4-day split

Plan overview

Muscle focus

See how the planned working sets are spread across muscle groups.

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A 4-day split spreads your exercises across four training days, so you can give particular muscle groups their own sessions. It can make room for more work, depending on how you organize your sets. The split itself doesn’t increase training volume compared with a 3-day split.

The example here is intended for advanced lifters because it includes a substantial amount of work in each session. If you’re just starting out, a simpler selection of exercises is usually easier to learn and adjust. Get familiar with the movements and increase your workload gradually as your experience and recovery allow.

One way to arrange this split over the week is:

Monday: Day A exercises
Tuesday: Day B exercises
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Day C exercises
Friday: Day D exercises
Saturday: Rest day
Sunday: Rest day

4-Day Split Example Plan

Below, the exercises are grouped by muscle group across the four days. The linked exercise guides explain each movement and its alternatives, so you can adapt your exercise selection while keeping the purpose of each session in mind.

Day A

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Repetitions
Bench press	Chest	3	10 / 8 / 6
Dips	Chest	3	10 / 8 / 6
Flyes	Chest	3	12 / 10 / 8
Dumbbell bicep curls	Biceps	3	10 / 8 / 6
Cable bicep curls	Biceps	3	10 / 8 / 6
Machine bicep curls	Biceps	3	10 / 8 / 6
Sit-ups	Abdominals	3	20
Crunches	Abdominals	3	20

Day B

Exercise	Main Muscle Group	Sets	Repetitions
Squats	Thighs	3	10 / 8 / 6
Leg Press	Thighs	3	10 / 8 / 6
Leg Extensions	Thighs	3	10 / 8 / 6
Seated Barbell Calf Raises	Calves	3	15
Seated Calf Raises	Calves	3	20

Day C

Exercise	Main muscle group	Sets	Repetitions
Shoulder Press	Shoulders	3	12 / 10 / 8
Lateral Raises	Shoulders	3	12 / 10 / 8
Front Raises	Shoulders	3	12 / 10 / 8
Triceps Pressdown	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Triceps Kickbacks	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8
Arnold Dips	Triceps	3	12 / 10 / 8

Day D

Exercise	Main Muscle Group	Sets	Repetitions
Pull-ups	Upper back	3	10 / 8 / 6
Barbell Rows	Upper back	3	10 / 8 / 6
Upright Rows	Neck	3	10 / 8 / 6
Deadlifts	Lower back	3	10 / 8 / 6

4-day split alternative exercises

You can perform the following exercises as alternatives to 4-day split.

Filter the exercises below by muscle group and difficulty.

Exercise	Main muscle group	Difficulty	Type of training
Arnold Press	Shoulder training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Back Extension	Lower back	Medium	Isolation exercise
Banded Good Mornings	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Barbell Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Front Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Barbell Row	Shoulder training	Hard	Compound exercise
Barbell Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Behind-The-Neck Overhead Press	Shoulder training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Bench Press	Triceps training	Medium	Compound exercise
Biceps Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Bicycle Crunches	Abs workout	Medium	Isolation exercise
Cable Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Cable Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Cable Lying Knee Tucks	Abs workout	Medium	Isolation exercise
Cable Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Chest Press	Middle chest	Easy	Isolation exercise
Close-Grip Bench Press	Triceps training	Medium	Compound exercise
Concentration Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Crunches	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
Decline Bench Press	Lower chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press	Lower chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Decline Sit-Ups	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Dips	Upper chest	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Bench Press	Chest training	Medium	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Dumbbell Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Flys	Middle chest	Medium	Isolation exercise
Front Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Good Mornings	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Hammer Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Hanging Knee Raise	Abs workout	Hard	Isolation exercise
Hyperextension Side Bends	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Incline Barbell Press	Upper chest	Easy	Compound exercise
Incline Bench Preacher Curls	Biceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Incline Chest Press	Upper chest	Easy	Isolation exercise
Incline Dumbbell Biceps Curls	Biceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Incline Dumbbell Press	Upper chest	Medium	Compound exercise
Incline Dumbbell Row	Neck training	Easy	Compound exercise
Inverted Row	Shoulder training	Easy	Compound exercise
Kickbacks	Triceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Knee Raise	Abs workout	Medium	Isolation exercise
Lat Pulldown on the Machine	Upper back	Easy	Isolation exercise
Lateral Raise	Shoulder training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Leg Extensions	Thigh training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Machine Fly	Middle chest	Easy	Isolation exercise
Oblique Leg Raises	Abs workout	Medium	Isolation exercise
Overhead Tricep Extension	Triceps training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Preacher Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Prone Incline Dumbbell Shrug	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Resistance Band Row	Shoulder training	Easy	Compound exercise
Resistance Band Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Reverse Crunches	Abs workout	Medium	Isolation exercise
Reversed Incline Bench Barbell Curls	Biceps training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Romanian Deadlift	Lower back	Hard	Compound exercise
Seated Back Extension	Lower back	Easy	Isolation exercise
Seated Good Mornings	Lower back	Hard	Isolation exercise
Seated Leg Press	Thigh training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Shrugs	Neck training	Easy	Isolation exercise
Side Bends	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Single Arm Dumbbell Row	Neck training	Medium	Isolation exercise
Sit Ups	Abs workout	Easy	Isolation exercise
Straight Arm Pulldown	Upper back	Medium	Isolation exercise
Sumo Deadlift	Thigh training	Hard	Compound exercise
T-Bar Row	Neck training	Medium	Compound exercise
Upright Barbell Row	Shoulder training	Hard	Compound exercise
Windshield Wipers	Abs workout	Hard	Isolation exercise