x 15-20
D2) BB Shrug – 3 x 20
Abs Exercise Superset
E1) Hanging Leg Raise – 5 x 15-20
E2) Kneeling Banded Ab Crunch – 5 x 15-20
Workout B – Quads and Calves
Calves Exercises
A1) Chain Donkey Raises – 4 x 20
B1) Jump Rope – 4 x 30sec
Quads – Bilateral Exercise
C1) Barbell Squat – 4 x 15, 12, 10, 8
Quad Exercise Superset
D1) Barbell Front Squat – 3 x 8, 6, 4
D2) DB Split Squat – 3 x 5ea (3 sec eccentric)
Quad Finisher
E1) Chain Walking Lunge – 2 x 20ea
Workout C – Shoulders and Triceps
Shoulder Exercise
A1) Barbell Military Press – 4 x 6
Shoulder Exercise
B1) Standing Arnold Press – 3 x 8
Shoulder Giant Set
C1) HSPU – 3 x 8
C2) DB Rear Delt Raise – 3 x 15
C3) Band Pull Apart – 3 x 15-20
Tricep Exercise Superset
D1) Close Grip BB Bench – 4 x 6
D2) Lying EZ Bar OH Extension “Skullcrusher” – 4 x 10-12
Tricep Exercises
E1) Dips – 3 x 30
Workout D – Hamstrings, Back and Biceps
Back / Hamstring – Total Body Exercise
A1) Trap Bar Deadlift – 4 x 6
Back / Hamstring Superset
B1) Stiff-Legged BB Deadlift – 3 x 12
B2) Weighted Chin-up – 3 x 4
Back / Hamstring Superset
C1) Barbell RDL – 3 x 15
C2) GHR – 3 x 8
Bicep Exercise Superset
E1) DB Hammer Curl – 4 x 10
E2) Barbell Reverse Curl – 4 x 12
Sample Muscle Group Programs to Target Weak Point Muscles
Arm Dominant
Workout A – Quads and Hamstrings
Workout B – Chest, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps
Workout C – Back, Calves, Abs
Workout D – Biceps, Triceps
Back Dominant
Workout A – Back, Hamstrings, Abs
Workout B – Shoulders, Triceps
Workout C – Quads, Calves
Workout D – Back, Chest, Biceps
Chest Dominant
Workout A – Chest, Shoulders
Workout B – Back, Biceps, Abs
Workout C – Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Workout D – Chest, Triceps
Quad Dominant
Workout A – Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Workout B – Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Workout C – Back, Biceps, Abs
Workout D – Quads
Shoulder Dominant
Workout A – Chest, Shoulders
Workout B – Back, Biceps, Abs
Workout C – Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)
Workout D – Shoulders, Triceps,
Sample Frequency of a 4-Day Bodybuilding Training Split
4 Days in 1-Week – Allows for a greater volume of training.
Monday – Workout A
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Workout B
Thursday – Off
Friday – Workout C
Saturday – Workout D
Sunday – Rest
4 Days On, 2 Day Off, Repeat – Greater balance of training and recovery.
Monday – Workout A
Tuesday – Workout B
Wednesday – Workout C
Thursday – Workout D
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Workout A (Start Rotation Again)
2 Days On, 2 Days Off, Repeat – Allows for greater recovery.
Monday – Workout A
Tuesday – Workout B
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Workout C
Saturday – Workout D
Sunday – Rest
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Workout A (Start Rotation Over)
There you have it, my take on a 4-day Bodybuilding Strength Training Program.
What’s your approach?
As always, I appreciate your feedback and comments.
I’ll be back soon with my take on a 5-day bodybuilding strength training routine.
If you dig the knowledge do me a huge favor and “LIKE” this baby or SHARE it via your Facebook or Twitter!
Work Hard, Train Hard, Get Better,
Tyler English
PS – Don’t forget to read my take on a 3-Day Bodybuilding Strength Training Program in my last post = “The Best Bodybuilding Training Program?”
Or visit this link:
The Best Bodybuilding Program in the World? – Part 2
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