Week 4: Turning Up the Volume (Four-Day Split)

In the fourth and final week of the program, you’ll train four days in a four-way split that hits each bodypart just once (except for calves and abs, which are each trained twice). Four-day splits are common among experienced lifters because they involve training fewer bodyparts (typically 2–3) per workout, which gives each muscle group ample attention and allows you to train with higher volume. As you’ll see, chest and triceps are paired up, as are back with biceps and quads with hamstrings, each a very common pairing among novice and advanced bodybuilders. Shoulders are trained more or less on their own, and you’ll alternate hitting calves and abs — which respond well to being trained multiple times per week — every other workout. No new exercises are introduced in Week 4 so that you can focus on intensity in your workouts instead of learning new movements.

Rep schemes remain in the hypertrophy range this week, but overall volume increases by adding more sets to individual exercises: up to five sets per move for larger bodyparts, and even 10 sets of calf raises on Thursday. This bump in volume will ensure that your muscles are overloaded sufficiently to continue the growth they’ve already begun experiencing in the first three weeks. Completion of this four-week program now entitles you to go to the next stage.

Day 1:

Chest:

• Incline Bench Press: 5 Sets - 10 Reps;
• Dumbbell Bench Press: 5 Sets - 8,8,10,10,12 Reps;
• Flat-Bench Dumbbell Flye: 5 Sets - 8,8,10,10,12 Reps.

Triceps:

• Rope Pressdown: 4 Sets - 10,10,12,12 Reps;
• Dumbbell Kickback: 3 Sets - 10 Reps;
• Lying Barbell Extension: 3 Sets - 10 Reps.

Calves:

• Standing Calf Raise: 3 Sets - 25 Reps;
• Seated Calf Raise: 3 Sets - 25 Reps.

Day 2:

Quads:

• Barbell Squat: 5 Sets - 10 Reps;
• Leg Press: 5 Sets - 8,8,10,10,12 Reps;
• Leg Extension: 5 Sets - 8,8,10,10,12 Reps.

Hamstrings:

• Lying Leg Curl: 3 Sets - 8,10,12 Reps;
• Romanian Deadlift: 3 Sets - 8,10,10 Reps;
• Seated Leg Curl: 3 Sets - 8,10,12 Reps.

Abs:

• Reverse Crunch: 2 Sets - 20 Reps;
• Crunch: 2 Sets - 20 Reps.

Day 3:

• Day off

Day 4:

Shoulders:

• Dumbbell Overhead Press: 4 Sets - 12 Reps;
• Smith Machine Upright Row: 3 Sets - 8,10,12 Reps.
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 3 Sets - 10 Reps.

Calves:

• Seated Calf Raise: 10 Sets - 10 Reps;

Day 5:

Back:

• Barbell Bent-Over Row: 5 Sets - 12 Reps;
• Lat Pulldown: 5 Sets - 8,8,10,12,12 Reps;
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 5 Sets - 8,8,8,10,12,12 Reps.

Biceps:

• Barbell Curl: 4 Sets - 10,10,12,12 Reps;
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: 3 Sets - 10 Reps;
• Preacher Curl Machine: 3 Sets - 10 Reps.

Abs:

• Crunch: 3 Sets - 20 Reps;

Day 6:

• Day off

Day 7:

• Day off

Source: www.muscleandfitness.com